Café Humanities is a series of informal discussions about the questions surrounding the humanities field today, led by Columbia University's foremost professors. The discussions are held at the Picnic Market Café at 2665 Broadway (between 101st and 102nd streets).

Space is limited; $10 cover (cash only) includes one drink
Humanities on Us, First Come, First Served
NO RSVP Necessary

To join our Café Humanities event distribution list or for more information about Café Humanities, contact us at cafehumanities@columbia.edu.

Spring 2010 Series on the Upper West Side:

The Politics of Memory and Human Rights
Professor of German and Comparative Literature Andreas Huyssen
February 15, 6–7 p.m.

What are the affinities and conflicts between memory discourse in the humanities and human rights discourse in law and political philosophy? What are the gaps and potential conflicts between them? Come explore ways to overcome the differences.

The Arabian Nights in Islamic Context
Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies Muhsin al-Musawi
March 15, 6–7 p.m.

Although The Thousand and One Nights, a work written by a number of authors over a stretch of centuries, depicts a burgeoning, urban Islamic culture in all its variety and complexity, it is rarely seen in its Islamic context. How do the tales reflect the Islamic individual’s growing exposure to a number of entertainments and temptations and their conflict with the obligations of faith? What are Islam’s unique practices of storytelling? How do the tales reveal Islam’s social, political, and economic institutions? Come learn more about the enduring classic that took Europe by storm in 1704.

Women’s Secrets in Don Giovanni
Musicologist Elaine Sisman
April 19, 6–7 p.m.

Thanks to the Don, every female character in this famously problematic opera has a secret. When and how such secret narratives are revealed, and how they are received, offer a new way in to the multiple levels of verbal and musical persuasion that operate within the rich texture created by Mozart and Da Ponte. Why does Anna postpone her wedding? Does Zerlina feel guilty? Is Elvira the wife of Don Giovanni?