The Work of the Humanist: A Conversation
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
5:00PM to 6:30PM
The Rifkind Center (NAC 6/316)

The humanities today are under pressure from across the political spectrum. In this session, three scholars step back from these external defenses and discuss the core of what humanists do and what they think are the best practices for doing it. This is the first of an ongoing series.

Participants:

David Sartorius, Associate Professor of history at the University of Maryland, former co-editor of Social Text (2017-2025), and incoming director of the Miller Center for Historical Studies at the University of Maryland.

Yair Mintzker, Professor of history at Princeton University, former Behrman Professor in the Humanities, and current chair of Yeh College at Princeton University.

András Kiséry, Associate Professor of English and director of the English M.A. Program at CCNY.

Moderator:

Mikhal Dekel, Distinguished Professor of English and Director of the Rifkind Center