This event is part of the Levan Institute for the Humanities' “On Writing” series, conversations aiming to answer questions about how writing matters, now. This conversation will feature V.V. Ganeshananthan (University of Minnesota) and Kate Levin (USC), hosted by Sarah Mesle (USC). Organized in partnership with the Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public Culture. Registration is required. REGISTER

Description: What knowledge, what artistry, can a sentence hold? Whose rules must it follow? What kinds of personhood can it express, and how? How does genre shape what a sentence can be? This event brings together two professors and activists who have considered how to craft sentences that bridge the gap between creative and researched writing. We’ll talk about sentences we love, sentences we’re proud of, and sentences that changed what we think a sentence can do. But we’ll also consider “sentence” in a different, juridical, sense — as a judgement, a punishment. We’ll ask: how does remembering the double meaning of “sentence” help us see the overlap between our writing lives and our obligations to justice in the world? 

Open to attendants outside of USC. Registration before the event is required. To see more events in this series, including recordings of past events, visit https://dornsife.usc.edu/levan-institute/programs/on-writing/.