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Literary Organization

Chicago Humanities

Culture, creativity, and connection, shared through events and experiences you won't find anywhere else in Chicago.

At Chicago Humanities, we connect people to the ideas that shape and define us, and promote the lifelong exploration of what it means to be human. We bring the world to Chicago while elevating Chicago on behalf of its citizens.

We share and shape culture through one-of-a-kind content. Welcoming leading figures from across disciplines and professions, we take our audiences beyond the headlines, exploring civic and cultural concerns and new ideas in pursuit of fresh perspectives that transcend personal experience.

We fuel creativity through inventive formats, frameworks, and programming that explores human ingenuity. Uniting art and science, technology and policy, literature and media, politics, and more, we bring a world of creativity and insight to Chicago stages while elevating and celebrating talent unique to the city we call home.

We cultivate connection through social gatherings and stimulating conversations. Giving audience members direct access to presenters, performers, and each other, we provide rich opportunities for fun, casual interaction before, during, and after events.

Chicago Humanities

Upcoming Events

Oct17
barbara kingsolver event image
Author EventLiterary FictionChicago, IL

Barbara Kingsolver - Partita

7:30 PM • Saturday, October 17, 2026Francis Parker AuditoriumPresented by Chicago HumanitiesPresented with Women & Children First$60

We're proud to partner with the Chicago Humanities Festival for this exciting event featuring Barbara Kingsolver, a Women & Children First favorite author of all time! Barbara Kingsolver is one of the most renowned and powerful writers of our time. She’s the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Demon Copperhead, the National Humanities Medal, and the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Kingsolver joins us to discuss her newest novel, Partita, which continues her literary legacy. It explores class barriers, the risks of ambition, and the power of art through the story of a woman’s modest life — and the shocking return of her painful yet passionate past. Kingsolver will read a few passages from the novel, accompanied by a classical pianist who will bring the passages to life. There will not be a book-signing for this event.

Nov7
hilton als event
Author EventNon-FictionHyde Park, Chicago

A Conversation with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Writer Hilton Als

11:00 AM • Saturday, November 7, 2026University of Chicago - Mandel HallPresented by Chicago Humanities$56

Join us for a conversation with the leading intellectual and cultural critic, Hilton Als. Known for his insightful cultural commentary, particularly in his long-standing role as a writer at The New Yorker, Hilton Als is a celebrated curator and critic whose nuanced perspectives contextualize art within real-world issues, focusing on race, gender, sexuality, and identity in art, theater, and literature.

Nov7
David Hume Kennerly event
Author EventPoliticsHyde Park, Chicago

60 Years on the Front Lines of History - A Conversation with David Hume Kennerly

11:00 AM • Saturday, November 7, 2026University of Chicago - Ida Noyes HallPresented by Chicago HumanitiesPresented with Seminary Co-Op Bookstore$34

Join us for a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist David Hume Kennerly, whose lens has captured six decades of defining moments in world history. From the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy to the burning Pentagon on 9/11, from the Ford White House to election nights with presidents and candidates across half a century, Kennerly has stood where few have ever been allowed to stand — and brought the rest of us with him. He'll take us behind his images to what it felt like to be present as history unfolded. This event celebrates the publication of his magnum opus, In the Room: 60 Years on the Front Lines of History, released as the nation marks its 250th birthday.

Nov7
Daniel kraus event
Author EventFictionHyde Park, Chicago

Daniel Kraus - Angel Down

1:30 PM • Saturday, November 7, 2026University of Chicago - Ida Noyes HallPresented by Chicago HumanitiesPresented with Seminary Co-Op Bookstore$34

Daniel Kraus is the bestselling author of Whalefall, Angel Down, and The Sixth Nik. Daniel is based in Chicago and joins us to discuss his prolific career as a writer of novels, TV, and film. His novel Angel Down was awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is the first horror novel to win the prize since 2007. But it isn’t just a horror novel. It’s a war novel that blends magical realism, science fiction, and allegory, plunging you into the heart of World War I. Join us for a conversation with Kraus on writing as a craft, what it takes to write a novel in one sentence (like Angel Down), and how screenwriting opens up new possibilities for storytelling.

Nov7
sagal constitutional democracy event
Author EventNon-FictionHyde Park, Chicago

Peter Sagal’s Constitution Sessions - How to Save a Constitutional Democracy

1:30 PM • Saturday, November 7, 2026University of Chicago - Mandel HallPresented by Chicago HumanitiesPresented with Seminary Co-Op Bookstore$65

Democracies don’t collapse overnight. They erode, one small concession at a time. But what does democratic collapse actually look like from the inside? University of Chicago law professors Aziz Huq and Tom Ginsburg, authors of the new book How to Save a Constitutional Democracy, join NPR's Peter Sagal to unpack how constitutional systems around the world have unraveled — and what safeguards make some democracies more resilient than others.

Nov7
susan stryker event
Author EventNon-FictionHyde Park, Chicago

Susan Stryker - Changing Gender

4:00 PM • Saturday, November 7, 2026University of Chicago - Ida Noyes HallPresented by Chicago HumanitiesPresented with Seminary Co-Op Bookstore$28

Today, antigender ideology continues to be mobilized by the far right and transgender people’s lives are increasingly targeted. But what are we talking about when we talk about gender? Leading trans scholar Susan Stryker joins us for an urgent conversation on her new book, Changing Gender. Drawing on her decades of work as a historian, filmmaker, and activist, she’ll explore the concept of gender, its origins, and where we go from here.

Nov7
jesmyn ward event
Author EventNon-FictionHyde Park, Chicago

Jesmyn Ward - On Witness and Respair

4:30 PM • Saturday, November 7, 2026University of Chicago - Mandel HallPresented by Seminary Co-Op BookstorePresented with Chicago Humanities$56

Two-time National Book Award-winner Jesmyn Ward returns to Chicago Humanities to discuss her newest work, On Witness and Repair, a collection of essays documenting more than a decade of her work. The acclaimed titular essay, which appeared in Vanity Fair, tells the story of her partner’s sudden death on the eve of the COVID-19 epidemic. Join us for a conversation with Ward and get a glimpse into the life of a singular writer often lauded as “the heir apparent to Toni Morrison” (LitHub).

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