Driving us forward as a species, compelling us to look back and learn from the past, forming our conceptions of science and religion, the notion of TIME has fascinated and puzzled humankind since its earliest beginnings. In recognition of the Chicago Humanities Festival’s 15th anniversary in 2004, we celebrate – through the perspective of the arts and humanities – the notion of TIME and its ongoing impact on our endeavors, passions, and beliefs.

An international showcase for, and celebration of, ideas, the Festival’s astonishing collection of music and theater legends, esteemed authors and writers, visionary scientists, brilliant artists, and insightful critics includes: Faith Adiele, Jeffery Renard Allen, Ars Antigua, Russell Banks, John Barr, Clark Blaise, Douglas Brinkley, Peter Brotzmann's Chicago Tentet, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, Mary Ann Caws, Stephen Chu, John Crowley, Chuck D, Michael Daugherty, Richard Dawkins, Deborah Dickerson, Charles Dickinson, Roddy Doyle, Firoozeh Dumas, Stuart Dybek, Jeffrey Eugenides, James Fallows, John Hope Franklin, Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Galassi, William Gibson, Ira Glass, James Gleick, Douglas Glover, Jean Goldman, Joel Greenberg, Andrew Sean Greer, Germaine Greer, Mohsin Hamid, Shirley Hazzard, Pablo Helguera, Terri Hemmert, Michael Ignatieff, Julian Jackson, Clive James, Edward P. Jones, Ward Just, William Kennedy, Maxine Hong Kingston, Galway Kinnell, Stephen Kinzer, Laura Kipnis, Alex Kotlowitz, Manjeet Kripalani, lê thi diem thúy, David Levering Lewis, David Lodge, Rosemary Lloyd, Margaret MacMillan, Thomas Mallon, Donald Margulies, Karen Mason, Robert Massie, Alice McDermott, Christie McDonald, James McPherson, Sue Miller, Pankaj Mishra, Bharati Mukherjee, Paul Muldoon, Lester Munson, Salim Muwakil, Audrey Niffenegger, Nuala O’Faolain, Joyce Carol Oates, Sharon Olds, S. Jay Olshansky, Cynthia Ozick, Richard Parker, Linda Perlstein, Ron Rapoport, Robert V. Remini, Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert Rosenblum, Mark Salzman, Betty Seid, Roger Shattuck, Norman Sherry, Charles Smith, the Peter Sparling Dance Troupe, Peter Straub, Paul Theroux, Scott Turow, Victor Villaseñor, Lawrence Weschler, Patricia Williams, Christian Wiman, Gene Wolfe,Tom Wolfe, Theodore Zeldin, and Adolfo Aguilar Zinser.

PLUS: Witold Gomborwitz's Ferdyduke, Josse de Pauw's üBUNG, and the first performances of Tan Manhattan, a "lost" masterpiece of American Musical theater with its fully restored musical score.

Festival topics this fall include: the "ages of mankind" from pre-adult to extended old age; the role of ancestry, heritage, and legacy in the forging of individual identity; current scientific thinking on the shape and direction of time; fantasy, science fiction, and alternative experiences of time in fiction; selected annals in the history of radical movements; "doing time" behind bars or in other forms of captivity; finding "sacred time" in our accelerated existence; the history of timekeeping; the appeal of memoirs, diaries, and historical fiction; and the myriad other expressions of TIME in music, philosophy, art, film, performance, anthropology, archaeology, public policy, philosophy, popular culture, and other disciplines.

Children’s Humanities Festival The Children’s Humanities Festival, now in its fifth year, has quickly grown to become one of the country’s leading cultural festivals for young people. A production of the Chicago Humanities Festival, the Children’s Festival was created to awaken children and teens to the joys of the arts and humanities. Programs for 2004 include authors Clive Barker, Candace Fleming, Michael Hoeye, and Glen Huser; performances of Very Eric Carle by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, and Where the Wild Things Are and Other Bedtime Stories by Emerald City Theater; Animation Station! an outstanding, hands-on animation project; storytellers Michael Heralda and David Gonzalez, plus A Musical Celebration of Caldecott Illustrators, a major children’s concert featuring the Fulcrum Point New Music Project, directed by Stephen Burns.

Tickets go on sale September 2004. Tickets to all Festival programs are $5 in advance, unless otherwise noted. Students and teachers can call for FREE tickets! For updated program information please visit chfestival.org or call the CHF Ticket Office at from September.