National imagining America gathering at NMSU in October

More than 400 scholars, students and community members will converge at New Mexico State University Oct. 3-5 for the 25th anniversary of the Imagining America National Gathering.
 
Imagining America is a national consortium of colleges and universities that promotes public scholarship and practice in the arts, humanities and design to foster a more just and equitable society.
 
The theme for this year’s gathering is “Providing Passage: Practicing the Worlds We Want,” which celebrates and conjures passages of all types and the life-sustaining ecological, physical, intellectual and spiritual passages that artists, organizers and scholars provide as a way forward in these turbulent times.

At the opening plenary session at NMSU’s Atkinson Recital Hall on Oct. 3, artists and scholars from the Paso del Norte region will engage the border through the lens of lived experience and ecology, allowing them to reframe questions of belonging beyond nation-states. After that, NMSU’s equestrian team will lead a procession to Corbett Center Student Union, where many of the workshops, panels and activities will take place
 
This year’s program features more than 100 speakers from over 50 higher education and cultural institutions across the U.S., with significant participation from Imaging America-member institutions and from the Paso del Norte region. Presentations are offered in a range of formats from five-minute lightning talks and 15-minute projects and presentations to participatory workshops (highly interactive and collaborative opportunities for group co-creation) and creative works (ongoing interactive installations or collective art-making activities). 
 
Registration for the three-day immersive experience is open now and available throughout the gathering.