Carolina Public Humanities Cancels ALL EVENTS until May 2

Dear Members of the Carolina Public Humanities Community,

We are writing to announce that all in person CPH programs and public activities until May 2 are cancelled, effective immediately. This cancellation adheres to the recently announced policies of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which include the suspension of all large-group public activities and the transition to on-line instruction for UNC students. Like everyone who is dealing with this extraordinary pandemic, we cannot possibly predict how the situation will evolve in the coming weeks, and further changes may be required. 

We are thus suspending all in person Spring 2020 CPH programs. We hope that the COVID-19 situation will have stabilized by then; and we hope to resume normal operations in May for our already-planned summer programs.

This cancellation includes all weekend seminars, lecture series, book groups, cinema schools, language lunches, humanities happy hours, Carolina K-12 workshops, Community College programs, and special events.  

If you have signed up for forthcoming seminars or other programs, you will receive an email about the cancellation of events for which you have already registered.  You will be able to choose to have your tuition refunded or credited to future CPH programs. If you have questions about these adjustments, please call CPH at 919-962-1544 or write us at human@unc.edu.

We hope to reschedule many of our cancelled spring events in the fall semester, giving priority to people who have already registered for these programs.

The General Alumni Association’s panel discussion of the COVID-19 crisis, which CPH is cosponsoring on the evening of March 19, will still be offered, but only as an online streaming event. Information about how to access this event will be circulated in advance.

We regret that we must cancel these programs, but the humanities provide the best possible intellectual resources for coping with the adversities and uncertainties of the Human Condition. People have responded creatively to enormous challenges over the millennia, and past writers, philosophers, artists, and historians have given us wise perspectives for analyzing the ambiguities of the “great unknowns.” The Humanities show the resilience of the human spirit, and our Humanities programs will be available for you when we emerge from the present crisis.

Lloyd Kramer                                         Maximilian Owre

Professor of History                              Teaching Assistant Professor of History

Director, Carolina Public Humanities     Executive Director

UNC-Chapel Hill                                     UNC-Chapel Hill