Welcome to the Suzy Newhouse Center for the Humanities
The Newhouse Center, founded in 2004, fosters vibrant conversations and supports ambitious work in all forms of the humanities through symposia, events, public projects, fellowships for Wellesley faculty and outside scholars and artists, and engagement with students. The work of our collaborative community demonstrates how the study and practice of humanities actively transforms the world.
Events
The Newhouse Center welcomes the community to its events, ranging from intimate conversations, to seminars and book launch celebrations, to the Betsy Turner Jordan ’59 Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities and the Cornille Lecture, delivered annually by the Mary L. Cornille Distinguished Scholar in Residence. Most are free and open to the public.
Past events
Thanks to the Center, the Wellesley community has heard political activist and philosopher Angela Davis speak on education and gender equality; learned about the only Black passenger on the Titanic from Professor and Newhouse Faculty Fellow Kellie Carter Jackson; listened to acclaimed authors Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood, Jhumpa Lahiri, Zadie Smith, and Salman Rushdie; and watched dance performances that celebrate the work of conceptual artist Lorraine O’Grady ’55.
Past event highlights
Janelle Monáe in Conversation with Dr. Nikki Greene
Dress Code: Black and White
Ten-time Grammy-nominated musician, actor and producer Janelle Monáe is known worldwide for her inimitable style and visionary sound, which celebrates the spectrum of identity.
Book Launch Party for Claudia Joskowicz
In Celebration of Stillness in Motion
Wellesley professors Claudia Joskowicz and Susan Ellison discussed Joskowicz’s new monograph Stillness in Motion | Quietud en Movimiento.
Newhouse Fellows Series: Eng-Beng Lim
Megastructures of Feeling in Crazy Rich Asians
Beginning with the film Crazy Rich Asians, set in Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, this talk explored megastructures and their implications for global cities.
The Jordan Lecture: Michael Abels
Finding Miracles: One Artist’s Social Justice Journey in a Capitalist World
Michael Abels is a 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning and Emmy- and Grammy-nominated composer best known for his scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out (2017), Us (2019), and NOPE (2022).
Ghost of Margaret Dickson: Patriarchy, Law, & Scotland’s Most Infamous Hanging
A Presentation by Mikki Brock
Professor Brock discussed her new book project, which explores the life, revival, and afterlife of “Half-Hangit Maggie,” a woman hung in 1724 for the murder of her newborn child, but who survived.
The Cornille Lecture: Ivan Kurilla
Political Use and Misuse of the Past in Russia, America, and Elsewhere
Visiting Professor Ivan Kurilla delved into the roots of a newfound obsession with history, linking it to the crisis facing large nation-states striving to keep control of their historical narratives.
The Suzy Newhouse Center for the Humanities
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481