Chicago Humanities Fall Festival

Schedule of Events:

11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Christopher Cox on Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn

Illuminating the historical roots of ongoing societal challenges

Former fifth-ranking leader in the US House of Representatives, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and senior associate counsel to President George W. Bush, Christopher Cox leads a discussion on President Woodrow Wilson accentuating the importance of historical awareness for contemporary social discourse. Wilson’s decades of opposition to the 19th Amendment, his segregation of the federal workforce, and his sympathy for Jim Crow laws have deeply influenced the course of American history. Obtain a fresh perspective on the enigmatic 28th president and explore how Wilson’s complex legacy in racial equality and women's suffrage continue to impact America today.

Location: University of Chicago - Gordon Parks Arts Hall - 5815 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

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12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Alison L. LaCroix: The Interbellum Constitution

Union, commerce, and slavery in the age of federalisms

University of Chicago professor of law and history, Alison L. LaCroix was appointed to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court to contribute her academic expertise in constitutional law history and federalism. In this captivating lecture-style presentation, LaCroix will expand our understanding of the pivotal period between the Founding Era and the Civil War that shaped modern American constitutional law and our understanding of the concepts of union, federalism, and sovereignty. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with one of the foremost scholars in constitutional history.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: R. Derek Black: The Klansman’s Son

A journey from white nationalism to antiracism

Derek Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. Their father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan.  Discussing their memoir, The Klansman’s Son with Chicago Humanities, Black details a childhood manipulated by fear, their break from a community of hate, embracing antiracism, and coming out as transgender. Few understand the ideology, motivations, or tactics of the white nationalist movement like Derek, and few have ever made such a profound evolution. Don’t miss this fascinating story to gain insight into the complexities of personal change and explore how understanding can combat extremism.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Sunil Amrith: The Burning Earth – A History

Migration as consequence of environmental harm

Movement is the thread that brings all of Sunil Amrith’s work together. Pull this thread and untangle a paradigm-shifting global history as we discuss an exploration of the reciprocal interplay between human actions and the Earth's environment. A Yale University historian and dedicated teacher, Amrith, has a talent for making historical research subtitble to a curious but busy audience. Amrith's groundbreaking work weaves together science, history, and culture to provide a fresh perspective on our current climate crisis and reveal the reality of migration as a consequence of environmental harm. Don't miss this thought-provoking event to ignite your understanding of the climate crisis’ pivotal role in human history and displacement.

A book signing will follow this program.

Location: The Study Hotel at University of Chicago - 1227 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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1:30 pm - 3:00 pm: Collaborators+ Hyde Park Member Reception

We invite you to join us for a members' reception at the Study Hotel for Collaborator members and above on Hyde Park Day following the free members program with global historian, Sunil Amrith.

This reception is free for all Collaborator members and above, however, tickets are required. A separate event ticket is necessary for additional programs throughout the day - reserve your tickets here.

Location: The Study Hotel at University of Chicago - 1227 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Jamaica Kincaid: The Hidden History of Gardens

Novelist Jamaica Kincaid is renowned as a prolific writer on family relationships and her native Antigua. She is also an avid gardener and in her recent work, An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children, she honors plant life with honesty as well as wit, offering an important look at how legacies of empire and slavery shape where and why we grow certain crops. Join Kincaid as she connects with Chicago Humanities to expand on the ABCs of plants that define our world and the truths of colonial history that manifest in our gardens.

A book signing will follow this program.

Location: University of Chicago - Gordon Parks Arts Hall - 5815 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

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3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: A Talk on Dance and Movement with Kyle Abraham

Find a person in the dancer and the bodies within a body

As part of our fall festival examination of movement, we explore the primal human expression of physical movement and the artistic and cultural foundations of dance with leading choreographer Kyle Abraham. With his company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, he creates a body of dance-based work that is galvanized by Black culture and history and features the rich tapestry of Black and Queer stories. Hear the inspiring insights of Abraham, who has been commissioned to create works for premiere dance companies like Alvin Ailey, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Louis Moore: The Making of the Black Quarterback

Two Black quarterbacks who changed the NFL forever

Louis Moore, a historian of African American history and sports history at Grand Valley State University, explores one of the most glaring discrepancies in all of sports: While the NFL has long been racially integrated, quarterbacking was the exclusive domain of white players for many years. Moore will share with Chicago Humanities how his new book, The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans and the Making of the Black Quarterback, tells the story of two pioneering Black quarterbacks—one who became the first to win a Super Bowl and one who couldn’t make it in the racist world of the NFL—and how they changed the face of America’s game for generations to come.

A book signing will follow this program.

Location: The Study Hotel at University of Chicago - 1227 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Paul Reitter on Karl Marx's Capital

The inner mechanics of capitalism and societal impact

Joined by Daniel Burnfin of the University of Chicago, renowned scholar of Germanic languages and literature Paul Reitter discusses his new translation of Karl Marx's Capital: Critique of Political Economy with the book's editor Paul North. As the first translation based on Marx’s self-edited German edition, Reitter has provided the world with the new authoritative version of this seminal work. Diving into the mind of Marx like few others can, Reitter, North, and Burnfin provide Chicago Humanities with an invaluable perspective on Marx, communism, and their complicated legacy.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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5:30 pm - 6:30 pm: Hoop Dreams at 30

A panel with the stars and filmmakers, Arthur Agee, William Gates, Steve James, and Peter Gilbert

Hoop Dreams was famously called “the great American documentary” by Roger Ebert. It’s also, of course, a quintessentially Chicago film. Hoop Dreams turns 30 this year, its story of two young Chicagoans (Arthur Agee and William Gates) trying to become professional basketball players as resonant as ever. Arthur and William, along with director/producer Steve James and director of photography/producer Peter Gilbert, join Chicago Humanities and Kartemquin Films to look back at the film that changed their lives while reflecting on what has — and hasn’t changed — for young men and women chasing their dreams on the basketball courts of Chicago.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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5:30 pm - 6:30 pm: Marcus Garvey and the Democratization of Eloquence

Adom Getachew examines of the power of oratory

The Jamaican Pan-Africanist, Marcus Garvey co-founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914, which would be the institutional nucleus of what is still remembered as the largest Black mass movement in history. In the course of Garveyism’s meteoric rise, oratory was central. It wasn’t only Garvey’s voice that mattered, however. Instead, Garveyites universalized and democratized oratory, providing occasions for the emulation, rehearsal, and repetition of eloquence. In this talk, Adom Getachew, Professor of Political Science and Race, Diaspora & Indigeneity at the University of Chicago, charts the origins of the movement’s emphasis on the arts of eloquence by attending to its origins in West Indian traditions of oratory and examining its transformation into as mass practice.

Location: University of Chicago - Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts - 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

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7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Patti Smith and Lynn Goldsmith: Before Easter After

Longtime friends reflect on a fabled time in music history

Legendary celebrity and rock-n-roll photographer, Lynn Goldsmith has captured the biggest stars with her skilled lens. She’s chronicled the careers of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and her longtime friend and collaborator, Patti Smith. A Chicago Humanities favorite, Patti Smith is one of America’s most acclaimed singer-songwriters and a beloved photographer and poet. Reserve your copy of Goldsmith’s deeply personal visual book about Smith, Before Easter After, and become a lucky fly on the wall with your ticket to witness this chat between two icons of music and photography.

Location: University of Chicago - Gordon Parks Arts Hall - 5815 S Kimbark Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

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