IU Indianapolis Arts and Humanities Institute

07/14/2025

Read the essays for the “Room for the Lost Paradise” symposium, hosted by the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Available open access from Journal18 https://loom.ly/R9RDXVU

On June 6, 2025, Resplendent Dreams: Reawakening the Rococo opened at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) in Indianapolis. The exhibition brings together three artists—Robert Horvath, Diego Montoya, and Anthony Sonnenberg—whose work responds to and reinvents the rococo.

10/24/2024

Friday, October 25th at 1:30 PM EST, IU Indianapolis School of Liberal Arts professors Ronda C. Henry Anthony, Jason M. Kelly, and Jennifer Thorington Springer will be in conversation with Warren Harding (SUNY Binghamton) and Emmanuel Saboro (University of Cape Coast, Ghana).

“Exploring the Legacy of Diasporic Ruptures, Loss, Trauma, and Resistance - New Understandings of Transatlantic Narratives” brings together Humanities professors in Africa, Indiana, and New York to discuss current Africana Studies scholarship and thought. Learn more and register for the free lecture: https://go.iu.edu/8rjA

09/20/2024

Please Join the IAHI, Ray Bradbury Center, and the IU Indianapolis Center for Africana Studies and Culture Tuesday, September 24th at Witherspoon Presbyterian Church (3535 W Kessler Blvd N, Indianapolis) at 6:30 PM for a public lecture with Speculative Play and Just Futurities visiting scholars, Dr Jazma Sutton and Dr Emmanuel Saboro. Learn more about their talks and register to attend (free): https://go.iu.edu/8qTN

Speculative Play and Just Futurities is made possible through the generous support of the Mellon Foundation. We thank the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church for hosting this event, and to Big Car Collaborative for supporting the SPJF residency with a housing program for visiting artists and scholars living and working at the Tube Factory campus all year!

09/18/2024

Don't miss the Speculative Play and Just Futurities free public lecture Wednesday, September 18th at 6:30 PM at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis! Dr Isabel Perez-Ramos of the University of Oviedo, Spain will present her talk, "Counter-narratives of the Wastocene."
Nicolás Valdivia Hennig, an award-winning Chilean game designer, ludic activist, and PhD student at the University of California Riverside will present their lecture, "Andean Futures: Collaborative Play-Creation" as well.
Use the QR codes in the post to register for free and to learn more, or visit https://go.iu.edu/8qRp



https://go.iu.edu/8qRp

08/27/2024

This week, IAHI welcomes Speculative Play and Just Futurities visiting scholar, Nico Valdivia Hennig. Nico is an award-winning Chilean game designer, ludic activist, and cultural studies researcher with over a decade of experience in game design. Currently, they are a PhD student in Hispanic Studies at the University of California, Riverside, with a designated emphasis in Speculative Fiction and Cultures of Science.

Nico’s SPJF project, “"Beyond the Gap: A Migrant's Journey" is the development of a game that explores the complex migration crises in the Americas, particularly through the perilous Darien Gap. The game will explore the diverse reasons driving migration, the harsh realities faced along one of the world's most dangerous routes, and the impact of socio-political factors on migrants. This project delves into various aspects and temporalities of migration, including a speculative look at a post-dystopian future. Nico will be utilizing open-source tools to craft an interactive experience that encourages reflection on broader migratory narratives and the potential for more equitable futures.

08/26/2024

08/26/2024

Please join the IAHI for Dr Renee Hudson's Speculative Play and Just Futurities lecture, Wednesday at 6:30 PM at Indiana Humanities, 1500 N Delaware, Indianapolis. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Renee Hudson (she/her/ella) is an Assistant Professor and Director of Latinx & Latin American Studies at Chapman University. She specializes in hemispheric studies, multiethnic literature, speculative fiction, genre studies, and histories of revolution and resistance. Her first book project, "Latinx Revolutionary Horizons: Form and Futurity in the Americas," (Fordham University Press, May 2024) examines how contemporary Latinx literature illustrates the hemispheric convergence of Latin American independence movements and the long history of US occupations and interventions. She is currently developing a second project on Latinx Girlhood.

08/19/2024

Make zines at the IAHI Wednesday, August 21st with SPJF scholar in residence, Dr. Renee Hudson! Referencing Celia C. Pérez’s, "The First Rule of Punk," we will think through what it means to represent childhood through the medium of zines.

IUI Students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate in this workshop to learn more about Renee Hudson’s SPJF project, “Hegemonic Citizenship," a chapter in her newest project, "Latinx Girlhood and the Problem of Citizenship."

August 21st, at 1:30 PM at the IU Indianapolis Arts and Humanities Institute: University Library 4115S
Speculative Play and Just Futurities is a collaboration between IAHI, the Ray Bradbury Center, and the IUI Center for Africana Studies and Culture, made possible by the Mellon Foundation and supported by Big Car Collective.

08/15/2024

IAHI welcomes Speculative Play and Just Futurities scholar-in-residence, Dr. Renee Hudson.

Dr. Renee Hudson (she/her/ella)is an Assistant Professor and Director of Latinx & Latin American Studies at Chapman University. She specializes in hemispheric studies, multiethnic literature, speculative fiction, genre studies, and histories of revolution and resistance. She has published in “Modern Fiction Studies,” “CR: The New Centennial Review,” and has forthcoming pieces in “The Cambridge Companion on Race and Literature and Latinx Literature in Transition Vol. 2,” also with Cambridge. She edited a cluster on Latinx speculative fiction for “ASAP/J,” and her book reviews can be found in the “Los Angeles Review of Books,” “The Brooklyn Rail,” “MELUS,” and “ASAP/J.”

Her first book, “Latinx Revolutionary Horizons: Form and Futurity in the Americas,” from Fordham University Press (2024) examines how contemporary Latinx literature illustrates the hemispheric convergence of Latin American independence movements and the long history of US occupations and interventions.

During her SPJF residency, Dr. Hudson will work on “Hegemonic Citizenship” a chapter in her second project, “Latinx Girlhood and the Problem of Citizenship,” focusing on Latinx girls across a wide range of cultural productions, and underscoring how issues of gender and sexuality undergird broader discourses surrounding citizenship and democracy.

Speculative Play and Just Futurities is made possible through the generous support of the Mellon Foundation. SPJF is a collaboration between the IU Indianapolis Arts and Humanities Institute, the Center for Africana Studies and Culture, and the Ray Bradbury Center, with housing support from Big Car Collective/Tube Factory Artspace. Learn more about the SPJF residency by visiting our website: https://www.spjf.org.