As the school year becomes more routine, it can be a challenge to find variety in one’s day-to-day activities. Look no further than to the Humanities Department.

Banned Book Reading Sept. 27

Banned Books Week is coming up, starting on Sept. 23 and ending on Sept. 29. Sticking to tradition, on Sept. 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drury will participate in front of Olin Library by having students and faculty read passages from books that have been challenged or banned in the last three years. Sign-ups to read five- to ten-minute excerpts will be posted on the third floor of Pearsons from Sept. 17 to 26, alongside a list of recently challenged or banned books.

Dr. Kevin Henderson, chair of the Department of Languages and Literature, urged students to attend, saying the event will also feature free coffee, a raffle of donated gifts and a book drive to support the Little Free Library project.

“One of the more common reasons that books are banned is that some adults don’t trust that teenagers are able to handle reading about the complexities of adolescence or adulthood,” said Henderson. “It’s great to have a few hours to celebrate the candor and insight that literary works can offer us at different stages in our lives, from adolescence to adulthood.”

Humanities and Arts Film Series

The 2018-2019 school year will also see the seventh year of Drury’s Humanities and Arts Film Series at The Moxie. The series screens roughly six films a year, or three each semester. Each screening is followed by a discussion.

“We’ve had the good fortune of robust attendance and really insightful discussions,” Henderson said. “Humanities faculty help audiences connect themes in literature, foreign language, global studies, history, political science, philosophy, religious studies, and communications to the film they have just watched.”

The final line-up of this year’s featured films is not yet completed, but the theme for 2018-2019 is “Humanities and Democracy.”

(Photo via Forest Swisher)

Philosophy Club

This semester the Philosophy Club has partnered with Asian Studies to sponsor free film nights in Lay Hall Auditorium, according to Dr. Christopher Panza, professor of philosophy and director of Asian Studies.

The next two films are “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring” on Oct. 8 from 6 to 9 p.m. and “Stalker” on Nov. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m.

In addition to the free film nights, the Philosophy Club meets every other Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Stone Chapel lounge. Meetings include discussions and free pizza. They are open to all students.

“[In] philosophy we talk about and discuss the kinds of questions and debates that frequently get left out of other parts of life, but are so central and core to our understanding of what it means to be human beings,” Panza said. “It’s important to ask, and to discuss and debate, what things should or shouldn’t matter – and why.”

The Humanities Department hopes to spice up the rest of the semester with a number of events aimed at providing students with an opportunity to have fun and experience new ways of thinking.

Written by Forest Swisher.