News & Blog

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. Diversity Week, an Office of Diversity and Inclusion initiative, is the way we celebrate this.

Between October 15 – 19, UCF will celebrate our diverse community and provide opportunities to explore topics across the broad range of human identity, experience, and interaction. Diversity Week activities are intended to stimulate our campus and move us to a more inclusive culture. The theme for 2018 is A New Day Dawns.

As part of the UCF Libraries’ enthusiastic support of maintaining an inclusive space in the UCF community, we are offering many workshops and activities through the week. The workshops include a

• Zine Workshop
• a presentation on the DIVerse Families Bibliography
• two fiber art demonstrations
• henna art
• an open mic
• multiple days of film screenings
• how to start a family search.

The first of our additional activities is just inside the entrance to the library where students can add a sticky note saying what they hope tomorrow brings. The second activity is a map on the 3rd floor where faculty, staff, and students can place a pin in the area where they and their families have lived. The UCF community can also stop by the Curriculum Materials Center library in the Education Complex to view a display on the DIVerse Families Bibliography.

For more detailed information about the UCF Libraries Diversity Week events visit: guides.ucf.edu/diversityweek

What terrors lurk in the shadows of a library? What scary thoughts creep through your mind when the stacks are quiet? What spooky creatures skulk in the edges of your vision?

Submit your scary story for the second annual Knight Terror Library writing contest by 11:59 pm on October 22, 2018 to see if you cause the best fright.

• Contest for UCF students only
• One entry per student
• 500 words or less
• The story should be themed in or around libraries in general
• Stories with explicit sexual content will not be considered for this contest

Submit your scary short story here: ucflib.fyi/knightterror

Winners be announced on October 31, and be immortalized in STARS KnightVerse. First place wins a special UCF Libraries prize pack. Second place wins a Library Construction duck.

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.