January 2021
The Fragility of Democracy
Carolina Public Humanities & Carolina K-12 Presents a Special Event “The Fragility of Democracy” featuring Four Expert Panelists and A Public Conversation Christopher Browning, Frank Porter Graham Professor of History Emeritus, UNC-Chapel Hill William Sturkey, Associate Professor of History, UNC-Chapel Hill Tinisha Shaw, History Teacher in Guilford County Public Schools Lloyd Kramer, CPH Director and Professor of History, UNC-Chapel Hill Moderator, Joanna Sierks Smith, CPH Associate Director for State Outreach Recent events in the United States, including false claims about…
Find out more »2020 Election Overview
featuring Sarah A. Treul, Associate Professor of Political Science Join us this semester as we bring Humanities in Action online! This series has long been our forum for “topics in the news,” and we continue that tradition with five talks that speak to challenges we face in America today, or subjects that are difficult to discuss in a heated political environment. Each lecture will be accompanied by a question and answer session with the presenter. Please be sure to…
Find out more »Special Event: Cultural PostMortem 2020
A joint collaboration between Carolina Public Humanities, the Center for Humanities & the Arts (University of Colorado at Boulder) and the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies (University of Iowa) featuring Dr. Malinda Maynor Lowery (UNC-Chapel Hill) Dr. Ruth Ellen Kocher (CU Boulder) Dr. Christopher Merrill (U of Iowa) How can artists and scholars help the nation contend with the peril in which we find ourselves—starting with our own campuses? The 2020 US presidential race was one of the most…
Find out more »February 2021
Brown Bag French Language Lunch
featuring Jessica Tanner, Assistant Professor of French Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for our discussion. Language…
Find out more »North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
featuring Kimberly J. Stern, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature Elizabeth Gaskell's rich weave of storytelling and social chronicle remains a landmark North and South is a book about rebellion; it poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. Gaskell expertly blends individual feeling with social concern, and her heroine, Margaret Hale, is one of the most original creations of Victorian literature. —Audible.com In our own polarised era of ideological echo chambers, it becomes a story…
Find out more »Race and Voting Rights in North Carolina
featuring James L. Leloudis, Professor of History, UNC-Chapel Hill and Robert Korstad, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Duke University Join us this semester as we bring Humanities in Action online! This series has long been our forum for “topics in the news,” and we continue that tradition with five talks that speak to challenges we face in America today, or subjects that are difficult to discuss in a heated political environment. Each lecture will be accompanied by a question…
Find out more »Brown Bag Italian Language Lunch
featuring Jennifer Mackenzie, Assistant Professor of Italian Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for our discussion. Language…
Find out more »North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
featuring Kimberly J. Stern, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature Elizabeth Gaskell's rich weave of storytelling and social chronicle remains a landmark North and South is a book about rebellion; it poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. Gaskell expertly blends individual feeling with social concern, and her heroine, Margaret Hale, is one of the most original creations of Victorian literature. —Audible.com In our own polarised era of ideological echo chambers, it becomes a story…
Find out more »Escape! Imaginary Lands and Magical Reality
The tedium of daily work and the obstacles that block our aspirations have always led people into the fantasy worlds of literature, theater, film, and imaginary journeys, but the confinement and isolation during the COVID pandemic have deepened this long-existing desire for escapism. Fantasies about alternative worlds or magical powers become all the more attractive when travel becomes impossible and even the local theater has to close its doors. This seminar will explore our fascination with imaginary places and with…
Find out more »Lunch with Friends and Strangers: Hassan Melehy on Jack Kerouac
featuring Hassan Melehy, Professor of French and Francophone Studies, and Jack Kerouac Meet a friend and a stranger over lunch! Click in with Carolina Public Humanities’ Max Owre for Virtual Lunch With Friends and Strangers: Conversations With Faculty. Don’t miss this series of one-on-one talks with Tar Heels as they discuss leading figures in history — some likely strangers, some more familiar to you — and discover new things about impressive people. Each lunch starts at 12:00 noon and…
Find out more »Escape! Imaginary Lands and Magical Reality
The tedium of daily work and the obstacles that block our aspirations have always led people into the fantasy worlds of literature, theater, film, and imaginary journeys, but the confinement and isolation during the COVID pandemic have deepened this long-existing desire for escapism. Fantasies about alternative worlds or magical powers become all the more attractive when travel becomes impossible and even the local theater has to close its doors. This seminar will explore our fascination with imaginary places and with…
Find out more »Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare – SOLD OUT
This Great Books class is sold out. Please email human@unc.edu with your First & Last name, and phone number to be added to the waitlist. featuring Ray Dooley, Professor of Dramatic Art and Actor, PlayMakers Repertory Company A classic story of loyalty, politics, murder and intrigue with some of the greatest oratory ever written Shakespeare’s cautionary tale about the dangers of upending democracy. —Penguin Random House A gripping historical drama, Julius Caesar contains some of Shakespeare’s most memorable lines and is ranked as…
Find out more »Healthcare
featuring Jonathan Oberlander, Professor and Chair of Social Medicine and Professor of Health Policy and Management Join us this semester as we bring Humanities in Action online! This series has long been our forum for “topics in the news,” and we continue that tradition with five talks that speak to challenges we face in America today, or subjects that are difficult to discuss in a heated political environment. Each lecture will be accompanied by a question and answer session…
Find out more »Lunch with Friends and Strangers: Charlene Regester on Dorothy Dandridge
featuring Charlene Regester, Associate Professor of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, and Dorothy Dandridge Meet a friend and a stranger over lunch! Click in with Carolina Public Humanities’ Max Owre for Virtual Lunch With Friends and Strangers: Conversations With Faculty. Don’t miss this series of one-on-one talks with Tar Heels as they discuss leading figures in history — some likely strangers, some more familiar to you — and discover new things about impressive people. Each lunch starts at…
Find out more »World War II in the Pacific
A Distinguished Scholar Webinar featuring Gerhard L. Weinberg The struggle to defeat the Nazis in Europe often dominates historical discussions of the Second World War, but the overlapping war in Asia and the Pacific produced equally horrific human and economic losses. More than 20,000,000 people died in China, and many millions more perished across Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan. The economic disruptions also produced long-term hardships that affected postwar political transitions. This seminar will examine why Japan launched its Asian…
Find out more »Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey
featuring Marc Cohen, Teaching Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature The first literary addiction memoir Forging a link between artistic self-expression and addiction, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater seamlessly weaves the effects of drugs and the nature of dreams, memory, and imagination....it paved the way for later generations of literary drug users, from Baudelaire to Burroughs, and anticipated psychoanalysis with its insights into the subconscious. —Penguin Random House Confessions of an English Opium-Eater remains its author’s most famous and…
Find out more »The History of Jim Crow Laws in North Carolina
featuring Richard Paschal, Attorney, Schwartz and Shaw, PLLC Join us this semester as we bring Humanities in Action online! This series has long been our forum for “topics in the news,” and we continue that tradition with five talks that speak to challenges we face in America today, or subjects that are difficult to discuss in a heated political environment. Each lecture will be accompanied by a question and answer session with the presenter. Please be sure to verify…
Find out more »Brown Bag German Language Lunch
featuring Christina Weiler, Teaching Assistant Professor of German Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for our discussion.…
Find out more »Lunch with Friends and Strangers: Matt Andrews on Muhammad Ali
featuring Matt Andrews, Teaching Associate Professor of History, and Muhammad Ali Meet a friend and a stranger over lunch! Click in with Carolina Public Humanities’ Max Owre for Virtual Lunch With Friends and Strangers: Conversations With Faculty. Don’t miss this series of one-on-one talks with Tar Heels as they discuss leading figures in history — some likely strangers, some more familiar to you — and discover new things about impressive people. Each lunch starts at 12:00 noon and runs…
Find out more »March 2021
Brown Bag French Language Lunch
featuring Jessica Tanner, Assistant Professor of French Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for our discussion. Language…
Find out more »Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey
featuring Marc Cohen, Teaching Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature The first literary addiction memoir Forging a link between artistic self-expression and addiction, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater seamlessly weaves the effects of drugs and the nature of dreams, memory, and imagination....it paved the way for later generations of literary drug users, from Baudelaire to Burroughs, and anticipated psychoanalysis with its insights into the subconscious. —Penguin Random House Confessions of an English Opium-Eater remains its author’s most famous and…
Find out more »Lunch with Friends and Strangers: Kathleen DuVal on Manteo
featuring Kathleen DuVal, Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor of History, and Manteo Meet a friend and a stranger over lunch! Click in with Carolina Public Humanities’ Max Owre for Virtual Lunch With Friends and Strangers: Conversations With Faculty. Don’t miss this series of one-on-one talks with Tar Heels as they discuss leading figures in history — some likely strangers, some more familiar to you — and discover new things about impressive people. Each lunch starts at 12:00…
Find out more »The Global Challenge of Religious Freedom
Although religious freedom is widely touted as a fundamental human right, debates churn on about what it ought to look like, how it should be achieved, and what its limitations should be. This seminar will examine religious freedom within a global context, teasing out some of the challenges that complicate the quest for this ideal. How does the policing of religion intersect with culture, race, and nationalism? What does it mean for a state to be truly secular, and is…
Find out more »The Global Challenge of Religious Freedom
Although religious freedom is widely touted as a fundamental human right, debates churn on about what it ought to look like, how it should be achieved, and what its limitations should be. This seminar will examine religious freedom within a global context, teasing out some of the challenges that complicate the quest for this ideal. How does the policing of religion intersect with culture, race, and nationalism? What does it mean for a state to be truly secular, and is…
Find out more »The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector
featuring Chloe M. Hill, Teaching Assistant Professor of Portuguese The devastating final work by Brazil's greatest modern writer Every page vibrates with feeling. It’s not enough to say that Lispector bends language or uses words in new ways. Plenty of modernists do that. No one else writes prose this rich. —National Public Radio Clarice Lispector is the premier Latin American woman prose writer of this century. She is studied by the scholars, but has never managed to reach the reading…
Find out more »Gig Economies and Radical Political Movements
featuring Margaret Foster, Post-doctoral Research Associate in Political Science Join us this semester as we bring Humanities in Action online! This series has long been our forum for “topics in the news,” and we continue that tradition with five talks that speak to challenges we face in America today, or subjects that are difficult to discuss in a heated political environment. Each lecture will be accompanied by a question and answer session with the presenter. Please be sure to…
Find out more »The Nature of Things by Lucretius
featuring James J. O'Hara, George L. Paddison Professor of Classics The epic poem that changed the course of human thought forever This great poem stands with Virgil's Aeneid as one of the vital and enduring achievements of Latin literature. Lost for more than a thousand years, its return to circulation in 1417 reintroduced dangerous ideas about the nature and meaning of existence and helped shape the modern world. —W.W. Norton Publishing Even to modern readers, the sweep of Lucretius's observations…
Find out more »Brown Bag German Language Lunch
featuring Gabriel Trop, Associate Professor of German and Comparative Literature Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for…
Find out more »What Can Humans Learn from Animals?
Human societies have long used non-human animals for economic purposes, food supplies, transportation, sports, religious rituals, and even protection. Human beings are thus always connected to animals, as we also know from the complex relationships that bind people to the dogs, cats, and other pets with whom they share their lives. The study of animals and the defense of animal rights have altered our understanding of these fellow sentient beings, but what can humans actually learn from animals? We’ll explore…
Find out more »Lunch with Friends and Strangers: Victoria Rovine on the Pith Helmet
featuring Victoria Rovine, Professor of African Art History, and the Pith Helmet Meet a friend and a stranger over lunch! Click in with Carolina Public Humanities’ Max Owre for Virtual Lunch With Friends and Strangers: Conversations With Faculty. Don’t miss this series of one-on-one talks with Tar Heels as they discuss leading figures in history — some likely strangers, some more familiar to you — and discover new things about impressive people. Each lunch starts at 12:00 noon and…
Find out more »The Nature of Things by Lucretius
featuring James J. O'Hara, George L. Paddison Professor of Classics The epic poem that changed the course of human thought forever This great poem stands with Virgil's Aeneid as one of the vital and enduring achievements of Latin literature. Lost for more than a thousand years, its return to circulation in 1417 reintroduced dangerous ideas about the nature and meaning of existence and helped shape the modern world. —W.W. Norton Publishing Even to modern readers, the sweep of Lucretius's observations…
Find out more »April 2021
Lunch with Friends and Strangers: Heidi Kim on Jade Snow Wong
featuring Heidi Kim, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, and Jade Snow Wong Meet a friend and a stranger over lunch! Click in with Carolina Public Humanities’ Max Owre for Virtual Lunch With Friends and Strangers: Conversations With Faculty. Don’t miss this series of one-on-one talks with Tar Heels as they discuss leading figures in history — some likely strangers, some more familiar to you — and discover new things about impressive people. Each lunch starts at 12:00…
Find out more »Brown Bag French Language Lunch
featuring Hannelore Jarausch, Teaching Professor Emerita, UNC Romance Studies Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for our…
Find out more »The Judgment and In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka – SOLD OUT
This Great Books class is sold out. Please email human@unc.edu with your First & Last name, and phone number to be added to the waitlist. featuring Gabriel Trop, Associate Professor of Germanic & Slavic Languages & Literature More than any other modern writer in world literature, Kafka captures the loneliness and misery that fill the lives of 20th-century humanity Franz Kafka’s imagination so far outstripped the forms and conventions of the literary tradition he inherited that he was forced to turn that tradition…
Find out more »Brown Bag Italian Language Lunch
featuring Jennifer Mackenzie, Assistant Professor of Italian Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for our discussion. Language…
Find out more »The Judgment and In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka – SOLD OUT
This Great Books class is sold out. Please email human@unc.edu with your First & Last name, and phone number to be added to the waitlist. featuring Gabriel Trop, Associate Professor of Germanic & Slavic Languages & Literature More than any other modern writer in world literature, Kafka captures the loneliness and misery that fill the lives of 20th-century humanity Franz Kafka’s imagination so far outstripped the forms and conventions of the literary tradition he inherited that he was forced to turn that tradition…
Find out more »The 2021 E. Maynard Adams Symposium for the Humanities: What Should the Work Ethic Mean in a Twenty-First Century Capitalist Society?
The fourth symposium in honor of distinguished UNC philosopher Maynard Adams (1919-2003) will feature keynote speaker Elizabeth Anderson, the John Dewey Distinguished University Professor, John Rawls Collegiate Professor, and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Michigan. Professor Anderson’s writings explore how people can improve their value judgments and how emotions contribute to knowledge and democratic debates. She is also interested in the ethical components of economic activities and the nature of workplace hierarchies. She…
Find out more »The 2021 E. Maynard Adams Symposium for the Humanities: What Should the Work Ethic Mean in a Twenty-First Century Capitalist Society?
The fourth symposium in honor of distinguished UNC philosopher Maynard Adams (1919-2003) will feature keynote speaker Elizabeth Anderson, the John Dewey Distinguished University Professor, John Rawls Collegiate Professor, and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Michigan. Professor Anderson’s writings explore how people can improve their value judgments and how emotions contribute to knowledge and democratic debates. She is also interested in the ethical components of economic activities and the nature of workplace hierarchies. She…
Find out more »Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters by Michael S. Roth
featuring Lloyd Kramer, Professor of History and Director, Carolina Public Humanities Winner of the 2016 Frederic W. Ness Book Award sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities An elegant and informative survey of the work of important thinkers. —Inside Higher Ed High school counselors ask students their career goals when they guide their college choices. In this deep and intriguing book, Michael S. Roth suggests they also ask what kind of people they want to be both at…
Find out more »Brown Bag German Language Lunch
featuring Christina Weiler, Teaching Assistant Professor of German Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for our discussion.…
Find out more »Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters by Michael S. Roth
featuring Lloyd Kramer, Professor of History and Director, Carolina Public Humanities Winner of the 2016 Frederic W. Ness Book Award sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities An elegant and informative survey of the work of important thinkers. —Inside Higher Ed High school counselors ask students their career goals when they guide their college choices. In this deep and intriguing book, Michael S. Roth suggests they also ask what kind of people they want to be both at…
Find out more »The Olympic Games: Peaceful Internationalism or Nationalist Competition?
featuring Matthew Andrews, Associate Teaching Professor of History With the 2020 Summer Olympic Games set to begin in Tokyo a year later than scheduled, this seminar will explore the complex relationship between the Olympic Movement and global politics. By focusing on a handful of the more significant Olympiads, this seminar will consider the paradox of an event that was created to celebrate human commonality, while requiring athletes to compete as representatives of different nations. Join sports historian Matt Andrews as…
Find out more »The Olympic Games: Peaceful Internationalism or Nationalist Competition?
featuring Matthew Andrews, Associate Teaching Professor of History With the 2020 Summer Olympic Games set to begin in Tokyo a year later than scheduled, this seminar will explore the complex relationship between the Olympic Movement and global politics. By focusing on a handful of the more significant Olympiads, this seminar will consider the paradox of an event that was created to celebrate human commonality, while requiring athletes to compete as representatives of different nations. Join sports historian Matt Andrews as…
Find out more »May 2021
Brown Bag French Language Lunch
featuring Hannelore Jarausch, Teaching Professor Emerita, UNC Romance Studies Interested in polishing or refreshing your foreign language speaking skills in a warm and welcoming virtual environment? Bring your own brown bag lunch to any computer, tablet, or smartphone, and join UNC faculty discussion leaders for a lunch over Zoom chat where participants are encouraged to speak only in a foreign language. All participants will receive a short foreign language article prior to the lunch that will serve as the foundation for our…
Find out more »