Ancient Egyptian kings like Tutankhamun could have anything he wanted for his tomb. But the king’s subjects, ordinary middle-class Egyptians, were forced to make choices about the objects they included in their tombs. They wanted to guarantee their entrance to the next world, but they simply could not afford everything that royalty had. This lecture explores how Egyptians furnished their tombs on a budget. Their strategies included choosing cheaper materials, combining two or more necessary objects into one item, or even buying a coffin second hand. Examples of all these strategies will be illustrated and explained.

We all struggle to find the right words. We want to convey sympathy, admiration, and support. And we want to express ourselves as well as possible. Why not take inspiration from another time? Condolence letters of the nineteenth century, when death was ever present, were mainstays of life—missives of comfort written straight from the heart. Death educator Amy Cunningham will lead a practical guide to crafting messages that heal and knowing what’s best left unsaid. Along the way, she’ll share condolences written by luminaries including Thomas Jefferson, Emily Dickinson, Queen Victoria, Marcel Proust, and Ernest Hemingway.

In this illustrated talk, poet, novelist, and diplomat Homero Aridjis will share his first-hand accounts of meeting Maria Sabina, whom he sees not only as a cultural icon, but also as arguably the greatest visionary poet in twentieth-century Latin America. Aridjis’s 2013 novel Carne de Dios, centers on Sabina’s life in Huautla and her involvement with Westerners who flocked to her home to experience the hallucinogenic effects of the “magic mushrooms”.