To Transform
Fall 2023 Public Programs and Engagement
Still from Adama Delphine Fawundu, Palii~Seat of the Ancestors and Water Spirits, 2022–2023. © Adama Delphine Fawundu.
The Fall 2023 Public Programs and Engagement series at Columbia University School of the Arts is organized around the concept of “To Transform.” Here we present conversations, screenings, readings, and research about work that enacts transformation on physical, social, political, and psychic landscapes — exploring the complexities that ensue.
Produced in collaboration with:
- African American and African Diaspora Studies Department
- Arts Initiative
- Book Culture
- Brooklyn Museum
- Center for Gender and Sexuality Law
- Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race
- Creative Writing Program, Barnard College
- Department of Africana Studies, Barnard College
- Division of Narrative Medicine, Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons
- Gender and Public Policy Specialization, School of International and Public Affairs
- Institute of African Studies
- Institute for Latin American Studies
- Institute for Research in African-American Studies
- Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
- LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies
- Miller Theatre
- Newark Museum of Art
- The School of the Arts Film and Media Studies Program
- The School of the Arts Writing Program
- The School of the Arts Visual Arts Program
- Shine Portrait Studio/Express Newark
- University Life
Schedule of Events
Wednesday, September 27, 6:30 pm
Poets and Writing professors Shane McCrae and Timothy Donnelly discuss McCrae’s acclaimed new memoir about being kidnapped from his Black father and raised by his white supremacist grandparents. Introduced by Sarah Cole, Interim Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts and Parr Professor of English and Comparative Literature.
Saturday–Friday, September 23–29: Free Lantern-Building Workshops
Saturday, September 30, 8:00 pm: Procession from Morningside Park to Columbia University
Morningside Lights returns with an homage to libraries and a celebration of the free exchange of ideas. This event is produced by the Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre. The concept and direction is by Processional Arts Workshop.
Thursday, October 12, 6:30 pm
Screening of My Name Is Andrea — a provocative and experimental documentary about feminist icon Andrea Dworkin — followed by a conversation between Writer and Director Pratibha Parmar and filmmaker and faculty member Tom Kalin.
Thursday, October 19, 6:30 pm
Artist and faculty member Adama Delphine Fawundu discusses her solo exhibition spanning video, sculpture, photography, and printmaking with art historian Kellie Jones. The exhibition is now at the Newark Museum of Art.
Thursday, October 26, 6:30 pm
Writing professors Dorothea Lasky and Victor LaValle discuss recent work — Lasky’s ekphrastic horror lyric, The Shining; and the Apple TV+ adaptation of The Changeling, LaValle’s death-defying odyssey through New York City — with Jack Halberstam, Professor of Gender Studies and English.
Thursday, November 16, 6:30 pm
Celebrated visual artist María Magdelena Campos-Pons presents work on the occasion of her multimedia survey at the Brooklyn Museum. Introduced by artist and faculty member David Antonio Cruz.
Rising to challenges, overcoming limitations, adapting to change — these films present characters who experience new worlds and bring about transformation. Featuring The Greatest Showman, Belle, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The BFG, and The Princess Bride.