"The Battle for Hearts and Minds" is the theme of the University of Chicago's 23nd annual series of lectures, discussions, and performances by faculty and staff. The program takes place on Saturday, October 26; it's free and open to the public, but registration is required (limited registration will be available on-site on the day of the open house at 8 AM at Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th). Events are held at these campus locations: Biological Sciences Learning Center, 924 E. 57th; Bond Chapel, 1050 E. 59th; Classics Building, 1010 E. 59th; Cobb Hall, 5811 S. Ellis; Cochrane-Woods Arts Center, 5540 S. Greenwood; Harper Memorial Library, 1116 E. 59th; Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th; Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th; Oriental Institute, 1155 E. 58th; Regenstein Library, 1100 E. 57th; Robie House, 5757 S. Woodlawn; Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn; David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, 5550 S. Greenwood; Social Science Research Building, 1126 E. 59th; and Stuart Hall, 5835 S. Greenwood. To register, or for more information, call 773-702-3175 or see humanities.uchicago.edu/openhouse.

SESSION I: 9:30 AM

The Ancient Persians: How They Built and Lost an Empire

Slide presentation. Oriental Institute. (Note: begins at 10 AM.)

British Romanticism and the Ruins of Rome

Jonathan Sachs, collegiate assistant professor. Cochrane-Woods Arts Center, room 157.

Compassion and Terror

Martha Nussbaum, professor of law and ethics. Bond Chapel.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House

Tour led by docents. Robie House.

Hollywood Goes to Coney Island: Images of Mass Culture in Late Silent Films

Miriam Hansen, professor of English language and literature. Cobb Hall, room 307.

Julie Moos: Monsanto Portraits

Gallery talk by Hamza Walker, Renaissance Society director of education. Cobb Hall, room 418.

Kim: Junior Superspy on the Edge of the Great Game

Michael Murrin, professor of comparative literature. Stuart Hall, room 101.

The Languages of Afghanistan

Elena Bashir, lecturer in south Asian languages and civilizations. Stuart Hall, room 102.

The Motet Choir

A cappella pieces under the direction of Randi von Ellefson, senior lecturer in music and director of choral activities. Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.

Orthodox Modernism: Making Sense of Russian Religious Philosophy

Robert Bird, assistant professor of Russian literature. Stuart Hall, room 104.

Reading Nietzsche: The Introduction to "The Birth of Tragedy"

Herman Sinaiko, professor of humanities. Social Science Research Building, room 122.

Reasons for Thinking About Humor in the Humanities

Ted Cohen, professor of philosophy. Regenstein Library.

Some Notions About Parody

Edward Rosenheim, professor emeritus of English. Classics Building, room 10.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: 11 AM

Plato on the Battle for Hearts and Minds

Jonathan Lear, professor of philosophy and distinguished service professor in the Committee on Social Thought. Mandel Hall.

SESSION II: 1:30 PM

Bloomfield and Ohly: Two More Case Histories of Humanistic-Germanistic Opposition to Totalitarian Ideology

Samuel Jaffe, professor of Germanic studies. Stuart Hall, room 101.

Did Genes Get Languages in the Family Way?

Michael Silverstein, professor of anthropology, linguistics, and psychology. Social Science Research Building, room 122.

Digitizing Visual History in the University Archives

Daniel Meyer, university archivist and associate director of special collections. Regenstein Library.

Early Video Activism: In the Kitchen, and at the 1972 Republican Convention

Helen Mirra, senior lecturer in visual art and cinema and media studies. Cobb Hall, room 307.

Francis of Assisi as an Angelic Man According to Bonaventure and Jacopone of Todi

Armando Maggi, associate professor of Italian. Ida Noyes Hall, first-floor cloister room.

James Joyce's "The Dead": From Page to Musical

Court Theatre dramaturge Celise Kalke, accompanied by Rockefeller Memorial Chapel choir member Allysa Volker and guitarist Mark Volker. Biological Sciences Learning Center, room 109.

John Sayles and Haskell Wexler

James K. Chandler, professor of English language and literature and director of the Franke Institute for the Humanities. Regenstein Library.

The Legacy of the Ancient Near East

Tour of Egyptian and Persian galleries. Oriental Institute.

Nineteenth-Century Prophetic Voices: Renan and Dostoyevsky

Peter Dembowski, professor emeritus of French. Stuart Hall, room 104.

Poetry Reading

Achy Obejas, lecturer in English language and literature. Stuart Hall, room TBA.

Thomas Jefferson and the Rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence

Gwin Kolb, professor emeritus of humanities. Classics Building, room 10.

Vision, Sexuality, and Political Life in Ancient Rome

Shadi Bartsch, chair of classical languages and literatures. Cochrane-Woods Arts Center, room 157.

Who Were the Khazars, and Why Does It Matter?

Norman Golb, professor of Jewish history and civilization. Oriental Institute, room 218.

SESSION III: 3 PM

The Ancient Near East and the Bible

Tour of Egyptian and Persian galleries. Oriental Institute.

Between Earth and Sky: The Films of Terrence Malick

Tom Gunning, professor of art history and cinema and media studies. Cobb Hall, room 307.

The Carillon of Rockefeller Chapel

Tour led by Wylie Crawford, university carillonneur. Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.

Chromophilia: An Abnormal Appetite for Color

Alison Ruttan, assistant professor of visual arts. Regenstein Library.

Confronting Identity in German Art

Exhibit tour led by Reinhold Heller, professor of art history and Germanic studies. Smart Museum of Art.

Elizabeth I of England: The Praying Queen

Janel Mueller, dean of humanities and professor of English language and literature. Classics Building, room 10.

Goethe's Yiddish

Jerrold Sadock, chair of linguistics. Social Science Research Building, room 122.

Miles of Clay: Information Management in the Ancient Near East

Theo van den Hout, professor of Near Eastern languages and civilizations. Stuart Hall, room 101.

Ordinary Evil

Candace Vogler, director of the master of arts program in the humanities and associate professor of philosophy. Ida Noyes Hall, first-floor cloister room.

The Persistent Puppet: Pinocchio's Heirs in Contemporary Fiction and Film

Rebecca West, professor of Italian. Biological Sciences Learning Center, room 109.

Poetry Reading

Karen Volkman, university poet in residence. Stuart Hall, room 102.

Slavery and Human Rights in Ancient Greece and Rome

Elizabeth Asmis, professor of classical languages and literatures. Cochrane-Woods Arts Center, room 157.

State Fantasy: The Late-19th-Century British Novel and the Cultural Formation of State Personhood

Zarena Aslami, collegiate assistant professor. Harper Memorial Library, room 130.

You Can't Get There From Here: The Limits of Translatability and the Triumphs of Translation

Peter K. Jansen, professor emeritus of Germanic studies. Stuart Hall, room 104.

Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Jason Smith.