Spooky season may be behind us, but the excitement on campus is far from over! As we head into November and settle deeper into the semester, there’s so much happening you’ll want to be part of.
Don’t forget to check out the Important Dates to Know for November.
Monday, November 3
Faculty Presents Series - 11:45 am-12:45 pm
Homeless fathers are often overlooked and underrepresented in the research literature. This study consists of interviews with homeless fathers, emphasizing the daily struggles they face and what can be done to alleviate the situation. The fathers speak about the factors which led them to their current situation, the difficulties and challenges when parenting and co-parenting their children while living on the streets and in homeless family shelters. The study further examines the root causes and potential solutions when analyzing policy changes for homeless fathers.
Volunteer Project: Removing Bittersweet Off Winter Island - 12:30-4 pm
Come join the CCE in removing bittersweet on Winter Island with the Bittersweet Brigade. Bittersweet is an invasive plant species that threatens our local ecosystem, help us to remove these plants from our local community. We will be meeting at 12:30 pm outside of Dunks in Meier Hall to access transportation and returning at 4 pm, and arriving around 4:30 pm. Transportation, lunch, and snacks will be provided. If you do not require transportation, please meet us at Winter Island by 1 pm.
For more than thirty years, Sonia Schreiber Weitz worked to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and advance knowledge and awareness by telling her story and encouraging other survivors to do the same. Through her work with the Holocaust Center, Boston North, which she founded with Harriet Tarnor Wacks, Sonia gave voice to the voiceless and touched the lives of countless students, teachers, and individuals across the North Shore.
Please join the Peabody Institute Library and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies for an evening of reflection and reminiscences as we remember the life and work of longtime Peabody resident Sonia Schreiber Weitz.
Copies of Sonia’s work, manuscripts, papers, and memorabilia will be on display around the Peabody Institute Library the week preceding the program, and in the Sutton Room the night of the program.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Tuesday, November 4
Election Day: Party at the Polls! 8 am-8 pm
Join the Vikings Vote team to VOTE and celebrate Election Day with a Party at the Polls on Tuesday, November 4! The Berry Institute of Politics, campus partners, community members, and Salem State students will be voting in the Salem local elections. SSU students registered on campus vote at the Enterprise Center, Harrington Campus from 8 am-8 pm.
A Conversation with Author Joe Sacco - 12:15-1:30 pm
From November 4-November 30, the Exhibit on the first floor lobby of the Frederick E. Berry Learning Commons will feature graphic histories by Joe Sacco, Gord Hill, and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. Throughout November, all three authors will join us via Zoom to discuss their work with the 91ý community. Lunch and refreshments will be provided!
Generative Academic Insights: AI, Linguistic Bias, and Other Critiques and Concerns 3-4 pm
What critiques and concerns about AI have resonated with faculty at SSU? Join Professor Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello (Interdisciplinary Studies and American Ethnic Studies) and instructional designer Jim McGrath (Center for Teaching Innovation) for a virtual discussion of critical AI literacies and particular areas of concern like linguistic and algorithmic bias.
Wednesday, November 5
Fitness Challenge - Plank - 11 am-7 pm
Stop by the front desk at the Gassett Fitness Center between 11 am-7 pm to sign up and compete against your peers. Person to hold the longest plank on the BOSU ball wins an exclusive Fitness Challenge T-Shirt! Contact arubero@salemstate.edu for more information.
Thursday, November 6
Civil War Monuments in Gilded Age New York with Akela Reason - 9:25-10:40 am
Book Talk, Akela Reason, Politics and Memory: Civil War Monuments in Gilded Age New York. Yale University Press, 2025.
"Using a wealth of archival sources, the book examines the stories behind New York City's Civil War soldiers' monuments. Although historians have suggested that Union commemoration was largely uncontested, New York's monuments reveal a much more fractious story. My book argues, through a careful exploration of the machinations of multiple stakeholders, that New York's Union soldiers’ monuments were shaped by Gilded Age New York's notoriously bruising municipal politics. Indeed, politicians viewed these works as high-profile public works projects, and, as such, many of these monuments were riddled with corruption, fraud, and spoils system patronage. Nonetheless, the political interests that built these monuments exhibited remarkably little interest in artistic concerns and often left design decisions to the artists who created them. The book traces the political and aesthetic conflicts that shaped the city's Civil War monuments, as well as notable opportunities, some realized and some not, to address the contributions of African American servicemen in public sculpture."
Contemporary Dance Masterclass with Sasha Peterson - 10:50 am-12:05 pm
Sasha Peterson lives in Salem, MA, and dances in the Boston area. After graduating from Connecticut College in 2016, she has gone on to work with Ali Kenner Brodsky & Co., Audrey MacLean, Betsy Miller Dance Projects, Boston Lyric Opera, Cassie Wang, Continuum Dance Project, Grant Jacoby & Dancers, Juliet Paramor, Lisa Race, and Shura Baryshnikov. She is a company member at Ruckus Dance and VLA DANCE, is currently in process with Laila Franklin, and at Brown Arts Institute for CRCI’s Movement in Microgravity residency. She teaches contemporary at Midday Movement Series and is also a licensed massage therapist.
All are welcome.
Exploratory Lunch and Learn #2 - 12:30-1:30 pm
Not sure what to major in yet? Join us for an Exploratory Lunch and Learn—an informal, welcoming space to explore your options over a free lunch. Each session features a different set of majors, bringing together faculty, staff, and even alumni to share their experiences, answer your questions, and help you get a clearer picture of what studying in that field is really like.
Through this hour long lunch, you'll gain valuable insight into different academic paths, career options, and how to make a confident, informed decision about your major. Spots are limited, so be sure to sign up in advance using the link in your email! More information regarding which academic departments will be attending as well.
Join Student Involvement and Operations, along with facilities, for a new campus seasonal tradition!
Giveaways, food, a hot chocolate bar, photo snow globes, music, and fun, all designed to get you in the holiday spirit! Join us as we light the trees of North Campus for the season!
AI, the Future of Healthcare and Cybersecurity Concerns - 5-6:30 pm
A critical exploration of artificial intelligence's transformative impact on healthcare practice and the essential cybersecurity considerations that will shape our professional future. This event will examine how AI technologies are revolutionizing patient care while addressing the paramount security, privacy, and ethical challenges we must navigate.
Witnesses to History: Transnational University Archives From Krakow, Poland to Salem - 5:30-7 pm
Join us for the opening of an exhibition celebrating the transnational role of university archives in preserving historical documents. The exhibit features 19th century American documents held at Jagiellonian University Library in Krakow, Poland, and Polish journals from the Archives and Special Collections of the Berry Library at 91ý. The American autograph collection, consisting of letters, private notes, and official papers and contracts, bears witness to the early history of New England and the United States and the concerns that occupied the minds of the individuals. A collection of handwritten testimonies recorded with child survivors at the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp and preserved at 91ý bears witness to the Holocaust. How did these two transnational archives develop and find a home in their respective institutions? What stories can they tell about the individuals whose lives are glimpsed in the documents but also the role of those who preserved them?
Writers Series: Bill Roorbach - 7:30-9 pm
Bill Roorbach is the author of twelve books of fiction and nonfiction. His newest novels are Beep and Lucky Turtle, both from Algonquin. The Remedy for Love was a finalist for the Kirkus Fiction Prize. His bestselling books Life Among Giants and Temple Stream both won Maine Literary Awards. Big Bend, his first story collection, won the Flannery O’Connor Prize. And this just in: Bill’s story “Epithalamium” won a 2025 Pushcart Prize. Other work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Harper’s, and many more. His last full time academic position was Professor of English and Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross. He lives and writes in Maine.
Friday, November 7
The 2025 New England Contemporary Italian Film Festival - 4:30-6 pm
The 2025 New England Contemporary Italian Film Festival presents Il diritto alla felicita' (The Right to Happiness). Genre: Drama; Length: 1h 21 min.
Seventh Annual Veterans 10-Minute Play Festival - 7:30 pm
Join us for the seventh annual festival featuring the work of writers from across the United States. The goal of this festival is to cultivate a supportive environment for creative exploration in and around the varied experiences that surround the military. This festival uses theatre to begin a community conversation that builds bridges between the civilian and military worlds.
Each performance will be followed by a conversation with the audience, cast, directors and playwrights.
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