The University of Georgia will kick off its third annual Humanities Festival from March 11 to April 2, offering a diverse lineup of over 20 public lectures, performances, conversations and unique events.
The festival will highlight the achievements of the humanities community at UGA and includes an engaging mix of activities such as a trivia night and a special reception honoring faculty, staff, and students’ recent accomplishments.
This year’s festival promises to be especially notable with appearances from some of the most accomplished figures in the humanities and arts, including National Book Award-winning author Charles Johnson, sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar—nominated for 11 Grammy Awards—and the 2024 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize winner, Ferdia Lennon.
Additionally, one of the two classical musicians inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame will be celebrated during the event.
“Our mission is to share the joy of writing, reading, thinking and making, which are the foundations of all human concern,” said Nicholas Allen, Baldwin Professor in Humanities, director of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts and co-chair of the UGA Humanities Council. “The imagination is the engine of all innovation, and the University of Georgia is a machine for ideas that shape our state and nation’s futures. The Humanities Festival is a great opportunity to see a snapshot of the brilliant work that goes on across the campus all year, from the classroom to the world.”
The festival is organized by the UGA Humanities Council, which was established in 2022 to raise the profile of humanities research and practice at the university. Supported by the Office of Research, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the council involves more than 30 departments, schools, and units across UGA.
The festival will begin with a Student and Faculty Appreciation Reception on March 17 at 5:30 p.m. in the Founders Memorial Garden, followed by Humanities Trivia Night on March 18 at Ciné, where attendees can form teams in advance or on-site to test their knowledge.
A key highlight will be a performance by world-renowned sitarist Anoushka Shankar on March 20 at Hodgson Concert Hall, part of the UGA Performing Arts Center’s Voices of Asia spring series. The series will also feature pianist Mitsuko Uchida and Berlin’s Mahler Chamber Orchestra on March 25.
From March 21-24, Robert Spano, music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Music Director Laureate, will serve as the Willson Center’s Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding. During his residency, he will host a workshop for UGA student composers and present two public talks on the Atlanta School of Composers.
The festival will also feature public readings and discussions from Charles Johnson, the MacArthur “genius” grant winner and National Book Award recipient, on March 26, and Ferdia Lennon, winner of the 2024 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, on March 27. Both events are part of UGA’s Signature Lecture Series.
Additional events include a book launch by Diana Graizbord, assistant professor of sociology and Latin American and Caribbean studies; a gallery talk by Paola De Santo, associate professor of Italian at the Georgia Museum of Art; and a screening and conversation about Mai Zetterling’s 1968 film The Girls, led by Anna Stenport, professor of communication studies.
The festival will conclude on April 2 with the 2025 Odum Environmental Ethics Lecture by ethnographer and writer Wade Davis, who will discuss his 2009 book The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World.
“Research and scholarship, teaching and practice in the humanities are essential to advance our understanding of ourselves and the world,” said S. Jack Hu, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Through their world-class scholarship in the humanities, UGA’s faculty, staff and students provide deeply informed perspectives that impact all areas of human learning and endeavor. This festival is an opportunity for us to celebrate the people who produce this outstanding work and to share it with our whole community.”
