Undergraduates and friends of the humanities—you're invited to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s first ever Humanities Open House! Join us on Saturday, October 4, 2025, when we’ll be highlighting the best of the humanities on our campus, including academic departments, student groups, research, resources, and alumni stories.
While the activities and offerings will be designed primarily for current undergraduate students, we warmly welcome prospective students and anyone interested in learning more about the vibrant humanities ecosystem at Illinois.
This event is free and open to the public, no registration required.
View the full, detailed schedule (11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)
MAIN LIBRARY EVENTS (1:00 to 1:50 p.m.)
East Entrance / Library Gallery
- Information table
- Starting point for Humanities Open House activities
Classics Library (Room 225, second floor)
iShowThought: A Socratic Engagement: Students will have a conversation with philosophers about some of life's most basic questions through the online platform Mentimeter. Brought to you by the Philosophy department.
Literatures and Languages Reading Room (Room 200, second floor)
- Pop-up library and display featuring major works of global literature.
- Virtual reality tour of the Ancient World.
Media Commons (Room 220, second floor)
1:15 to 1:40 p.m. - Creative Writing Program readings
Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Room 346, third floor)
The Sappho exhibition, “Sweetbitter: The Literary Legacies and Afterlives of Sappho” will be on view for our visitors. The ancient poet Sappho coined "sweetbitter" in one of her most evocative verses, still striking us to the heart nearly three millennia later. But who was Sappho? As with so many ancient figures, she is more legend than person today, her story told and retold even as her poetry continues to enchant and move us. A puzzle will also be available in the RBML Reading Room.