UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

09/18/2026

🌊What happens when the deep sea becomes a place of beauty, fascination and destruction all at once?🌊

Join us as we kick off our 2026–27 Blue Humanities Speaker Series with our first speaker, Dr. Stacy Alaimo of the University of Oregon, for “The Abyss Stares Back: Science and Aesthetics in the Deep Sea.”

From bizarre deep-sea creatures to the dazzling images that circulate through science, art, literature and popular culture, Alaimo explores why the abyss fascinates us so much, what that fascination can obscure, and how the tension between discovery and destruction might shape the way we care for life in the deep ocean.

📅 Thursday, Oct. 1
🕓 4–5:30 p.m.
📍 Smathers Library 100
🎟️ Free and open to the public
Learn more and RSVP: https://bit.ly/stacyalaimo

We hope to see you there!

Thanks to our friends who helped make this possible:

UF History Department, University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries, UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UF Department of English, the UF Gulf Scholars Program at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, UF Sustainability Studies, Imagining Climate Change, Harn Museum of Art, and Jack E. Davis the Rothman Family Chair in the Humanities.

07/20/2026

This week, Puerto Rico’s Y no había luz theatre collective continues its Gainesville residency with free community workshops, an artist talk and a joyful public performance at Depot Park!

Known as “second responders” to disaster, Y no había luz uses theatre, masks, puppetry and visual arts to support communities affected by hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemics and environmental crises. Join the collective to explore the restorative power of art, creativity and community joy.

All events are free and open to the public with registration. Learn more and register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-art-workshops-with-y-no-habia-luz-tickets-1990504352100?aff=oddtdtcreator

Upcoming events:

📚 Tuesday, July 21 @ 6:00 PM - 07:00 PM | The Lynx Bookstore
Dr. Colleen Rua and artists from Y no había luz will discuss the collective’s work, the role of artists as responders to natural disasters and joy as an essential human need.

🎭 Wednesday, July 22 @ 5:30 PM - 07:30 PM| The Hippodrome
Young people ages 8–17 are invited to play theatre games, create flags, masks and puppets, and learn how to bring their creations to life in preparation for the community parade.

🎨 Friday, July 24 @ 4:00 PM - 06:00 PM| The Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center
Create puppets, props, flags and masks—or add the finishing touches to something you began at an earlier workshop. Participants will also learn how to make their puppets walk and talk.

🥁 Saturday, July 25 @ 6:00 PM - 07:00 PM| Depot Park
Watch a performance of Comparsa de Tiempo (Parade of Time) and then join a community parade featuring participants and their creations! The parade begins at 6 p.m.

07/14/2026

This summer, 20 UF students partnered with organizations across Gainesville to uncover local stories, preserve community history and create projects that connect people with the places they call home.

From curating museum exhibits to documenting oral histories and exploring Gainesville's past, the Alexander Grass Scholars are showing how research can make a real impact beyond campus.

See how these students brought the humanities to life: https://news.clas.ufl.edu/grass-scholars-bring-humanities-research-to-life-around-gainesville/

06/25/2026

Day 2 of the ACH 2026 Regional Hub Watch Party brought together digital humanities, food history and a chance to taste the archive. 💻📚✨

Today, we gathered in the Digital Humanities Lab for more ACH sessions and a featured in-person presentation from Sarah Tew and Melissa Jerome of University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries: Recetas de las Américas: A Dataset of Historical Newspaper Recipes.

After the presentation, attendees got to try refresco de avena, a historical recipe found in Chronicling America. Made with oats, water, sugar and vanilla, and served cold with lemon, the recipe offered a delicious reminder of how digital archives can bring everyday histories to life. For this and more recipes like this check out the Recetas de las Américas website: https://recetas.domains.uflib.ufl.edu/

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Day 2! We’re excited to wrap up the watch party tomorrow with more conversations around digital humanities research, teaching and public engagement.

📍 Digital Humanities Lab, Keene-Flint Hall 0011 (snacks and refreshments in the Jerome A. Yavitz Conference Room)

📅 June 24–26

06/24/2026

Day 1 of the ACH 2026 Regional Hub Watch Party is in the books! 💻✨

We kicked things off today in the Digital Humanities Lab with conversations around digital humanities, community, technology, and public engagement — including the keynote from Dr. Laura Gonzales on Community, Participation and Transborder Technology Design.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the first day! We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation tomorrow with more ACH sessions, featured presentations, and opportunities to connect with digital humanists at UF and beyond.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s featured session: Recetas de las Américas: A Dataset of Historical Newspaper Recipes by Sarah Tew and Melissa Jerome of Smathers Libraries at 11:30 a.m.

Check out the calendar for more info: bit.ly/CHPS-ACH2026 -- we look forward to seeing you there!

📍 Digital Humanities Lab, Keene-Flint Hall 0011 (snacks and refreshments available in the Jerome A. Yavitz conference room across the hall)

📅 June 24–26

06/23/2026

We’re kicking off the ACH 2026 Regional Hub Watch Party tomorrow! 🎉

Stop by the Digital Humanities Lab as we watch sessions from the Association for Computers and the Humanities online conference together, make in-person connections, and celebrate digital humanities work happening at UF and beyond.

Come for one session or stay for the full conference — we’d love to see you there!

📅 June 24–26, 2026
📍 Digital Humanities Lab, Keene-Flint Hall 0011
🎤 Tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.: Keynote presentation by Dr. Laura Gonzales, UF English

Free and open to anyone curious about digital humanities. Please RSVP if you plan to attend: https://bit.ly/CHPS-ACH2026

06/12/2026

What type of fan are you? Tag yourself in the comments below! 👀

We’re excited to share this fun take on fan culture from Public Humanities Intern Hilda Sheridan-Hewlett, whose one-day film festival Take A Second Look: Cult Classics comes to the Hippodrome Theatre this Saturday, June 13.

The festival features The Matrix at 5 p.m. and Jennifer’s Body at 8 p.m., with talkbacks after each film exploring fan culture, audience reception and the lasting power of cult classics.

We hope to see you there! https://thehipp.org/cinema

06/09/2026

Hilda is a PhD student at the University of Florida; she studies audience reception and fan cultures. Hilda believes that The Matrix (1999) and Jennifer’s Body (2009) became cult classics through how fans reinterpret and reshape them. She’s curious about the positive side of that creativity as well as the more complicated side. During this festival at the Hippodrome Cinema, she will introduce the films and host a talk back about how fandoms can both enrich and complicate a film’s legacy. Hilda’s opportunity for this festival arose from the partnership between the Center for Humanities and the Public Sphere at the University of Florida and the Hippodrome Theatre, both of which are committed to arts education in Gainesville. Hilda's film festival Take A Second Look: Cult Classics will happen on June 13th at 5pm, starting with the The Matrix followed by Jennifer's Body which will screen at 8pm.

06/05/2026

What makes a cult classic? Find out at the Hippodrome Cinema on Saturday, June 13!

Take A Second Look: Cult Classics is a one-day film festival curated by Hilda Sheridan-Hewlett, an English PhD student specializing in Film Studies. Presented as part of Hilda’s CHPS Public Humanities Internship with the Hippodrome, the festival revisits The Matrix (1999) and Jennifer’s Body (2009), two films whose meanings and legacies have evolved through audience reception, fan culture and reinterpretation.

Hilda will introduce the screenings and host a talkback on how fandoms can both enrich and complicate a film’s cultural afterlife.

Don’t miss this chance to explore how audiences can reshape the legacies of beloved cult classics!

📅 Saturday, June 13
📍 Hippodrome Cinema
🕔 The Matrix at 5 p.m.
🕗 Jennifer’s Body at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available via the QR code and the Hipp’s website: https://thehipp.org/cinema

05/22/2026