Events Calendar
All events at the Mandel Center for the Humanities are subject to health standards, precautions and protocols as determined by Brandeis University and the State of Massachusetts.
Read below to find the MCH events being offered this spring. Check back for updates.
SPRING 2025
January 15, 2025
Mandel 303 (12:30pm-2:00pm)
An event with author Nicholas Nugent.
From book description: We may think of “globalism” as a recent development but its origins date back to the fifteenth century and beyond, when seafarers pioneered routes across the oceans with the objectives of exploration, trade, and profit.
These voyages only became possible after certain technical innovations—improvements in ship design, compasses, and mapping—enabled navigation across unprecedented distances. The mariners’ embarkation points were the vibrant ports of the West—Venice, Amsterdam, Lisbon—and their destinations the exotic ports of the East—Malacca, Goa, Bombay—where they tracked down the elusive spices, so much in demand by Western palates.
February 3, 2025
Usdan International Lounge (4:00pm-5:30pm)
A Conversation with Shane Burley and Ben Lorber, Moderated by Sarah Mayorga
February 24, 2025
Mandel Atrium (4:00pm-5:30pm)
The aim is to explore the complex and often contradictory experience of being Afro-descendant in Paris. While the city is celebrated globally as a symbol of enlightenment, culture, and opportunity, and a place of refuge, it also embodies systemic inequities, colonial legacies, and racial discrimination that cast a shadow over its bright reputation.
Through this lens, the theme examines Paris as a space of duality—where Afro-descendant communities contribute vibrantly to its identity but also face exclusion, stereotypes, and socio-economic challenges. It reflects on how the city’s history, policies, and culture intersect with race and power, and rethinks Paris as both a beacon of light and a site of struggle for equity and recognition.
February 25, 2025
Mandel 303 (4:00pm-5:30pm)
This lecture challenges the dominant narrative of universalism grounded in the Enlightenment philosophy and, often heralded as a foundation of equality and justice, by interrogating its history and applications. While universalism claims to transcend differences and promote equality, it has frequently been weaponized to impose a singular, Eurocentric perspective that erases cultural diversity and reinforces systemic racism.
It is a proposal for a vision of “grounded universality,” one that respects pluralism, centers historically excluded voices, and reimagines universalism as a framework rooted in equity, inclusion, and shared humanity rather than domination.
February 26, 2025
Mandel 303 (12:00pm-1:30pm)
This conference addresses how universalist ideals are weaponized to control and assimilate non-white bodies, particularly those of Muslim and non-white women. Framed as upholding neutrality and equality, these policies and social norms often serve to enforce conformity to white standards while marginalizing diverse identities.
The discussion delves into examples such as bans on the hijab, which claim to liberate women while denying them agency, and the imposition of beauty norms, that devalue cultural expressions. These practices are examined as tools of surveillance and assimilation, where bodies are policed to fit a narrow definition of “acceptable” citizenship under the guise of universalism.
March 26, 2025
Rapaporte Treasure Hall (4:o0pm-5:30pm)
A Conversation with Maurice Ebileeni and Ayelet Ben-Yishai
March 27, 2025
Mandel 303 (evening - TBD)
HYBRID EVENT
National Watch Party (virtual event hosted by the St. Louis Fed)
- Keynote Speakers Dr. Cecilia Rouse (former President of the Brookings Institute) and Ali Wolf (Chief Economist at Zonda)
In person event: Brandeis Panel on Humanities and Finance
April 1, 2025
Mandel 303 (11:30am-2:00pm)
"Archiving Identity" Sahid Mondal (English) and Lianne Gallant (History)