Friday, September 4, 2026
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Parents Field
Join us at the Campus Engagement Fair at Parents Field to learn more about the Gould Center’s opportunities, initiatives, and everything we have to offer. Don’t forget to grab some swag and a sweet treat!
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Gould Center in Kravis Lower Court
Stop by the Gould Center in Kravis Lower Court for our Open House to learn about the many research and creative programming opportunities that are available to students throughout the academic year. From our Humanities Labs, Gould Center Fellows program, Editorial Board, Faculty RAships, Filmmaker’s Lab, Passion Projects, Creative Works Fellowships, and more - there is so much you can do in the humanities at CMC! Chipotle provided. First come, first served!
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Kravis Center Lower Court 62
Join the Gould Center for a film screening of Remarkably Bright Creatures based on a novel by Shelby Van Pelt ’02. An uplifting novel about a grieving widow who cleans a Pacific Northwest aquarium at night and forms an unlikely, life-changing friendship with a remarkably smart giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus who helps uncover the truth about her son's decades-old disappearance.
We hope to see you there!
Monday, September 28, 2026
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum
Shelby Van Pelt (PPE ’02) is a bestselling author and Emmy-nominated producer. Her debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures, has sold five million copies worldwide and been translated into over forty languages. Collectively, it’s spent over two years on New York Times bestseller lists. In May 2026, Netflix released a film adaptation, executive produced by Van Pelt and starring Sally Field; it topped streaming charts for weeks. Prior to her creative career, Van Pelt worked in Litigation Consulting, a field which she found interesting mostly for its dramatic narratives and the untold stories often unearthed by searching boxes of documents. As a full-time fiction writer, she now splits her time between the Chicago suburbs and northwest Montana.
Thursday, October 1, 2026
11:45 AM - 1:45 PM
Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum
Leïla Slimani is a critically acclaimed French-Moroccan novelist, journalist, and cultural figure whose work has made her one of the most influential voices in contemporary francophone literature. Join the conversation in exploring taboo subjects that goes against some customs and traditions of certain societies. What does it mean to go against the grain in some cultures? She grew up between cultures — Moroccan, French, and Algerian — and studied political science in Paris before turning from journalism to fiction writing. Slimani’s literary career is marked by bold, provocative storytelling and a fearless exploration of taboo subjects such as sexuality, gender roles, societal pressures, and identity. Her first novel, Adèle (Dans le jardin de l’ogre), was published in 2014 and examines female sexual addiction and self-destruction within a societal context of repression and shame. This debut work garnered critical attention and was nominated for the Prix de Flore and won the La Mamounia Prize, marking her arrival on the French literary scene. Following this success, Slimani published works that expanded her literary range: the essay Sex and Lies (2017), a series of intimate testimonies from women in the Arab world that highlights sexual politics and gendered silences; In the Country of Others (2020), the first in a family-history trilogy set in post-World War II Morocco; Watch Us Dance; and I’ll Take the Fire (Penguin, June 9, 2026).
This event is co-sponsored by the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies and the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum.
Monday, October 5, 2026
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum
Emily Anderson (’99), who has worked as both as a historian in academia and a museum curator, makes a case for not just the possibility, but the importance of creating space for humanities scholarship that engages the public.
Monday, October. 26, 2026
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum
It’s good to be well-rounded. When you do a lot of different things, when you work on expanding your horizons, when you dive into the fascinating diversity of the world around you—and even when you embrace being bad at some of what you do—your life will be a better one. Amy Berg ’08, associate professor of philosophy at Rice University, argues that well-rounded lives are often better, richer lives. Being well-rounded can make you more socially connected, happier, and more resilient. Berg shows why we should strive to be well-rounded—and how we can live this way.
Friday, October 30, 2026
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Gould Center in Kravis Lower Court
Join us for our annual Humanities Halloween on Thursday, October 30th from 12:00-1:00pm at the Gould Center in Kravis Lower Court. There will be music and activities, including our humanities-themed costume contest. A prize will be awarded to the best costume. We encourage you to come dressed up as your favorite artist, musician, philosophical concept, or maybe even a moment in history - the possibilities are endless! Raising Cane’s and Mac & Cheese will be provided - first come, first served.
We hope to see you there 👻
Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett
Monday, November 9, 2026
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
An immersive audio show experience made by Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett. The experience encourages people to reconsider the world through their ears instead of their eyes.