Secrets will permeate the Tucson Humanities Festival.
Secrets is the theme of this year’s event, presented, as it has been since 2009, by the University of Arizona’s College of Humanities.
The idea behind the fest is simple: it is designed to showcase the research and programming at the college. Here’s what else it does: spark ideas and discussions.
The secrets in this year’s theme are hidden away in games, paintings, movies and literature.
All events are free. The schedule for the month long festival:
6:30 Oct. 4. — “Indie Games in China” screening and discussion. Director Tiexin Liang discusses the movie about the video game industry in China — the largest in the world. It will be at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 W. River Road.
3 p.m. Oct. 5 — Surprising Vermeer: An Artist in Delft, Delft in the World. Timothy Brook, a University of British Columbia professor and author of “Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global Age,” discusses the painter and how his work drew from the village of Delft, where his studio was. UA Museum of Art, in the UA Fine Arts complex, southeast corner of North Park Avenue and East Speedway.
7 p.m. Oct. 8, — To Speak or Not to Speak: Women, Secrets and Sexual Violence. Martine Delvaux with Université du Québec à Montréal addresses how women choose to speak — or not speak — about experiences of sexual violence. UA Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St.
6 p.m. Oct. 11 — Letters to the Future: Black Women/Radical Writing. This event is also part of the activities surrounding the Tucson Museum of Art’s “30 Americans” exhibit. Kore Press launches the book “Letters to the Future,” a collection of writings by 30 black women. Editors Erica Hunt and Dawn Lundy Martin and poets Giovanni Singleton and Ruth Ellen Kocher will speak. Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave.
6 p.m. Oct. 12 —Crushin’ It: Untold Stories from Hip-Hop’s Founding Days. Rockin’ Rob and Tony Tone will take a look at the beginnings of hip-hop in the Bronx. Cans Deli, 340 N. Fourth Ave.
7 p.m. Oct. 16 — Secret Lives: Hidden Identities in Global Popular Culture. Melissa Fitch, with the UA Spanish and Portuguese Department, discusses how marginalized people turn to popular culture to survive. UA Poetry Center.
7 p.m. Oct. 18 — Revisiting the Underground Railroad. Author Colson Whitehead, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his book “The Underground Railroad,” will speak. Tickets are required for this free event. UA Memorial Student Union, North Ballroom.
7 p.m. Oct. 23 — Subverting Colonialism: Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe. Andrea McComb Sanchez and Caleb Simmons with UA Religious Studies discuss how colonialism involved more than military and administrative dominance. UA Poetry Center.
10 a.m. Oct. 26 — Transparency and Trust: How Open Diplomacy Advances Democracy. Andre Goodfriend, director of the U.S. Office of eDiplomacy, calls on his 30-year diplomatic career for the discussion. UA Memorial Student Union, Sonora Room.
7 p.m. Oct. 30 — “Spellbound,” and discussion. The Alfred Hitchcock movie will be screened, and a discussion afterwards will be led by Humanities Professor David Soren. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Free tickets are available at the Loft beginning at noon on Oct. 30. Limit of two per person.
For more informaiton and tickets to "Revisiting the Underground Railroad:" humanitiesfestival.arizona.edu
