Tucson Humanities Festival Asks, What’s Next?

As new ideas develop and new technologies rise, what can we anticipate about the future?

The Tucson Humanities Festival will look beyond the horizon and at moments in the past that catalyzed change in a series of 10 events celebrating National Arts & Humanities Month. Held from Oct. 2 to Nov. 1, the festival with offer thought-provoking lectures, panels, readings and films presented by University of Arizona faculty members and featured guests, including poet and author Sandra Cisneros.

Topics include cities of the future, the impact of philanthropy, digital lives of young black Christians, modern lessons from ancient philosophy, the #MeToo movement's impact on religion, Russian rap, space exploration and the 100th anniversary of the German art movement Bauhaus.

"We wanted to address the challenges and opportunities that are coming with rapidly changing technology, as well as highlight how past cultures and humans dealt with the transformative moments of their own times," says Alain-Philippe Durand, dean of the College of Humanities. "Human knowledge is expanding at the same time we're growing more connected around the world. We see tremendous potential in the future, for humanity and for the humanities."

The College of Humanities began presenting an annual series of public outreach events in the spring of 2009 that has since grown to a month-long festival centered each year on a different theme that illuminates the impact of humanities on our lives now and into the future. The College of Humanities faculty consider different themes every year for the festival, with recent years exploring "Secrets," "Resistance & Revolution," "Refuge" and "Found in Translation."

The festival is intended to encourage public participation in the humanities, open a dialogue between the university and local community, and share faculty research and expertise about topics with wide interest. The events occur at a variety of on- and off-campus locations, with the Town of Oro Valley hosting a presentation for the first time.  

"This year's forward-thinking theme highlights our college's expertise in the digital humanities and the innovative and interdisciplinary scholarship of our world-class faculty," Durand says. "The changes brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution need the perspective and context offered by the College of Humanities, and we're excited to share these presentations with the UA and local communities."