A Selection of Events on Campus and in the City

Past Events

The Center for Jewish Studies hosted Meir Shalev, one of Israel’s most renowned novelists, on March 3, 2010. Shalev delivered the Horvitz Memorial Lecture in Jewish Studies and led fiction workshops for students interested in creative writing. His visit was part of an ongoing effort by the center, founded in 2009, to highlight the arts in modern Jewish culture.

On March 30, David Sedley, the Laurence professor of ancient philosophy at the University of Cambridge, gave a lecture titled “Sphericity” in memory of Ian Mueller, professor emeritus in philosophy. Mueller passed away in August 2010.

On May 5, William Blattner, professor of philosophy at Georgetown University, visited campus to deliver a lecture in memory of John Haugeland, the David B. and Clara E. Stern professor emeritus in philosophy, who died in May 2010.

A recipient of the 2010 National Humanities Medal and the author of more than 50 novels, short stories, and volumes of poetry, Joyce Carol Oates visited the University on May 18 as the 2011 Kestnbaum Writer-in-Residence in the Humanities. She visited a class and read and discussed “Pumpkinhead,” from her most recent collection of short stories.

During a weeklong visit to the University in April, the Minwa-za Company of Tokyo presented a traditional magic lantern show, known as utsushi-e. Introduced to Japan in the eighteenth century, utsushi-e remained the dominant form of projecting still and moving images until the early twentieth century. The event was one of several lectures and performances on precelluloid history organized in conjunction with Professor Tom Gunning’s seminar on the moving and projected image. Cosponsors included the Film Studies Center, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Center for East Asian Studies.

Upcoming Events

After successful showings at the Smart Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution, Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan will run at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows Museum in Dallas from September 11, 2011, to January 8, 2012, and at the San Diego Art Museum from February 18 to May 27, 2012. Reviewers have lauded the work of the UChicago research team who identified, located,and documented the caves’ dispersed stone carvings and used computer imaging techniques to determine the original appearance of works lost to looting or in disrepair.

On Saturday, October 22, the University of Chicago will host its 33rd Annual Humanities Day, a showcase of lectures, exhibits, performances, and tours on campus. Admission is free and events are open to the public. Registration is required. For a schedule of events, visit http://humanitiesday.uchicago.edu.

Twenty-six of the city’s prominent cultural institutions have joined forces to present The Soviet Arts Experience, a showcase of works by artists who created under, and in response to, the Politburo of the Soviet Union. Organized by the University of Chicago Presents, the 16-month festival includes art, dance, music, theater, and lectures. Among the highlights are two exhibitions at the Smart Museum of Art: Process and Artistry in the Soviet Vanguard (on view from August 30 to December 11) and Vision and Communism (September 29 to January 22, 2012). 
A complete schedule is available at www.sovietartsexperience.org.

The University of Chicago Presents has announced its 2011–2012 season, entitled “Evoking Musical Memories,” which will feature celebrated and rising international artists performing classical, contemporary, and jazz music. Upcoming concerts at Mandel Hall include the English Concert (October 14), the Borodin Quartet (October 21), and the Irish Chamber Orchestra (October 28), all at 7:30 p.m. For details, visit http://chicagopresents.uchicago.edu.

The Civic Knowledge Project (CKP) has announced its autumn 2011 Great Conversations series, titled “Freedom and Education.”

On October 19, Thomas C. Holt, the James Westfall Thompson Distinguished Service Professor in History, will discuss his book Children of Fire: A History of African Americans. Kenneth Warren, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor in English and African and African-American Studies, will lecture on November 6.

Danielle Allen, former dean of the Humanities Division and CKP founder, will appear on December 7. Cost is $10 per lecture or $25 for the series. All lectures take place on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. at the AKArama Foundation, 6220 S. Ingleside, Chicago. Poverty, Promise, and Possibility, CKP’s interdisciplinary initiative of courses, lectures, community forums, and one-day workshops, will continue in 2011–12.

On October 6, representatives from leading community organizations will discuss education and urban poverty with host Shaz Rasul, director of the University’s Neighborhood Schools Program.

The next two events feature associate professors from the School of Social Service Administration: on October 20, Evelyn Brodkin will speak on “Poverty, Inequality, and the Role of Government: Politics, Practices, and Possibilities.” On November 10, Susan Lambert and Julia Henly will present “Poverty, Underemployment, and Family Hardship: The Realities of Today’s Labor Market for Chicago’s Families.” All lectures are free and take place at 6:30 p.m. at the School of Social Service Administration, 969 E. 60th Street, Chicago.

The Franke Institute for the Humanities will hold its fall public forum on November 16 at 5:15 p.m. at the Gleacher Center, 450 Cityfront Plaza, Chicago. “Architectural Displacement” will feature a conversation between architect Stanley Tigerman and W. J. T. Mitchell, the Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor of English and Art History.