The Division of the Humanities will showcase its work on topics ranging from the life of Rudolph Valentino to gastromusicology in India at the 34th annual Humanities Day. The free, daylong festivities on Saturday, Oct. 20 will feature lectures and public conversation on literature, philosophy, linguistics, music, visual arts and more.
“Humanities faculty members at the University of Chicago are engaged in pioneering research that sheds new light on culture, society and history, enriching our understanding of the world around us. Humanities Day offers a wonderful opportunity to share that work with the public,” said Martha Roth, the Chauncey S. Boucher Distinguished Service Professor of Assyriology and dean of the Division of the Humanities.
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Renowned Shakespeare scholar Richard Strier will deliver the Humanities Day keynote address, “Shakespeare’s Prejudices: Shrews and Jews,” at 11 a.m. in Mandel Hall.
Strier, the Frank L. Sulzberger Distinguished Service Professor in English Language and Literature, will discuss two of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays, The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew, and explore how contemporary audiences respond to their portrayal of women and Jews.
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Other highlights of this year’s Humanities Day:
- E. Annamali, visiting professor of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, will explore the endurance of multilingualism in India
- Michael Bourdaghs, associate professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, will consider “Tokyo Boogie Woogie” and other postwar Japanese pop music
- Diane Brentari, professor in linguistics and the College, will discuss the origin and diversity of sign languages
- Ted Cohen, professor in philosophy and the College, will ask whether it matters if fictional characters are like us or unlike us
- Alison James, assistant professor in romance languages and literatures and the College, will examine experiments in online publishing by French authors
- Steven Rings, assistant professor of music, will analyze the many voices of Bob Dylan
- David Wellbery, the LeRoy T. & Margaret Deffenbaugh Carlson University Professor in Germanic Studies, Comparative Literature, the Committee on Social Thought, and the College, will investigate Nietzsche’s “At Midnight” and Mahler’s interpretation of the poem
In addition to these lectures and discussions, guests will have the opportunity to tour the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts and visit the Karen Landahl Center for Linguistics Research.
Humanities Day is free and open to the public. Registration is required; to register and to see a full listing of events, please visit humanitiesday2012.uchicago.edu.
In addition, several UChicago faculty members also will be featured in the Chicago Humanities Festival throughout October and November. For more information on that event, please visit the CHF website.
Parking for Humanities Day is available at the Ellis Avenue parking garage, on the southeast corner of 55th Street and Ellis Avenue. Guests who require special assistance may call (773) 702-7423 or email humanities@uchicago.edu.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart