Buffalo State Hosts Humanities Festival
Buffalo State will join the University at Buffalo (UB), Canisius College, and Niagara University for the third annual Buffalo Humanities Festival, held September 22–24.
This year’s programming called “Renaissance Remix” is focused on the idea of “rebirth,” from the fifteenth-century Renaissance through the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s to today’s renaissance in the city of Buffalo. All activities on the final day occur on the Buffalo State campus and provide a mix of intellectually challenging workshops and whimsical, family-oriented outdoor activities.
“We are pleased to participate in the kind of interdisciplinary festival that both puts an emphasis on the humanities and brings people of all ages to our campus,” said Anthony Chase, assistant dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. “There will be a host of fascinating discussions and performances to choose from, including two presented by Buffalo State faculty members.”
The festival begins with the discussion “The Economics of Segregation: A Town Hall on Race and the Buffalo Renaissance” on Thursday, September 22, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Central (downtown) Library. It is free and open to the public.
Dava Sobel, former science reporter for the New York Times, frequent contributor to Audubon, Discover, and the New Yorker, and author of several books including Galileo’s Daughter and A More Perfect Heaven,will deliver the keynote address on Friday, September 23, at 8:00 p.m. at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown will introduce Sobel who will speak on “The Rebirth of the Heavens” with a reception to follow. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for students.
On Saturday, September 24, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., “Renaissance, Remix: The Faire” will provide participants with a range of lectures, book discussions, short films, and music. The indoor portion of the festival will be held in Rockwell Hall and feature talks on Buffalo architecture, novelist and activist Wendell Berry, Black soldiers and folk culture in the Harlem Renaissance, and Iroquois revitalization, among others. Bhakti Sharma, chair and associate professor of interior design, will present "Public Art:Top Ten Lists and Other Gains," from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Michael Niman, professor of communication, will deliver "Buffalo Renaissance: Let's Party Like It's 1492," from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and include a boxed lunch from the Westside Bazaar.
The concurrent Outdoor Faire is free and open to the public. It will be held on the grounds outside of Rockwell Hall and feature elements of the European Renaissance of the sixteenth century and Buffalo’s cultural resurgence. Activities and entertainment include music, a sonnet-slam, games, kids’ art projects, demonstrations and interaction in physical fitness, fiber arts, bicycling, and more.
Humanities Festival supporters include the UB Humanities Institute, the John R. Oishei Foundation, and the New York Council for the Humanities.