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Humanities Center

Humanities Center

Events for 2024-2025


Next Event: 

Book Celebration, Asa Simon Mittman:  Cartographies of Exclusion

Friday, May 2nd, 12:00 PM, Collaborative Space, ARTS 227

Professor Asa Mittman and his book cover.

From the battles over Jerusalem to the Edict of Expulsion, geography has long been a component of Christian-Jewish relations. Attending to world maps drawn by medieval Christian mapmakers, Cartographies of Exclusion brings us to the literal drawing board of “Christendom”—and shows the creation, in real time, of a mythic state intended to dehumanize thenon-Christian people it ultimately sought to displace.

In his close analyses of English maps from the twelfth through fifteenth centuries, Asa Simon Mittman makes a valuable contribution to conversations about medieval Christian perceptions of Jews and Judaism. Grounding his arguments in the history of anti-Jewish sentiment and actions rampant in twelfth- and thirteenth-century England, Mittman shows how English world maps of the period successfully Othered Jewish people by means of four primary strategies: conflating Jews with other groups; spreading libels about Jewish bodies, beliefs, and practices; associating Jews with Satan; and, most importantly, cartographically “mislocating” Jews in time and space. On maps, Jews were banished to locations and historical moments with no actual connection to Jewish populations or histories.

Medieval Christian anti-Semitism is the foundation upon which modern anti-Semitism rests, and the medieval mapping of Jews was crucial to that foundation. Mittman’s thinking offers essential insights for any scholar interested in the interface of cartography, politics, and religion in premodern Europe.

Asa Simon Mittman is Professor of Art and Art History at California State University, Chico. He is the author of Maps and Monsters in Medieval England and coauthor of Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders and of Inconceivable Beasts: The “Wonders of the East” in the “Beowulf” Manuscript.

Light snacks and refreshments will be served.  This event is open to the public.


HFA Ice Cream Social

Tuesday, May 6th, 1:00 - 2:30 PM, PAC Courtyard

Flyer advertising the event in pastel colors.

Calling all HFA Students!  Stop by the PAC Courtyard on Tuesday, May 6th, from 1:00 - 2:30 for a free paleta (ice cream popsicle) from La Flor de Michoacan.  Relax and cool off with a refreshing treat.  Available while supplies last.  

This event is sponsored by HFA Connections AND the Humanities Center.  

2024-2025 Theme: Ghosts and Haunting, The Persistence of the Past

The past does not simply stay in the past. Sometimes, what we thought we forgot or hoped to forget, reappears in the present to haunt us. Cultures around the world have traditions and stories about haunted places and the existence of ghosts and spirits that allow us to preserve cultural memory, process trauma, and explore ideas about the existence of an afterlife. Ghosts and hauntings reveal the power of memory and storytelling and can reflect our nostalgia for what is gone or heighten our fear of the unknown.

The Humanities Center is the interdisciplinary heart of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. Our purpose is to create and nurture a culture of ideas at Chico State and to engage our diverse intellectual community through public events. During the 2024-25 year, the Humanities Center will host a series of lectures and films exploring the ghosts and haunted places that stay with us in the present.

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