May 2021
Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston
featuring Danielle Christmas, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature TIME Magazine's Best Non-fiction Book of 2018 NPR's Book Concierge Best Book of 2018 New York Public Library's Best Book of 2018 —Written from Hurston’s perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, Barracoon masterfully illustrates the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all,…
Find out more »A Celebration of Community: Black Poetry and Power
featuring Tyree Daye, UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member and award-winning poet Crystal Simone Smith, Duke Humanities Unbounded Fellow, local poet, and founder of Backbone Press CJ Suitt, first Poet Laureate of Chapel Hill Join us over Zoom for a celebration and exploration of Black Poetry today. Thanks to the generous support of our community, this program is FREE and open to the public—contributions are welcome! The event will include a discussion of the role and importance of verse in the…
Find out more »Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston
featuring Danielle Christmas, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature TIME Magazine's Best Non-fiction Book of 2018 NPR's Book Concierge Best Book of 2018 New York Public Library's Best Book of 2018 —Written from Hurston’s perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, Barracoon masterfully illustrates the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all,…
Find out more »June 2021
English Romantic Poetry: Blake and Wordsworth
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 Hilary Edwards Lithgow, Teaching Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature Some of the most powerful and pleasing poems in the English language, written in one of the greatest periods in English poetry On Wordsworth: William Wordsworth is the foremost of the English Romantic poets. He was much influenced by the events of the French Revolution in…
Find out more »Caribbean Connections
featuring Stephen Anderson, Professor of Music and Juan Manuel Alamo, Associate Professor of Music Join Stephen Anderson and Juan Manuel Alamo in a demonstration of the instruments, rhythms, and styles of Latin and Caribbean jazz music! Virtual Summer Music series Join us this summer for our virtual “learning and listening” events combining commentary and performance. It’s the perfect mix of education and entertainment! These programs are virtual events and take place Thursday evenings from 7:00-8:30 pm. Tuition is…
Find out more »Plato’s Republic and the Meaning of Justice
A Distinguished Scholar Webinar featuring Geoffrey Sayre-McCord Many people are raised to think that virtue is its own reward and that they ought to do the right thing because it is right, not because they hope for some reward or fear some punishment. In Plato's The Republic, Glaucon and his brother Adeimantus mount a powerful case for thinking we should reject these views. They were raised to accept them, and indeed do, but they are worried that they have no…
Find out more »The World and Music of Chopin
featuring Robert Buxton, Lecturer in Piano, Department of Music Frédéric François Chopin set the bar for all pianist composers of the Romantic era. His etudes, waltzes, and other compositions are familiar to many, but what are some of the stories behind their creation and what are the keys to understanding what made Chopin so special? Piano maestro Robert Buxton will perform his pieces and discuss the life and art of the man whose name is nearly synonymous with his instrument.…
Find out more »Lunch with Friends and Strangers: David Pfennig and Mary Anning
featuring David Pfennig, Professor of Biology, and Mary Anning 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 approximately 45-60…
Find out more »Art, Monuments, and Power in Native American Cultures Before 1500
A Dialogues webinar Ruling elites have always wanted to show their power through monuments and artworks that celebrate their grandeur and exalted status. This Dialogues seminar examines the linkage between power and monumental art in the societies that flourished long before 1500 C.E. in places that are now within the southeastern United States and Mexico. How did the powerful rulers in these societies proclaim their power through the buildings, landscapes, sculptures, and artistic rituals that they commissioned across the territories…
Find out more »Persuasion by Jane Austen
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 Rachel Gurvich, Clinical Associate Professor of Law Her most maturely written novel, showing a refinement of literary conception —A brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, Persuasion is, above all, a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities. —Thomas Nelson Publishers —Jane Austen's last completed novel and her most optimistic and romantic work, Persuasion gives full…
Find out more »Lunch with Friends and Strangers: Annegret Fauser and Aaron Copland
featuring Annegret Fauser, Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of Music and Adjunct Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, and Aaron Copland 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…
Find out more »Ella Baker, Barack Obama, and the Long Struggle for Equal Rights
A Dialogues webinar In Celebration of Juneteenth African American communities have long gathered for Juneteenth celebrations that commemorate the abolition of slavery, but these celebrations have also shown how the struggle for equal rights continues in our own time. This struggle has depended on millions of unsung people, but it has also advanced through the vision of exceptional leaders. This Dialogues seminar offers the insights of faculty experts who have analyzed two such leaders in books about Ella Baker (1903-1986)…
Find out more »Persuasion by Jane Austen
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 Rachel Gurvich, Clinical Associate Professor of Law Her most maturely written novel, showing a refinement of literary conception —A brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, Persuasion is, above all, a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities. —Thomas Nelson Publishers —Jane Austen's last completed novel and her most optimistic and romantic work, Persuasion gives full…
Find out more »Lunch with Friends and Strangers: Daniel Cobb and D’Arcy McNickle
featuring Daniel Cobb, Professor of American Studies, and D'Arcy McNickle 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 approximately…
Find out more »Conceptions of Time from the Big Bang to Daylight Saving
An Adventures in Ideas webinar The meanings and limits of human lives are entangled in the passage of time. We mark the days and years of our lives with familiar numbers on clocks and calendars, but human conceptions of time have always gone far beyond the dates on a calendar. This seminar thus examines how time has been defined and experienced through the cultural frames of science, religion, and social history. How does an astronomer’s account of cosmic time resemble…
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