Acclaimed Novelist Amitav Ghosh to speak at Loyola’s Humanities Symposium March 13

Amitav Ghosh—the award-winning novelist named by Foreign Policy magazine as “one of the most important global thinkers of the preceding decade”—will deliver the keynote address at the Loyola University Maryland 2025 Humanities Symposium.

Free and open to the general public, as well as the region’s academic communities, the lecture takes place Thursday, March 13, at 6:30 p.m., in McGuire Hall (Andrew White Student Center, 4501 North Charles St., Baltimore, Md. 21210). Advance registration for the keynote address is encouraged. To reserve seating, visit www.loyola.edu/symposium. 

About the Keynote
Titled “The Great Uprooting: Migration and Movement in the Age of Climate Change,” the keynote will explore migration in the age of climate change. Ghosh—who earned the inaugural Utah Award for the Environmental Humanities for his book, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable—will share poignant stories he gathered from migrant camps in Italy, told in the migrants' native languages, offering a unique window into the personal journeys of those displaced by climate-induced challenges. 

“This evening of storytelling, reflection, and dialogue promises to deepen understanding of the global migration crisis, providing attendees with a rare opportunity to hear directly from those most affected by the impacts of climate change,” said Humanities Symposium Director Billy Friebele, MFA, associate professor of visual and performing arts and program director of studio art. “By amplifying these voices, we aim to foster a greater sense of empathy and raise awareness of the complex patterns of migration, both abroad and within our own communities.”

“Attendees will leave the event with a broader perspective on the human stories behind climate migration and a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by displaced people worldwide,” Friebele added. “As climate change continues to drive displacement, we hope that this conversation will spark reflection and inspire collective action to address this urgent issue.”

A book signing with books available for purchase will immediately follow the talk. Guests can meet Ghosh, whose work has been translated into 30+ languages and whose essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The New York Times. 

About the Author
Ghosh holds four Lifetime Achievement awards and five honorary doctorates. His accolades include being awarded the Padma Shri by the President of India, being selected as a joint winner with Margaret Atwood of a Dan David Prize, and becoming the first English-language writer to receive the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honor. His newest book, Smoke & Ashes—which unravels the impact of the opium trade on global history and in his own family—was named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Foreign Policy, Literary Hub, and The Millions.

About the Symposium 
Since 1986, Loyola’s Humanities Center has sponsored the annual Humanities Symposium – a series of events related to a particular text for students, faculty, friends of the University and the Baltimore community. The main goal has been to get a large portion of the Loyola community to read the same work at roughly the same time and to be engaged in a common inquiry. Keynote speakers have included Elie Wiesel, Toni Morrison, Tracy Chevalier, Czeslaw Milosz, Phil Klay, Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, and William Bennett.

In preparation for Ghosh’s talk, Loyola students have been studying The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. The keynote address will cap off various faculty workshops, student-faculty colloquia and activities following the theme of cry of the earth, cry of the poor, including:

• Feb. 3 – Free Screening of O Rio Negro São As Pessoas, followed by a discussion with filmmakers, Ave Lola. The Brazilian film explores the contemporary meaning of being at and growing up by the banks of a river with the power of Rio Negro Amazon.
• Feb. 21 – Toxic Tour of Curtis Bay and Community-Led and Controlled Development
• Feb. 24 – Roundtable on Environmental Justice with Nicole Fabricant (Professor of Anthropology at Towson University), at 6 p.m., in the Humanities Café in the Humanities Building.

For information about these events, please visit www.loyola.edu/symposium.

Additionally, sculptor Stacy Levy will create an ecological art project on the Loyola campus: “a logarithmic spiral planted with native species for a contemplative walking experience.” With 400 linear feet composed of sycamores trees and shrub dogwoods, this labyrinth will stabilize the soil, while adding bio21 diversity and serving as a buffer to catch and absorb rainwater rolling down the turfgrass slope. Loyola students will help plant the trees and shrubs and mulch them. Long term, the spiral is designed to provide a natural, calming experience for students. The unveiling is tentatively scheduled for March.

The Humanities Symposium also complements the Baltimore Environmental Film Series, which was created by Elizabeth Dahl, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry, “to merge the art of film with education and advocacy for those affected by the major environmental issues of the time.” The films are free and open to the public, courtesy of the Center for Humanities, Environmental Studies, and the Dean of Loyola College, the University’s school of arts and sciences. A schedule with links to reserve tickets will be available at www.loyola.edu/join-us/environmental-film-series.

About the Center
The Center for the Humanities was established in 1983 through the generosity of many donors and of the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide strength and vision to the humanities at Loyola University Maryland. It offers lectures, lectures series and fine arts performances; other forms of research support for both faculty and students, and various forms of support for teaching in the humanities. For more information, visit www.loyola.edu/department/center-humanities.