Building On Our Momentum (BOOM) is an annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) learning symposium featuring a series of events that incorporate the voices and experiences of students, faculty, staff and alums.
Over the last eight years, BOOM sessions have explored topics from cultivating anti-racist pedagogy and praxes and challenging gender-based oppression to examining histories, legacies and stories of inclusion and creating supportive strategies for countering bias. Building upon this work, BOOM Day 2024 — April 9 — will feature a mix of in-person and virtual healing and reflection spaces as well as asynchronous programming. Classes are canceled on April 9. BOOM plenary sessions will be held between April 4th and 15th.
BOOM sessions are designed with care to meet the campus community where we are in our learning capacities to engage in topics on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Learn more and explore the schedule below.
As part of your BOOM journey, check out the BOOM LibGuide. LITS has curated a range of resources to help our community deepen our engagement with each session. Pieces include works created by this year’s speakers and facilitators.
E-mail the DEI team with any questions at diversity@mtholyoke.edu.
Thu, Apr 4, 2024 7pm to 8:30pm
This is a past event.
Join us for an evening of real-life stories from Frances Perkins Scholars (FPs) and the non-traditional journeys that brought us through the gates of Mount Holyoke College. Our backgrounds are...
Mon, Apr 8, 2024 6pm to 7pm
This is a past event.
President Holley’s Class: POLIT-351, The Supreme Court and Civil Rights – Zoom BOOM! As part of BOOM, President and Professor of Politics Danielle Holley is offering all students, faculty, staff...
Virtual Event
free
Thu, Apr 11, 2024 11:45am to 1:15pm
This is a past event.
Michelle "Mikki" Hebl, Ph.D. Rice University, will be giving the annual Hastorf Lecture. Title of the talk: Working Together, Practicing the Science of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This...
Fri, Apr 12, 2024 9:30am to 11am
This is a past event.
Join us for a special session hosted by the Intergroup Dialogue Center in collaboration with the Division of Student Life and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We will screen a...
Mon, Apr 15, 2024 5pm to 6pm
This is a past event.
Mount Holyoke is honored to host Dr. David Karp for a BOOM keynote titled “Becoming a Restorative Campus” on Monday, April 15 from 5 to 6 pm. Restorative Justice — a communal approach to prevent...
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 10am to 11:30am
This is a past event.
This session offers an opportunity to gather together as staff — a time to pause, connect, and reflect. Drs. Molly Keehn and Pat Romney will lead the group through informal activities designed to...
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 10am to 11:30am
This is a past event.
Join Aaron Athey for a Healing through Music workshop in the Great Room on Tuesday, April 9 from 10– 11:30 am. Aaron will share his passion for and extensive knowledge of indigenous drumming...
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 10am to 11:30am
This is a past event.
Come join Labrador Inuk Ella Nathanael Alkiewicz for a Healing through Poetry Workshop at the Zowie Banteah Cultural Center on Tuesday, April 9 from 10–11:30 am. There’s healing available and with...
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 10:30am to 12pm
This is a past event.
Whew, that thing you’re carrying inside of you that feels like it has nowhere to go as everything is falling apart? It may have a name and it may be grief! Grief is one of the most misunderstood...
Virtual Event
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 11am to 11:45am
This is a past event.
Foster a new appreciation of Mount Holyoke’s natural landscapes with a guided walk by Angelica Patterson, MWCE's Curator of Education and Outreach. You will be led on a 45-minute mindful walk along...
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 11:30am to 1pm
This is a past event.
Join Iréne “I-SHEA’’ Shaikly for a Healing through Music workshop in the Unity Center on Tuesday, April 9 from 11:30 am–1 pm. I-SHEA will share African-Caribbean drum techniques and rhythms in an...
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 12pm to 1pm
This is a past event.
As professionals, we often need reminders to practice the self-empathy and compassion that we so willingly offer our students and broader community. In this shame-free and judgment-free space,...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 12pm to 1pm
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We invite all community members (alums, students, faculty and staff) to participate in this healing space designed to help everyone who may need time to process and explore their feelings of living...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 1pm to 2:30pm
This is a past event.
In this restorative session, Chris Painted Turtle Harris will lead a focused discussion on spiritual healing and sacred herbal remedies with an intentional focus on nature awareness.
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 1pm to 2pm
This is a past event.
Join this collective healing space facilitated by Hadar Cohen to connect with yourself and with community. In this volatile political reality, it is vital to care and tend to ourselves and each...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 1pm to 2:30pm
This is a past event.
In this session, participants will be introduced to the practice of deep listening, perspective sharing, and storytelling as strategies which can create salves to heal as individuals and...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 1:30pm to 3pm
This is a past event.
This space is being offered in response to an expressed interest in healing and community. This will be an intimate space for students to openly share the areas in which they need support and...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 2pm to 3pm
This is a past event.
We live in a world of near-constant noise. Each day we encounter both sounds that delight—a new song that makes us want to dance, the laughter of a loved one, birds chirping outside—and sounds that...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Apr 9, 2024 2:30pm to 4pm
This is a past event.
The dreams of mad, mentally ill, and neurodivergent (MMIND) folks are regularly disappeared, our futures stolen—all under the guise of treatment. We deserve the right to figure ourselves and our...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the video. Despite many perceptions, most non-Muslims in the United States know little about the actual religion of Islam. In fact, it takes minimal...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the recording. As a women’s college that is gender diverse, Mount Holyoke recognizes the unique and particular ways that women are often subjected to...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the video. Speaker: Anthea Butler The relationship between the African American community and the Jewish community in America has been one of shared...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
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This session was previously recorded. We welcome Clint Smith , gifted spoken word poet and academician, as the keynote speaker for our 5th annual Building On Our Momentum (BOOM!) 2021...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. This important dialogue on challenging anti-Blackness and anti-Semitism between Rabbi Sandra Lawson and Rabbi Josh Lesser focused on building solidarity...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
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This session was previously recorded. Watch the video. Isabel Wilkerson’s pivotal work, Caste has led to many insightful conversations around the criticality of understanding race, place and...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session is previously recorded. Watch the video. This webinar is geared toward faculty and staff seeking inclusive pedagogical strategies to create accessible classrooms. Speaker: Dr....
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session is previously recorded. Watch the video. Creating a campus environment that affirms, supports and honors the diversity of abilities that exist is a priority for our community. As part...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the Video. Join us for a workshop covering the basics of digital security. We'll be using principles of harm reduction and community safety to think...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. We are witnessing increases in acts of violence, discrimination, harassment, and hate speech that have harkened us back to a time when vitriolic language...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. A family of sugar-cane farmers in Louisiana worked the same land for generations and ultimately they began to realize that racism was looming over their hard...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
Here in this Train Car: Holocaust Family Memory, Art-Making, and Struggles for Justice Mark Auslander considers interwoven journeys in his family and personal histories in the shadow of the...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the Video. Anti-racism is a skill and a practice. It requires honesty, the willingness to unlearn and confront power. Do you consider yourself an...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. In the United States, between 1882 and 1927 - there were 4,951 documented lynchings. About a third of those killed were white often on the West Coast, the...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the video. Indigenous people have always lived on this land, but their history, culture, and contributions are not seen. Instead, stereotypes and...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This video was previously recorded. Watch the video. Inclusive pedagogical strategies are critical to implement in a remote learning environment. This session for faculty and staff will provide an...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. For Latinx Heritage Month, we are excited to welcome a keynote lecture with Storyteller, Public Theologian and Feminist, Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez for a...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the video. Speaker: Chris Mosier BOOM: Community Day 2022 at Mount Holyoke will feature dynamic activist, athlete and educator, Chris Mosier. As the...
Virtual Event
Free
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This sesssion was previously recorded. Watch the Video. Speaker: Dr. Tameeka Hunter (she/her) Transformative racial trauma healing requires that marginalized persons have space, support,...
Virtual Event
Free
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
Please note that this recording presently features auto-captions that may not always be accurate. While we are working to professionally caption this recording, we wanted to make this resource...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Sybrina Fulton lost her seventeen-year old son, Trayvon Martin and was instantly thrust into the spotlight as a grieving mother whose son's tragic murder...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. We are honored to welcome Dean Spade in conversation with activist Taylor Alxndr of Southern Fried, Queer Pride and Smith College Professor, Jina Kim for our...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. We will welcome two dynamic speakers for a special conversation, Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. 2020 has been a significant year in...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. An obsessive genealogist and descendent of one of the most prominent Jewish families since the American Revolution, Blanche Moses firmly believed her maternal...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the Video. Our speaker will be Marcus Trujillo of Pueblo Alliance. Marcus Trujillo, Gààtaiyàà | He/Him/His, is from the Pueblo of Laguna in affiliation...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
On October 27, 2018, a gunman entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on a Sabbath morning and killed half the people inside — there were 22 people inside, and only 11 came out alive. The...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Watch the recording. Sexual violence and stalking are both prevalent, commonly misunderstood, and severely underreported victimizations. In honor of Sexual...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. This public lecture with FRONTLINE correspondent and New Yorker staff writer Dr. Jelani Cobb took place to the commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Scholar Martha S. Jones shares her incredible research on women's suffrage and the role Black women played in actualizing gaining the right to vote. Her...
Virtual Event
Tue, Mar 28, 2023
This is a past event.
This session was previously recorded. Panelists: Dr. Laura Leibman Dr. Paola Tartakoff Moderated by Dr. Mara Benjamin Mount Holyoke has been the site of hateful acts of antisemitism yet we...
Virtual Event
Free
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 8:45am to 9am
This is a past event.
We will welcome Nipmuc Elder and Director of the Ohketeau Cultural Center, Larry Spotted Crow Mann to open our tenth annual Building On Our Momentum (BOOM!): Community Day. About Larry Spotted...
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 9am
This is a past event.
This memoir tells the story of Curtis Chin’s time growing up as a gay Chinese American kid in 1980’s Detroit. Nineteen eighties Detroit was a volatile place to live, but above the fray stood a safe...
Mary Woolley Hall, Chapin Auditorium
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 10:30am to 12pm
This is a past event.
This workshop is facilitated by Erik Esqueda who will explore a brief history of undocumented and migrant movements within U.S. contexts and help participants develop strategies for leveraging your...
Virtual Event
Free
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 10:30am to 12pm
This is a past event.
Faculty are navigating an unprecedented convergence of pressures and stressors, including attacks on academic freedom, the dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and work-related burnout....
Willits-Hallowell Conference Center, Morrison Room
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 1pm to 2:30pm
This is a past event.
Join Fulbright scholars Nohelia Tacca and Eddy Machaca for an immersive and interactive exploration of Quechua culture and the living traditions of the Andes. In this engaging workshop,...
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 1:30pm
This is a past event.
For BOOM 2026, Mohegan educator and chef, Rachel Beth Sayet will lead a cooking demonstration of Indigenous New England foods focused on the "Indigenous Edibles of Spring". Sayet educates the...
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 1:30pm
This is a past event.
Many of the barriers faculty of color face in the academy are structural and systemic, and they result in devaluation of research and service, increased stress and emotional labor, isolation, and...
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 2pm to 3pm
This is a past event.
A mother and race scholar seeks to answer her daughter’s many questions about race and racism with an earnest exploration into race relations and affirmative action from the perspectives of Asian...
Virtual Event
free
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 2pm to 3pm
This is a past event.
A healing space like no other, all are invited to join Irene “I-SHEA” Shaikly for a workshop focused on healing and restoration. Utilizing her own instruments and inviting others to learn and...
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 2:30pm to 4pm
This is a past event.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) pronounced “Snick” was a Black-led, multiracial group of college students across the country. SNCC pushed the Civil Rights movement to new...
Mary Woolley Hall, New York Room
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 4:30pm to 5:45pm
This is a past event.
BOOM 2026 features the incredible artist, activist and poet aja monet! aja monet is a surrealist blues poet, musician, and cultural worker whose poems sing to us of love, gender, justice, and...
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 6pm to 7pm
This is a past event.
Dr. Sayu Bhojwani is a civic entrepreneur and democracy futurist committed to advancing the leadership of Black, Native, indigenous, and immigrant women. Born in India and raised in Belize, she is...
Tue, Apr 28, 2026 7pm
This is a past event.
Join us for our tenth annual Queer & Trans Open Mic. Read and listen to queer and trans writing - your own or others! Come early to sign up for the open mic or sign-up online in...
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Gamble Auditorium
free