ճ announces its lineup for the , whose theme is “Belonging.” The popular series highlights innovative, interdisciplinary work in the humanities by renowned scholars, artists, authors and performers.
Suné Woods
Fall guests include visual artist Suné Woods (Sept. 13-16); poets Janice Harrington and Oliver de la Paz (Sept. 26-27); Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal (Oct. 12-13); Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Keiko Ogura (Oct. 24-28); Black feminist scholars Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Paula J. Giddings and Beverly Guy-Sheftall (Nov. 27); and gender studies scholar Melissa Adler (Dec. 4-5).
“Belonging is as much about being included and recognized as part of a wider community, as it is about denial,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). “We will examine a range of issues—belonging as it relates to structural and political power and to interpersonal relationships—from various perspectives and in different genres and settings. The result is a rich survey of theory and practice, showing how the humanities address some of the most pressing issues of our time.”
All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Humanities Center in A&S at 315.443.7192 or visit .
The fall schedule is as follows:
Suné Woods
Wednesday, Sept. 13
Los Angeles artist Suné Woods will unveil her solo show at Light Work, titled “To Sleep with Terra,” examining absences and vulnerabilities within cultural and social histories. The program includes a panel discussion with Fred Moten, professor of English at the University of California, Riverside, and James Gordon Williams, assistant professor of African American studies at Syracuse.
6-7:30 p.m.
Watson Theater, Menschel Media Center (316 Waverly Ave.)
Saturday, Sept. 16
Woods leads a photo-collage workshop. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Mary Lee Hodgens, associate director of Light Work, at mlhodgen@syr.edu.
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Light Work Lab (316 Waverly Ave.)
Oliver de la Paz and Janice Harrington
Janice Harrington and Oliver de la Paz
Tuesday, Sept. 26
鶹ƵSymposium teams up with the YMCA’s Downtown Writer’s Center for a reading by Harrington, professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and De la Paz, associate professor of English at College of the Holy Cross. Both poets will address notions of race, ethnicity and identity with their original, award-winning work.
7-8:30 p.m.
Jason Shinder Theater, YMCA Downtown Writer’s Center (340 Montgomery St.)
Wednesday, Sept. 27
Harrington and De la Paz lead a workshop for writers of all ages, backgrounds and levels of experience. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Phil Memmer, executive director of the YMCA Arts Branch, at pmemmer@syracuseymca.org.
9-11 a.m.
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Thursday, Sept. 28
Lisa Kirschenbaum, professor of history at West Chester University, explores communism as a way of life during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Part of an official 鶹ƵSymposium course, Kirschenbaum’s lecture will draw, in part, on her award-winning book “International Communism and the Spanish Civil War: Solidarity and Suspicion” (Cambridge University Press 2015).
11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
Thursday, Sept. 28, to Saturday, Sept. 30
The 15th annual 鶹ƵUniversity Human Rights Film Festival presents an outstanding lineup of critically acclaimed films, addressing social rights issues around the world. Visit for film descriptions, screening times and locations.
Thursday, Oct. 5
Vivek Shraya, a South Asian artist, musician and writer, highlights the complex relationship between belonging and embodiment. Shraya’s work focuses on matters of family, religion, public space, queerness and “transness.”
7-8:30 p.m.
Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages
Wafaa Bilal
Wafaa Bilal
Thursday, Oct. 12
Bilal, associate professor of photography and imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, uses online performative and interactive works to tackle questions about identity, exile and U.S. politics.
5-6:30 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
Friday, Oct. 13
Bilal leads a small-group discussion on the relevance and role of artistic expression in relation to war trauma, violence and diasporic belonging. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Amy Kallander, associate professor of history in the Maxwell School, at akalland@maxwell.syr.edu.
10-11:30 a.m.
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Keiko Ogura
Tuesday, Oct. 24
Edward Morris, professor of practice of transmedia and co-director of the Canary Lab in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, moderates a panel discussion about the effects of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Japanese art and architecture. Participants include Keiko Ogura, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing; Yutaka Sho, associate professor of architecture; and Linda Zhang, a 2017-18 Boghosian Fellow of Architecture. Ogura’s visit is part of a spate of local events, including an exhibit at the Everson Museum of Art titled “That Day Now: Shadows Cast by Hiroshima,” running through Nov. 26. More information about Ogura’s visit is at .
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Slocum Hall Atrium and Marble Room
Saturday, Oct. 28
Keiko Ogura
Ogura headlines a daylong program that includes remarks by Daisaku Yamamoto, associate professor of geography and director of Asian studies at Colgate University; Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, author of the award-winning books “Hiroshima in the Morning” (Feminist Press, 2010) and “Why She Left Us” (Harper Perennial, 2000); Chad Diehl, assistant professor of history and coordinator of Asian studies at Loyola University Maryland; and Susan Napier, professor of international literary and cultural studies at Tufts University.
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Slocum Hall Auditorium
Friday, Nov. 3
Tim Brookes, associate professor of communication and creative media at Champlain College, uses carvings and stories from various cultures to illustrate how writing systems affect a culture’s sense of belonging.
10-11:30 a.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
Paul Prior and Jody Shipka
Wednesday, Nov. 8
Prior, professor of English at UIUC, leads a small-group discussion on sociocultural theories of writing. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Patrick Berry, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric, at pwberry@syr.edu.
9 a.m. to noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Wednesday, Nov. 8
Prior returns to campus with Jody Shipka, associate professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, for a presentation that challenges static notions about being and belonging in accounts of literacies and disciplines.
2:15-3:45 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
Thursday, Nov. 9
Shipka leads a small-group workshop on the growing importance of podcasts, blogs, collages, video and audio essays, comic strips and storyboards. Space is limited; registration required. Contact Patrick Berry, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric, at pwberry@syr.edu.
9 a.m. to noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Monday, Nov. 27
From left: Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Paula Giddings and Beverly Guy-Sheftall
The 鶹ƵSymposium Keynote brings together three prominent Black feminist scholars: Johnnetta Betsch Cole, former president of Spelman and Bennett colleges and recently retired director of the National Museum of African Art; Paula J. Giddings, the Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922 Professor Emerita of Africana Studies and senior editor of “Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism” at Smith College; and Beverly Guy-Sheftall, the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies and founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman. This distinguished trio will offer personal reflections on confronting inequality and creating change, touching on topics ranging from the power of collaboration, educational pathways and politics, to key lessons from Black women’s history of activism and scholarship, past and present.
6-7:30 p.m.
Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, 140 Newhouse 3
Saturday, Dec. 2
鶹ƵUniversity and With Love, a project of Onondaga Community College, celebrate the folk traditions of local immigrant and resettled refugee communities with this distinctive multicultural event. Highlights include musical performances by Burundi, Congolese and Burmese musicians and dancers, as well as cuisine prepared by Burmese chef Shwe HninSi.
6-7:30 p.m. (concert), Grant Auditorium
7:30-8:30 p.m. (reception), Wildhack Lounge, Grant Hall
Melissa Adler
Monday, Dec. 4
Melissa Adler
Adler, assistant professor of information science and of gender and women’s studies at the University of Kentucky, illustrates how systems of classification—from biological taxonomies to library shelves—define relationships of belonging and exclusion. She will focus on some of the ways in which the marginalization of queer and racialized subjects is systemic.
5:15-6:30 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Adler leads a small-group discussion on deconstructing social norms and taxonomies, as they pertain to LGBTQ communities. Space is limited; registration required. Contact the Humanities Center at 315.443.7192.
9 a.m. to noon
304 Tolley Humanities Building
Organized and presented by the Humanities Center, 鶹ƵSymposium is a public humanities series that revolves around an annual theme. Programs include lectures, workshops, performances, exhibits, films and readings. Located in the Tolley Humanities Building, the Humanities Center serves the campus community by cultivating diverse forms of scholarship, sponsoring a broad range of programming and partnerships and addressing enduring questions and pressing social issues.
