Brown Bag Series

One of the Center's signature programs, the Brown Bag Colloquium Series provides a regular forum for the exchange, development, and synthesis of ideas among humanities and arts scholars at Wayne State. The series helps the Center fulfill its mission to be a catalyst for interdisciplinary conversations and fellowship among WSU scholars at all stages in their careers. In keeping with the spirit of this series, the Center especially welcomes submissions from scholars who hope to present works in progress as they work toward refining their research findings for publication. Talks should be 30 to 45 minutes in length, followed by Q&A. This series is ideal for presenters interested in receiving detailed feedback on a specific research project. Collaborative submissions that showcase interdisciplinary work are especially encouraged.

Apply for the 2025-2026 Brown Bag series here

Deadline to apply is May 16, 2025

Fall 2024 and Winter 2025 Brown Bag schedule


September 10, 2024 12:30pm 

Speaker: Bruce Russell

Location: F/AB 2339 

Title: Truth and Rationality


November 12, 2024 12:30pm

Speakers: Joshua Duchan and Eric Freedman

Location: F/AB 2339 and Zoom

Title: Please Buy My Last Paper, I Want to Go Home: Portrayal of Newsboys and Newsgirls in 19th and 20th Century Music

RSVP Here


November 22, 2024 12:30pm

Speaker: Sylvia Taschka

Location: F/AB 2339 and Zoom

Title: A Different Shade of Green: Environmentalism and the Radical Right in Germany

RSVP Here


December 11, 2024 12:30pm 

Speaker: Rahul Mitra

Location: TBD

Title: Why Should We Care about Microplastics? How Local Communities Understand Emerging Environmental Health Risks


January 10, 2025 12:30pm

Speaker: Mia Michael

Location: TBD

Title: Building on Their Foremothers 'Fights for Rights': Domestic Workers and the New Labor Activism, 1960-2015


January 22, 2025 12:30pm

Speaker: Ariel Helfer

Location: TBD

Title: The Forgotten Rhetorical Teaching of Isocrates: Huan Nature and Civic Responsibility


February 3, 2025 12:30pm

Speaker: Peter Marra

Location: TBD

Title: "We Belond Dead": Embracing Monstrosity in 21st Century Horror


February 10, 2025 12:30pm

Speaker: Andrew Guinn

Location: TBD

Title: Revisiting the Modernist City: Brasilia Beyond the Pilot Plan


February 17, 2025 12:30pm

Speaker: Thomas Trimble

Location: TBD

Title: Liberalism, Incrementalism, and the Asteroid that will One Day Destroy Earth


March 18, 2025 12:30pm

Speaker: Eldonna May

Location: TBD

Title: TBD