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2024 Humanities Symposium: Celebrating Nature

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Keynote Address: Remembering Wonder: A Reckoning
by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
McGuire Hall

Aimee Nezhukumatathil's 2020 essay collection is World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, & Other Astonishments. In these short, beautifully written essays, Nezhukumatathil combines an exploration of natural phenomena (lightning bugs, the cactus wren, the narwhal, monsoons) with memoir. These essays celebrate the wonders of nature and encourage readers to slow down, notice, marvel at, and protect the environment. Aimee Nezhukumatathil has also written four award-winning poetry collections, most recently, Oceanic. Awards for her writing include fellowships from the Mississippi Arts Council, Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for poetry, National Endowment of the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Her writing has appeared in NY Times Magazine, ESPN, and Best American Poetry. She is professor of English and Creative Writing in the University of Mississippi’s MFA program. photo: Caroline Beffa Photography.

This lecture will be free and open to the public. 
 

Student-Faculty Colloquia

Wednesday, March 13 and Thursday, March 14, 2024
McManus Theatre

During the colloquia, students may submit questions electronically during each session using the Padlet app. Please submit using the button below:

Submit Questions

Faculty from all disciplines are invited to bring their classes to our student-faculty colloquia March 13 and March 14.

Please register by using Symposium Colloquia link on The Bridge to let us know the day and times you will be attending with your class(es). Include the number of students you will be bringing by indicating the number of tickets.

If your teaching time falls outside of the days and times of this year's colloquia, you and your students are welcome to come individually. Just let us know what time you (the faculty member) will be joining the colloquium by selecting 1 ticket for that time period.

Send any questions to Marian Crotty at mgcrotty@loyola.edu.

Loyola Students' World of Wonders Video

A group of students from the Graphics course taught by Communication department Prof. Noelle Dichiera have created video to accompany this year's text. The footage and narration are by Lauren Dordevic and editing is by Maxx Lao.

View Video

Environmental Film Series


The Loyola Humanities Symposium is happy to be a co-sponsor for this year's Baltimore Environmental Film Series. All events are free and open to the public.

The Falconer (Kaempfer, 2020)

Wednesday February 7 at 6:00 PM
Knott Hall B03

This documentary follows master falconer Rodney Stotts, one of a small number of Black master falconers in the United States, on his mission to build a bird sanctuary and provide access to nature for his community. A Q&A with Rodney Stotts and an educational bird of prey ambassador from Rodney's Raptors will be held immediately after the film screening.

Register for The Falconer

Clear Day of Thunder: Rescuing the American Chestnut (Murphy & Wood, 2023)

Wednesday March 20 at 6:00 PM
LNDL Auditorium

This documentary tells the story of passionate citizen scientists and researchers working ot restore this ecologically and economically important species. Following the film, Dr. David Gordon, Philosophy, will lead a Q&A with Karl Mech, president of the Maryland chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation.

Register for Clear Day Thunder

The Letter—A Message for Our Earth (Brown, 2020)

Thursday April 11 at 6:00 PM
Knott Hall B03

The Letter tells the story of a journey to Rome of frontline leaders to discuss the encyclical letter Laudato Si’ with Pope Francis. The exclusive dialogue with the Pope, included in the film, offers a revealing insight into the personal history of Pope Francis and stories never seen since he became the Bishop of Rome. Following the film, Dr. Bernadette Roche, Biology, will lead a discussion with the audience about the film.

Register for The Letter

For more information about the 2024 Humanities Symposium events, please email Marian Crotty, associate professor of writing, at mgcrotty@loyola.edu.

This event will be captioned. If you require additional accommodations, please contact Disability Support Services at dss@loyola.edu.

Event Information

Theme: Celebrating Nature

Keynote Address: Remembering Wonder: A Reckoning
Thursday, March 14, 2024
McGuire Hall
6:30 p.m.

Register to attend.

Text:
World of Wonders:In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, & Other Astonishments
by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Questions? Please contact Marian Crotty, Professor of Writing: mgcrotty@loyola.edu