Although moving the Humanities Research Group experience onto screens represents “quite a pivot,” says director Kim Nelson, she is excited about the line-up of events for 2020-21.

“The Humanities Research Group has always been about face-to-face events that engage important topics in a complex and nuanced way,” she says. “This year we will pivot to online talks, but we will continue to provide a vibrant space for Windsor-Essex to congregate in the exchange of ideas.”

Dr. Nelson says this year’s slate of guests and conversations — on the theme of Embodied Experience — includes one of Canada’s foremost voices for social justice and “an incredible group of University of Windsor scholars addressing a range of the most pressing issues of our tumultuous time.”

All the events are offered online, free and open to the public.

On Oct. 13, political science professor Lydia Miljan will unpack some of the behaviour we see in contemporary politics in her presentation “Primate Politics.”

On Nov. 9, a roundtable of instructors from across the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences will discuss careers in research.

Author Emma Donoghue will be on hand for two events, addressing her approach to writing and research on Nov. 10, and presenting on her works of fiction Nov. 12.

On Nov. 11, social work professor Camisha Sibblis will deliver her lecture “Mind Over Matter(body): the ubiquity of carcerality for Black bodies.”

Nov. 13 will see a celebration of the finalists in the “Why Humanities?” contest, which offers one student a $3,000 tuition credit.

Jan. 26 is “An Evening with Naomi Klein,” journalist and inaugural Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University.

On Feb. 9, professor of women’s and gender studies Ashley Glassburn wll present on “An Indigenous Feminist Standpoint: disentangling bodies, identities, and knowledges.”

And March 9, HRG Fellow Adrian Guta, a professor in the School of Social Work, will deliver “From the social to the molecular: Reflections on biotechnological panacea in the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics.”

Watch DailyNews for more on each of these events as they approach.

Nelson notes that several of the events will be held in partnership with the Outstanding Scholars program, which places high-achieving students into paid positions as research assistants.

“Tailored for this cohort, these occasions are open to all,” she says. “We extend an enthusiastic welcome to all of the Outstanding Scholars who will be joining us this year.”