Chicago Humanities Festival to Hold Events in Evanston

The Chicago Humanities Festival has announced its list of events for this fall, and a number of them will be occurring on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus.

The festival, which began in 1989, brings in an eclectic mix of people to discuss their crafts, according to Northwestern University. Past presenters have included humorist John Hodgman, sex columnist Dan Savage and culinary mastermind (and Chicago’s own) Grant Achatz. The theme of this year’s festival is “Journeys,” and there are over a hundred events planned around it. The New York Times’ David Brooks will talk politics on Oct. 21; Roger Ebert’s widow will talk about her late husband’s amazing life and career on Oct. 25; and author Gary Shteyngart will talk about his newest book in Evanston on Oct. 25. And that’s just a few of the many, many presentations the festival is bringing to venues throughout Chicagoland.

Northwestern faculty will be headlining a few of the festivals many events at spaces in Evanston. Creative writing professor Eula Biss will have a conversation about her new book on vaccinations and motherhood with medical humanities and bioethics professor Katie Watson on Oct. 25 at the Jacobs Center on campus on Oct. 25. And theatre professor Harvey Young will discuss African American culture in Chicago on Oct. 25 at Cahn Auditorium. Tickets for students are discounted or, in some cases, free.

Click here for the full program.