March 2023
North Carolina Freedom Park: Celebrating Freedom and the African American Experience
Tuesday, March 28, 2023 | Program 7pm – 8 pm, followed by Q & A Whitted Building, 300 W Tryon St, Hillsborough, NC Envision an inspiring, 45-foot-tall, illuminated sculpture reaching towards the sky from the center of downtown Raleigh - a "Beacon of Freedom," the centerpiece of North Carolina Freedom Park - a one-acre park that honors the African American experience and struggle for freedom in North Carolina. Join the Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition on Tues., March 28th at…
Find out more »HERE COMES THE SUN by Nicole Dennis-Benn
featuring Petal Samuel, Assistant Professor of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies A New York Times Notable Book of the Year and Winner of the LAMBDA Literary Award —A lithe, artfully-plotted debut, Here Comes the Sun is deceptively well-constructed, with slow and painful reveals right through the end.—The New York Times —Impossible to forget, Dennis-Benn’s writing is as lush as the island itself....She knows how to make the women so complex that we believe every hairpin turn of her…
Find out more »Ethics, Integrity, and Gender in the US Border Patrol
featuring Erin Siegal McIntyre, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Humanities in Action Wednesdays Travel around the world with Carolina Public Humanities as we explore topics of current interest. Stop by Flyleaf Books on Wednesday afternoons (or tune in from home) to learn more about the world around us. The Humanities in Action hybrid lecture series will take place on Wednesday afternoons from 4:30-6:00 pm at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. Your registration allows you to attend in person at…
Find out more »Indivisible: Connecting Classrooms and Communities Through History, Humanities, and Conversation
In collaboration with Southwestern Community College, Sylva, NC Communities across North Carolina are grappling with emotionally charged aspects of local and national history, and educators at all levels are struggling to bring ongoing legacies of inequality into classroom discussions. Along with our community college partners, Carolina Public Humanities will stage a series of public events and teacher workshops this fall that use the humanities to dig deep into our state’s own hard history, placing it within the context of broader…
Find out more »April 2023
Migration and Identity in Western Europe: Then and Now
*NEW DATE: This program, originally scheduled for February 4, has been moved to April 1. A Dialogues Seminar Heated debates about immigration, naturalization, and national identity abound in politics, but these debates are not confined to North America, nor are they new. This dialogues seminar will explore what citizenship meant in early modern Britain and compare the period’s legal and philosophical notions of national identity with contemporary concepts. We’ll then trace the evolution of immigration in Western Europe from the…
Find out more »CANCELLED – The Many Voices of the Piano
Unfortunately, this program has been cancelled due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts. We hope to reschedule at a future date.
Find out more »BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE (select essays) by Hannah Arendt
featuring Gabriel Trop, Associate Professor of German One of the most original and fruitful minds of the Twentieth Century —In Between Past and Future Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory.—Penguin Classics —It is hard to name another thinker of the twentieth century more sought after as a guide to the dilemmas of the twenty-first.—The New Yorker —Arendt…
Find out more »BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE (select essays) by Hannah Arendt
featuring Gabriel Trop, Associate Professor of German One of the most original and fruitful minds of the Twentieth Century —In Between Past and Future Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory.—Penguin Classics —It is hard to name another thinker of the twentieth century more sought after as a guide to the dilemmas of the twenty-first.—The New Yorker —Arendt…
Find out more »Duets with Banjo and Classical Guitar
Join us at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill for musical performance and conversation featuring Resonator with Hank Smith, Lecturer in Banjo, and Billie Feather, Adjunct Guitar Professor, Meredith College. Tickets are $5. Purchase tickets in advance online or by calling us at 919.962.1544. Tickets can also be purchased at the door.
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American Empire in the Nineteenth-Century Pacific: A Cultural Exploration
a DIALOGUES seminar Many Americans are familiar with our nation’s history of colonial settlement “from sea to shining sea,” but we often forget that expansion didn’t end at the West Coast. This seminar will look at 19th-century art and literature to examine how Americans understood the Pacific and the people who lived on its islands and coasts—and the role a new American empire was to play in the region. We’ll review the ideas and works of Herman Melville, Henry Adams, and…
Find out more »Recitation & Reflection (Letter from a Birmingham City Jail Program)
Recitation & Reflection Sunday, April 16, 3:30 pm At the Chapel Hill Library (100 Library Dr, Chapel Hill) with Dr. William Sturkey (UNC). Join us for a reading of the full Letter from a Birmingham City Jail and a discussion of its enduring significance. This is part of a series of programs to mark the 60th anniversary of King's Letter from a Birmingham City Jail. To see the full lineup of programs, visit www.humanities.unc.edu/letter.
Find out more »THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE: The Dupin Stories by Edgar Allan Poe
featuring Sarah E. Boyd, Teaching Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature The birth of detective fiction as a genre —Edgar Allan Poe introduced to literature the concept of applying reason to solving crime, inspiring the creation of countless literary sleuths, among them Sherlock Holmes.—Modern Library Classics —"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is almost a complete manual of detective theory and practice.—Dorothy L. Sayers —Poe’s formula appealed in the nineteenth century because detective stories promised that reasoning could…
Find out more »Letter from Poetry Slam (Letter from a Birmingham City Jail Program)
Letter from Poetry Slam Wednesday, April 19, 7 - 8:30 pm Hosted by Dasan Ahanu (2023 Piedmont Laureate) at the Eno Arts Mill (437 Dimmocks Mill Rd Suite 17, Hillsborough). This concluding program, presented by the Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition and the Orange County Arts Commission, will give participants an opportunity to creatively reflect on the Letter from a Birmingham City Jail and to add their own voices to the conversation. This is the concluding program in a series…
Find out more »“Indivisible,” featuring Dr. Sonny Kelly
In this engaging and interactive presentation, scholar and playwright Dr. Sonny Kelly will use the tools of storytelling, lecture, poetry, and dramatic interpretation to grapple with the painful and persistent legacies of racism and oppression in American history. Drawing a thread of continuity from the colonial era through to our present moment and homing in on critical figures like Crispus Attucks, Fredrick Douglas, and Fred Hampton, Dr. Kelly will dig into the roots of violence and division in American history…
Find out more »France’s World War II: Division, Defeat, and Denial
a HALF-DAY DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR seminar featuring Max Owre Why did France, with the largest and most well-equipped army in Western Europe in 1939, fall to Nazi Germany in little over a month in the spring of 1940? To answer this, we will explore the volatile political climate of France in the 1930s and consider how it may have led to the collapse of the Third Republic and the decision to turn to collaborationist Marshal Petain in France’s darkest hour. We will then…
Find out more »Adult Spelling Bee
Spelling fun for grownups is back! There will be a Grand Prize for on-stage contestants and plenty of chances for all to test their orthographical skills. Featuring celebrity judges and special guests. Want to compete? Apply to be a contestant here. This event is free and open to the public.
Find out more »May 2023
Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe: Complicity and Conscience in America’s World War II Concentration Camps
Book reading and conversation featuring author Eric L. Muller, Dan K. Moore Distinguished Professor of Law. This event is free and open to the public.We will have more information about how to guarantee a seat at Flyleaf Books closer to the date.
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