CAS Events


Spanish Film Festival films; from left to right: Cartas mojadas, Mi vacío y yo, Mi casa está en otra parte, Nadie nos mira, Boca Chica

Spanish Film Festival
February 13–25, 2025 
6:00–8:00 p.m. | MGC 305

Featuring immigrant, LGBTQ+, and women filmmakers
Join the Spanish Program from the Department of World Languages and Cultures for the Spanish Film Festival! Screenings and post-screening discussions are free and open to the public. Films will be screened in Spanish with English subtitles, and discussions will be held primarily in English.
Schedule and more information  


AU MFA Studio Art thesis exhibition: paper or textile draped from ceiling and curved orange sculpture arrangement installed on wall

MFA Spring Exhibition Katzen Arts Center, First Floor Rotunda
Open January 29–March 3

This exhibition features a range of artwork from first- and second-year MFA students in American University's MFA Studio Art Program.
 
Artists: Andres Izquierdo, Austin Remetta, Brenay Spencer, Connor Gagne, Julia Fouser, Michael Dodson, Kelvin He Hao Low, Lexi Moser, Patricia Edwine-Poku, Phaedra Askarinam, Pooja Campbell, Quyen Nguyen, Rob Balsewich, Ryan Kennedy, Sarah Wilson, Julia Zhang
 

A Game of Love and Chance.A Game of Love and Chance
With apologies to Pierre Marivaux 
Directed by Karl Kippola
February 25-March 1 | Katzen Arts Center, Studio Theatre

Silvia has never met her fiancé, so she switches places with her maid to observe him. Her husband-to-be has the exact same idea, trading identities with his valet. Sparks fly between both couples, making them question where allegiances lie and if class lines can be crossed in the name of love. A hilarious 1730 comedy that will be improvised – with a different cast selected by the audience for each performance! 
Game of Love and Chance tickets
 

STEM Transfer of Knowledge
February 26, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.| Hall of Science 113

During this annual, faculty-free event, we invite soon-to-be graduating STEM seniors to "transfer their knowledge" about being a STEM student at AU to younger students. All disciplines are invited, and dinner will be served! If you are graduating this May and would like to help facilitate this event, email Meg Bentley (mbentley@american.edu) by Monday, February 17. 

Blessing America First: Religion, Populism, and US Foreign Policy in Trump Administration(s)
Thursday, February 27, 5:30 p.m. | Butler Boardroom

2025 Durfee Lecture by Dr. David T. Buckley (University of Louisville)
Dr. Buckley explores populism's effect on the substance and structure of offices related to religion and in the foreign policy bureaucracy during the first Trump administration.
More about Durfee Lecture

Nadia Murad

Sine Institute Seminar SeriesNadia Murad: Activism and Accountability

Human rights activist and recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Nadia Murad (CAS/BA '24) is a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State, is a harrowing account of the genocide against the Yazidi ethno-religious minority in Iraq and Nadia’s imprisonment by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).

  • Who Can Influence the End of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) in the World?
    March 19, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. | Mary Graydon Center 306
  • Using Your Voice to Advocate for the Issues and People You Care About
    March 31, 4:00 -5:00 p.m. | Mary Graydon Center 305
  • How to Avoid Retraumatization of Survivors, Shame, and Stigma?
    April 9, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. | Kerwin 301

Nadia Murad Registration
 

Students present posters to audience at Mathias Student Research Conference

Mathias Student Research Conference
Saturday, March 22, 2025 | Don Myers Technology & Innovation Building

This event is a forum for CAS undergraduate and graduate students to present original research, scholarship, and creative work before colleagues, faculty, and friends.
 

Julie Willis, Clouds Filled to Bursting, 2023

Julie Wills
March 27, 6:00
Katzen Arts Center 246

Julie Wills is an interdisciplinary artist working in sculpture and installation, drawing, text, and intersections between these media. Found materials, especially those drawn from the building trades, are central to her creative practice. She is recipient of an Individual Artist Award (2019) and a Creativity Grant (2023) from the Maryland State Arts Council; the SSG & AC Edwards Fellowship at Virginia Center for Creative Arts; and has been awarded numerous artist residencies including Marble House Project, Cill Rialaig (Ireland), Arteles (Finland), Jentel, PLAYA and The Hambidge Center. Recent solo exhibitions have been presented at Plain Sight in Washington, DC in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden and the European Union National Institutes for Culture; Bloomsburg University; Gettysburg College; Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, and at numerous other venues.

Wills is the founder and director of the former China Hutch Projects, a domestic project space for contemporary art located inside her home, and the forthcoming BREAKFRONT, an exhibition space inside her studio. Wills is based in Baltimore and is an Associate Professor of Studio Art at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. See more of her work on her website or on Instagram.
Julie Wills RSVP
 

9 to 5, the Musical.

9-5, the Musical
Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton  
Book by Patricia Resnick  
Based on the 20th Century Fox Picture  
Originally produced on Broadway by Robert Greenblatt, April 2009
Directed by Nikki Mirza
March 27-29 | Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre

Set in the late 1970s, this hilarious story of friendship and revenge in the Rolodex era is outrageous, thought-provoking and even a little romantic. Featuring the iconic music of Dolly Parton, it explores the struggles women faced within a frustrating workplace culture in the 1970s. It portrays their journey towards empowerment as they challenge the status quo, seize control of their destinies, and forge deep bonds of friendship and community along the way. 

“9 to 5, The Musical” is presented through special arrangement with Musical Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
9-5 tickets

Save the Date:Abolition, Everywhere?
A National Convening
April 4-5, 2025 | Antiracist Research & Policy Center

Abolition, Everywhere? brings together scholars and practitioners working to abolish the prison industrial complex with those who engage abolition as a praxis to dismantle other systems and structures of unfreedom. Call for papers open now through January 5.
Learn more and submit your paper
 

Erika Hess April 10, 6:00 p.m. | Katzen Arts Center 201

See more details at the Department of Art Visiting Artists Series:

Erika b Hess is a painter, The Sydelle Sonkin and Herb Segull Artistic Director of Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution, and creator of the art podcast I Like Your Work. Hess’s work has been exhibited internationally, including in New York City, Brooklyn, Detroit, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia and London. Recent group exhibitions include First Street Gallery, New York City, NY; Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; MASH Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Contemporary Art Matters, Columbus, OH; and Bomb Factory, London, England.

Photo Credit: Erika Hess, The Great Mother, 2024. Oil on canvas 48 x 60 in.
Erika Hess RSVP

DANCEWORKS 2025
April 11-12, 7:30 p.m. | Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre

Rediscover the power of live dance. The American University Dance Company brings DANCEWORKS 2025 to the Greenberg Theatre stage with new works by Dance faculty, as well as guest choreographers Tarik O’Meally and haus of bambi’s Robert Woofter.   
DANCEWORKS tickets

Underrepresented Students in STEM Valentine's Night
Rescheduled, date TBA | Hall of Science 113

Underrepresented Students in STEM includes, but is not limited to, people who identify as women, students of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and those with disabilities. Join us for an evening of Valentine's card making for friends, faculty, staff, or anyone else you want to show gratitude to. No RSVP is needed and all STEM disciplines are encouraged to attend. There will be snacks!