Publications, Organizations and Conferences

Simmons College is home to a number of preeminent publications, conferences, and organizations that reach out into the greater Boston community and across the nation to foster learning and community service, promote diversity, and initiate social change.

Publications

Microcosm

The College yearbook's purpose is to capture the activities and spirit of the undergraduate student body through pictorial and written essays, with special attention given to members of the senior class. A permanent record of the academic year, Microcosm tries to recapture for students the people, traditions, and atmosphere of Simmons. The student staff of Microcosm come from all majors and are chosen regardless of their class year or concentration.

The Simmons Voice

The Simmons Voice is Simmons' weekly newspaper, written and published entirely by students. It is free of charge and is distributed on Thursdays throughout campus. The Simmons Voice is one of the main sources of College news, social activities, academic affairs, and campus happenings. It also provides interesting information about Boston and the local college scene. The Simmons Voice Editorial Board is assembled in April, but staff members are solicited each fall and spring. All students, regardless of class year or concentration, are urged to join.

Sidelines

Sidelines, the College's literary magazine, contains poetry, prose, photography, and artwork by students, faculty, and staff, and serves as a creative outlet for the entire Simmons community. Published twice a year, it offers students interested in English, editing, and magazine production a chance to gain firsthand experience in those areas. Sidelines also sponsors two poetry/prose readings each year to showcase the talent of our community members

Centers and Organizations

Colleges of the Fenway

Simmons is a member of the Colleges of the Fenway, an academic consortium that allows students to cross-register for classes and participate in social and cultural activities with other colleges in our neighborhood, including Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Art, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Wheelock College.
http://www.colleges-fenway.org/

Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change

The Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change (SILC) sponsors programs, activities, and resources that help initiate social change for women, raise women's issues to the state and national political level, and reach out to audiences diverse in age, class, sexual orientation, culture, and educational background. SILC-sponsored projects take place on the Simmons College campus and in the Greater Boston community, including conferences, lecture and discussion series, special events, and networking opportunities. Upcoming SILC events include the Mass Women's Political Caucus Annual State Convention, the New England Women in Photography Conference, and the Girls get Connected Technology Conference. Visit the SILC web site to learn more.

Upward Bound

Simmons College Upward Bound Math/Science Program is a year-round federally sponsored educational program serving high school students. Upward Bound facilitates the development of academic skills and motivation for those who might not traditionally be considered college-bound. The program serves fifty first generation college bound and/or low income high-school students. Students may continue in the program from date of entry until their graduation from high school. Historically, a high percentage of Upward Bound students enter colleges and universities. For more information, visit the Upward Bound web site.

Scott Ross Center for Community Service

The Scott/Ross Center for Community Service facilitates and promotes community service and service learning for Simmons College faculty, staff, and students. The Center serves the Greater Boston community by developing reciprocal partnerships while enriching and expanding students' educational and co-curricular experiences. Learn more at the Scott Ross Center web site.

Center for Gender in Organizations

The Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) at the Simmons School of Management is committed to improving organizational effectiveness by strengthening gender equity in the workplace. Integral to CGO's approach is the recognition that gender operates with other dimensions of identity such race, class, ethnicity, and sexual identity, in shaping organizational systems and practices as well as workers' experiences. CGO is an international resource to organizations, scholars, practitioners, executives, and managers in the profit and not-for-profit sectors. Visit CGO's web site to learn more.

The Zora Neale Hurston Literary Center

Director: Afaa M. Weaver
The mission of the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Center is to broaden the Simmons community's exposure to the literary arts while simultaneously providing a platform for important creative voices. Taking as its inspiration the work of the African American novelist, playwright, and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, the center seeks to combine mainstream literary traditions with a strong foundation in the African American experience. It further seeks to build and strengthen diversity in the College's relationships with the various communities in the Boston area. For more information, contact the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Center The Zora Neale Hurston Literary Center's website to learn more.

Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America

Director: Loretta J. Williams
The Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America seeks to discover, assess, promote, and distribute information that increases understanding of intolerance and bigotry and strategies that can lead to greater equity in a diverse society. The center also awards the Myers Outstanding Book Awards to US and Canadian authors whose focus is bigotry and anti-bigotry. For more information, visit the Gustavus Myers Center web site.

Center for the Study of Children's Literature

A valuable community resource, the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College works extensively with area schools, libraries, publishers, and professionals. On-campus colloquia, in-service teacher workshops, informal book discussions, and lectures heighten public awareness of the social, historic, and psychological importance of quality literature for children and young people. Every other year, in odd-numbered years, the Center for the Study of Children's Literature hosts a unique institute/symposium. Institutes and symposia investigate one compelling theme in children's literature and provide opportunity for intensive study. To learn more, visit the Center for Children's Literature web site.

Trustman Gallery

Given in honor of Julia Myerson Trustman, '24, by her husband, Benjamin, the gallery exhibits the work of professional artists and has a yearly exhibition of student work. Annual exhibitions celebrate specific months such as Women's History Month (March). Each year the students enrolled in the Arts in the Community course organize an exhibition under the supervision of their instructor as part of the art and music department's arts administration major. Please visit the Trustman Gallery web site for information on upcoming exhibitions.

The Center for Hygiene and Health in Home and Community

This Center is the first of its kind in the United States and serves as a national and international resource for information and education, applied research, professional training and conferences. The Center focuses on issues relating to hygiene and infection control in areas such as: consumer food safety, home hygiene, daycare, preschool, homecare, sports and leisure activity, travel and hospitality. Learn more at the Center for Hygiene and Health web site.

Conferences and Institutes

G.I.R.L.S. Conference

Marie Celestin, a 2000 and 2002 alumna of Simmons College, created the G.I.R.L.S. Project in 1996 to provide girls between the ages of 11 and 18 with a forum to voice their concerns, an opportunity to meet other young women from different walks of life, and the resources to help them build the skills necessary to realize their full potential. To learn about the upcoming conference, visit the G.I.R.L.S. Conference web site.

Leadership Conference

Each year our Leadership Conference features celebrated women, such as Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Madeline Albright, and Maya Angelou, who dared to aspire to the top and to lead others with courage, commitment, and conviction. The conference includes thought-provoking presentations by social activists, technology gurus, media figures and business experts of all kinds. Attendees learn both practical and profound new ways to address the everyday challenges of life and work. To learn about the upcoming conference, visit the Leadership Conference web site.

Summer Institute in Children's Literature

Every other year, in odd-numbered years, the Center for the Study of Children's Literature hosts a unique institute/symposium. Institutes and symposia investigate one compelling theme in children's literature and provide opportunity for intensive study. Guest lecturers have included Newbery Medal winners Paula Fox and Lois Lowry; Caldecott Medal winners Maurice Sendak, Paul O. Zelinsky, Ed Young, Allen Say, David Wiesner and David Macaulay; British author Anne Fine; authors Jacqueline Woodson, Patricia C. McKissack, Avi, and Julius Lester; regional authors Natalie Babbitt, Nancy Garden, and Robert Cormier; poets Nancy Willard, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Paul Janeczko; illustrators Jerry Pinkney, Trina Schart Hyman and Robert Sabuda; editor Roger Sutton; and child development theorist David Elkind. For more information on the upcoming institute, visit the Children's Literature web site.