Fall 2023 Schedule

Embodying the University’s commitment to extend Carolina’s resources to all citizens and community members across the state, Carolina Public Humanities offers engaging and innovative public seminars, lectures, reading groups, and other special events on a variety of topics and themes throughout the year. Our programs draw upon the humanities to nurture a deeper understanding of history and culture, enrich the life of the mind, and contribute to the development of a more humane world. To learn more about our upcoming programs, click the links for details.

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Weekend Seminars

Digging Down and Going Up! The NYC Subway and the Airplane in the Transportation Revolution | Saturday, September 9th (9:00am-12:30pm)
Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt: Erstwhile Enemies, Irksome Allies| Saturday, September 23rd (9:30am-3:00pm)
Art, Music, and the Aesthetics of Power in Early Modern Europe | Friday, September 29th (5pm-8:45pm)
Transformations and Decline in the Late Roman Empire | Saturday, October 28th (9:00am-12:30pm)
What is Opera? | Saturday, November 18th (9:30am-3:00pm)
Modern Civic Life and Public Health Across the Americas | Saturday, December 2nd (9:00am-12:30pm)

Great Books Reading Groups

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer | Tuesdays, September 5, 12, and 19 (10:00am-12:00pm)
“Mourning and Melancholia” by Sigmund Freud |Wednesday, September 27 (10:00am-12:00pm)
The Screenplay as Literature: The Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont, Adapted from the Novella by Stephen King | Tuesdays, October 3 and 10 (10:00am-12:00pm)
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Tuesdays, October 24 and 31 (10:00am-12:00pm)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard | Wednesdays, November 8 and 15 (10:00am-12:00pm) SOLD OUT IN PERSON (a very limited number of virtual tickets remain)
The Adolescent by Fyodor Dostoevsky | Tuesdays, November 28, December 5, and December 12 (10:00am-12:00pm)

Humanities in Action

Trouble at Carolina: The Complex Relations between UNC and State Governance | Wednesday, September 13 (4:30pm-6:00pm)
The Propagandists’ Playbook: How Search is Manipulated for Political Gain | Wednesday, September 20 (4:30pm-6:00pm)
Barriers to First-Class Citizenship Faced by US-Born Children in Mixed-Status Families | Wednesday, October 4 (4:30pm-6:00pm)
Black Women in Politics | Wednesday, October 11 (4:30pm-6:00pm)
Poverty in North Carolina and Beyond | Wednesday, October 18 (4:30pm-6:00pm)
The Democratization of AI: How Generative AI Will Change Our World | Wednesday, November 1 (4:30pm-6:00pm)
The Rights of Nature: An Eco-Centric Vision for Saving the Planet | Wednesday, November 8 (4:30pm-6:00pm)
Abortion Laws and Women’s Reproductive Health | Wednesday, November 15 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

Special Events

WOMEN OF NOW Book Signing and Talk | Tuesday, August 29 (5:30-7:00 PM) NEW EVENT!
Snapshot: Climate Exhibition Opening | Thursday, September 7 (5:00-7:00 PM)
Take Two Tour at the Ackland Art Museum | Friday, September 8 ( 2:00-3:00pm) THIS EVENT IS FULL
Langston Hughes’s 1931 Visit to Chapel Hill: The Scottsboro Case and Legal Lynching | September 19 (6:30-7:30 PM)
The Ongoing Fight For Freedom: Stories of NC’s Black Veterans | September 21 (6:30-7:45pm) NEW EVENT!
Private Booker T. Spicely Symposium | September 22 (9:00 AM-3:30 PM) NEW EVENT!
Art and Literature at the Ackland Art Museum | Friday, October 6 (3:00-4:30PM)
Consider This…Artificial Intelligence | Tuesday, October 24 (6:30-8:00 PM)

Juan Álamo | Wednesday, September 27 (6:00-7:30 PM)
Dawn Landes | Wednesday, October 25 (6:00-7:30 PM)
Kate McGarry & Keith Ganz | Wednesday, November 29 (6:00-7:30pm)

This NEW programming from Carolina Public Humanities and the Carolina Biodiversity Collaborative will pair scientists and humanists for a series of informal, interactive events in the wild spaces of the Triangle. Details to come. Click here for a sneak peak.

State Outreach Events

“Why is Our City Called Fayetteville?” : Lafayette’s Life, Ideas, and American Tour of 1824-25 with Lloyd Kramer | Friday, September 8 at 1:00pm | Fayetteville Tech Community College NEW EVENT!
Indivisible with Sonny Kelly | Wednesday, September 6 at 6:00pm | Durham County Public Library
Indivisible with Sonny Kelly | Tuesday, September 12 at 5:30pm | Fayetteville Technical Community College
Indivisible with Sonny Kelly | Wednesday, September 13 at 1:00pm | Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington
“Barbary Pirates”: Politics, Faith, and Violence on the Mediterranean Sea with Max Owre | Monday, October 9 at 5:30pm | Wayne Community College in Goldsboro

Carolina K-12 Events

North Carolina & the Fire of Freedom | Tue., August 15 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm | Raleigh, NC

Weekend Seminars

Digging Down and Going Up! The NYC Subway and the Airplane in the Transportation Revolution | Saturday, September 9th (9:00am-12:30pm)

Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt: Erstwhile Enemies, Irksome Allies| Saturday, September 23rd (9:30am-3:00pm)

Art, Music, and the Aesthetics of Power in Early Modern Europe | Friday, September 29th (5pm-8:45pm)

Transformations and Decline in the Late Roman Empire | Saturday, October 28th (9:00am-12:30pm)

What is Opera? | Saturday, November 18th (9:30am-3:00pm)

Modern Civic Life and Public Health Across the Americas | Saturday, December 2nd (9:00am-12:30pm)

Great Books Reading Groups

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer | Tuesdays, September 5, 12, and 19 (10:00am-12:00pm)

“Mourning and Melancholia” by Sigmund Freud |Wednesday, September 27 (10:00am-12:00pm)

The Screenplay as Literature: The Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont, Adapted from the Novella by Stephen King | Tuesdays, October 3 and 10 (10:00am-12:00pm)

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Tuesdays, October 24 and 31 (10:00am-12:00pm)

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard | Wednesdays, November 8 and 15 (10:00am-12:00pm) SOLD OUT IN PERSON (a very limited number of virtual tickets remain)

The Adolescent by Fyodor Dostoevsky | Tuesdays, November 28, December 5, and December 12 (10:00am-12:00pm)

Humanities in Action

Trouble at Carolina: The Complex Relations between UNC and State Governance | Wednesday, September 13 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

The Propagandists’ Playbook: How Search is Manipulated for Political Gain | Wednesday, September 20 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

Barriers to First-Class Citizenship Faced by US-Born Children in Mixed-Status Families | Wednesday, October 4 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

Black Women in Politics | Wednesday, October 11 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

Poverty in North Carolina and Beyond | Wednesday, October 18 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

The Democratization of AI: How Generative AI Will Change Our World | Wednesday, November 1 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

The Rights of Nature: An Eco-Centric Vision for Saving the Planet | Wednesday, November 8 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

Abortion Laws and Women’s Reproductive Health | Wednesday, November 15 (4:30pm-6:00pm)

Special Events

WOMEN OF NOW Book Signing and Talk | Tuesday, August 29 (5:30-7:00 PM) NEW EVENT!

Snapshot: Climate Exhibition Opening | Thursday, September 7 (5:00-7:00 PM)

Take Two Tour at the Ackland Art Museum | Friday, September 8 ( 2:00-3:00pm) THIS EVENT IS FULL

Langston Hughes’s 1931 Visit to Chapel Hill: The Scottsboro Case and Legal Lynching | September 19 (6:30-7:30 PM)

The Ongoing Fight For Freedom: Stories of NC’s Black Veterans | September 21 (6:30-7:45pm) NEW EVENT!

Private Booker T. Spicely Symposium | September 22 (9:00 AM-3:30 PM) NEW EVENT!

Art and Literature at the Ackland Art Museum | Friday, October 6 (3:00-4:30PM)

Consider This…Artificial Intelligence | Tuesday, October 24 (6:30-8:00 PM)

Juan Álamo | Wednesday, September 27 (6:00-7:30 PM)

Dawn Landes | Wednesday, October 25 (6:00-7:30 PM)

Kate McGarry & Keith Ganz | Wednesday, November 29 (6:00-7:30pm)

Biodiversity Garden Parties

State Outreach Events

“Why is Our City Called Fayetteville?” : Lafayette’s Life, Ideas, and American Tour of 1824-25 with Lloyd Kramer | Friday, September 8 at 1:00pm | Fayetteville Tech Community College NEW EVENT!

Indivisible with Sonny Kelly | Wednesday, September 6 at 6:00pm | Durham County Public Library

Indivisible with Sonny Kelly | Tuesday, September 12 at 5:30pm | Fayetteville Technical Community College

Indivisible with Sonny Kelly | Wednesday, September 13 at 1:00pm | Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington

“Barbary Pirates”: Politics, Faith, and Violence on the Mediterranean Sea with Max Owre | Monday, October 9 at 5:30pm | Wayne Community College in Goldsboro

Carolina K-12 Events

North Carolina & the Fire of Freedom | Tue., August 15 | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm | Raleigh, NC