Humanities fest to feature diverse topics

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Designed to ignite intelligent dialogue about topics ranging from ethics to artificial intelligence to sexual paranoia on college campuses, the third Pittsburgh Humanities Festival will be held Feb. 24-March 4.

The event, which will be presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University, will focus on the theme “Continuum:Past, Present, Future.”

“This is about bringing light, not heat, to ideas and issues,” David Shumway, director of CMU’s Humanities Center, said at a press briefing Tuesday.

The festival’s featured speaker is Guy Raz, National Public Radio host of “TED Radio Hour” and “How I Built This.” He will speak at the Byham Theater on Feb. 24. Most events will be held Downtown at the Byham or the August Wilson Center for African American Culture.

Other speakers will include Nizar Ibrahim, a National Geographic paleontologist, and feminists Allison Rapson and Kassidy Brown of We Are the XX. Performances will include “Post-Secret: TheShow” and “Feathers of Fire.”

The festival will also feature 14 core conversations with local participants including WQED’s Rick Sebak; John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock and a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor; and his wife, Gisele Fetterman, co-founder of For Good PGH and 412 Food Rescue.

“It’s a terrific lineup,” said Kevin McMahon, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, at Tuesday’s press briefing at the Trust’s Education Center.

“It will all be in a lively, accessible and entertaining format here in the Cultural District,” said Terry O’Reilly, CEO of Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting.

Randall Miller, director of dance and special projects at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, said the festival will now become an annual event.

Tickets are available at the Theater Square Box Office, 655 Penn Ave., Downtown, online at TrustArts.org or by calling 412-456-6666. For groups of 10 or more, call 412-471-6930.