CHSS Events
Fall 2025 Events
Text and Textile in Indian Culture: A conversation with author Dr. Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni
August 16, 2025
10 A.M. - 12 P.M.
Event Location:
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Susan and Fayez S. Sarofim Campus
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
Hirsch Library, Lower Level 5601 Main Street
Paid parking available at 1144 Binz Street
UHD students, faculty, and staff are warmly invited to an upcoming community engagement program at the MFAH Hirsch Library in connection to the exhibition, From India to the World: Textiles from the Parpia Collection.
Renowned author and UH professor, Dr. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, will lead a conversation on text and textile in Indian culture, with a focus on Indian mythologies. Additionally, MFAH curatorial assistant of Art of the Islamic Words, Anushka Hosain, will provide an introduction to two Mughal pages depicting scenes from the Razmnama (Mahabharata). Following the talk, guests will be invited to join the speakers and curator for a complimentary visit to the exhibition.
Dr. Chitra Divakaruni is a professor of creative writing at the University of Houston and a best-selling author of 23 books. She is the winner of literary awards such as the American Book Award, a PEN Josephine Miles Award, a Premio Scanno Award from Italy, a Light of India Award, and a Times of India Best Author Award. Her work has been translated into 30 languages and made into films, plays, dance dramas, and operas.
Space is limited. Kindly RSVP to Estefania Garcia at esgarcia@mfah.org.
This event is brought to you by UHD’s Cultural Enrichment Center in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
UHD Alumni Art Exhibition 2025
September 11 - October 16
10 A.M. - 5 P.M. M-F
Opening Reception September 11, 2025 from 4 - 8 P.M.
O'Kane Gallery has temporarily moved. Join us at Willow Street Pump Station.
The UHD Alumni Art Exhibition celebrates a sampling of past students who have gone through the arts programs at the University of Houston-Downtown. Please join us for a reception on September 11 from 4-8 PM. The exhibit is open through Thursday, October 16.
Second Language & Health Symposium
10:00 A.M. - 3:15 P.M.
October 1, 2025
Location: TBA
The Second Language & Health Symposium (2025) is scheduled to take place October 1 at the University of Houston-Downtown (One Main Street, 77002). This year, we have planned the symposium in collaboration with HITA (Houston Interpreters & Translators Association) to coincide with International Translators' Day."
God of Carnage
O'Kane Theatre Fall Production
October - November
God of Carnage is a sharp, dark comedy by Yasmina Reza that explores the thin veneer of civility between two sets of parents who meet to discuss a playground fight between their sons. What begins as a polite conversation quickly unravels into chaos, revealing deep-seated tensions, hypocrisy, and the primal instincts lurking beneath the surface of modern adult relationships. Witty and brutally honest, the play holds a mirror to the absurdities of social pretenses.
International Plain Language Day
October 13, 2025
11 A.M. - 1 P.M.
3rd Floor OMB Hallway outside the Bookstore
Participate virtually at uhd.edu/ipers
- Learn about plain language principles and the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
- Participate in our editing contest and receive cool prizes.
- View posters that discuss the uses and benefits of plain language.
Contact Dr. Natalia Matveeva at matveevan@uhd.edu for more information.
14th Annual UHD Halloween Horror Film Screening
October 16, 2025
Film starts at dark (around 7 P.M.) ends around 8:30 P.M.
Students begin to gather at 6 P.M.
North Deck (Robertson Auditorium if weather does not allow outdoor screening)
UHD’s 14th year of horror film programming for the public during Halloween season provides the third and final installment in a three-year commitment to classic U.S. slasher films with NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (dir. Wes Craven, 1984). Slashing apart the difference between waking life and dream worlds, NIGHTMARE is an original in the slasher subgenre in how it horrifically melts, mutates, and stretches the limits of what seems like ordinary reality. Ordinary spaces like a high school boiler room, a classroom, and the bedrooms and bathrooms in suburban middle-class homes become nightmarish spaces of danger. Freddy Krueger; the film’s once-human, undead monster whose very touch threatens to slice open our skin; also breaks new ground in American horror story telling. Selected to complete a program that began with 2023’s screening of HALLOWEEN (dir. John Carpenter, 1976) and continued with 2024’s screening of FRIDAY THE 13th (dir. Sean S. Cunningham), students in UHD’s film studies minor and concentration suggested this independent, atmospheric slasher as our very best choice.
UHD’s Annual Halloween Horror Film Screening transforms UHD’s North Deck into a lit-up site of artistic and cultural expression, community belonging, and public feelings. Please join UHD students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of Houston’s vibrant film communities for this evening of socialization, networking, and thinking through fear and disgust under the waning crescent moon.
Advocating for Yourself
October 20, 2025
11 AM - 1 PM
ACAD 300
Join us for a workshop on student empowerment & advocacy featuring expert panelists and advocates. Contact Dr. J. Chism for more information.
Election Public Deliberation: How Should We Prepare for Community Floods?
October 21, 2025
11 AM - 1 PM
ACAD 300
Center for Public Deliberation
CHSS Professional Alumni Talk with Indira Zaldivar
Novemeber 13, 2025
4 P.M.
Zoom Registration
Indira Zaldivar is a bilingual multimedia journalist, magazine designer, content producer, and reggaeton fan with Honduran roots reporting for Que Onda Magazine, Houston's leading bilingual magazine.
She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a M.S. in Technical Communication from UHD and serves on the board of the Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals as scholarship chair.
She is also a former Editor of UHD's student newspaper, The Dateline.
UHD Chorale Presents: 2025 Fall Holiday Social & Recruitment Event — Carols, Conchas,
& Coffee
November 20, 2025
11 A.M. – 1 P.M.
A300 Foyer
Featuring holiday carols by the UHD Chorale, Davis High School Singers, and Gator
Groove.
Designing Knowledge Through Play
November 25, 2025
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Commerce Street Building in C100
Designer and tinkerer Kelli Anderson transforms simple materials into working devices that spark curiosity—from paper cameras to optical experiments. In this talk and interactive workshop, Anderson will explore how hands-on making helps people of all ages understand complex ideas in creative, accessible ways.
Participants will learn how design, art, and science intersect to make learning playful and memorable—and will take part in a modular alphabet drawing activity that encourages open-ended exploration. Free and open to the public. Ideal for students in art, design, education, communication, and STEM fields.