A celebration of the University of Virginia's strong tradition of the Humanities.
As a central feature of Humanities Week, the participants of a joint humanities and architecture short course will construct a Humanities Tent. Part shelter, part art installation, part movie screen, the Humanities tent will be a place where people will gather to engage with the Humanities, Humanistic Social Sciences, and the Arts.
Schedule of Events
Monday, April 8
Article Swap
1 pm
Dawon's Row #2
Whether it's The New York Times or Sports Illustrated, CNN or Buzzfeed, a solid research article or just an interesting facebook post, we're all reading something worth sharing. For experts and newcomers alike, any one of millions of topics can become even richer when discussed and challenged. Bring an article of your own choice to this fun, informal exchange and see how it fits with what others have been thinking about lately.
Sponsoring Org: IHGC
Monday, April 8
Poems of / and / in The Commons
4 pm
Dawon's Row #2
Poetry reading with Lindsay Turner.
Sponsoring Org: IHGC
Monday, April 8
Global Poetry Locally
UVa Poets translate and read one another’s work
5 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Poets Mehr Farooqi, Paul Guest, Kevin Hart, Debra Nystrom, Gregory Orr, Fernando Opere and Lisa Russ Spaar will read poems they have written and, together with colleagues and students, translated into several languages. These and other writers from the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures, Department of English, Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and Department of Religious Studies have begun an initiative toward more connections among poets, translators and poetry lovers across as many UVA departments as possible.
Sponsoring Org: IHGC
Monday, April 8
Majors Meeting Majors
6 pm
Bryan Hall Faculty Lounge
What can you do with a Humanities degree? Come hear UVa graduates and local professionals discuss how their "soft" majors kick-started them for the careers in which they work today.
Sponsoring Org: IHGC
Monday, April 8
U.Va. Global Photo Exhibition
7:30 pm
Dawson's Row #2
The U.Va. Education Abroad Photo Contest occurs once a year and illustrates the experiences of students as they explore new foreign contexts. Come celebrate these global experiences as we congratulate the winners of the photo contest and share stories about living and learning abroad.
Sponsoring Org: IHGC and U.Va. Abroad
Tuesday, April 9
Threads of Thought
all day
The Lawn
Modeled after Tibetan prayer flags, this public art installation will be erected on the Lawn. Come decorate a flag with a thought, wish or picture! When the wind blows, your "thoughts" will be spread on the wind throughout the community.
Sponsoring Org: IHGC
Tuesday, April 9
Reading: Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky's "Quadraturin"
3 pm
Dawson's Row #2
When his 1920s fiction was finally translated into English nearly 100 years later, the New York Times Sunday Book Review described Krzhizhanovsky as a "disaffected Soviet encyclopedia editor" who was "haunted by Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason.'" While never published in his lifetime, he read his stories aloud to friends at literary gatherings. Frequently described as Kafkaesque, the first story in a 2009 collection of his work, "Quadraturin," imagines the glorious and grotesque enlargement of a tiny Soviet-era communal apartment, thanks to a magical "proliferspansion" ointment.
Tuesday, April 9
Undergrad/Grad Research Meetup
4 pm
Dawson's Row #2
UVA undergrads and grads are doing fascinating work, but they often do so in isolation or with other people at the same stage of their education. This event aims to bring people together who are interested in working collaboratively on research projects. Come hear from graduate students & undergraduate students in the humanities flaunt their cool research projects and experiences working collaboratively. Then, we will break out into small groups to brainstorm ways we might affect better collaboration between grads and undergrads.
Tuesday, April 9
Ask Big Questions: A Creative Contest
7 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Ask Big Questions is a new organization on grounds that seeks to create change through conversation. We have opened the conversation to the community as a whole by asking artists, writers, and musicians to respond to the question: "What does it mean to be human?" Join us for an exhibition of the works and an evening to celebrate the humanities!
Tuesday, April 9
MUSIC Performance
O Records and M.I.C.E.
8 pm
Dawson's Row #2
On Tuesday, April 9th, the Humanities Tent will transform into a jukebox and morph into an experimental music haven by the night's conclusion. Come out for original songs by exceptional ORecords musicians. Stay to hear Matthew Burtner's dynamic and improvisational computer-music ensemble M.I.C.E (Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble). Sit back to enjoy the lights and music of the Glowing Room Initiative, an experimental project featuring original compositions and synchronized light show by university undergraduates, Jonathan Thompson and George Glixner, the only thing these guys are missing is Daft Punk helmets.
Tuesday, April 9
Experimental film and video
10 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Short films and videos under the stars by award-winning and emerging artists, including studio faculty Kevin Jerome Everson, William Wylie, and members of the UVa Film Makers Society. Projected on outdoor screens and buildings, this is an opportunity to see a cutting-edge collection of documentary and experimental films in a fantastic environment.
Wednesday, April 10
Book Swap
1 pm
Dawson's Row #2
In a university founded by a voracious reader who once stated, "I cannot live without books," we often find ourselves striving to connect what we study with how we live. Readings captivate us, confront us, enrich us, intrigue us, and in some cases even haunt us in truly unforgettable ways. Bring a book you love, share what it means to you and why, and swap out your old favorite for a new one that just might change your life as well.
Wednesday, April 10
Shakespeare on the Lawn ("As You Like It") and First Year Players ("Oklahoma"): Scenes for Supper
5:30 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Come see Shakespeare on the Lawn and the First Year Players perform scenes from "As You Like It" and "Oklahoma".
Wednesday, April 10
Unholy unions. Unexpected understandings.
7:30 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Our world overflows with events, experiences, and entanglements that challenge us to rethink our relationship to our surroundings, our beliefs, and our humanity. Tonight we hear people from across Grounds - whether student, professor, graduate, community member, or star of a Harlem Shake Video (Dean Groves) - as they grapple with the dynamic and surprising influence of their daily lives on a greater understanding of the humanities and the world in which we live. No limits. No rules. Come laugh, listen, and learn as we interrogate the humanities and consider its presence in every corner of our lives. Reception to follow.
Wednesday, April 10
Experimental film and video
10 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Short films and videos under the stars by award-winning and emerging artists, including studio faculty Kevin Jerome Everson, William Wylie, and members of the UVa Film Makers Society. Projected on outdoor screens and buildings, this is an opportunity to see a cutting-edge collection of documentary and experimental films in a fantastic environment.
Thursday, April 11
Recipe Swap
12:30 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Are you really what you eat? Whether we live to eat or simply eat to live, through recipes we make food our own and shape how we choose to nurture ourselves in a way that goes far beyond just the physical. Bring a few copies of one of your own favorite recipes, along with any stories behind it, to hear from other foodies and collect ideas for a full course meal to match!
Thursday, April 11
Found Poetry Workshop
1:30 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Found poetry, reusing existing language and images to make a new poem, offers a way into poetry for everyone, even if you've never considered writing before. Working with found materials also challenges experienced writers to think visually and generate text in unexpected ways. In this workshop, you’ll learn a few approaches to transforming ordinary words and images into poetry and create found poems of your own.
Thursday, April 11
Emergency Poetry
5 pm
Dawson's Row #2
A celebration of the Emergency Poem, the poem you can't do without: a beloved object, a restorative, a mantra, a momentary stay against confusion, a special touchstone for its possessor (or borrower). Eight professors from several departments will recite their own Emergency Poems and offer brief remarks on just why they love them. Participants (lineup may be subject to change): Alison Booth, Stephen Cushman, Kevin Hart, Clare Kinney, Deborah McDowell, Fernando Opere, Lisa Russ Spaar, Claire Waters. (The idea of the Emergency Poem is the intellectual property of Elizabeth Fowler.)
Thursday, April 11
Well Being: Angst Now and Forever?
6 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Is anxiety a new baseline reality? What path to flourishing in the university and beyond? Opening remarks by Andy Thomson, Mark Edmundson, and Hillary Hurd.
Thursday, April 11
Spoken Word Poetry Hour
7 pm
Dawson's Row #2
For one hour, join us to hear a diverse chorus of voices perform spoken word poetry. Students and community members alike will present on a variety of subjects from the personal to the political, and draw from traditions of storytelling, stand up comedy, song, and lyricism. Spoken word is a beautiful art form and we welcome all to come listen - whether you're a spoken word enthusiast or brand new to the field.
Thursday, April 11
Short Film Screening: The Balloon
8 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Students of IGHC 3559: "The Global Short Story" have filmed a Charlottesville adaptation of Barthelme's 1968 short story, originally set in New York. You may want to read Barthelme's very short story online here before coming!: found here. Adapted and filmed by: Emily Blanton, Emily Caldwell, Elsie Gaw, Syrina Ingram, Alison Lanshe, and Holly Zagur.
Thursday, April 11
Performance: Two Victorian Plays
8:15 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Have you ever wondered what entertainment was like in the 19th century? Join the Victorian Theatrical Society, an entirely graduate-student run amateur theatre group, for their performance of "Miss Flipper's Holiday." This 15min. comedy brings to life a 1900 parlour play, or home theatrical, by Florence and Harrie Bell, which was produced by the Victorians for home entertainment. Authentic costumes, authentic laughs!
Tom Thumb - Henry Fielding's extremely silly farce is revived in an enthusiastic staged reading by the Victorian Theatrical Society (which is temporarily masking itself as the 18th Century Theatrical Society). Rare chance to see this play by Henry Fielding. Cast from many university departments!: Katie Abbot, Guy Aiken, Caitlin Berka, Tom Berenato, Jen Burstein, and Ann Mazur.
Thursday, April 11
Experimental film and video
10 pm
Dawson's Row #2
Short films and videos under the stars by award-winning and emerging artists, including studio faculty Kevin Jerome Everson, William Wylie, and members of the UVa Film Makers Society. Projected on outdoor screens and buildings, this is an opportunity to see a cutting-edge collection of documentary and experimental films in a fantastic environment.
Friday, April 12
Breakfast Club
11 am
U.Va. Art Museum
Enjoy meeting new people? Enjoy engaging conversation? Join UVA Art Director Bruce Boucher in a discussion of Edith Wharton’s "Roman Fever." Readings are short and breakfast will be provided. All Majors are welcome.
Friday, April 12
Theory Dessert
Western Colonialism and Arabic Neo-Classical Poetry: Canonization and Repudiation
1 pm
Location TBA
Talk by Prof. Suzanne Stetkevych, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University.
Sponsoring Org: IHGC
Friday, April 12
Yoga to Poetry: Keats
2 pm
Dawson's Row #2
This Friday afternoon yoga practice will start your weekend right, by incorporating reflection on the poetry of John Keats, which will be read throughout class! No yoga experience necessary; just an appreciation for the poet, the rhythms of nature, and an intention to devote an hour to yourself! Please bring a beach towel or mat on which to practice -- and if you have Keats poetry requests for class, please email Ann at amm3ad@virginia.edu or bring them with you to class. Donations for attending class (suggestion $5 or whatever you can afford!) will all go to First Book (www.firstbook.org) which provides new books to needy children. $10 provides 4 books! Inspire the next reader of poetry!
Sponsoring Org: IHGC
Full Schedule PDF