CULTURAL CENTER

CONFERENCES & SYMPOSIA

For more information, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669.

See our Virtual Events Calendar for the most up-to-date information.

Spring 2026

Thursday and Friday, September 17-18, 2026

Call for Papers: George Sand and Dialogue
25th International George Sand Conference

Commemorating the 150th anniversary of Sand’s death, the 50th Anniversary of the George Sand Association (GSA), and most importantly, honoring Natalie Datlof’s founding of the George Sand Association, which motivated the creation of the Hofstra Cultural Center.

The 2-day conference will take place at Hofstra University on 17-18 September 2026 and will begin with an apéritif dînatoire on the evening of the 16th.

Dialogues and texts creatively interacting with dialogic conventions of course flourished in Antiquity with Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, up through Voltaire and beyond. Indeed, many so-called modern authors have ventured into dialogue forms and exchanges. George Sand is one of these authors for whom literary dialogue was alive and well in the nineteenth century.

The conference will interrogate Sand and dialogue: not only her continued interest in the literary dialogue form but also broader notions of dialogism, discussion, debate, exchange, and communities of knowledge.

Papers should be no longer than 20 minutes. Send abstracts (300 words maximum, in English or French) to hofculctr@hofstra.edu (with “Sand conference” in the subject line) no later than 1st April 2026. We plan to finalize the program by mid-May. To set your imaginations in motion, perhaps these suggestions might help; this is, of course, not an exhaustive list. Rachel Corkle and Mary Rice-DeFosse join me on the Selection Committee.

For those who might be interested, on Saturday we could enjoy a guided visit of the Art Deco splendor in Grand Central Station followed by a display of the Sand collection in the Pierpont Morgan Library, at a short walk from Grand Central. (Details of supplement to follow.)

We are pleased to welcome the community, including family members, local schoolchildren, alumni and friends, to athletic and cultural events on campus. All events are free and open to the public. Please register in advance at events.hofstra.edu.

Past Events

Past Conferences & Symposia

Thursday and Friday, October 24-25, 2024

LISTENING TO ARNOLD SCHOENBERG: COMPOSITIONS, TEACHINGS, AND WRITINGS

Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) was not only one of the most renowned composers of the twentieth century, but he was also one of its foremost musical thinkers and teachers. He wrote approximately 3,500 texts: literary and pedagogical works, lectures and essays on musical aesthetics, theory and analysis, philosophy, religion, Judaism, politics, contemporary history, as well as personal diaries, memos, recommendations, and open letters. Schoenberg also left us nearly 20,000 pages of private letters to nearly 3,000 correspondents, including such eminent musicians as Ferruccio Busoni and Gustav Mahler, as well as other famous figures like physicist Albert Einstein and artist Wassily Kandinsky. His writings and letters provide invaluable insight not only into the genesis of his own works but also into his provocative thoughts on music, art, philosophical ideas, and even civilization in general.

In 2016, Oxford University Press established a multi-volume series titled Schoenberg in Words; Sabine Feisst and Severine Neff serve as the General Editors. The series consists of nine, book-length manuscripts and is organized into two principal areas: 1) Schoenberg’s correspondences from his early years in Vienna and with Anton Webern, Alma Mahler, and American composers; and 2) Schoenberg’s seminal writings on theory, composition, performance, and analysis.

Conference Director:
Philip S. Stoecker
Professor of Music
Department of Music

Related Events:

Concert:  The Music of Arnold Schoenberg and His Circle
with
Tammy Hensrudmezzo-soprano
Robert Osborne, bass-baritone
Violetta Zabbipiano

Thursday, October 24, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
The Helene Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus

The Austrian Cultural Forum New York presents
SPECIAL EXHIBITION: ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG – 150 YEARS
September 19 – November 8, 2024

©Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents
Symposium Schedule Speakers’ Abstracts

The Society for French Historical Studies
in collaboration with the
Hofstra Cultural Center
presents

Thursday, Friday, Saturday
March 14, 15, 16, 2024
From the Interstices: Geographies, Identities, Solidarities, and Institutions in France, the Francophone World, and Beyond

The March 2024 meeting of the Society for French Historical Studies will explore the complex considerations of and methodologies for examining the intersections of historical inquiry. For example, how do we lift up and make visible the spaces between geographies, intersectional identities, social solidarities, and/or the relationships between institutions and their constituents? As always, beyond our themed sessions, our program includes all aspects of French and Francophone History. We are also committed to creating a welcoming, antiracist, and diverse conference that embraces our Society’s anti-discriminatory mission of inclusiveness, political education, and equitable empowerment.

Presentations will be presented in English or French, and include traditional panels, roundtables, or lightning sessions that reflect the variety of recent scholarship, pedagogical concerns, and contemporary issues.


CONFERENCE EXHIBITION:
January 30 – July 26, 2024
Les Visionnaires: IN the MODERNIST SPIRIT
Emily Lowe Gallery

CONFERENCE CO-DIRECTORS

SALLY CHARNOW
Chair, Department of History
Professor of History
Hofstra University
Co-President, Society for French Historical Studies
Sally.D.Charnow@hofstra.edu

Publications:
Edmond Fleg and Jewish Minority Culture in Twentieth-Century France (2021)
Artistic Expressions and the Great War, A Hundred Years On (ed.) (2020)
Theatre, Politics, and Markets in Fin-de-Siècle Paris (2005)

JEFF HORN
Professor of History
Manhattan College
Co-President, Society for French Historical Studies
Jeff.Horn@manhattan.edu

Publications:
A People’s History of the World and Voices of a People’s History of the World were published by Oxford University Press in November 2022.
The Making of a Terrorist: Alexandre Rousselin and the French Revolution appeared in paperback with Oxford University Press in June 2023.

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Museum Exhibition: Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), Untitled, from Memories of Surrealism portfolio1971, Etching and lithograph, 20.75 x 16.25 in., Hofstra University Museum of Art, Gift of Benjamin Bickerman, HU93.12.3 © 2023 Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Artists Rights Society

Wednesday-Friday
April 19-21, 2023

Hofstra University is pleased to announce that its conference on the Barack Obama Presidency will take place April 19-21, 2023. Hofstra has a long and distinguished tradition of hosting conferences on the administrations of all the presidents of the United States who have served during the University’s lifetime, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt forward. The Conference on the Obama Presidency, hosted by the Hofstra Cultural Center, the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, and the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency, will be the University’s 13th presidential conference.

During each conference, Hofstra brings together scholars, policymakers, and journalists for a series of panels and roundtables to discuss a president’s campaign, political leadership, policy agenda, and legacy. Often the Hofstra conference is the first opportunity for scholars, journalists, and administration officials to come together to debate the issues of that period in history. The University has published volumes of selected articles and commentary from every conference, which have become standard scholarly volumes and early oral histories of each presidency.

These presidential conferences bring to campus hundreds of national leaders, scholars and historians, as well as college and high school classes. In addition, selected keynote panels and plenary events will be livestreamed through the University’s website, allowing access to schools across the country. The Hofstra Presidential Conferences provide a unique opportunity to participate in interdisciplinary scholarly analyses, with key insights from former administration officials and journalists, of the American presidency and American politics.

https://e.issuu.com/embed.html?d=barack-obama-conference&hideIssuuLogo=true&pageLayout=singlePage&u=hofstra


Thursday, April 27, 2023
PATHS TO PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Join us for a commemoration and analysis of the 25th anniversary of the historic Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, which ended the troubles in Northern Ireland. The challenges facing Ireland and Northern Ireland today are especially urgent in these times of post-Brexit consequences.

11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.: PANEL: THE HISTORIC ORIGINS OF THE AGREEMENT

Panelists include:

  • Kevin James, Scottish Studies Foundation Chair, Director, Centre for Scottish Studies Director, Centre for Scottish Studies; Professor, Department of History, University of Guelph
  • Dr. Ofrit Liviatan is a lecturer on law and politics, Department of Government, Harvard University. Dr. Liviatan has researched extensively on the history, structure, and function of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.
  • Ted Smyth, President of the Advisory Board of Glucksman Ireland House NYU and is Chair of the Clinton Institute for American Studies in University College Dublin. He participated in the Northern Ireland peace process, seeking support amongst key stakeholders for a nonviolent, just solution.

2:40-4:05 p.m.: FILM VIEWING and DISCUSSION: “WAVING GOODBYE TO THE DINOSAURS”: THE HISTORIC ROLE OF THE WOMEN OF NORTHERN IRELAND ON THE PATH TO PEACE

Waving Goodbye to the Dinosaurs shows when peace talks are proposed to negotiate an end to the decades-old sectarian conflict that left thousands dead and tens of thousands wounded, women in Northern Ireland decide to take matters into their own hands. Wave Goodbye to Dinosaurs vividly shows the story of Catholic and Protestant women who unite to form an all-female political party, win seats at the negotiating table, and fight to ensure that their policies around human rights, equality, and inclusion are reflected in the Good Friday Agreement. Feature interviews include members of the Women’s Coalition, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator George Mitchell, and civil rights campaigner Bernadette Devlin.

4:20-5:45 p.m.: PANEL: THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE AGREEMENT: ITS SUCCESSES, CURRENT CHALLENGES, AND POSSIBILITIES FOR PEACEBUILDING

Presenters include:

  • Martin J. Burke, Professor of History and American Studies, Lehman College and the Graduate Center, The City University of New York; Director of the CUNY Institute of Irish-American Studies; a Junior Fellow at the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s University, Belfast; and a Fulbright Lecturer in Irish and American Studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
  • Ambassador David Donoghue, former Ireland Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Ambassador Donoghue was involved for many years in the Northern Ireland peace process, and was one of the Irish Government’s negotiators for the groundbreaking Good Friday Agreement.
  • Brian Dougherty is currently CEO with the North-West Cultural Partnership, a collaborative group for six cultural organizations that work extensively across the Derry/Strabane District Council area, the Province, and cross-border in Northern Ireland.  

All sessions take place in the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater
Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, First Floor, South Campus

For more information, contact Professor Linda Longmire at Linda.A.Longmire@hofstra.edu or 516-463-5828.

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Image of ireland

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Ireland landscape

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castle in Ireland

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Painting on a wall

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Path to Peace in Northern Ireland flyer

Thursday, April 14, 2022
11:15 a.m.-5:45 p.m.
CESAR VALLEJO’S TRILCE
One Hundred Years Later, 1922-2022

Trilce is the most radical book of poetry written in the Spanish language, arising at the beginning of the aesthetic change that the avant-gardes of his time were going through. Two characteristics essentially define Trilce: “difficult,” due to its hermetic writing and the poem’s tendency to erase its referents, and “demanding,” because it requires language to say everything new, as if nothing had been said.

Guthart Cultural Center Theater
Axinn Library, First Floor, South Campus

Presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program in collaboration with the Rabinowitz Honors College, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Office of the Provost.
For more information, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669 or visit hofstra.edu/culture.

Related Event:
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
7-9 p.m.
Opening
INSTITUTO CERVANTES NEW YORK
For more information, email Delia Antelo, Director of Culture at culctny@cervantes.es.

https://e.issuu.com/embed.html?d=trilce_cesar_vallejo_24x36&hideIssuuLogo=true&u=hofstra


Thursday, April 28-Saturday, April 30, 2022

64th Meeting
Euro Working Group for Commodities and Financial Modelling and the Center for International Financial Markets & Services

presents

We are pleased to invite you to submit your papers to the 64th EWGCFM meeting in New York, NY. We encourage you to participate as a presenter, discussant, session chair, and/or attendee. We welcome papers from a wide range of topics.

The submission deadline is January 31, 2022.

Instructions for submission:

  • Include one copy of the paper that lists the authors’ names on the title page.
  • Include another copy of the paper that does not list any of the authors’ names.
  • At the time of submission, submitted papers must not have been previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere.

The organizing committee will confirm receipt of your submission. Submitted papers will be double-blind reviewed by members of the scientific committee.

Paper presenters will be expected to discuss one other paper during the conference. The discussant assignments will be made by the organizing committee at a later date.

You will receive an email indicating whether your paper is accepted/rejected for presentation at the conference before January 31, 2022.

For further information, please email to cifsm@hofstra.edu.


Wednesday and Thursday
November 2 and 3, 2022

Keynote Speakers:

Adolph Reed Jr.
Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

Eric Gobetti
Independent Scholar, Turin, Italy 

As recent events have shown, fascist ideology and its attendant components — opposition to working-class movements, hyper-nationalism, anti-democracy, white supremacy, and xenophobia — remain a threat to democratic institutions and practices worldwide. As in the past, the rise of fascism has been met with anti-fascist opposition.

https://e.issuu.com/embed.html?d=antifascism-in-the-21-century&hideIssuuLogo=true&pageLayout=singlePage&u=hofstra

To coincide with the centennial of the March on Rome, we will hold a two-day interdisciplinary conference, Anti-Fascism in the 21st Century. The purpose of this conference is not to retell stories of past anti-fascist movements, but to consider anti-fascism as a contemporary global movement with myriad forms and to explore the challenges of organizing against fascism for a new generation. We invite you to submit your papers for Anti-Fascism In The 21st Century.

Send inquiries to the conference organizers: 

Mary Anne Trasciatti
Professor of Writing Studies and Rhetoric and Professor of History
Director of Labor Studies
Hofstra University
mary.anne.trasciatti@hofstra.edu

Fraser Ottanelli
Professor of History
University of South Florida
ottanelli@usf.edu PAPERS

Anti-Fascism in the 21st Century will be coordinated by the
Hofstra Cultural Center
127 Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11549-1270
516-463-5669
hofculctr@hofstra.edu

Our annual meeting brings together geographers and those in related fields. There will be several paper sessions, panels, and poster sessions for presentations of research and related discussions in the broad field of geography. Moreover, there will be facilitated networking, plenary talks, and a geography bowl quiz competition for students on Friday evening. Students (high school/undergraduate/graduate) are especially encouraged to participate, as there will be cash prizes for the top student paper and poster presentations. Participants in the conference typically hail from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Puerto Rico, which comprise the ‘Middle States’ region of the American Association of Geographers.

https://e.issuu.com/embed.html?d=msaag-august-2020-newsletter&hideIssuuLogo=true&pageLayout=singlePage&u=hofstra&wmode=transparent

Hofstra University will be the virtual host of this year’s meeting. Hofstra has a strong Department of Geography and Global Studies, which offers BA degrees in Geography and Global Studies and a BS degree in GIS. Moreover, the University has a closely allied department, the Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability, which features BS degrees in Geology and Environmental Resources, and BA, BS, and MA options in Sustainability Studies. We will be promoting inclusion through specific activities at this year’s regional meeting. Students from schools with populations that are traditionally underrepresented at conferences will be offered free registration for our fall 2020 meeting. Moreover, we highly encourage meeting attendees to propose sessions and panels concerning issues such as social justice, racism in the academy, and mental health.

Conference Director:
Jase Bernhardt, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Geology, Environment and Sustainability 
Hofstra University

American Association of Geographers 
Director, Climate Specialty Group (2018-2020)
President, Middle States Division (2020)
@WxJase


HOFSTRA CULTURAL CENTER
and the
DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA AND DANCE

present a symposium

Thursday and Friday, October 29 and 30, 2020 (POSTPONED)
SHAKESPEARE AND THE GLOBE

In March 2017, the most historically accurate re-creation of Shakespeare’s Globe stage in North America made its debut at Hofstra University. While much of the campus was preparing for the start of the spring semester, construction on a historic Hofstra Globe stage and rehearsals for its first production – Hamlet – were underway at the Toni and Martin Sosnoff Theater at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse.

Hofstra Professor of Drama David Henderson, the director of this project, spent considerable time abroad consulting with the archivists and design staff of Shakespeare’s Globe in London; the result of his efforts, the Hofstra Globe stage, is a working laboratory for students, faculty, and guest artists that has no parallel in the United States. In fall 2020, the Globe will be erected again for the University’s 72nd annual Shakespeare Festival, and an academic symposium has been planned to explore and discuss the Globe and what we have learned since renowned Shakespeare scholar John Cranford Adams designed Hofstra’s first Globe stage reproduction in 1951.

Shakespeare and the Globe

Spring 2020

THE LAWRENCE HERBERT SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

presents

Wednesday and Thursday, March 25 and 26

No one lives outside of the world of media today. Media studies as a discipline explores communication in the context of an environment saturated with mediated messages, in which critical consumption and production are the hallmarks of modern literacy. This symposium – marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication – highlights the powerful insights media studies provides with regard to major issues of our day, from health care and technology to politics and popular culture.

ReVisioning Media Studies – CANCELLED
Wednesday, March 25, 2020

The keynote address will be given by Joshua Meyrowitz, professor emeritus of communication at the University of New Hampshire, where he received the Lindberg Award for Outstanding Scholar-Teacher in the College of Liberal Arts. He is the author of the award-winning No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior (Oxford University Press), and of multiple journal articles and book chapters on media and society.

Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library

Meyrowitz
A man in a checkered shirt sings passionately into a microphone while playing an acoustic guitar on stage.
CURIOUS ABOUT CULTURAL PROGRAMS?

The dedicated Cultural Center staff is ready to help you engage with diverse artistic and intellectual opportunities that spark new perspectives.

A man in a checkered shirt sings passionately into a microphone while playing an acoustic guitar on stage.
CURIOUS ABOUT CULTURAL PROGRAMS?

The dedicated Cultural Center staff is ready to help you engage with diverse artistic and intellectual opportunities that spark new perspectives.