Schedule of Events:

September 26, 2024

8:00 pm - 10:00 pm: In Partnership with Chicago Humanities

The Interview Show: Edward Burns + Elizabeth Moen
A live talk show and concert hosted by Mark Bazer

The Interview Show, the long-running live talk show and former WTTW program hosted by Mark Bazer, welcomes Edwards Burns, the writer-actor-director for a discussion about his debut novel, A Kid From Marlboro Road, along with a deep dive into his career as a filmmaker (beginning with The Brothers McMullen). Mark will chat as well with musician Elizabeth Moen, who will also perform a 45-minute set that includes songs from her latest acclaimed album, Wherever You Aren’t. Plus: Patrick Bertoletti, the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Eating Contest Men’s Division Winner!

Mark Bazer:

Mark Bazer is the host and executive producer of The Interview Show, a talk show held at The Hideout and FitzGerald's and that's aired on Chicago PBS station WTTW. He is also a contributing writer to Chicago Magazine.

Edward Burns:

As a writer, director, and actor, Edward Burns has created fourteen feature films and two television series, including his most recent show, Bridge and Tunnel. He has also starred in numerous films, with his most notable role being in Saving Private Ryan. Burns’ first film, The Brothers McMullen, premiered in competition at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury prize. The film also won “Best First Feature” at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards. He is currently in production on his new film, Millers in Marriage for Paramount Global. This fall, Burns is publishing his first novel, A Kid from Marlboro Road, with Seven Stories Press. Ed Burns was born in Woodside, Queens and raised on Long Island. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

Elizabeth Moen:

A self-taught guitarist, Elizabeth Moen wrote her first songs while a student at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. It was a small town in the heartland but also a culturally dense world of artists, musicians, and writers—a scene whose space limitations meant the traditional songwriters, the alternative rockers and the avant-garde enthusiasts were playing the same house shows, talking at the same bars, and dancing in the same clubs. That interdisciplinary experience and its overlap of styles shaped Moen’s aesthetic scope over her first self-released albums. She gave up her lease in Iowa City and toured for two years across the U.S., the UK and the EU, eventually making Chicago her home base. It was during that swirl of migration that she leaned into the project that would become her most recent record, Wherever You Aren’t. Musically, the record teases sounds from alt-country, contemporary Nashville and indie soul, but mostly settles into the less genre-specific tone of early 20s weariness.

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Location: FitzGerald's - 6615 W Roosevelt Road, Berwyn, IL 60402

September 29, 2024

National Museum Of Mexican Art - 1852 West 19th Street Chicago, IL 60608

10:30 am - 7:00 pm: Pilsen Day Art & Experiences

Curated by Alberto Aguilar, Artist in Residence
Encounter a journey through interactive events in Pilsen

Alberto Aguilar is proud to be the first Chicago Humanities Artist-in-Residence with curated programs that will give audiences a chance to encounter art in new and exciting ways and inspire viewers to make their own active connections. Engage with unique programs during a full day in Aguilar’s home neighborhood of Pilsen, on Sunday, September 29th.

RSVP Includes:

10:30am - 12:00pm: Museum Church with Starting Sermon
12:00pm - 6:00pm: Asco Exhibition Gallery On View at Pilsen Arts and Community House*
12:00pm - 1:30pm: Harry Gamboa Jr. – The Chicano Arts Movement
12:30pm - 5:00pm: Film Screening of Ritual #1 Encounters by Fernando Saldivia Yáñez
1:30pm - 2:15pm: Walking Parade to Asco Tour (PACH) with Nancy David Sa?nchez Tamayo
2:00pm - 7:00pm: Auto Portrait Spectacular, with 50 Ingredient Molé Food Truck
2:30pm - 3:00pm: Acidix music set at Auto Portrait Spectacular
4:00pm - 4:45pm: Joey Nebulous music set at Auto Portrait Spectacular
6:00pm - 6:45pm: Avantist music set at Auto Portrait Spectacular

Alberto Aguilar:
Artist in Residence

Alberto Aguilar is a Chicago-based artist that uses life stuff as a pliable material to create a meaningful connection with the viewer. This could include language, everyday objects or actual situations he finds himself in. Through their reconfiguration, subversion and juxtaposition a new meaning reveals itself. He doesn’t distinguish his art practice from other various life roles which provides freedom allowing him to be more careful and present in situations. Alberto utilizes a self-imposed framework which gives him clear direction producing a generative and prolific output. He chooses to create outside of a studio setting in order to interact with others and experience the world more fully. Through asking questions and an openness to being directed by people and his surroundings he regularly collaborates with others. Although written in third person the artist arranged these three hundred words you are now reading in order to have a shared moment with you. What were you doing prior to reading this bio?

He is a 2024 US Latinx Artist Fellow and a recipient of the 3Arts award. He has shown at various museums, galleries, storefronts, and street corners around the world which include: The Queens Museum (NY), El Torito Supermercado (St. Louis), Minneapolis Institute of Art, Outside of the Dollar General on US-56 (Elkhart, KS), Museum of Contemporary Art (Detroit), The entrance of Chicago City Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art(Chicago), Parque Fe Del Valle- a designated wifi area (Havana, Cuba), National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), El Cosmico Trailer Park (Marfa, TX), El Lobi (San Juan, PR), I-80 rest stop (Iowa). Along with his daughter, Madeleine, he runs Mayfield, a multi-use space which operates on the grounds of their home. He teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. What will you do after you are done reading this Bio?

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2:30 pm - 4:00 pm: The Forces Shaping Immigration with Geraldo Cadava

Four experts on an issue of local, national, and international importance

Immigration is one of the most important issues on the minds of voters this year. We’ve seen the effects of immigration’s politicization here in Chicago due to the arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees. Immigration, though, is much more than a political issue; for better and worse, it’s a transformational experience for migrants and their families as they leave often-desperate circumstances in search of something better and more stable.

It can often feel like the debate about immigration has no good answers. But we’re going to have to find solutions soon because the realities that drive immigration—political instability, dire financial conditions, climate change—aren’t likely to go away any time soon. Join UIC professors and immigration experts Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez, Adam Goodman, and Barbara Sostaita for a panel moderated by Northwestern history professor Geraldo Cadava as they discuss this issue of local, national and international importance and give you the tools to think about and understand one of the most critical challenges we face as Americans.

Geraldo Cadava:
Scholar, Author

Geraldo Cadava (Ph.D., Yale University, 2008) is a historian of the United States at Northwestern University. He focuses on Latinos in the United States, the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and Latin American immigration. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, he came to Northwestern after finishing degrees at Yale University (Ph.D., 2008) and Dartmouth College (B.A., 2000).

Cadava is the author of two books. Most recently, he wrote The Hispanic Republican: The Shaping of An American Political Identity, from Nixon to Trump, published by Ecco in 2020. His first book was Standing on Common Ground: The Making of a Sunbelt Borderland, published by Harvard University Press in 2013. He is working on a third book, an overview of Latino History since the Spanish conquest called A Thousand Bridges, to be published by Crown.

He is a contributing writer for The New Yorker, co-editor-in-chief of Public Books, and author of the Substack newsletter Latinos in Depth. Other writing has appeared in The Journal of American History, The New York Times, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and elsewhere.

Cadava teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on Latino History, the American West, the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, migration to and from Latin America, and other topics in U.S. History, including Watergate, the musical Hamilton, the 2016 and 2020 elections, and the history of College Sports. He is also the director of the American Studies Program.

Dr. Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez:

Dr. Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez is a Bridge to Faculty Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of History at the University of Illinois Chicago. A social and legal historian of child migration, she is currently working on a book project that historicizes child-centered mechanisms and consequences of U.S. immigration exclusion. Her writing and research have appeared in peer-reviewed academic venues as well as national media outlets like The Washington Post, Time, and Teen Vogue. She has also authored policy briefs on the migration of children and women for the federal government and non-profits in the U.S. and Mexico. She is a proud member of the Migration Scholar Collaborative and a co-coordinator of the Newberry Library's Seminar in Borderlands and Latino/a Studies.

Adam Goodman:
Scholar, Writer

Adam Goodman is an associate professor of Latin American and Latino studies and history at the University of Illinois Chicago and a 2022-23 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. His interests include migration history, policy and law; Latino and Mexican American history; border and borderlands; social movements; racial and ethnic identity formation; and recent U.S., Mexican and Central American history.

Goodman’s award-winning book, The Deportation Machine: America’s Long History of Expelling Immigrants (Princeton UP, 2020), traces the US government’s systematic efforts to expel noncitizens over the past 140 years. It uncovers public officials’ use of force, coercion and fear to purge immigrants from the country and exert control over those who remain. The book introduces the politicians, bureaucrats, businesspeople and ordinary citizens who have pushed for and profited from expulsion. It chronicles the devastating human costs of punitive enforcement policies and the innovative strategies people have adopted to fight against removal and redefine belonging in ways that transcend citizenship. The Deportation Machinewas a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History and received the PROSE Award in North American History from the Association of American Publishers, the Henry Adams Book Prize from the Society for History in the Federal Government and Honorable Mention for the Theodore Saloutos Book Award from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society.

Goodman has written articles, essays and reviews for publications such as The Journal of American History, The Nation and The Washington Post. He has discussed Latino history and immigration policy in Spanish- and English-language interviews on Latino USA, Univisión, BBC Radio 4, CSPAN’s Book TV, Mexico’s TV UNAM and Canal 22 and BackStory, among other programs and outlets.

Goodman is a co-organizer of the #ImmigrationSyllabus project and a member of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation History Advisory Committee. From 2017 to 2022, he served as a coordinator of the Newberry Library’s Borderlands and Latino/a Studies Seminar. The National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright Program, and Immigration and Ethnic History Society have supported his work.

Before moving to Chicago, Goodman was a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and a visiting scholar at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania.

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5:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Documenting Lowrider Culture and Community

A panel discussion on expressing identity and culture through customized vehicles

Custom car enthusiasts in the Lowrider community have embraced vehicle modification as a form of cultural expression, challenging the pressure to conform in a society that frequently overlooks the artistic contributions and cultural identity of minority groups. Join us as photojournalists, cultural curators, and artists discuss the historical impact of Lowrider culture and its multigenerational reach.

Kristin Bedford:
Photographer

Located at the intersection of aesthetics and social realism, Kristin Bedford’s photography explores race, visual stereotypes, and communal self-expression. Through long-term engagement with communities, Bedford makes photographs that invite us to reconsider prevalent visual narratives around cultural and spiritual movements. Bedford’s monograph Cruise Night (Damiani, 2021), an exploration of the Mexican American lowrider community in Los Angeles, was a best-selling photography book in the USA the year of its release. Her photographs have appeared in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe and are held in numerous private and public collections worldwide, including LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), the Library of Congress and the Archive of Documentary Arts at the Rubenstein Library.

Bedford has given talks internationally about her projects, including presentations at Photo Days Paris, Parsons School of Design, Photo Saint-Germain, Pop-Up Magazine and on numerous National Public Radio broadcasts. Her work has been featured in leading publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine, The Royal Photographic Society Journal, Aesthetica Magazine, The Telegraph, CNN, Esquire, POLKA Magazine and the British Journal of Photography. Bedford holds a B.A. from George Washington University, an A.A. from The Fashion Institute of Technology and an M.F.A. from Duke University. Born in Washington, D.C., she lives and works in Los Angeles.

Armando Flores:
Artist

Armando Flores is a highly skilled artisan renowned for his meticulous craftsmanship in creating Lowrider scale models. Hailing from Tijuana, Mexico, he migrated to California with his family amidst the burgeoning Lowrider movement of the early 1970s. The passion for his artistry blossomed during this transformative era, drawing inspiration from the vibrant culture and innovation driving the Lowrider scene in America.

Over the years, Armando has garnered numerous accolades for his extraordinary works, showcasing them in prestigious museums and galleries. His miniature marvels have captivated audiences and earned him recognition as a master model builder. Today, he continues to captivate audiences nationally and internationally, sharing his passion and expertise with admirers and enthusiasts worldwide.

Slow & Low: Chicago Lowrider Festival:

Established in 2011, Slow & Low: Chicago Lowrider Festival celebrates the heritage of Lowriders. This curated community-cultural exhibition explores and presents Lowrider culture as an original form of American folk and contemporary art. These customized cars are a way of expressing beauty and self-expression by their owners, master craftspeople, innovative mechanics, and modifications including wire wheel rims with whitewall tires, custom pinstriping and upholstery, airbrush muralism, and other contributing visual aesthetics and material objects.

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Thalia Hall - 1807 South Allport Street Chicago, IL 60608

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Law Roach: How to Build a Fashion Icon

Notes on confidence from the world’s only Image Architect

Discover the secrets of creating a fashion legacy with legendary stylist Law Roach. Join us for an exclusive live discussion of his new book, How to Build a Fashion Icon. Roach, known for transforming celebrities like Celine Dion, Ariana Grande, and Zendaya into style sensations, will share anecdotes from his illustrious career. Learn how to cultivate a unique personal brand, navigate the fashion world, and leave a lasting impression. The Chicago native returns to the neighborhood of his first boutique to share insider tips on the most essential fashion accessory: confidence.

Law Roach:
American Fashion Stylist

Law Roach is a stylist and image architect who has worked with A-list celebrities including Zendaya, Céline Dion, Anne Hathaway, Kerry Washington, Anya Taylor-Joy, Venus Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Tom Holland, and many others. He was the first African American to be featured on the cover of the Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful Stylists issue. He is the co-host of E!’s eccentric new fashion competition series OMG Fashun and was a judge on hit TV shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race. Roach has been interviewed and featured at length in outlets including the New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, the Guardian, and more. In April 2022, he was named the West Coast contributing editor of British Vogue.

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7:30 pm - 9:00 pm: aja monet

Artist aja monet’s poems are a work of gravity. They are a fundamental for which all things are attracted, considered upon and enacted towards. Her work moves, constantly, between origin and outcome, allowing them to exist in converse. In her debut album when the poems do what they do, we glimpse her indefatigable commitment to speak. Those thematic origins of this album at times center around Black resistance, love and the inexhaustible quest for joy.

aja monet:

aja monet’s poems are a work of gravity. They are a fundamental for which all things are attracted, considered upon and enacted towards. Her work moves, constantly, between origin and outcome, allowing them to exist in converse. In her debut album when the poems do what they do, we glimpse her indefatigable commitment to speak. Those thematic origins of this album at times center around Black resistance, love and the inexhaustible quest for joy.

As a community organizer, surrealist blues poet and teacher aja monet moves between mediums, each one an element to her writing. Here, organizing and activism aren’t the point, they’re the process. The endgame is liberation and the poems, the music, and the art serve as the scribe of the time. Building off a tradition rooted in oratorical facility aja is the conduit for her predecessors to channel through. At any given time you’ll find the revolutionary spirit of Audre Lorde and the Last Poets, you’ll feel June Jordan, Amiri Baraka, Jayne Cortez and even the expressive ephemerality of a passing blue note.

All appearing as generational trees from which these poems fruit. aja monet has been a poet in name since before birth. In her 2017 debut collection of poems my mother was a freedom fighter, she outlines in give my regards to Brooklyn, “i owe my life/to the woman/who stopped my mother/on the b56/on her way/to the abortion clinic/and told her/ you have a poet coming.” She has been a poet in verb since youth, “I started writing when I was 8 or 9 — [but] I think I was a poet before I wrote my first poem.” She matriculated in writing upon enrolling in Baruch College Campus High School and then in joining Urban World NYC. She cut her teeth within the walls of the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café, where she won the title of Grand Slam Champion in 2007 at age 19, making her the youngest Grand Slam Champion in the venue’s history.

She grew up in Brooklyn, where the incessant harassment of the Black community by way of the police was an untenable growing pain. Here in between the raucous and propulsive insistence of rap and the predetermined experience of Black people in America she learned to navigate language. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and living briefly in Paris, aja monet co-edited Chorus: A Literary Mixtape alongside poet-actor-director Saul Williams and released two chapbooks of poetry The Black Unicorn Sings and Inner-City Cyborgs and Ciphers. Throughout her journeys, her poems always have a way of pointing back to home—aware and paying homage to from whence she came.

In when the poems do what they do aja monet appears as a woman of letters and storm, her poems do not roar in pentameter—but rather in storm surge because, “Who’s got time for poems when the world is on fire?!” And this work isn’t one to pull apart into one liners, these are poems of things felt. There is a fullness here that can’t be encapsulated in even the boundaries that language offers. aja monet is a griot, a storyteller, a chronicler, and your grandmother telling you about her first love all at once.

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October 2, 2024

7:00pm to 8:00pm: Kate McKinnon: Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science
Chat with the legendary comedian on her debut literary project

Join us for a thrilling evening with two-time Emmy Award-winning comedian Kate McKinnon as she unveils her debut novel and a new series for quirky tweens and young adult readers aged 8-12, The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science. The former SNL cast member, no stranger to creating wonderfully wild characters, digs into her creative process and how her childhood love of adventure and the natural world inspired this years-in-the-making imaginative literary expression. Don't miss this uproarious opportunity to witness Kate’s hilarious intersection of maniacal genius and proper etiquette!

Pre-Event Meet and Greet with Kate McKinnon

To meet and get a photo with Weird Barbie, aka Kate McKinnon, before the event, add “Meet and Greet with Kate McKinnon (Pre-Event)" to your cart. A limited number of reservations are available for the meet and greet, and you must have a ticket to the program to attend.

Kate McKinnon:
Actor, Comedian

Kate McKinnon is an award-winning performer and writer, who is celebrated globally for her work in film and television. Young readers will recognize her voice role as ‘Ms. Frizzle’ in The Magic School Bus Rides Againfor Netflix. She recently played ‘Weird Barbie’ in Greta Gerwig’s worldwide blockbuster hit, Barbie. The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science is her debut novel.

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Location: Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture - 2936 North Southport Avenue Chicago, IL 60657

October 5, 2024

11:00 am - 12:00 pm: A Conversation with Connie Chung

The pioneering journalist and CBS Evening News anchor

Join us for a captivating conversation with legendary broadcast journalist Connie Chung as she unveils her highly anticipated memoir. Making history and achieving her dream of being the first Asian to anchor any news program in the United States, Chung also describes her career as an Asian woman in a white male-centric industry where overt sexism was an unfortunate way of the world. Don't miss this scoop of a lifetime to engage with an icon and celebrate a career dedicated to truth, integrity, and breaking barriers.

Connie Chung:
News Anchor and Reporter

Connie Chung, pioneer news anchor and reporter was the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News, the flagship news broadcast on CBS. Connie was only the second woman to anchor any network evening broadcast in television history.

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12:00 pm - 1:30 pm: UIC Forum Member Reception

Enjoy the Member lunch-hour reception with quick bites and refreshments at the UIC Forum following the program with pioneering journalist Connie Chung. If you’re attending the free member program featuring historian Dylan C. Penningroth, we invite you to join the reception before or after the event to connect with fellow members in our vibrant community.

This event is free to all members, however, tickets are required and do not include entry to additional programs throughout the day. Please click the following link to reserve your tickets. We can't wait to see you there!

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Dylan C. Penningroth: Before the Civil Rights Movement

The hidden history of Black civil rights

Historically for Black people in America, the law was a hostile, fearsome power to be avoided. Drawing on long-forgotten sources found in the basements of county courthouses across the nation, Dylan C. Penningroth, MacArthur Genius Grant winner and historian at University of California, Berkeley, sheds light on the courageous individuals and lesser-known events that laid the foundation for the landmark struggle for equality.

Challenging accepted understandings of Black history framed by relations with white people, Penningroth puts Black people at the center of the story—their loves and anger and loneliness, their efforts to stay afloat, their mistakes and embarrassments, their fights, their ideas, their hopes and disappointments, in all their messy humanness. Uncover the overlooked roots of the Black Civil Rights Movement in this riveting live discussion focused on Penningroth’s latest book, Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights.

Dylan C. Penningroth:
Historian

Dylan C. Penningroth specializes in African American history and in U.S. socio-legal history. His first book, The Claims of Kinfolk: African American Property and Community in the Nineteenth-Century South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003), won the Avery Craven Prize from the Organization of American Historians. His articles have appeared in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Journal of American History, the American Historical Review, and the Journal of Family History. Penningroth has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and the Stanford Humanities Center, and has been recognized by the Organization of American Historians’ Huggins-Quarles committee, a Weinberg College Teaching Award (Northwestern University), a McCormick Professorship of Teaching Excellence (Northwestern), and a MacArthur Foundation fellowship.

Before joining UC Berkeley in 2015, Dylan Penningroth was on the faculty of the History Department at the University of Virginia (1999-2002), at Northwestern University (2002-2015), and a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation (2007-2015). In Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights (Liveright, 2023), Penningroth revises the conventional story of civil rights to tell a forgotten pre-history of the marches of the 1960s. Drawing on sources found in the basements of county courthouses across the nation, he reveals that African Americans have thought about, talked about, and used the law going as far back as even the era of slavery. They dealt constantly with the laws of property, contract, inheritance, marriage and divorce, of associations, and more. Before the Movement?is an account of Black legal lives that looks beyond the Constitution and the criminal justice system to recover a rich, broader vision of Black life?a vision allied with, yet distinct from, the freedom struggle.

Before the Movement has been awarded the 2024 Merle Curti Prize, Organization of American Historians; the 2024 Ellis W. Hawley Prize, Organization of American Historians; the 2023 Langum Prize for American Legal History; and was shortlisted for the 2024 Mark Lynton History Prize from the Columbia Journalism School.

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12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Max Boot: The Life and Legend of Ronald Reagan

The best-selling historian on the man who ushered in a transformative conservative era

Best-selling author and historian Max Boot shares with Chicago Humanities the story of our 40th president—son of the Midwest, movie star and mesmerizing politician—whose telegenic leadership ushered in a transformative conservative era. Boot’s gripping and profoundly revisionist biography, Reagan: His Life and Legend, reveals the man behind the myth—but also argues that Reagan’s inscrutability during his lifetime contributed to his appeal. Boot, whose previous book was The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right, offers no apologia, depicting a man with a Manichean, good-versus-evil worldview and providing revelatory insights into “trickle-down economics,” the Cold War’s end, the Iran-Contra affair and much more.

Max Boot:
Historian

Max Boot is a historian, best-selling author and foreign-policy analyst. He is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a weekly columnist for The Washington Post.

Max Boot’s new biography of Ronald Reagan, Reagan: His Life and Legend (September 2024, Norton/Liveright), has been acclaimed as “an exceptional biography of an exceptional man” (David Petraeus), “a timely and fascinating book” (Walter Isaacson), and “a prodigiously researched, satisfying presidential biography” (Kirkus). Max Boot’s previous biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in biography.

Boot is also the author of four other widely acclaimed books: The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right (2018); the New York Times bestseller Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present (2013); War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today (2006); and The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power (2002), which won the 2003 General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation as the best nonfiction book pertaining to Marine Corps history and has been placed on military professional reading lists.

Boot has been a CNN global affairs analyst and a regular guest on MSNBC, NPR, BBC, and many other radio and television programs. He was named in 2018 one of America’s “Great Immigrants” by the Carnegie Corporation and one of the 50 most influential Jewish Americans by the Forward newspaper. Boot served as a foreign policy adviser to the presidential campaigns of John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Marco Rubio.

Before joining the Council on Foreign Relations in 2002, Boot was the op-ed editor at The Wall Street Journal and, before that, an editor and writer at the Christian Science Monitor. He has also been a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the New York Times, Foreign Policy, Commentary, and many other publications.

Boot holds a bachelor’s degree in history, with high honors, from the University of California at Berkeley (1991) and a master’s degree in history from Yale University (1992). He was born in Moscow, grew up in Los Angeles, and now lives with his family in New York City.

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2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Erik Larson: The Demon of Unrest

Robert R. McCormick Foundation Program
The bestselling author on a slow-burning crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two.

In The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War—and explores how the passions of the North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.

Larson will take us behind the scenes of his craft and process, sharing everything from how he chooses his topics and his writing routine to his favorite—and not-so-favorite—characters in the book.

Beloved by Chicago history buffs for The Devil in the White City, Larson has given us in The Demon of Unrest a political horror story that serves as a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late. A copy of the book is included in your ticket purchase. Don't miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of the forces that led America to the brink.

A book signing will follow this program.

Erik Larson:
Journalist, Author

Erik Larson is the author of six previous national bestsellers—The Splendid and the Vile, Dead Wake, In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City and Isaac’s Storm—which have collectively sold more than 12 million copies. His books have been published in nearly 40 countries.

Steve Edwards:
Former Chief Content Officer at WBEZ

Steve Edwards spent more than 20 years as an award-winning journalist, interviewer and host of such programs as WBEZ’s Eight Forty-Eight and The Afternoon Shift. As a journalist, his work has appeared on the BBC, Bloomberg News, PBS and numerous public radio stations around the United States. Most recently, he was Chief Content Officer and interim CEO of WBEZ Chicago Public Media, Chicago’s NPR News station. From 2012 to 2017, Edwards helped launch and lead the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, a non-partisan program devoted to cultivating the next generation of public service leaders. He’s currently a managing director at Koya Partners, an executive search and strategic advisory firm focused on identifying and strengthening mission-driven leaders across the civic and non-profit sectors. Edwards earned his B.A. in political science from Amherst College and was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan.

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2:30 pm - 3:30 pm: David Greenberg: John Lewis, The Conscience of Congress

A historian on his definitive biography of a Civil Rights Era icon

Historian David Greenberg’s new biography, John Lewis: A Life, is the definitive biography of a man whose heroism helped to bring America a new birth of freedom. Greenberg will share Lewis’ vital contributions to the Civil Rights Movement—from working as a Freedom Rider to being the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington to nearly dying after being beaten by Alabama State Troopers after leading a march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery.

He will also detail Lewis’ post-Civil Rights Movement years, including as a leader of the Voter Education Project and as a longtime Democratic leader in Congress. Greenberg will take us behind the scenes to his interviews with Lewis and approximately 275 others who knew him at various stages of his life, as well as how he accessed never-before-used FBI files and long-lost footage of Lewis speaking to reporters from his hospital bed following “Bloody Sunday” in Selma.

A book signing will follow this program.

David Greenberg:
Historian, Professor

David Greenberg is a professor of history and of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University and a frequent commentator on historical and political affairs. He is the author or editor of several books on American history and politics including Nixon’s Shadow: The History of an Image and Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency. Formerly acting editor of The New Republic and then a columnist for Slate, Greenberg now writes regularly for Politico, Liberties, The New York Times and The Washington Post. His work has also been featured in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The Wall Street Journal and numerous academic journals. In support of this book Greenberg won awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Cullman Center of the New York Public Library, and the Leon Levy Center for Biography. He holds a PhD in history from Columbia University and a BA from Yale and lives with his family in Manhattan.

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2:30 pm - 3:30 pm: Revolutionary Movements of Hope or Despair?

A conversation between Kelly Hayes and Atef Said

From the Arab Spring and Black Lives Matter uprisings, to Occupy Wall Street and ongoing Indigenous rights movements, as well as global anti-war protests, the 21st century has already been defined and shaped by large-scale political activism. However, organizers and activists across these movements have faced challenges of political polarizations, manipulation, infiltration, and digital repression. Most importantly, a constant state of heavy despair due to the lack of concrete fruits of these movements has been an impediment to continued momentum. Though there are obstacles along the path, two engaged authors and educators will share dialectics of hope and despair as guiding logics across social movements organizing today to lead us into a better, brighter tomorrow.

Kelly Hayes:
Writer, Podcast Host

Kelly Hayes is a Menominee author, organizer, movement educator, and photographer. She is the host of Truthout‘s podcast Movement Memos and co-author of the book Let This Radicalize You, with Mariame Kaba. Kelly also is also the creator of “Organizing My Thoughts,” a weekly newsletter about politics and justice work. Kelly was a co-founder of the Lifted Voices collective and the Chicago Light Brigade. She has led countless workshops over the years, and has trained thousands of people around the country in direct action tactics. Kelly has also served as a grassroots strategist, offering advice and analysis to groups across Chicago and the United States. Kelly’s written work can be found in Truthout, Teen Vogue, Bustle, The Huffington Post, Yes! Magazine, Pacific Standard, her blog Transformative Spaces, The Appeal and numerous anthologies. Her movement photography is featured in the “Freedom and Resistance” exhibit of the DuSable Museum of African American History.

Atef Shahat Said:
Assistant Professor of Sociology

Atef Said is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Said has been researching and teaching social movements and revolutions for more than a decade. His research engages with the fields of sociological theory, political sociology, sociology of social movements and revolutions, historical sociology, sociology of the Middle East, and global sociology. Said is the author of Revolution Squared: Tahrir, Political Possibilities and Counter- Revolution in Egypt (Duke University Press, 2024). Said’s work is published in academic journals such as Social Problems, Social Research, International Sociology, Sociology Compass, Contemporary Sociology, and Middle East Critique. His work also has appeared in important scholarly references such as the Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East and the I.B. Tauris Handbook of Sociology and the Middle East, and important scholarly books such as Political Science Research in the Middle East and North Africa: Methodological and Ethical Challenges. He is the author of Arab Spring, Mobilization, and Contentious Politics in the Middle East, for Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology.

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4:30 pm - 5:30 pm: Anna Marie Tendler: Men Have Called Her Crazy

A conversation on mental health, writing, and art

In early 2021, popular multimedia artist Anna Marie Tendler checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Tendler is now ready to share her experience, the growth undertaken, and talk about the unreasonable expectations and pressures women face in the 21st century, oftentimes at the hands of men in their lives. Join Chicago Humanities for an authentic conversation on mental health, the modern realities of womanhood, and the ways in which art can carry us through.

Anna Marie Tendler:
Photographer, Writer, Artist

Anna Marie Tendler is an artist and writer. She holds a master’s degree in costume studies from New York University. She lives in Connecticut with her three cats, Chimney, Moon, and Butter.

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4:30 pm - 6:00 pm: Seeds in a Suitcase: Growing Place within Chicago Gardens

A discussion on refugees sowing seed and cultivating social infrastructure

Join our fascinating panel discussion led by Molly Doane, Associate Professor of Anthropology at UIC, and Haley LeRand, Director of the Global Garden Refugee Training Farm, as they explore place-making in diaspora through the seeds that refugees and immigrants carry with them as they migrate, the gardens they create, and the social infrastructures and movements they grow.

Molly Doane

Dr. Molly Doane is Associate Professor of Anthropology at UIC. Her work concerns the relationship between people, the environment and community activism. She has written about indigenous forest conservation projects in Mexico, organic farmer cooperatives in Mexico and Wisconsin, and community gardening in Chicago's working-class neighborhoods.

Haley LeRand
Guitarist, Vocalist, Executive Director

Haley LeRand is the Executive Director of Global Garden Refugee Training Farm (GGRTF), a non-profit farm in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood that supports 60+ refugees who grow organic vegetables for sale and home consumption. She holds a BA in Psychology from University of Illinois at Chicago, where she spent several years working as a research assistant under Dr. Molly Doane on a project called Cultivating Wellbeing: The Cultural and Ecological Significance of Urban Gardening in Chicago. She has extensive experience working with Chicago's refugee populations, managing the GGRTF programs and operations, and expanding the farm's activities and resources to further its mission. Haley lives in Evanston and works as a musician in her spare time.

Dr. Zeina Zaatari

Director of the Arab American Cultural Center, adjunct faculty in Anthropology, Faculty Fellow in the Honors College at the University of Illinois at Chicago
Zeina Zaatari, Ph.D., is the Director of the Arab American Cultural Center, adjunct faculty in Anthropology, and Faculty Fellow in the Honors College at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She previously worked as Research Director at Political Research Associate, MENA Program Director at the Global Fund for Women, and lecturer in Anthropology and Gender Studies. Her recent publications include two co-edited books: Routledge Handbook on Women of the Middle East co-edited with Suad Joseph (2023) and The Politics of Engaged Gender Research in the Arab Region: Feminist Fieldwork and Knowledge Production co-edited with Suad Joseph and Lena Meari (2022). Among her other publications include: "Sarah Hegazy and the Struggle for Freedom," Middle East Report Online (2020), “Social Movements and Revolution” in A Companion to the Anthropology of the Middle East (2015). She is an Associate Editor for the Middle East and Africa for the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, president-elect of the Association for Middle East Women's Studies 2024-2026, and a co-founder and elected board member of Women Human Rights Defenders-MENA Coalition.

Sarita Hernández

Sarita Hernández is the Program Director/Student Support and graduate student alum of the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change's (CCUSC) Heritage Garden at UIC. The UIC Heritage Garden is a hands-on learning garden internship where student interns connect horticulture with environmental sustainability, cultural diversity, and social justice. Sarita is a teaching artist at the Hyde Park Art Center, an advisory board member for Neighbors for Environmental Justice (N4EJ), and a garden caregiver for the McKinley Park Community Garden's mutual aid beds. They exist at the intersection of oral histories, zine/printmaking, arts education, and environmental justice with Marimacha Monarca Press, a queer and trans artist familia in Chicago’s Southwest side since 2017. Sarita is based in McKinley Park and makes plant-based pies and cakes in Back of the Yards.

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6:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Richard Powers: On Playground

Award winning author discusses his new panoramic novel

Join us for a sweeping experience with Pulitzer Prize (The Overstory) and National Book Award winner Richard Powers as he provides an exploration into our shared humanity with his thought-provoking new work. Powers remarks on his awe-filled book, Playground, setting the vast ocean as the last wild place we have yet to colonize.

Powers discusses with Rebecca Makkai the profound interweaving themes of technology, the environment and the digital age's impact on childhood. With insight into his beautiful writing, Powers poignantly reflects on our relationship with the natural world and reality.

Richard Powers
Writer, Novelist

Richard Powers is the author of fourteen novels, including The Overstory, Bewilderment, and Orfeo. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Award. He lives in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Rebecca Makkai

Rebecca Makkai is the author of this year’s New York Times bestselling I Have Some Questions For You as well as the novels The Great Believers, The Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, and the short story collection Music for Wartime. The Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize among other honors. A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Rebecca teaches graduate fiction writing at Northwestern University, UNR Tahoe, and Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English; and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. She lives in Chicago and Vermont.

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Location: UIC Dorin Forum - 725 W Roosevelt Rd Chicago, IL 60608

October 9, 2024

7:00pm to 9:00pm: R.L. Stine: A Modern Master of Horror

A special Goosebumps screening co-presented with Music Box of Horrors

Chicago Humanities and Music Box Theater conjure Halloween spirits with this spooky screening and hair-raising talk with best-selling children’s author and the creative mind behind the Goosebumps franchise, R.L. Stine. First introduced in 1992, Goosebumps is one of the bestselling book series of all time, with more than 400 million books in print worldwide and available in 32 languages—defining the nightmares of a generation. Grasp this rare, spine-tingling opportunity to see Goosebumps on the Music Box big screen, followed by exclusive insights and behind-the-scenes stories with the Master of Modern Horror himself.

Pre-Event School-tastic Book Fair

Come early for a pop-up experience reminiscent of your favorite childhood book fair, complete with specialty themed cocktails, fun knick-knacks, shopping, and plenty of Goosebumps books. This activation will take place from 6pm - 7 pm in the Music Box Lounge.

Post-Event Meet & Greet with R.L. Stine

To meet and get a photo with R.L Stine after the event, add “Meet and Greet with R.L Stine (Post-Event)" to your cart. A limited number of reservations are available for the meet and greet, and you must have a ticket to the program to attend.

Goosebumps screening

Season 1, Episode 1: Say Cheese and Die!

All is going well for Isaiah. He's the star quarterback on the verge of a football scholarship and one of the most popular kids at school. But when he helps throw a Halloween party at the Biddle House, he discovers an old camera in the basement and his life begins to spiral when he starts using it. Some flashing light sequences or patterns may affect photosensitive viewers.

Synopsis of Goosebumps series:

The series follows a group of five high schoolers as they embark on a shadowy and twisted journey to investigate the tragic passing three decades earlier of a teen named Harold Biddle — while also unearthing dark secrets from their parents’ past.

RL Stine:
Author

R.L. Stine is one of the best-selling children’s authors in history. Goosebumps, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, has more than 400 million books in print in 32 languages. An all-new New York Timesbestselling Goosebumps series, House of Shivers, debuted in September 2023, with two more books to be published in 2024.

The Goosebumps series made R.L. Stine a worldwide publishing celebrity (and Jeopardy answer). His other popular children’s book series include Fear Street (recently revived as a feature film trilogy), The Garbage Pail Kids, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Rotten School. Other titles include: It’s The First Day of School Forever, A Midsummer Night’s Scream, Young Scrooge, Stinetinglers, and three picture books, with Marc Brown—The Little Shop of Monsters, Mary McScary, and Why Did the Monster Cross the Road (2023).

The Goosebumps TV series was the number-one children’s show in America for three years. The episodes can still be seen on Netflix. R.L.’s anthology TV series, R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, won the Emmy Award three years in a row as Best Children’s Show. His newest Disney+ TV series are a new live-action Goosebumps series, executive produced by Scholastic Entertainment, and Just Beyond, based on his graphic novels for BOOM! Studios. Two Goosebumps feature films starring Jack Black as R.L. Stine were released in 2015 and 2018. The first film became the #1 film in America. A trilogy of Fear Street movies released in 2021 all reached #1 on Netflix.

RL. Stine lives in New York City with his wife Jane, an editor and publisher. You can connect with him on Twitter @RL_Stine, as well as on Instagram and Facebook. For more information, visit rlstine.com.

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Location: Music Box Theatre - 3733 North Southport Avenue Chicago, IL 60613

October 15, 2024

6:00pm to 10:00pm: Annual Benefit and Celebration

Join us for the 2024 Annual Benefit as we celebrate the kickoff of our Fall Festival! We'll be honoring Albert M. Friedman from Friedman Properties and featuring a presentation by New York Times columnist Frank Bruni.

6:00 pm Reception; 7:00 Dinner and Program

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Location: Four Seasons Hotel Chicago - 120 East Delaware Place Chicago, IL 60611

October 16, 2024

6:00pm to 7:00pm: Ta-Nehisi Coates: The Message

A discussion on the stories we tell moderated by Dr. Eve L. Ewing

Join us for an evening with acclaimed National Book Award Winner and MacArthur Fellow author Ta-Nehisi Coates as he discusses his latest work, The Message. Written at a dramatic moment in American and global life, this work from one of the country’s most important writers is about the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive myths that shape our world—and our own souls—and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths. This live engagement offers an opportunity to hear directly from one of today's most influential writers as he excavates the roots of our social and political polarization.

Ta-Nehisi Coates:

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning author and journalist. He is the author of the bestselling books The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power, The Water Dancer, and Between the World and Me, which won the National Book Award in 2015. He was a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship that same year.

As a journalist with a career spanning over two decades, he’s written for numerous publications including The Washington City Paper, The Village Voice, The New Yorker and The New York Times. During his time reporting for The Atlantic between 2008-2018, he penned numerous articles and essays, including the National Magazine Award-winning 2012 essay “Fear of a Black President” and the influential June 2014 essay “The Case For Reparations.”

Ta-Nehisi also enjoyed a successful run writing Marvel’s Black Panther (2016-2021) and Captain America (2018-2021) comics series. Ta-Nehisi is currently writing the screenplays for the upcoming films Wrong Answer, Superman and the film adaptation of his first fiction novel, The Water Dancer. In the fall of 2022, he joined Howard University’s faculty as a writer-in-residence and the Sterling Brown Chair in the Department of English.

Eve Ewing:

Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a sociologist of education and a writer from Chicago. She is the award-winning author of the poetry collections Electric Arches and 1919 and the nonfiction work Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side. Ewing is the co-author (with Nate Marshall) of the play No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. She also currently writes the Champions series for Marvel Comics and previously wrote the acclaimed Ironheart series, as well as other projects. Ewing is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other venues. Her first book for young readers, Maya and the Robot, is forthcoming in July 2021.

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Location: Harris Theater for Music and Dance - 205 E Randolph St Chicago, IL 60601

October 19, 2024

7:00pm to 8:00pm: Malcolm Gladwell: Revenge of the Tipping Point

Overstories, superspreaders, and the rise of social engineering

It has been twenty-five years since publication of bestseller, The Tipping Point. Let’s join Malcolm Gladwell as he reveals a fresh reframing of his groundbreaking first book in a startling new light. Hear the always provocative Gladwell revisit the phenomenon of social epidemics and the ways in which we have learned to tinker with and shape the spread of ideas, viruses, and trends—sometimes with great success, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Don't miss this thought-provoking discussion skating on the double-edged sword of viral phenomena in our world.

A book signing will follow this program

Malcolm Gladwell:
Journalist, Author, and Public Speaker

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers: The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, David and Goliath, Talking to Strangers, and The Bomber Mafia. He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy’s Top Global Thinkers.

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Location: Ramova - 3520 South Halsted Street Chicago, IL 60609

October 24, 2024

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Joan Baez Laureate+ Pre-Event Reception

We are delighted to invite our Laureate and Humanist Circle supporters to an exclusive reception on October 24th preceding our highly anticipated Joan Baez program.

This special event will take place in the elegant Paradiso room of the Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture and offers a unique opportunity to mingle with fellow members and enthusiasts of the humanities. As a token of appreciation for your dedicated support, guests will receive a complimentary copy of her latest book, When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance: Poems.

This event is free to Laureate and Humanist members, however, tickets are required and do not include entry to the Joan Baez program. To reserve your tickets for Joan Baez, please click here.

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7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Joan Baez: When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance

A chat on poetry with Krista Tippett from On Being

Immerse yourself in the lyrical world of legendary artist and activist, Joan Baez. Sharing decades of personal poetry for the first time publicly, join us to discover how Baez has weaved her verse with experiences, activism, and her musical legacy. Bask in the inspiring stories of her childhood and poetic reflections on fellow friends and icons like Judy Collins, Jimi Hendrix, and her complex relationship with Bob Dylan. You will cherish this discussion and celebration of one of America's most beloved voices exploring the power of her words beyond music.

A book signing will follow this program.

Joan Baez
Singer, Songwriter, Musician

Joan Baez is a musical force of nature whose commitment to social activism has never wavered. Starting with her early 1960s recordings, her performances of traditional ballads exerted a powerful attraction on a generation and songs like “House of the Rising Sun” and “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” found their way into the rock vernacular. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

At the same time, Baez’s role in the human rights and anti-war movements around the world has earned her place in history, alongside friends and allies, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, the Irish Peace People, Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, and others.

Today, the life and times of Joan Baez are reflected in her “Mischief Makers” series of paintings that immortalize risk- taking visionaries, ranging from Dr. King and Bob Dylan to the Dalai Lama and Patti Smith.

Krista Tippett
Author, Journalist

Krista Tippett is a Peabody-award winning broadcaster, National Humanities Medalist, and New York Times bestselling author. She created the groundbreaking public radio show and podcast On Being, which pursues deep thinking, moral imagination, social creativity, and joy towards the renewal of inner life, outer life, and life together. It has won the highest honors in broadcast, Internet and podcasting, and been downloaded over 450 million times. The On Being Project, which Krista founded in 2013, also engages “quiet conversations” to accompany the generative people and possibilities within this tender, tumultuous time to be alive. She received the National Humanities Medal at the White House in 2014 for "thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence. On air and in print, Ms. Tippett avoids easy answers, embracing complexity and inviting people of every background to join her conversation about faith, ethics, and moral wisdom."

Krista grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, attended Brown University, worked as a young journalist and diplomat in Cold War Berlin, and later received a Master of Divinity from Yale. She is the author of three books, most recently Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living.

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Location: Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture - 2936 North Southport Avenue Chicago, IL 60657

October 26, 2024

11:00 am - 12:00 pm: In Conversation with the Former President of Costa Rica: Carlos Alvarado Quesada

The impact of small state diplomacy on climate migration

From May 2018 to May 2022, Carlos Alvarado Quesada served as the 48th President of the Republic of Costa Rica. Under his leadership, Costa Rica contributed to global efforts to combat climate change and defended human rights, democracy, and multilateralism. President Quesada was influential in his commitment to small state solutions to address climate change and the forced migration that results. Now a Professor of Practice of Diplomacy in the Graduate School of Global Affairs at Tufts University, Quesada joins Chicago Humanities to discuss climate migration and the diplomatic opportunities and challenges for small states as negotiators of climate policies with Hari M. Osofsky, dean and Myra and James Bradwell Professor Environmental Law and Culture at Northwestern University.

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11:00 am - 12:00 pm: U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey in Conversation

An exquisite meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit

Natasha Trethewey is a tour de force of poetry. She is also a Pulitzer Prize winner, U.S. poet laureate, and best-selling author, not to mention an Evanston resident and a professor of English at Northwestern. Join us as she discusses her newest book, The House of Being. Trethewey offers up a vision of writing as reclamation: of our own lives and the stories of the vanished, forgotten, and erased. She revisits the geography of her childhood, tracing the origins of her writing life in an intimate and searching meditation of her hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi.

In a shotgun house in Gulfport, Mississippi, Natasha Trethewey learned to read and write. But years prior, this same land was a farming settlement where a group of formerly enslaved women, men, and children made a new home. She recalls the markers of history and culture that dotted the horizons of her youth: the Confederate flags proudly flown throughout Mississippi; her gradual understanding of her own identity as the child of a Black mother and a white father; and her grandmother’s collages lining the hallway, offering glimpses of the world as it could be.

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12:00 pm - 1:30 pm: Northwestern Day Member Reception

Don't miss out the Northwestern Day members' lunch-hour reception at the Jean Gimbel Lane Reception Room at the Ryan Center for Music following the free members program with Barry Sonnenfeld - Hollywood director of Men in Black, Get Shorty, and The Addams Family.

This reception is free for all members, however, tickets are required and do not include entry to additional programs throughout the day. To reserve your event tickets, please click here.

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1:00 pm - 2:30 pm: Dr. Maayan Hilel on Cultural Entwinement and Transformation

A research-based history of the interconnected cultures of Jewish-Zionist and Palestinian-Arab societies before 1948

Dr. Maayan Hilel, Assistant Director of the Crown Family Center for Jewish & Israel Studies and Assistant Professor of Instruction in Jewish & Israel Studies, joins Chicago Humanities to discuss the entwined cultures and cultural transformations of Jewish-Zionist and Palestinian-Arab societies before 1948. Through archival research in Hebrew, Arabic, and English on the minutiae of daily life, she explores daily intercommunal encounters and cultural collaboration between ordinary Arabs and Jews.

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2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Barry Sonnenfeld: Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time—True Stories From a Career in Hollywood

Laughter-inducing tales from the legendary director of Men in Black, Get Shorty, and The Addams Family

The legendary director of Men in Black, Get Shorty, and The Addams Family dishes out a delectable mix of insights and true tales that escalate from outrageous to unbelievable in his new memoir, Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time. From battling with studio executives and producers to bad-script-solving on set to coaxing actors into finding the right light and talking faster, Sonnenfeld will provide an entertaining masterclass in how to make commercial art in the face of constant human foible. You’ll never see Hollywood the same way again.

A book signing will follow this program.

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2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: John Green and Rebecca Makkai in Conversation

The two best-selling authors on their work, their lives, and whether writing fiction matters

John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, The Anthropocene Reviewed) and Rebecca Makkai (The Great Believers, I Have Some Questions for You) are two of our most beloved contemporary writers. They’re also long-time admirers of each other’s work. For the first time, the two best-selling authors will come together to discuss their books and their lives. They’ll also share why they chose to write fiction in the first place and the role that novels can—and can’t—play in today’s short-attention-span world.

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2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Michelangelo Sabatino and Chandra Goldsmith-Gray in Conversation: The Edith Farnsworth House

An icon of modern architecture with a legendary history

The Edith Farnsworth House, one of the most famous residences in modern architectural history, was legendary long before it could be widely accessed. Michelangelo Sabatino brings to life the house’s original design by Mies van der Rohe and discusses periods of neglect, flooding, and new ownership by Lord Peter Palumbo in his latest book, The Edith Farnsworth House: Architecture, Preservation, Culture. Now publicly accessible and celebrating 20 years of being owned and administered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Sabatino joins Chandra Goldsmith-Gray and Thomas Leslie to discuss this icon of modern architecture, featuring a reading of Edith Farnsworth’s memoir.

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3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Wendy Pearlman on the New Syrian Diaspora

Rethinking the meaning of home

Since the 2011 uprising evolved into a brutal war, millions of Syrians have been forced to flee their homes. Northwestern Professor of Political Science Wendy Pearlman has spent more than a decade interviewing hundreds of Syrian refugees to explore how people remake and rethink home after displacement. Her new book The Home I Worked to Make: Voices from the New Syrian Diaspora, shares stories and reflections from Syrians around the world — now in places from Turkey to Norway, Japan, Brazil, and beyond — as they make sense of their own movement and migration. Pearlman sits down with Lina Sergie Attar, founder and CEO of the Illinois-based Karam Foundation, to talk about the book, discuss the shift from Syrian “refugee crisis” to diaspora-making, and challenge our conceptions of the universal question: “What is home?”

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4:30 pm - 5:30 pm: Kaveh Akbar: Seeking Meaning in Faith, Art, and Others

The poet discusses his acclaimed debut novel Martyr!

“Nothing short of miraculous.” That’s how The New York Times describes Kaveh Akbar’s first novel, Martyr! Akbar, an acclaimed poet based at the University of Iowa, will take us into the world of the novel’s protagonist, Cyrus Shams, a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past. Akbar will also share the challenges and opportunities that came with writing his first novel, as well as the community of writers around him—what he calls a “super-team Avengers squad of writers”—who have inspired and supported him throughout his career. Akbar will be joined by moderator John Green, author of the The Fault in Our Stars, who says of Martyr!: “So stunning, so wrenching, and so beautifully written that reading it for the first time, I kept forgetting to breathe.”

A book signing will follow this program.

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4:30 pm - 5:30 pm: Writing on Eggshells: Political Comedy Cracked Up

Second City’s Kelly Leonard chats with four late-night writers

What’s it like to write for the most popular late-night comedy shows in America when the news already feels like a satire of itself? Second City’s Kelly Leonard sits down with Chicago-bred talent who have written for the hottest shows in late night: Ali Barthwell (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), Peter Grosz (The Colbert Report, Late Night with Seth Meyers), John Lutz (Late Night with Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live), and Asha Ward (Saturday Night Live). They will discuss the power of creating comedy in a time of social and cultural crisis.

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Location: Northwestern University - Norris University Center - 1999 Campus Dr Evanston, IL 60208

October 29, 2024

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Somebody Somewhere Pre-Event Dinner

Join us for a pre-event dining experience featuring a delightful menu.

Limited space available. Please plan to arrive by the dinner's start time to ensure seating. Seating ends at 6:00pm.

Humanist members receive complimentary tickets. Ticket prices include gratuity. Beverages are sold separately. For dietary restrictions, dishes can be replaced by items from the regular Chop Shop menu.

Check out the pre-show dinner menu here!

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7:00 pm - 8:30 pm: Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller: HBO’s Somebody Somewhere

The hilarious on-screen comedic chemistry in conversation

Expect unfiltered stories and insights as these two friends and collaborators take the stage to discuss their rise in New York's alt-cabaret and improv comedy scene to starring roles in HBO’s Peabody Award-winning, critically acclaimed comedy series, Somebody Somewhere. After a short screening of the Season 3 premiere episode, Everett and Hiller will share behind-the-scenes stories from the new season and career anecdotes with the witty charm for which the series is known. Don't miss this opportunity to see these larger-than-life personalities and stars up close and personal in an intimate, no-holds-barred discussion.

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9:30 pm - 10:30 pm: Second Show Added: Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller: HBO’s Somebody Somewhere

The hilarious on-screen comedic chemistry in conversation

Expect unfiltered stories and insights as these two friends and collaborators take the stage to discuss their rise in New York's alt-cabaret and improv comedy scene to starring roles in HBO’s Peabody Award-winning, critically acclaimed comedy series, Somebody Somewhere. After a screening of the Season 3 premiere episode, join Everett and Hiller for an audience Q&A as they share behind-the-scenes stories from the new season and career anecdotes with the witty charm for which the series is known. Don't miss this opportunity to see these larger-than-life personalities and stars up close and personal in an intimate, no-holds-barred discussion.

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Location: Chop Shop - 2033 W. North Ave. Chicago, IL 60647

November 2, 2024

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Anne Curzan: Says Who?

A kinder, funner usage guide for everyone who cares about words

Language is constantly changing. Linguist and veteran English professor Anne Curzan is here to help us decipher its “rules.” Written with lively humor and humanity, Curzan’s newest book Says Who? is a pragmatic and accessible key that reveals how our choices about language can be a powerful force for equity and personal expression. Join Chicago Humanities as Curzan shows us how we can care about language precision, clarity, and inclusion all at the same time. Curzan makes nerding out about language fun — for both proud grammar sticklers and self-conscious writers alike.

A book signing will follow this program.

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2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Movement and Collaboration: Claudia Rankine in Conversation with Shamel Pitts

A discussion and performance centered on movement

Join us as we experience poet and Yale professor Claudia Rankine and choreographer Shamel Pitts in conversation and performance. Rankine is not only the New York Times bestseller of Citizen: An American Lyric, but a MacArthur Fellow, playwright, and author of the newly released Dont Let Me Be Lonely. She brings her unique perspective on race and racism in America to Chicago Humanities and joins Pitts for a dynamic discussion.

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3:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Lakeview Day Member Reception

Join us at the Lakeview Day members' reception in the Paradiso room of the Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture with quick bites and refreshments following the free-for-members program with renowned poet and author, Claudia Rankine.

This reception is free for all members, however, tickets are required and do not include entry to Claudia Rankine's program. A separate event ticket is necessary for additional programs throughout the day - reserve your tickets here.

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3:30 pm - 5:00 pm: One Million Experiments: A Screening and Conversation

Exploring how we define and create safety in a world without police and prisons

Join us as Respair Production & Media co-founders Damon Williams and Daniel Kisslinger lead an interactive teach-in exploring how movement journalism and media create pathways toward liberation. Through two of their projects, the podcast and film One Million Experiments and the audio documentary series Help This Garden Grow, Damon and Daniel talk with collaborators and movement leaders about the importance and the tradition of crafting media in service of collective freedom-making.

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5:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches

Rethinking the basics with acclaimed chef and actor from The Bear

History is full of iconic trios, but they all pale in comparison to the king of them all: soups, salads, and sandwiches. Acclaimed chef, New York Times bestselling author, and executive producer and actor on The Bear Matty Matheson discusses his approach to cooking — and it will revolutionize how you think of these kitchen essentials. Made for foodies and non-foodies alike, he offers up signature twists on the classics, delivered with minimal effort for maximum flavor. We’ll explore Matty Matheson’s charmingly delightful cookbook aptly named Soup, Salads, Sandwiches, and have you fearlessly whipping up your own combinations in the kitchen in no time.

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8:00 pm - 9:30 pm: Tegan and Sara on Junior High and Crushes

In conversation on writing, music, first crushes, first songs, first loves, and all things Junior High

Tegan and Sara are indie-pop royalty, twin sisters, and bestselling authors of a young adult graphic novel duology. Crush, the second book in this autobiographically-inspired series, explores the teenage world of crushes, crushing it, and being crushed by life — all wrapped in a queer lens. Join Chicago Humanities in conversation with Tegan and Sara as they talk about their popular book series and iconic musical careers.

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Location: Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture - 2936 North Southport Avenue Chicago, IL 60657

November 4, 2024

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Shannon Downey Pre-Show Dinner

Join us for a pre-event dining experience featuring a delightful menu.

Limited space available. Please plan to arrive by the dinner's start time to ensure seating. Seating ends at 6:00pm.

Humanist members receive complimentary tickets. Ticket prices include gratuity. Beverages are sold separately. For dietary restrictions, dishes can be replaced by items from the regular Chop Shop menu.

Check out the pre-show dinner menu here!

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7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: In Stitches with Shannon Downey and Greta Johnsen

Active crafting for crafting activism and change

Join Greta Johnsen as she talks to Shannon Downey, the author of Let's Move the Needle An Activism Handbook for Artists, Crafters, Creatives, and Makers; Build Community and Make Change! The crafter, activist, and creative force behind Badass Cross Stitch will empower you to make positive change with creativity and grit. Stick around for a crafty happy hour, where you can bring your own project or start something new while getting to know other people in your community.

Shannon Downey:
Activist, Artist

Shannon Downey is the founder of Badass Cross Stitch and Seriously Badass Women, and is an artist, activist, craftivist, community builder, and general instigator. Her work moves people from passive consumers of art into engaged creators and leverages craft-based art forms to bring people together, present opportunities to transition from makers to change makers, and inspire radical hope for what is possible. Her award-winning work can be found in galleries, museums, and private collections around the world and has been featured in outlets including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Atlas Obscura, Fast Company, and i-D, and books including Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Signs of Resistance: A Visual History of Protest in America. She is on the faculty at Columbia College Chicago and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Greta Johnsen:

Greta Johnsen is an interviewer, podcast host, and book person. She is the co-host of HBO's Official Game of Thrones Podcast and writes the GRETAGRAM newsletter on Substack. For eleven years, she hosted WBEZ's Nerdette podcast, an interview show with a book club. She can also be heard on podcasts like Pop Culture Happy Hour and City Cast Chicago. In her free time, she likes to read as many books as possible, cook food that is only occasionally photogenic, knit squishy apparel, and hang out with her corgi.

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Location: Chop Shop - 2033 W. North Ave. Chicago, IL 60647

November 7, 2024

Jeff Parker Quartet in Concert

The music of the Great American Songbook

Join us for a spectacular performance by one of contemporary music’s most innovative guitarists Jeff Parker, who performs with singer Ruby Parker, bassist Joshua Abrams, and drummer Makaya McCraven. This never-before-seen quartet lineup will dazzle you with original interpretation of music from the Great American Songbook.

Program subject to change without notice.

This program is generously underwritten by the Helen B. and Ira E. Graham Family.

Location: Maurer Concert Hall

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Location: Old Town School of Folk Music, Maurer Concert Hall - 4544 North Lincoln Avenue Chicago, IL 60625

November 9, 2024

11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Christopher Cox on Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn

Illuminating the historical roots of ongoing societal challenges

Former fifth-ranking leader in the US House of Representatives, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and senior associate counsel to President George W. Bush, Christopher Cox leads a discussion on President Woodrow Wilson accentuating the importance of historical awareness for contemporary social discourse. Wilson’s decades of opposition to the 19th Amendment, his segregation of the federal workforce, and his sympathy for Jim Crow laws have deeply influenced the course of American history. Obtain a fresh perspective on the enigmatic 28th president and explore how Wilson’s complex legacy in racial equality and women's suffrage continue to impact America today.

Location: University of Chicago - Gordon Parks Arts Hall - 5815 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

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12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Alison L. LaCroix: The Interbellum Constitution

Union, commerce, and slavery in the age of federalisms

University of Chicago professor of law and history, Alison L. LaCroix was appointed to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court to contribute her academic expertise in constitutional law history and federalism. In this captivating lecture-style presentation, LaCroix will expand our understanding of the pivotal period between the Founding Era and the Civil War that shaped modern American constitutional law and our understanding of the concepts of union, federalism, and sovereignty. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with one of the foremost scholars in constitutional history.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: R. Derek Black: The Klansman’s Son

A journey from white nationalism to antiracism

Derek Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. Their father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan.  Discussing their memoir, The Klansman’s Son with Chicago Humanities, Black details a childhood manipulated by fear, their break from a community of hate, embracing antiracism, and coming out as transgender. Few understand the ideology, motivations, or tactics of the white nationalist movement like Derek, and few have ever made such a profound evolution. Don’t miss this fascinating story to gain insight into the complexities of personal change and explore how understanding can combat extremism.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Sunil Amrith: The Burning Earth – A History

Migration as consequence of environmental harm

Movement is the thread that brings all of Sunil Amrith’s work together. Pull this thread and untangle a paradigm-shifting global history as we discuss an exploration of the reciprocal interplay between human actions and the Earth's environment. A Yale University historian and dedicated teacher, Amrith, has a talent for making historical research subtitble to a curious but busy audience. Amrith's groundbreaking work weaves together science, history, and culture to provide a fresh perspective on our current climate crisis and reveal the reality of migration as a consequence of environmental harm. Don't miss this thought-provoking event to ignite your understanding of the climate crisis’ pivotal role in human history and displacement.

A book signing will follow this program.

Location: The Study Hotel at University of Chicago - 1227 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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1:30 pm - 3:00 pm: Collaborators+ Hyde Park Member Reception

We invite you to join us for a members' reception at the Study Hotel for Collaborator members and above on Hyde Park Day following the free members program with global historian, Sunil Amrith.

This reception is free for all Collaborator members and above, however, tickets are required. A separate event ticket is necessary for additional programs throughout the day - reserve your tickets here.

Location: The Study Hotel at University of Chicago - 1227 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Jamaica Kincaid: The Hidden History of Gardens

Novelist Jamaica Kincaid is renowned as a prolific writer on family relationships and her native Antigua. She is also an avid gardener and in her recent work, An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children, she honors plant life with honesty as well as wit, offering an important look at how legacies of empire and slavery shape where and why we grow certain crops. Join Kincaid as she connects with Chicago Humanities to expand on the ABCs of plants that define our world and the truths of colonial history that manifest in our gardens.

A book signing will follow this program.

Location: University of Chicago - Gordon Parks Arts Hall - 5815 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

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3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: A Talk on Dance and Movement with Kyle Abraham

Find a person in the dancer and the bodies within a body

As part of our fall festival examination of movement, we explore the primal human expression of physical movement and the artistic and cultural foundations of dance with leading choreographer Kyle Abraham. With his company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, he creates a body of dance-based work that is galvanized by Black culture and history and features the rich tapestry of Black and Queer stories. Hear the inspiring insights of Abraham, who has been commissioned to create works for premiere dance companies like Alvin Ailey, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Louis Moore: The Making of the Black Quarterback

Two Black quarterbacks who changed the NFL forever

Louis Moore, a historian of African American history and sports history at Grand Valley State University, explores one of the most glaring discrepancies in all of sports: While the NFL has long been racially integrated, quarterbacking was the exclusive domain of white players for many years. Moore will share with Chicago Humanities how his new book, The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans and the Making of the Black Quarterback, tells the story of two pioneering Black quarterbacks—one who became the first to win a Super Bowl and one who couldn’t make it in the racist world of the NFL—and how they changed the face of America’s game for generations to come.

A book signing will follow this program.

Location: The Study Hotel at University of Chicago - 1227 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Paul Reitter on Karl Marx's Capital

The inner mechanics of capitalism and societal impact

Joined by Daniel Burnfin of the University of Chicago, renowned scholar of Germanic languages and literature Paul Reitter discusses his new translation of Karl Marx's Capital: Critique of Political Economy with the book's editor Paul North. As the first translation based on Marx’s self-edited German edition, Reitter has provided the world with the new authoritative version of this seminal work. Diving into the mind of Marx like few others can, Reitter, North, and Burnfin provide Chicago Humanities with an invaluable perspective on Marx, communism, and their complicated legacy.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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5:30 pm - 6:30 pm: Hoop Dreams at 30

A panel with the stars and filmmakers, Arthur Agee, William Gates, Steve James, and Peter Gilbert

Hoop Dreams was famously called “the great American documentary” by Roger Ebert. It’s also, of course, a quintessentially Chicago film. Hoop Dreams turns 30 this year, its story of two young Chicagoans (Arthur Agee and William Gates) trying to become professional basketball players as resonant as ever. Arthur and William, along with director/producer Steve James and director of photography/producer Peter Gilbert, join Chicago Humanities and Kartemquin Films to look back at the film that changed their lives while reflecting on what has — and hasn’t changed — for young men and women chasing their dreams on the basketball courts of Chicago.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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5:30 pm - 6:30 pm: Marcus Garvey and the Democratization of Eloquence

Adom Getachew examines of the power of oratory

The Jamaican Pan-Africanist, Marcus Garvey co-founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914, which would be the institutional nucleus of what is still remembered as the largest Black mass movement in history. In the course of Garveyism’s meteoric rise, oratory was central. It wasn’t only Garvey’s voice that mattered, however. Instead, Garveyites universalized and democratized oratory, providing occasions for the emulation, rehearsal, and repetition of eloquence. In this talk, Adom Getachew, Professor of Political Science and Race, Diaspora & Indigeneity at the University of Chicago, charts the origins of the movement’s emphasis on the arts of eloquence by attending to its origins in West Indian traditions of oratory and examining its transformation into as mass practice.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Patti Smith and Lynn Goldsmith: Before Easter After

Longtime friends reflect on a fabled time in music history

Legendary celebrity and rock-n-roll photographer, Lynn Goldsmith has captured the biggest stars with her skilled lens. She’s chronicled the careers of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and her longtime friend and collaborator, Patti Smith. A Chicago Humanities favorite, Patti Smith is one of America’s most acclaimed singer-songwriters and a beloved photographer and poet. Reserve your copy of Goldsmith’s deeply personal visual book about Smith, Before Easter After, and become a lucky fly on the wall with your ticket to witness this chat between two icons of music and photography.

Location: University of Chicago - Gordon Parks Arts Hall - 5815 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

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Location: The University of Chicago - 5801 South Ellis Avenue Chicago, IL 60637

November 13, 2024

7:00pm to 8:00pm: Black Art Providing Refuge: Nikole Hannah-Jones on The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience

Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones is the brilliant mind behind The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning 1619 Project. The project, which initially launched in 2019, offers a reframing of American history that places slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. Join us as Hannah-Jones discusses the newest iteration of this essential project: The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience. This illustrated edition of The 1619 Project features newly commissioned artwork and archival images, deepening the experience of the content. By reckoning with this difficult history and understanding its powerful influence on our present, we prepare ourselves for a more just future.

Filled with original art by 13 Black artists like Carrie Mae Weems, Calida Rawles, Vitus Shell, Xaviera Simmons, and South Side Chicago’s own BRYANTlamont on the themes of resistance and freedom, a brand-new photo essay about slave auction sites, vivid photos of Black Americans celebrating their own forms of patriotism, and a collection of archival images of Black families by Black photographers, this gorgeous volume offers readers a dynamic new way of experiencing the impact of The 1619 Project.

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Location: University of Chicago Gordon Parks Arts Hall - 5815 South Kimbark Avenue Chicago, IL 60637

December 4, 2024

7:00pm to 8:30pm: Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition in Concert

An evening of music and conversation with composer Augusta Read Thomas

The Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition (CCCC) brings together professional and student composers and artists at the University of Chicago to create innovative works that will shape the future of contemporary music. Join Chicago Humanities for a night of captivating music performed by the talented musicians of the Center, as well as an introduction from CCCC Director and composer Augusta Read Thomas and post-performance talk back.

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Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 East 60th Street Chicago, IL 60637

Date: September 26-December 4, 2024

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