Explore the human adventure at ASU's inaugural Humanities Week

This year, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University will host the inaugural Humanities Week — a collection of special events to highlight the ways in which students and faculty are exploring the human adventure across time, culture and place.

The events, which include a mix of virtual and in-person programming, will take place from Oct. 18–22 and will be led by units, centers and institutes within The College's humanities division. Schools within ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences and the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts will also be participating.

The weeklong calendar of events will cover a broad range of humanities-related topics, including history, literature, culture, racial representation, social justice and climate change. Each day a number of open classes, department open houses, hands-on activities, public lectures, crafts and food will be offered with the mission of sharing new and worldly perspectives.

“Humanities Week is many things — a celebration of all we do and achieve in the humanities, a chance to foreground our brilliant and creative faculty and staff — but most importantly, an opportunity for students to see a glimpse into all the humanities division has to offer,” said Jeffrey Cohen, dean of humanities in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The College's Marshall Distinguished Lecture will be a signature event of the week, featuring Clint Smith, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of the New York Times bestseller “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America.”

Other events include:

Humanities Week Swag and Info Booth: Stop by the Humanities Week swag and information booth to get free swag and details about activities taking place throughout the week.

Teaching Genocide Comparatively: Join Associate Professor Jason Bruner, Assistant Professor Volker Benkert and Sheryl Bronkesh, president of the Phoenix Holocaust Association, for a talk about the comparative study of genocide in public secondary schools. 

Digital Humanities Showcase: Attend this showcase featuring the work of digital humanities and digital scholarship at ASU to see how digital humanities methods can augment and accompany the work of scholars and introduce undergraduates to the field of digital humanities.

Africanfuturism and Worldbuilding in Science Fiction: Award-winning writer and Professor of Practice Nnedi Okorafor joins Associate Professor Matt Bell's "Writing Science Fiction" class for a conversation about her acclaimed novel "Lagoon," as well as issues of worldbuilding in science fiction and fantasy, Africanfuturism and other genres. Together they will discuss how imagining fictional worlds might make new possibilities reachable in our own futures.

Deconstructing Race in Film: Fred Kuwornu's Documentary "Blaxploitalian 100 Years of Blackness": Join the Humanities Lab, Deconstructing Race and Italian-Ghanaian filmmaker/producer Fred Kuwornu for an evening of film clips and open discussion regarding Kuwornu's film, “Blaxploitalian 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema.”

ASU Common Read: A Virtual Visit with Michael Eric Dyson: Attend this virtual visit with Michael Eric Dyson, author of "Long Time Coming: Reckoning With Race in America,” where he will discuss his work and answer questions. The conversation will be facilitated by two new members of the ASU faculty: Pulitzer winner Mitchell Jackson, the John O. Whiteman Dean’s Distinguished Professor of English; and Whiting Award winner Safiya Sinclair, an associate professor of English.

Visit ihr.asu.edu/humanities-week to see the full schedule of events or to learn more.