Creative Genius on Campus: Newhouse Center Unveils Fall Line-Up

Fall is coming.

Those words might not carry the same ominous significance as the words of House Stark in Game of Thrones. In fact, “Fall is coming” means just the opposite: the liveliness of a campus repopulated with students, excitement over the upcoming years’ festivities, the beauty of auburn leaves around the lake.

Lake Waban, 1978. Wellesley College Archives.

How do I know fall is coming? July evolves into August this week, August means Orientation and new students, and new students mean everyone else is right behind them. Plus, the Newhouse Center for the Humanities has announced their fall line-up of events.

The dazzling schedule roams the cultural landscape from performance art to former Poet laureates, inviting creative geniuses (really!) from all parts of the globe as well as the U.S.

I’m particularly interested in Maud Casey and Karen Russell’s conversation on October 7th. Both women produce innovative work that has been recognized by major cultural institutions; who hasn’t heard of Swamplandia!? Granted, I haven’t actually read it yet but I’ll make sure to check it out before October.

The other big news for me was that Ang Lee is coming to Wellesley (commence office dance party!) The Academy Award-winning director will be speaking in Alumnae Auditorium on October 26th.

Though he’s known for making jaw-dropping films like Life of Pi and Brokeback Mountain recently, Ang Lee has a special place in my heart because of Sense and Sensibility (1995) with Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant and a young Kate Winslet. Back in the days of VHS, our family copy of S&S was weathered from regular — read: monthly/weekly — use. You might say that Ang Lee’s vision has been recorded into my subconscious (for those younger folk who don’t remember VHS: that would count as a joke).

S&S remains my favorite cinematic adaptation of Austen (the A&E miniseries belongs to a separate, hallowed category).

So I say, come, fall, come!