Black History Month events planned

A number of events celebrating Black History Month are scheduled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison throughout February. All events are free and open to the public. They include:

— Spoken word: “Flood the Hood with Dreams” will perform at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 5, in 1800 Engineering Hall, 1415 Engineering Drive. The group features poets Kwabena Antoine Nixon and Muhibb Dyer. Morgridge Center director and professor of Afro-American studies Mike Thornton will also speak. The event is sponsored by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Wisconsin Black Engineering Student Society (WBESS).

For more information, contact Steven Clark, assistant dean for diversity affairs in the College of Engineering, at (608) 262-3484 or sclark@engr.wisc.edu.

— West-African storytelling and drumming: Rockameen will perform from 12:10 p.m.-1:10 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 8, in Room 300 of the School of Social Work, 1350 University Ave.

Rockameen was a member of the “Sun Drummers” of Chicago, one of the premier African drum fraternities in North America. He is also one of the original members of the Muntu Dance Theater performing and teaching West-African drumming, rhythm, song and dance. Rockameen has taught West-African drumming, rhythm, song and dance in the Madison community for the past 25 years.

The event is sponsored by the Retention and Recruitment of Students of Color Committee in the School of Social Work. For more information, contact Tracy Schroepfer at (608) 263-3837 or tschroepfer@wisc.edu.

— Diversity Panel and Potluck: From 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 20, representatives of Abbott, Rockwell Automation and Shell Oil will come to the Tong Auditorium of the Engineering Centers Building, 1550 Engineering Drive, to discuss diversity issues in their companies and how students can adapt to global environments.

For more information, contact Steven Clark, assistant dean for diversity affairs in the College of Engineering, at (608) 262-3484 or sclark@engr.wisc.edu. The event is sponsored by NSBE and WBESS.

— Black History Month Quiz Bowl: From 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, the Wisconsin Black Student Union and NBSE will hold a black history quiz bowl contest in Morphy Hall in the Mosse Humanities Building, 455 N. Park St.

— Black History Talent Showcase: From 7-11 p.m. on Friday, March 2, WBSU and NSBE will present “Our Time, Our Renaissance,” a black history month talent showcase. The event will be held in Mills Hall of the Mosse Humanities Building. The program is expected to feature student talent including the UW Gospel Choir, Hypnotik, UW Break Dancers and Praise Dancers.

In addition, WBSU is holding a series of movie nights on Feb. 6, 8, 13 and 15. For times and locations of the movie nights, or additional details about WBSU events, contact Amanda Pegues on pegues@wisc.edu.