College of LAS Events
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email the contact person for the event.
Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs.
Saturday, September 12, 2026
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Champaign County Welcoming Week 2026
Recurring
Sunday, September 13, 2026
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Champaign County Welcoming Week 2026
Recurring
Monday, September 14, 2026
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Champaign County Welcoming Week 2026
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Our Mr. Matsura is the story of Frank (Sakae) Matsura, the orphaned son of a samurai, who emigrated to Washington State in 1901, eventually settling in remote Okanogan County.
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Please join us for a talk by Prof. Neem, where he will examine the ideological challenges to scientific knowledge from both the left and right and their implications for the future of the American university.
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
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Champaign County Welcoming Week 2026
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Danielle Chynoweth (Supervisor, Cunningham Township) on Democracy.
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Museums hold objects that reflect cultural values, from everyday items to religious and ceremonial works. But how should museums interpret objects of hate? Join museum professionals for a conversation about the challenges of displaying charged objects and thoughtful ways to facilitate dialogue around difficult histories, emotions, and themes.
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
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Champaign County Welcoming Week 2026
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In 1968, Alejo Hernández, a resident of Stanislaus County, California, sued the USDA because the county failed to implement the Food Stamp Program.
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Join us for a discussion of the book Windrush Cricket: Imperial Culture, Caribbean Migration, and the Remaking of Postwar England by Michael Collins.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
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Champaign County Welcoming Week 2026
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Snack & Study
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Join Phi Alpha Theta for an ice cream social event.
Friday, September 18, 2026
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Champaign County Welcoming Week 2026
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CSAMES will host a discussion on the unprecedented disaster brought about by flash floods in the Nepal valley in August 2026. Professor Rabin Bhattarai (rbhatta2@illinois.edu) will lead the discussion. CSAMES is working with Prof. Bhattarai to assemble a resource page with information as they become available.
Saturday, September 19, 2026
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Champaign County Welcoming Week 2026
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Join us for a special gallery talk with Catherine Weisener, artist, educator, and teaching professor in the School of Art & Design, as she explores themes, techniques, and the enduring impact of ceramics in conjunction with Centering Clay: Connection and Innovation in American Studio Ceramics.
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Drop in for a tour given by our student gallery guides! Topics vary weekly. Free admission and all ages welcome. No reservation required.
Sunday, September 20, 2026
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Culture wars, including battles over how history is taught in public schools, reflect deeper struggles over what it means to be American and what rights citizenship entails. These conflicts have shaped American political culture since the 1960s.
Monday, September 21, 2026
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
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Economic, Social, and Environmental Aspects of Conservation Agriculture in Brazil. Tiago Santos Telles is a Researcher at the Instituto de Desenvolvimento Rural do Paraná & a Professor at the Universidade Estadual de Londrina.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Jonathan Rosa (Education, Stanford) on Semiotics.
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Please join us for the Game Studies and Design September Town Hall presentation titled, "Game Audio: A Composer's Perspective" with Benny Wollin, Music Composer and Sound Designer at Squish Studios. We'll also share information about the new MS in Game Development Program and opportunities to engage with The Studio at Illinois.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
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Interested in exploring text mining, but not sure where to start? This beginner-friendly workshop introduces the fundamentals natural language processing (NLP) using AI-generated code to identify repetitious language.
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Please join us for the first of 2 talks in the Center for Advanced Study Climate | Change Initiative's Victorian Culture and Climate Change series. Nathan Hensley (English, Georgetown U) will discuss how close attention to Victorian literature can recover a prehistory for the deeply felt sense of powerlessness many of us know all too well today.
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Join the Department of Latina/Latino Studies for an open house to celebrate the beginning of the academic year. Refreshments will be served.
Thursday, September 24, 2026
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Snack & Study
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Please join us for an opening reception to celebrate the acquisition of the first edition of Frankenstein and explore the life and career of Mary Shelley. Exhibit curator Lynne Thomas will give brief remarks, and refreshments will be served. This exhibit will be on display through Summer 2027.
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Join us for a reading by author Mary Helen Specht! Mary Helen Specht is the author of the forthcoming novel Mudlark (July 2026) and the novel Migratory Animals, a New York Times Editors' Choice and winner of the Texas Institute of Letters Best First Fiction Award and the Writers’ League of Texas Fiction Prize.
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Join Phi Alpha Theta for an event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
Friday, September 25, 2026
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Readings in theme with “Up Against Erasure,” with: Andrea Giugni + Malina Infante + Nathan Metz, as well as Lisa Low.
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Readings in theme with "Up Against Erasure," with: Andrea Giugni + Malina Infante + Nathan Metz; Lisa Low.
Saturday, September 26, 2026
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Readings in theme with “Up Against Erasure,” with: Steven Bergmark + Mason McVeigh + Diana Towne, as well as Gabriela Garcia.
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Readings in theme with “Up Against Erasure,” with: Steven Bergmark + Mason McVeigh + Diana Towne; Gabriela Garcia.
Monday, September 28, 2026
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The Majors & Minors Fair is an important milestone in the exploration of majors, including for individuals who have not declared a major. The event provides an opportunity for all exploring students to be exposed to more than 150 majors, minors, certificates, and campus resources by connecting with faculty and staff.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Lisa Saltzman (History of Art, Bryn Mawr) on Walter Benjamin.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
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A friendly Arabic roundtable where participants learn useful phrases and vocabulary through relaxed conversation. All levels are welcome.
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Please join us for the second of 2 talks in the Center for Advanced Study Climate | Change Initiative's Victorian Culture and Climate Change series. Stephanie O'Rourke (Art History, U of St Andrews) discusses the relationship between new pictorial formats for representing landscapes and industrial mineral extraction in Victorian England.
Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Snack & Study
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MillerComm Lecture: Occupying America: War and the Infrastructure of US Power in a Globalizing World
Join us for a lecture by Justin Jackson titled "Occupying America: War and the Infrastructure of US Power in a Globalizing World."
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Join us for an info session to learn more about the Humanities in Action program and receive insight into the application process.
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Join us for an info session to learn more about the Humanities in Action program and receive insight into the application process.
Friday, October 2, 2026
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The Psychology Department is excited to continue the First Friday Psychology-Beckman Colloquium Series for the 2026-2027 academic year, a monthly event designed to bring together members of the Department of Psychology, Beckman Institute, and beyond for engaging, cross-area conversations.
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Monday, October 5, 2026
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
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This panel brings together scholars and experts to discuss key issues surrounding Brazil's electoral process. Participants will explore the political landscape, major campaign themes, and the broader implications of the election for Brazilian society and democracy.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Maryam Kashani (Gender & Women's Studies, UIUC) on Visual Theory.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Thursday, October 8, 2026
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Please join us for presentations by recent CAS Fellows. At 11am, Nicholas Jackson (Chemistry) discusses Designing Polymers in the AI Era and at noon, Stefan Vogler (Sociology) presents Police Consciousness and the Potential for Reform.
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Snack & Study
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“Staying with the Trouble of Preservation: The Ambivalent Politics of Deletion in Digital Societies.” Presented by Nanna Bonde Thylstrup (Art and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen).
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Join us for a reading by poet Philip Metres! Philip Metres (he/him) grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, the grandchild of Lebanese refugees and migrants and the descendent of Irish famine survivors. Metres has been called “one of the essential poets of our time,” whose work is “beautiful, powerful, magnetically original.”
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This inaugural event by the Borders of Sanctuary Working Collective presents a public facing panel that pairs Professor Willie Mack (Black Studies, University of Missouri) on Black migration with Devin Lowe from the Black Trans Travel Fund, which serves Black and Transgender migrants.
Friday, October 9, 2026
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This is a panel discussion with artists and scholars on Everett’s Erasure. Each panelist will provide a different window into what’s beyond Erasure or what reading Erasure inspires (broadly conceived).
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This is a panel discussion with artists and scholars on Everett’s "Erasure." Each panelist will provide a different window into what’s beyond Erasure or what reading Erasure inspires (broadly conceived).
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CAS Professor of Psychology Brent Roberts draws from the science of personality development to discuss the following questions: How important are my genes for my personality? What effect did my parents have on who I am? Does my personality matter for love, work, and health? And “am I stuck with my personality or can I change?" A reception follows this CAS Annual Lecture.
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
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A friendly Arabic roundtable where participants learn useful phrases and vocabulary through relaxed conversation. All levels are welcome.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by John Lurz (English, Tufts) on Poststructuralism.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
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Join us as we highlight the incredible work of each of Humanities Without Walls' Reciprocity and Redistribution Grand Research Challenge projects in four virtual showcases over the 2026-27 academic year. During each event, 2-3 teams will present their projects and share a bit about the centrality of reciprocal and redistributive methods to their work.
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Join us as we highlight the incredible work of each of Humanities Without Walls' Reciprocity and Redistribution Grand Research Challenge projects in four virtual showcases over the 2026-27 academic year. During each event, 2-3 teams will present their projects and share a bit about the centrality of reciprocal and redistributive methods to their work.
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Join us to celebrate the new books of three history PhD alumni.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
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Snack & Study
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Professor Ángel Garcia (English/Creative Writing) will read from his latest collection, Indifferent Cities.
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Professor Ángel García (English/Creative Writing) will read from his latest collection, Indifferent Cities.
Friday, October 16, 2026
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Monday, October 19, 2026
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Greta LaFleur (American Studies, Yale) on Gender.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Thursday, October 22, 2026
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Snack & Study
Recurring
Friday, October 23, 2026
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Please join us for the Game Studies and Design October Town Hall. This month's guest speaker is Amber Holkenbrink, Principal Experience Designer on Apex Legends at Respawn Entertainment. She has worked in the game industry for over 16 years and has contributed to the art, animation, and design of more than 30 titles, including Call of Duty: Warzone.
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MillerComm Lecture: Islam in France: Minority Religion, Laïcité, and the Politics of Muslim Identity
Join us for a lecture by George A Miller Visiting Scholar Youssouf T. Sangaré titled "Islam in France: Minority Religion, Laïcité, and the Politics of Muslim Identity."
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In this CAS/MillerComm presentation, GAM Visiting Scholar Professor Sangaré (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales - INALCO) treats Islam in France as a case study in the state management of minority religion in a secular republic. Hosted by the Department of History.
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Join us for a professional development presentation from a visiting literary agent! Rayhané Sanders will give a glimpse at the nuts and bolts of publishing, working in publishing, query letters, and other aspects of the literary trade. This will include some do's and don'ts and plenty of time for questions and answers.
Monday, October 26, 2026
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Following the election, this panel examines the results and their significance for Brazil's future. Speakers will analyze voting patterns, political shifts, and the potential impact of the election on governance, public policy, and democratic institutions.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
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The techniques for making texts have changed across multiple media and historical contexts since antiquity, but a regular feature of the work of authors and scholars through all those changes is the reliance on helpers or amanuenses. Dr. Ann Blair (Harvard) will discuss the factors that have made them both invisible and occasionally visible, and the kind of work they did.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Rob Rushing (European Languages & Transcultural Studies, UCLA) on Biopolitics.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
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A friendly Arabic roundtable where participants learn useful phrases and vocabulary through relaxed conversation. All levels are welcome.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
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Snack & Study
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Professor Gillen D'Arcy Wood (English and Earth Science & Environmental Change) will discuss his book, The Wake of HMS Challenger: How a Legendary Victorian Voyage Tells the Story of Our Oceans’ Decline.
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Professor Gillen D'Arcy Wood (English and Earth Science & Environmental Change) will discuss his book, The Wake of HMS Challenger: How a Legendary Victorian Voyage Tells the Story of Our Oceans’ Decline.
Friday, October 30, 2026
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Join us for a lecture by George A. Miller Visiting Scholar Youssouf Sangaré. His talk examines the case of Chérif Ousmane Madani Haïdara and the Ançar Dine movement in Mali as a window into the dynamics of contemporary African Islam.
