Creative Counterpoints is the annual series hosted by the Humanities Department at MassArt devoted to the intersections of narratives of creativity and difference as investigated by visual artists, writers, public intellectuals, and other culture makers. The program was founded in 2016 by Marika Preziuso, Professor of World Literature, thanks to a MassArt Foundation Fellowship Grant.

View recordings and documentation of each program since 2016.

Hellerstein Literary Reading and Lecture Series

The Marjorie Hellerstein Literary Reading and Lecture Series was established in 2005 to honor her memory, through a generous donation by her husband, the late Earl Hellerstein, MD. A former Chair of the Critical Studies (now Humanities) Department and a devoted member of the MassArt faculty, Marjorie taught courses in Virginia Woolf, Literary Traditions, Written Communication, and several other subject areas. 

The purpose of this series is to give the MassArt community an opportunity to listen to and engage in conversation with some of the finest literary luminaries writing today. In years past, the writers who have visited the campus have received major recognition for their work–as recipients of grants from the Guggenheim and NEA or NEF Foundations, as National Book Award finalists, as winners of the Pulitzer Prize. Like Marjorie, whose own tastes were eclectic and widely embracing, the Series also reflects diversity among the writers, who have included Louise Gluck, Ha Jin, Junot Diaz, Andres Dubus, III, and Afaa Weaver, along with musician Stan Strickland. This event, now entering its seventeenth year, is well-established on campus and something students, faculty, and staff eagerly anticipate.