Cleveland Humanities Festival explores freedom and marks 30 years of Baker-Nord Institute for the Humanities
Editor’s note: Juliene Jones, the author of this story, is a student employee in the Department of University Marketing and Communications. She is a second-year student majoring in political science, international relations and sociology.
What is “freedom”?
The 2026 Cleveland Humanities Festival seeks to explore, question and expand our understanding of the word through this year’s theme. “Freedom” was chosen for its relevance today, and its importance across history, politics, ethics, literature and religion. Through questions such as, “how have cultural leaders shaped our understanding of freedom,” and “what does freedom mean for the future of democratic societies,” the festival will examine freedom from multiple dimensions: political liberation and civic rights, expression and imagination, autonomy, spiritual freedom, and the tensions between freedom and responsibility.
This year marks the 11th year of the Cleveland Humanities Festival, presented by Case Western Reserve University’s Baker-Nord Institute for the Humanities. The Baker-Nord Institute is exploring the theme of “freedom” through film screenings, public talks, plays and more. The institute hopes that this year’s workshops, events, and performances will inspire curiosity.
The 11th annual festival also marks the 30th anniversary of the Baker-Nord Institute, an institution dedicated to supporting, promoting, and celebrating research, creativity and collaboration in education within the arts and humanities.
“[The institute is] a vital catalyst for humanistic scholarship, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, supporting innovative research, and connecting the humanities to the intellectual and civic life of the university and beyond,” said Michele Berger, director of the Baker-Nord Institute for the Humanities.
In its 30 years of work supporting and celebrating the arts and humanities in Northeast Ohio, the institute has grown by increasing public-facing programming and expanding support of faculty research, Berger said. The Baker-Nord Institute strives to fund innovative and multidisciplinary forms of humanities research, provide unique opportunities for humanities students, and serve the public good through meaningful and engaged partnerships.
Berger says, “[the institute’s] values continue to guide our goals,” and this annual Humanities Festival “allows us to remember our many successes and remind our internal and external communities of the value that we bring in supporting the university’s mission.”
This year’s festival stands out with the variety of community partners, from the Museum of Contemporary Art to Lake Erie Ink. The majority of the events are free and open to the public, and most require an RSVP. The Baker-Nord Institute is hosting events now through Friday, May 1.
View the full list of events for the 2026 Cleveland Humanities Festival, “Freedom.”
Pepón Osorio: The Imperfect Practice of Freedom
March 26 | 4:30 p.m. | Linsalata Alumni Center
Pepón Osorio will talk for about 20 minutes about the process of making his large-scale installations and then will be in conversation with CWRU graduate students from the Art and Art History Department about the concepts he discussed and the role of the contemporary artist in society.
Birding: One for All and All for One for a Better Tomorrow
April 13 | 6 p.m. | Linsalata Alumni Center
In this event, Christian Cooper will discuss how birding can be both a way to appreciate nature and a way to bridge social divisions. This is also one of the Institute’s endowed lectures: The Issa Lecture. Established in 2010, this endowed lecture honors the late William Louis Chapin Issa which brings to campus notable experts in fields related to the environment and sustainability.
Truly Seeing: Art, Freedom and Reckoning with the Past
May 1 | 6 p.m. | Linsalata Alumni Center
This event is a Rose Wohlgemuth Weisman Women's Voices Lecture. Sarah Lewis, Associate Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, will speak about the role of narratives shaped by art and culture for justice. Her talk is offered in celebration of the Cleveland Humanities Festival’s 30th Anniversary.
Community Partners
The community partners participating in the 2026 Cleveland Humanities Festival are:
Cinematheque at the Cleveland Institute of Art
Cleveland History Center
Cleveland Institute of Art
Cleveland Institute of Art
Cleveland Metroparks
Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Play House
Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland State University
Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
Cuyahoga Community College
Cuyahoga County Public Library
CWRU Department of Art History and Art
CWRU Department of English
CWRU Department of History
CWRU Program in Africana Studies
CWRU Social Justice Institute
CWRU Social Justice Law Center
Flora Stone Mather Center for Women
Lake Erie Ink: A Writing Space for Youth
Literary Cleveland
Mastery School of Hawken
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland
Rust Belt Lab at Ursuline College
Schubert Center for Child Studies
The Sparrow’s Fortune
