Lineup Announced For the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival This March

Providing space for vital community conversations, the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival returns with a carefully curated, thought-provoking weekend of entertainment featuring acclaimed national talent as well as community leaders, artists, academics, and change-makers from around the region. Every presentation includes a Q&A segment, inviting community members into the conversation.

"When we launched the Festival in 2015, one of our primary goals was to take conversations often reserved for academic campuses and bring them to an accessible setting in the community," explains festival co-director David Shumway, who also serves as the Director of The Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University. "The Pittsburgh Humanities Festival is for everyone. I think the diversity of this year's lineup reflects that intention and we look forward to welcoming first-time guests as well as returning attendees."

"Many guests attend the Festival for a specific speaker or topic that's of interest to them," reflects Randal Miller, co-director for the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival and Director of Special Projects for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. "What's even more exciting to me is that others come purely for discovery-to learn about something new or to open themselves up to a different perspective. That's what makes this entertaining weekend so special."

The Pittsburgh Humanities Festival is generously supported by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Tickets for all events are on sale now at TrustArts.org/Humanities.

FEATURED EVENTS

These two featured events take place on Friday and Saturday evenings and are ticketed separately from the Core Conversations detailed below.

An Evening with Ira Glass: Seven Things I've Learned

Saturday, March 25 | Byham Theater

Tickets start at $32

As host and creator of the beloved public radio program This American Life, Ira Glass has pioneered a highly influential style of documentary storytelling for more than 25 years. This American Life is the first program ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize for audio journalism and is heard each week by more than 5 million listeners. In his thoroughly entertaining talks, Glass shares new stories along with reflections, anecdotes, and revelations from his fascinating decades-long career as an interviewer, producer, and broadcaster.

The Legacy of Women in Hip Hop

Monie Love, DJ Perly, Juliandra Jones, & Teena Marie Custer

Friday, March 24 | Trust Arts Education Center

Tickets start at $20

Kicking off the festival, this event celebrates the contributions, experiences, and legacy of women in Hip Hop culture over the past 50 years. The evening will open with a discussion featuring 2x USA DMC champion DJ Perly, graffiti artist Juliandra Jones, and street dance artist Teena Marie Custer. This will be followed with a concert by Grammy-nominated Rapper Monie Love, a DJ set by DJ Perly, and performances by local female emcees.

CORE CONVERSATIONS

For just $10 ($5 for students), a Core Conversations Pass opens the door to 14 events spanning Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26, between 12-5:30 pm in the Trust Arts Education Center at 805-807 Liberty Avenue. The Core Conversations are the heart of the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival. Event descriptions and Core Conversations Passes are available now at TrustArts.org/Humanities.

Saturday, March 25

• Leading the Cultural District: CEOs Carol Brown & Kevin McMahon in Conversation
• Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time with Sheila Liming
• Star-Spangled Fascism? The Extreme Right, Yesterday and Today with Richard Steigmann-Gall
• Bad Activist: Story, Song, and Spectacle with the "Vietnamese Lady Gaga" Mai Khoi
• Alive in Spanish Literature: Flamenco Music & Culture with Carolina Loyola-Garcia
• The Category is...: A Deep Dive into the World of Vogue & Ballroom with TrueT Pittsburgh
• Roses from the Southwestern Sun with the "Mayan Bioengineer" Jorge Jimenez

Sunday, March 26

• Mayor Gainey & Pittsburgh's Future Leaders featuring Mayor Gainey and Ashley Lynn Priore
• Immaculate: How the Steelers Saved Pittsburgh with Tom O'Lenic
• Pittsburgh's Secret History of Plants with Boaz Frankel
• Language Justice with Dr. Uju Anya
• Shakespeare in Virtual Reality with Stephen Wittek
• Creating the Pittsburgh Police... with Elaine Frantz
• Winner of the Public Open Call

PUBLIC OPEN CALL

Application Deadline: February 10, 11:59 pm EST

Want to lead the conversation? The Public Open Call provides a chance for a new voice to be heard at the Festival. The open call for participants is a web-based audition opportunity open to anyone interested in leading a Core Conversation at the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival. Applications are being accepted now through February 10 at TrustArts.org/Humanities.