News &amp; Events

Past Events

Read about our events and watch recorded talks by experts from FIU and beyond.

We're Here: Queer Artists Celebrate Pride through Art, Music, and Protest
We met for "We're Here" as LGBTQ+ Pride Month came to a close. Our speakers reflected on the purpose of Pride; discussing the unique mix of celebration and advocacy that characterizes Pride events; and exploring how art, music, poetry, and performance shape the experiences and subjectivities of those who participate in Pride.
Juneteenth: Education, Celebration, and Healing: A Teach-In
This virtual, public-facing program in honor of Juneteenth explored topics related to the history of the holiday, the ways it is experienced and celebrated by African Americans today, and the myriad social justice issues that cohere around it. The program brought together public figures, scholars, activists and artists, who together shed needed light on the past and inspire a hopeful vision for the future.
Asian American Identities, Histories, and Cultures: A Critical Roundtable Discussion
In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, this virtual roundtable focused on how AAPI people have contributed to the history and culture of Miami and elsewhere. We will discuss the “model minority myth,” explore ongoing violence against the AAPI community, and examine our role as an institution of higher education in addressing anti-AAPI racism in the context of our commitments to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice.
When Liberty Burns: Race Relations in America
We co-sponsored an April 22 virtual roundtable, When Liberty Burns, centered on the documentary directed by Dudley Alexis highlighting the life and death of Arthur L. McDuffie. In 1979, McDuffie died after Dade County police officers beat him into a coma. Acquittal of the offending officers charged in the murder sparked a civil disturbance in Miami’s urban core, the "McDuffie Riots." The roundtable highlighted race relations and the role of white supremacy and American policing.
I'm Not a Virus: A Teach-In on Anti-Asian & Asian American Racism
In I'm Not a Virus, we learned from actor and comedian Margaret Cho and a full panel of activists, scholars and artists about the problem of anti-Asian racism, its history, and what we should do about it. Hate incidents against Asian Americans are on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and now we are confronted by shootings that may have been racially motivated - the latest iteration of a much deeper problem. We have to talk about it. We have to listen. And we have to learn.
Vernacular: Mother Tongues in Schools and Communities
The old idea that the best way to promote equality in school and society is by eradicating linguistic difference still holds sway to this day. It’s time we talk about that. In "Vernacular," we heard from poet and educator Willie Perdomo, winner of the International Latino Book Award and PEN Open Book Award, about writing and teaching in mother tongues. Then, four humanities experts from around the country spoke about unlocking the potential of mother tongues in education and beyond.
Black History Month Films
We held screenings and discussions of two important films: One Night in Miami and Talking Black in America. Find an online teaching guide and more at talkingblackinamerica.org.
Love
We explored “Love” through the arts and humanities, with a special focus on the relationship between love and justice. For a lot of people, love is a condition of survival. A way to resist oppression. A mode of empowerment. A radical politics. A kind of freedom.
"Shut Up and Play": Race and Racism in American Sports
"Shut Up and Play": Race and Racism in American Sports
On Jan. 26, “Shut Up and Play”, hosted by NFL player and activist Ryan Russell, brought together professional athletes, journalists, and scholars of race and sport to interrogate the long and continuous history of racism in sports and sports culture in the United States.
Positive: HIV in the Arts, Medicine, and Everyday Life
In honor of World AIDS Day, we hosted “Positive” with performing artists, medical experts and scholars from across the humanities and interpretive social sciences to talk about HIV in Miami and around the United States.
Fake News: Objectivity, Subjectivity, and the Search for Truth
A panel of journalists, media experts and philosophers convened for an exploration of truth, education, big data and media literacy. Journalist Jorge Ramos (Univision, Fusion) began the night with a message on "fake news" and what we can do about it.
Our Talk, Our Land
On Indigenous People's Day, we joined FIU's Global Indigenous Forum and the Rev. Houston Cypress (Otter Clan, Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida) along with indigenous scholars, artists and activists to learn about struggles around the world for Native land rights and to maintain indigenous, Native, First Nations and aboriginal languages.
Latinx: What’s in a Name?
We spoke with renowned journalist, author and Columbia University professor Ed Morales online on Sept. 21 about the possibilities and politics of “Latinx” through the overlapping vectors of language, race/ethnicity, gender, national origin, sexuality, age, ability and more.
Monumental: Flags, Statues, and the Politics of Public Space
We hosted scholars, photographers, activists, and museum curators for a discussion about public space, Confederate and colonial names, flags, monuments and statues in the United States, as well as similar symbols in the United Kingdom, Brazil and across the Caribbean.
Our speakers included Ana Lucia Araujo (Howard), Wallace Best (Princeton), Alan Chin (Columbia), Alison Isenberg (Princeton), Andrea Queeley (FIU), Jen Reid (protestor), Heather Russell (FIU), Alvia Wardlaw (Texas Southern), and Aza Weir-Soley (FIU).
Belonging
Associate Professor Richard Blanco - the first openly gay person, first Latinx person, the first immigrant and the youngest person to be a presidential inaugural poet - spoke with Emory University’s Karen Stolley about concepts of identity, exile and home.
Belonging is a universal human yearning — we all need someone, someplace, something to belong to and thrive. But what does it mean to belong? What do we belong to, or not, and why? Do we get to choose? Is belonging inclusive or exclusive, or both? Is it a false reality, or a true manifestation of the self?
These are the questions Richard Blanco has asked throughout his writing and his often-contradictory identities as both a poet and engineer, as a Cuban-American, as a popular poetic figure yet an academic, and as a straight-raised boy who grew up to become an openly gay man.
Please visit richard-blanco.com to learn more about our guest poet.
Special thanks to the event partners:
- Florida International University’s Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment
- Florida International University’s Department of English
- AJC Decatur Book Festival, presented by Emory University
- Emory Alumni Association
- Emory University’s Office of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Life, Campus Life
- Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
- Emory University’s Center for Faculty Development and Excellence
- Emory University’s Department of Spanish & Portuguese
- Invisible Histories Project
Black Humanity Matters
We hosted renowned scholars to reflect on the long history of anti-black violence in the United States, the Black Lives Matter movement and the anti-racism protests currently taking place.
This event is hosted by FIU’s Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment and co-sponsored by African and African Diaspora Studies; Department of English; College of Arts, Sciences & Education; and Office for the Advancement of Women, Equity and Diversity.

Speakers and performers included:
- Donna Aza Weir-Soley, associate professor of English, FIU
- Andrea Queeley, associate professor of anthropology and African and African Diaspora Studies, FIU
- Valerie Patterson, clinical associate professor of public administration, FIU
- Ana Luszczynska, associate professor and chair of the English department, FIU
- Shawn Christian, associate professor of English, Wheaton College
- Renée Blake, associate professor of Linguistics and Social & Cultural Analysis, NYU
- Kimberly Moffitt, associate professor and affiliate associate professor of Africana Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Ryan Russell, NFL player, advocate and writer
- Omar Thomas, assistant professor of music at the Peabody Institute
Castle of the Stranger
A Reading and Response with Ana Menéndez
When her tenant abruptly dies, the narrator of Ana Menéndez's new novel turns to neighbors in her South Beach apartment block for details about his life. Instead of answers, she discovers only more stories of loss and alienation. Ana Menéndez read from the new, unpublished work and discussed the fragmentary form, the meaning of community, and how we care and don't for those closest to us. With special guest respondent Ana Luszczynska, professor of Latinx Literature and chair of FIU's Department of English.

Cuando su inquilino murió repentinamente, la narradora de la nueva novela de Ana Menéndez acudió a los vecinos de su apartamento en South Beach para obtener más detalles sobre su vida. En lugar de respuestas, ella solo descubrió más historias de pérdida y alienación. Ana Menéndez leyó la nueva obra inédita y discutió la forma fragmentaria, el significado de la comunidad y cómo nos preocupamos y dejamos de preocuparnos por los más cercanos a nosotros. Con respondedora invitada Ana Luszczynska, profesora de literatura latinx y presidente del Departamento de Inglés de FIU.
Contagious: The Outbreak Narrative
We hosted Priscilla Wald, Duke professor and author of Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative, for a public Zoom lecture while the university was operating remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Covid19 is the name of a pathogen — a disease-causing microbe — but if it is a "newly emerging infection," it is also a newly emerging, though familiar, story: the latest version of “the outbreak narrative.” Accounts of newly surfacing diseases appeared in scientific publications and the mainstream media in the Global North with increasing frequency following the introduction of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the mid-1980s. They put the vocabulary of disease outbreaks into circulation, and they introduced the concept of "emerging infections."

The repetition of particular phrases, images and storylines produced a formula that quickly became conventional as it formed the plot of the popular novels and films in the mid-1990s. These stories have consequences. As they disseminate information, they affect survival rates and contagion routes. They promote or mitigate the stigmatizing of individuals, groups, populations, spaces and locales (regional and global), behaviors and lifestyles, and they change economies. They also influence how both scientists and the lay public understand the nature and consequences of infection, how we imagine the threat and why we react so fearfully, and which problems merit our attention and resources.
What Is Latinx?
The What Is Latinx? series seeks to bring together scholars, writers, artists, and activists from a variety of disciplinary and artistic positions to work through the sociocultural, political and linguistic issues swirling around and through contemporary constructions of Latinidad.
Events March 12 to 20, 2020, have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Talking Black in America
The Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment hosted a screening and discussion of the film "Talking Black in America" on Sept. 24, 2019. Executive producer Walt Wolfram (Distinguished University Professor, North Carolina State University; Director, North Carolina Language and Life Project) and producer Renee Blake (Associate Professor, New York University) attended.
This event was co-sponsored by the School of Education and Human Development, African and African Diaspora Studies Program, Linguistics Program and Department of English.
Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow
The Department of English, the Exile Studies Program, and the Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment are proud to announce a cooperative effort with the Coral Gables Museum highlighting the exhibition, Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow, on loan to the Museum from the Museum of Jewish Heritage New York from 5 October 2014-8 January 2015. The exhibit offers a narrative account of the experiences of German academics who fled Nazi Germany and took teaching positions at predominantly black colleges and universities in the American South. To enhance the impact of this presentation, we are organizing a series of events, with the initial plans outlined below with additional presentations to follow, that will highlight key aspects of this experience and celebrate the achievements of the teachers and students who participated in it. Presentations range from receptions to lectures, to roundtable discussions, to workshops, to performances. This important, if heretofore overlooked, moment of American history will resonate throughout our diverse communities, and the events we have planned will underscore from multiple perspectives the significance of what transpired. We believe this exhibition marks a watershed moment in South Florida, and we strongly urge you to participate in as many of the events as possible.
- Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Lessons and Legacies with Alan Berger, PhD., Guy Stern, PhD., Jaqueline Lawton, Tometro Hopkins, Ph.D. Moderator: Michael P. Gillespie, Ph.D. 19th October 2014.
- Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Workshop for Miami-Dade County Teachers (Part 1) Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Workshop for Miami-Dade County Teachers (Part 2) with Asher Milbauer, PhD., Michael Patrick Gillespie PhD., Donald Cunnigen Ph.D. 24th October 2014.
- Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: FIU reception with James Sutton, PhD., Mark B. Rosenberg, PhD., Roslyn Clark Artis, PhD., Alberto Carvalho, Christine Rupp, Asher Milbauer, PhD., Michael Patrick Gillespie Ph.D. 26th October 2014.
- Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow - a Black-Jewish Dialogue with Rabbi Solomon Schiff, Bea Hines, Rev. Gregory Pope, Oren Stier, Ph.D. 16th November 2014.
2016
- Historical Perspectives: Pedagogical and Professional with Gwyn Davies, PhD., Victor Uribe, PhD., April Merleaux, PhD., Aurora Morcillo, Ph.D.
- Shakespeare and the Nature of Exile with James Sutton, Ph.D. with Gwyn Davies, PhD., Daniel Alvarez, M.A., M.T.S., Marian Demos, PhD., Andy Strycharski, Ph.D.
- Gaming the System with Pedro Guerra, Andru Fratarcangeli, David Frisch, Jon Harrison.
- Photographing War with Jay Winter, Ph.D. with Monika Zgustova, Ph.D.
- The Intellectual and Totalitarianism with Monika Zgustova, PhD., Alejandro Rios, Ambassador Martin Palous, Marian Demos, Ph.D.
2015
- Memorial Service for Professor Phillip L. Marcus. 12th February 2015.
- Patronage and the Exile Writer with Norman Manea. 23rd February 2015.
- Teaching Exilic Literature with Norman Manea, Uva de Aragon, Michael P. Gillespie, PhD., Mariane Stanev. Moderator: Asher Z. Milbauer, Ph.D. 25th February 2015.
- The Emerging Alliance of Religion and Ecology with Mary Evelyn Tucker, Ph.D. 26th February 2015.
- New Voices, New Perspectives with Nathaniel Cadle, PhD., Paul Feigen Baum, PhD., Jason Pearl, PhD., Martha Schoolman, Ph.D. Moderator: Heather Blatt, Ph.D. 3rd March 2015.
- Generational Conversation on Exile with Guillermo H. Cartaya, Pablo Cartaya. 16th March 2015.
- Multiple Perspectives on Immigration Reform with Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Helen Aguirre Ferre, Gepsie Metellus, Dahlia Walker-Huntington. 18th March 2015.
- Literature and Crisis Conference Opening Keynote Speaker- Mihoko Suzuki, Ph.D. 9th April 2015.
- Literature and Crisis Conference Closing Keynote Speaker-Joshua Landy, Ph.D. 10th April 2015.
- The Technical Side of Theater with Chris Goslin, Steven Lopez, and Michael Yawney. 27th September 2015.
- Current Literary and Cinematic Trends: Spain and Cuba with Pablo Barrios Almazor. 5th October 2015.
- An Evening of Film and Conversation with Andrew Strycharski, Ph.D. 17th October 2015.
- The Barton Lecture Series on Law and Economics with Benjamin de la Peña. 19th October 2015.
- Applied Philosophy with Sean Allen-Hermanson, PhD., Eugene Marshall, PhD., Kenneth Rogerson, Ph.D. 21st October 2015.
- Complementarity in Humanist and Scientific Thinking with Michael P. Gillespie, Ph.D. 16th November 2015.
- Exiled on Main Street: American Identity in a Time of Crisis. with Holli Levitsky, Ph.D. 16th November 2015.
2014
- Nature, Art, and Science with David Lee, Ph.D.
- Good Dirt: Children and Youth Perspectives on Community and School Gardening with Rebecca Zarger, Ph.D.
- The Continuing Significance of Exile in American Politics with Dean Nicol Rae
- The Cloud-Moving Wind: Exiles, Wanderers and Ordinary Fugitives with Ana Menendez
- Life Among the Stars with James Webb, Ph.D.
- Anatheism: Between the Secular and the Sacred with Richard Kearney, Ph.D.
- Oppressive Eating Habits with Miguel A. De La Torre, Ph.D.
- Revolution in Translation (Part 1), Revolution in Translation (Part 2)
- Collaborators (Part 1), Collaborators (Part 2) Written by Richard Schwartz, Professor Emeritus
- Colors of the World Medieval Paints and Their Origins with Janice McCoy.
- Dark Teens and Dangerous Nature: Neopagan Narratives of Cultural Marginalization with Sarah Pike, Ph.D. 30th September 2014.
- Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Lessons and Legacies with Alan Berger, PhD., Guy Stern, PhD., Jaqueline Lawton, Tometro Hopkins, Ph.D. Moderator: Michael P. Gillespie, Ph.D. 19th October 2014.
- The Barton Lecture Series on Law and Economics: Economic Perspectives at the SEC with Michael Piwowar. 21st October 2014.
- State of Exile Studies with Guy Stern, Ph.D. 23rd October 2014.
- Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Workshop for Miami-Dade County Teachers (Part 1) Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Workshop for Miami-Dade County Teachers (Part 2) with Asher Milbauer, PhD., Michael Patrick Gillespie PhD., Donald Cunnigen Ph.D. 24th October 2014.
- Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: FIU reception with James Sutton, PhD., Mark B. Rosenberg, PhD., Roslyn Clark Artis, PhD., Alberto Carvalho, Christine Rupp, Asher Milbauer, PhD., Michael Patrick Gillespie Ph.D. 26th October 2014.
- The Academic Experience of Exile with Donald Cunnigen Ph.D. 27th October 2014.
- The Spiritual Resistance of Edith Stein and Regina Jonas with Emily Leah Silverman, Ph.D. 12th November 2014.
- The Jewish Experience in South Florida with Paul George, Ph.D. 13th November 2014.
- Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow - a Black-Jewish Dialogue with Rabbi Solomon Schiff, Bea Hines, Rev. Gregory Pope, Oren Stier, Ph.D. 16th November 2014.
2013
- Lecture on "FIU Jews of Africa with Dr. Tudor Parfitt and Dr. Nathan Katz, 9th January 2013
- Contemporary Global Spirituality by Dr. Nathan Katz, 22nd January 2013
- The Business of Medicine by Dr. Pedro "Joe" Greer, 23rd January 2013
- Panel Discussion on "Representations of Violence in the Cinema" featuring Dr. Phillip Church, Lucas Leyva, Robert Rosenberg, and Dr. Barbara Weitz, 29th January 2013
- Part 1 of Lecture titled "Membership and Immigration: Today's Civil Rights Agenda" by Ediberto Roman, JD and Professor, 31st January 2013
- Part 2 of Lecture titled "Membership and Immigration: Today's Civil Rights Agenda" by Ediberto Roman, JD and Professor, 31st January 2013
  - The Humanities in a Public Sphere featuring renown journalist and political commentator Helen Ferre, 6th February 2013
- "Islamic Hijab" Lecture featuring Dr. Soroush Dabbagh, 8th February 2013
- Making Art in Cities of Exile by Ms. Edwidge Danticat, 11th February 2013
- The Exiled Intellectual and the American University featuring Dr. Leon Botstein, 25th February 2013
- In Dreams Awake Film Screening featuring Cuban-American Painter Humberto Calzada, 8th March 2013
- Representations of Violence in the Graphic Arts Lecture Part 1, Quiet Violence: The Deep Structure of Violence in the Graphic Arts of War Propaganda Part 2 by Dr. Ken Johnson, 20th March 2013
- Economic Inequality and the Conditions of Freedom: Views from the American Founding Lecture by Dr. Clement Fatovic, 10th April 2013
- Preserving Beauty with Ian Simpkins, Remko Jansonius, and Joel Hoffman, Ph.D. 18th September 2013.
- Consuming Passion Panel Discussion with Gail Hollander, PhD., Urban Farmer Muriel Olivares, April Merleaux, PhD., and Chef Keith Kalmonowicz. 27th September 2013.
- Fauxciutto: Is Italian-American Cuisine Really Italian? with Chef Mark D'Alessandro. 9th October 2013.
- The Spoken Word with Poet Dorothea Smartt.
- Exile and Patronage: Making Art in Cities of Refuge with Author Chenjerai Hove
- Exile, the Humanities, and Globalization. with Chenjerai Hove, Martin Tucker, PhD., Asher Milbauer, PhD., Nandini Dhar, Ph.D.
- Applying Jain Principles with Dr. Manoj Jain
2012
- What the Humanities Are Worth, a lecture by Stanley Fish, January 25, 2012
- The Importance of the Humanities for Children, a lecture by David Lawrence, February 8, 2012
- A Bookman Looks at the Humanities, a lecture by Mitchell Kaplan, March 21, 2012
- The Humanities in a Civil Society, a lecture by Ruth Shack, April 4, 2012
- An Afternoon with Sister Helen Prejean, lecture, and Q&A by Bill Quigley and Sister Helen Prejean, April 13, 2012
- The Human Face of Architecture, a lecture by John Stuart, April 18, 2012
- Death and the Maiden, staged reading and panel discussion by the FIU Theater, event co-hosted with the Florida Center for Torture Survivors
- Panel Discussion on the Business of Medicine, with Dr. Ana Viamonte-Ross, Dr. Fernando Valverde, Dr. Jaime Franco, and Ileana Varela, 24th August 2012
- Panel Discussion on the documentary film "Manufactured Landscapes" with Professors Michael Gillespie, Laura Ogden and Jeff Onsted, 4th September 2012
- Representations of Violence in the Theater with Joseph Adler, Dr. Daniel Castellanos, Phillip M. Church and Christine Dolen, 12th September 2012
- Formal Lecture on The Business of Medicine by Dr. John Rock, Dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, 28th September 2012
- Panel Discussion on "Film: Cuban America" with filmmaker Adelin Gasana, Professor Asher Milbauer and Professor Michael Gillespie, 2nd October 2012
2011
- Parallel Lives Talkback, with Arva Parks and Dr. Dorothy Fields, 31 August 2011
- The Haitian Imprint on the Humanities Part 1, The Haitian Imprint on the Humanities Part 2 a lecture by Gepsie Metellus, 14 September 2011
- Navigating the Miami International Book Fair with Mitchell Kaplan and Alina Interian, November 1, 2011
- Engaging Humans in the Humanities, a lecture by Javier Soto, November 2, 2011
- Navigating Art Basel Miami with Carol Damian, November 8, 2011

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Past Events

"Shut Up and Play": Race and Racism in American Sports