Programs at the Center for Humanities

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All events are free and open to the public.  Please note that we do not take reservations and that seating for all events is available on a first-come, first-served basis.  For more information call 212/817.2005 or email ch@gc.cuny.edu.

SPECIAL GUESTS

Donald Hall: An Evening with the new Poet Laureate

The newly elected Poet Laureate of the United States comments on poetry in America and reads from his latest collection, White Apples and the Taste of Stone. Donald Hall has published over 15 books and has been the recipient of numerous prizes, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. Co-sponsored by the Academy of American Poets. $15, $10 for Academy members with membership card. FREE with CUNY ID.
For more information, please visit the Academy of American Poets’ website, www.poets.org.

September 19, Tuesday, 6:30 – 8:00pm, Proshansky Auditorium.

Taner Akçam: Turkey and the Armenian Genocide

As Turkey lobbies to enter the European Union, Taner Akcam, controversial author of A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility discusses its evasion of responsibility for the Armenian genocide of 1915 and the international community’s inadequate attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice. Taner Akcam is one of the few historians to have mined significant evidence on the genocide in Turkish military and court records, parliamentary minutes, letters, and eyewitness accounts.

October 2, Monday, 6:30 – 8:00pm, Elebash Recital Hall.

Charles S. Maier: Analogies of Empire: The United States as Superpower

Charles S. Maier is Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History at Harvard University. His most recent book is Among Empires: American Ascendancy and its Predecessors, Dissolution. This event is co-sponsored by the PhD programs in History and Political Science.

October 13, Friday, 4:30 – 6:00pm, History Lounge (5114)

Dana Gioia: Poetry as Enchantment (in a Disenchanted Age)
Stanley Burnshaw Memorial Lecture

Dana Gioia is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning poet and critic. His most recent volume of poetry, Interrogations at Noon, won the American Book Award. His lecture will be preceded by a brief tribute to Stanley Burnshaw with comments by Burnshaw’s friends and colleagues.

October 20, Friday, 6:30pm – 8:30pm, Elebash Recital Hall

Robert Alter: The Enchantment of the Word: Language and the Study of Literature
The Irving Howe Memorial Lecture

Robert Alter is Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of seventeen books, including The Art of Biblical Narrative, which won the National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Thought, and The Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age. His most recent publication is The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary.

October 30, Monday, 6:30 – 8:30pm, Proshansky Auditorium

POETRY READINGS

Bowery Poetry Club Series

This fall the Center for the Humanities is partnering with the Bowery Poetry Club (BPC) to present the “Visiting Writers” component of “Study Abroad on the Bowery: Page and Stage,” a semester-long certificate course in poetics. Most Tuesdays during the semester the Center for the Humanities and the BPC will present free readings and lecture by a diverse selection of contemporary poets. Participating writers include Ammiel Alcalay (9/12) Anselm Berrigan (9/19) Victor Hernandez Cruz (9/26) Quincy Troupe (10/3) Sapphire (10/24) Patricia Smith (10/31) and Alice Notley (11/7). For more information about “Study Abroad on the Bowery,” or to see a complete list of visiting writers, please visit www.bowerypoetry.com.

All readings will take place in the English Department Lounge (Room 4406) on Tuesdays, from 6:30 – 8:00pm.

A Celebration of Contemporary Black Poetry Cave Canem’s 10th Anniversary Reading

For a full decade, Cave Canem has worked to build a supportive national community of emerging and established African American poets, schooled in both MFA programs and poetry slams. Join us for a two day celebration of their 10th anniversary. On October 12 Sonia Sanchez will host a reading by the Cave Canem Poetry Prize winners, including Major Jackson, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Constance Quarterman Bridges, and others. The following day will feature a selection of panel discussions, a reception, and a series of readings by their award-winning faculty, beginning with a keynote address by Walter Mosley and followed by poetry readings from Elizabeth Alexander, Lucille Clifton, Nikky Finney, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Sonia Sanchez and more. Evening readings are free with CUNY ID and $10 for the general public. For a complete schedule as well as information on ticket prices, visit: www.cavecanempoets.org.

October 12, 6:00 – 8:00pm, Proshansky Auditorium

October 13, 1:00 – 9:00pm, Concourse Area and Proshansky Auditorium

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