In light of Ohio’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cuyahoga County and state actions to mitigate further spread, the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University has canceled the 2020 Cleveland Humanities Festival: TRUTH.
“The health and safety of our students, attendees, speakers, performers and community are our highest priority,” said Peter Knox, director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities.
“We would like to express our appreciation, understanding and thanks to our supporters—especially our 30-plus partner institutions—for their enthusiasm and efforts in preparing this year’s festival,” he said.
Many of the festival’s 30-plus events were scheduled to take place at Case Western Reserve; the university has directed that on-campus events before April 20 involving more than 25 participants should be canceled. In addition, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has prohibited events of more than 100 people.
“We turn our energies towards planning the 2021 Cleveland Humanities Festival: IDENTITY and look forward to creating an exciting spate of events for next spring,” said Knox, the Eric and Jane Nord Family Professor in the Department of Classics in the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve.
More information is available at: bakernord.case.edu.
About the Cleveland Humanities Festival
Over its first half-decade, through hundreds of events, the Cleveland Humanities Festival has grown into one of the most inclusive and wide-ranging cultural collaborations in a region known for its arts and educational institutions
This spring, the fifth festival was set to continue its annual exploration of a pressing societal issue—through the lens of a single topic: truth—with free public performances, lectures and screenings.
Last year’s festival explored nature; 2018: health; 2017’s events tackled the topic of immigration—and the inaugural event, in 2016, examined the impacts of war.
Founded in 1996 at Case Western Reserve with a gift from Eric and Jane Nord, the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities supports research and creative endeavors and hosts humanities events around the region.