News & Blog

Every October UCF celebrates Diversity Week. This year’s dates are October 15 – 19, and the theme is A New Day Dawns. University-wide departments and groups champion the breadth and culture within the UCF community, and work to increase acceptance and inclusion for everyone at UCF and the surrounding communities.

One of the fantastic things about UCF is the wide range of cultures and ethnicities of our students, staff, and faculty. We come from all over. We’re just as proud of where we are from as we are of where we are now and where we will be heading in future.

UCF Libraries will be offering a full slate of Diversity Week activities. To learn about the upcoming events visit: guides.ucf.edu/diversityweek

Join the UCF Libraries as we celebrate diverse voices and subjects with these suggestions. Click on the link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the featured UCF Celebrates Diversity titles suggested by UCF Library employees. These 16 books plus many more are also on display on the 2nd (main) floor of the John C. Hitt Library next to the bank of two elevators.

And thank you to every Knight who works to help others feel accepted and included at UCF!

Featured Bookshelf: UCF Celebrates Diversity

Saturday, September 29, the Knights kick off at 3.30 p.m. in Bright House Stadium against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.
You can get a lot of work done in the John C. Hitt Library before then! The library opens at 9.00 a.m., giving you plenty of time for library research, reading, writing, collaborating, reflecting, followed by tailgating, listening to the marching band, and taking a seat in the stadium for kickoff.
No excuses, Knights!

Go, Knights, beat Pitt! Charge on!

Have you ever read Bridge to Terabithia or The Hunger Games? Then you’ve read a book banned for its religious viewpoint.

What about And Tango Makes Three or I Am Jazz? They were banned for having LGBTQ+ characters.

Banned Books Week is September 23 – 29.

Join UCF Libraries for our Read Stricted: The Dilemmas Surrounding Reading, Censorship, & Challenged Books discussion on Thursday, September 27, 2018 1:30 in LIB-223 about banned books and what books are on the ALAs list of Top 10 Challenged Books in 2017.

See what redacted books you can check out from our display on the John C. Hitt and Curriculum Materials Center Circulation desks.

The roads we travel in life are interesting and varied. One of the more complicated aspects happens at the intersection of Religion and Sexuality. Join UCF Libraries and the Religion & Cultural Studies Program for a series of films that examine what happens when religion and sexuality meet from the perspective of three different traditions.

“Undressing Israel: Gay Men in the Promised Land”
Discussion facilitated by Kayla Symonds

Tuesday, September 25
2:30 – 4:30 pm
John C. Hitt Library 223

When many people think of Israel, it is often in terms of modern war or ancient religion. But there is much more to the Jewish state then missiles and prayers. In his debut as a documentary filmmaker, adult-film entrepreneur and political columnist Michael Lucas examines a side of Israel that is too often overlooked: its thriving gay community. Undressing Israel features interviews with a diverse range of local men, including a gay member of Israel’s parliament, a trainer who served openly in the army, a young Arab-Israeli journalist, and a pair of dads raising their kids. Lucas also visits Tel Aviv’s vibrant nightlife scene-and a same-sex wedding-in this guided tour to a country that emerged as a pioneer for gay integration and equality.

“A Jihad for Love”
Discussion facilitated by Dr. Michael Muhammad Knight and Dr. Cyrus Zargar

Tuesday, October 9
2:30 – 4:30 pm
John C. Hitt Library 223

Fourteen centuries after the revelation of the holy Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad, Islam today is the world’s second largest and fastest growing religion. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of this dynamic faith, discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims.

“Fish Out of Water”
Discussion facilitated by Dr. Jeanine Viau

Tuesday, October 30
2:30 – 4:30 pm
John C. Hitt Library 223

Inspired by the experience of coming out as a lesbian to her sorority sisters during her senior year at Vanderbilt, filmmaker Ky Dickens explores the Biblical passages used to condemn homosexuality in this informative yet entertaining documentary. Interweaving whimsical animation with enlightening interviews from both within the lesbian and gay community and as well with theologians from across the country, Fish Out of Water breaks down seven key passages from the Old and New Testaments – from Adam and Eve to Sodom and Gomorrah and the Purity Codes – while confronting the debate over translation and historical context that affect today’s interpretations of the Bible.

Intermittent noise will continue in the John C. Hitt Library, but a new source of noise is just starting.   From now until the start of October, Monday through Friday, between 5:00 p.m. and closing, bricks will be “popped off” the back of the library building (“Student Union side”). It may be noisy with drilling and banging or popping sounds as bricks come off.

The contractors doing the work will be suspended from a basket attached to a boom to do the brick removal above the sloped windows.

The ingest of books into the Automated Retrieval Center (ARC) will continue, with carts of books traveling to the ARC on the 2nd (main) floor.

Thank you for your patience!  Ear plugs are available at the Circulation Desk.