Billy Acree, professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and Betsy Sinclair, professor of Political Science lead this cluster dedicated to the collection of origin stories—political origin stories of politicians, stories of community and national beginnings, heroic tales that literally make local, regional or national public figures, and other stories that people tell and retell. Those are the stories that win, and we want to understand why – what are the elements in common across time and geography; what features are left out; and how to they related to everything from our daily life to the highest echelons of power?

About Future Fridays: The Graduate Center is partnering with the Arts & Sciences Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures initiative to host informal lunches where graduate students can connect with faculty leading the initiatives. First Friday Futures will be held on Fridays at noon throughout the spring 2023 and fall 2023 semesters and will be an informal way for faculty teams to speak briefly about their work, and for students to engage in questions and conversation.