The humanities are everywhere.

It's a message that Alain-Philippe Durand, Dorrance Dean of the University of Arizona College of Humanities, hopes to share with local communities during this year's Tucson Humanities Festival, with a series of events showcasing the breadth of the humanities and their wide-ranging impact.

"The study of human cultures, ideas and languages is the study of how we communicate, engage and share across different traditions and experiences," Durand said. “The humanities are woven throughout other fields of study, providing the context necessary to see meaning in the world around us.At the University of Arizona, we approach the humanities with fearlessness and a spirit of innovation that spans our disciplines and our teaching, research and outreach missions."

The festival will feature a reading by Tracy K. Smith, former U.S. poet laureate, a salon featuring award-winning faculty from across the college presenting on their research, a student-oriented humanities fair focused on global opportunities, and more.

Coinciding with National Arts and Humanities Month, the Tucson Humanities Festival began in 2009 as Humanities Week and has grown into a monthlong series of guest speakers and special events. 

"We're a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary college, and we want to demonstrate how the humanities provide insight in unexpected places and surprising ways," Durand said. "By spotlighting our dynamic faculty scholarship and programs for students, we can show how the humanities are thriving."

Festival schedule

Around the World: Humanities Abroad Fair & Cafe
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
U of A Mall 

A humanities education is a passport to the world. Drop by for activities and information about the world of possibilities at the College of Humanities. Learn about faculty-led study abroad programs in destinations across the globe and the variety of scholarships available for humanities students to make those trips possible. Meet our faculty, advisors and student ambassadors and enjoy free beverages and snacks.

The Humanities are Everywhere: Faculty Salon & McCauslin-Smith Gardens Opening
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 5:30 p.m. 
U of A Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St. 

To celebrate the opening of the new McCauslin-Smith Gardens at the Helen S. Schaefer Building, College of Humanities faculty members will give brief presentations highlighting their exciting global research and teaching. After presentations, guests will have an opportunity to mingle and engage in dynamic conversations with these faculty and others who are at the top of their field. Meet the scholars who are global leaders in innovative humanities teaching and research. Featuring Jiang Wu, Regents Professor of East Asian studies and director, Center for Buddhist Studies; Aurélia Mouzet, associate professor of French; Beppe Cavatorta, professor of Italian; Jasmine Linabary, assistant professor of public and applied humanities; and Bhakti Mamtora, assistant professor of religious studies.

Poetry in Perilous Times: A Reading with Tracy K. Smith
Thursday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m. 
Health Sciences Innovation Building, 1670 E. Drachman St. 

In her latest book, former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith argues that poetry is rooted in fundamentally human qualities innate to our capacities to love, dream, question and engage across diverse cultures and backgrounds. By reimagining and reexamining the age-old art form, "Fear Less" is a warm invitation to find meaning, consolation and hope through poetry. A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, memoirist, editor and translator, Smith is the author of eight books and served as the U.S. poet laureate from 2017 to 2019, during which time she spearheaded American Conversations: Celebrating Poetry in Rural Communities with the Library of Congress and created "The Slowdown" podcast.

Soundtracks Far & Wide: Faculty Guest DJs on KXCI 
Fridays in October, 5 p.m. 
91.3 FM or kxci.org

Borderlands, surprises, myths and horrors. Humanities professors will join KXCI Community Radio host Hannah Levin throughout October as guest DJs during “The Home Stretch.” Each professor will select a topic to discuss and play related songs, illuminating their own research and teaching and demonstrating the wide-ranging impact of the humanities.  

• Oct. 10: Lillian Gorman, Spanish & Portuguese
• Oct. 17: Alain-Philippe Durand, College of Humanities
• Oct. 24: Rob Stephan, Religious Studies & Classics
• Oct. 31: DeAnna Daniels, Africana Studies

Tibetan San Mandala by Lama Losang Samten 
Public Viewings: Oct. 12-17, from 9 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. 
Dissolution Ritual: Oct. 18, 2 p.m.
Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, 1502 E. Mabel St.

The Arizona Friends of Tibet invite you to witness the creation of a sand mandala, a Tibetan Buddhist ritual artform. The Venerable Lama Losang Samten will create a Kalacakra or "Wheel of Time" sand mandala on campus in the lobby of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. The mandala's intricate and colorful patterns are created over the course of several days to produce a vision of an enlightened reality. Upon completion, the mandala is destroyed in a ceremonial manner as a meditation upon impermanence and as an act of healing beings and their environment. All events are open to the public. For additional details, visit afot.org. Presented in collaboration with the College of Humanities Center for Buddhist Studies, Health Humanities Hub, Department of Religious Studies & Classics, Department of East Asian Studies, and the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.