The September Calendar: Events for Each Day This Month

By Ethan Wolff

Wait, September? It seemed like time was standing still. As we gear up for fall there are legions of good talks and cultural experiences waiting, mostly still virtual, although a couple of in-person opportunities are sprinkled in. We’re looking forward to talks on Spinoza, Audre Lorde, and the medicine of “Game of Thrones.”

Tuesday, September 1: Rethink criminal justice with TransitCenter as brings together a panel of California experts to address Women’s Safety on Transit: Alternative Models to Policing.

Wednesday, September 2: Arm yourself with understanding as Think Olio dedicates a session to accelerating climate change and “the changes, the science, the psychology, and how this all turned from science into a political debate.”

Thursday, September 3: Take note of global power shifts as Asia Society and Museum looks at the headwinds hitting China and how its signature Belt & Road Initiative will be affected.

Friday, September 4: Delve into the lived experience of capitalism with bestselling author Eula Biss and her new book, Having and Being Had. Books Are Magic.

Saturday, September 5: Trip back in time—way back—with Dr. Eric Sanderson, author of the landmark book Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, as he talks about the natural history of Westchester County and beyond.

Sunday, September 6: Belly up to a Sunday platform with the New York Society for Ethical Culture and an examination of empowerment in public schools with the author of The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools.

Monday, September 7: Enjoy a Labor Day tradition (in virtual form) with the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA) as it celebrates its 53rd annual celebration.

Tuesday, September 8: Mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Raffaello Sanzio by looking at his parallels to fellow Renaissance genius Titian. Italian Cultural Institute.

Wednesday, September 9: Return to Westeros with rare book librarian Elisabeth Brander and an illustrated lecture on Maesters, Greyscale, and Milk of the Poppy: Medicine in ‘Game of Thrones.’

Thursday, September 10: Celebrate the publication of The Selected Works of Audre Lorde with its editor, Roxane Gay. Gay will lead a panel in poetry reading and conversation about the author-activist’s legacy. 92nd Street Y.

Friday, September 11: Mark the 19th anniversary of the September 11th attacks by attending or livestreaming the annual Table of Silence Project, a free outdoor dance performance that pays tribute to the 9/11 victims and prays for peace and healing. Lincoln Center for the Performing  Arts.

Saturday, September 12: Find another livestream/socially distant opportunity with a world premiere by Troy Schumacher’s BalletCollective, which has brought dancers from New York City Ballet and Martha Graham Dance Company together in a quarantine pod that will perform at a Dutchess County drive in experience.

Sunday, September 13: Join New York Society Library staff member Marialuisa Monda for a talk about guilty pleasures and pet peeves in classic romances and contemporary love stories.

Monday, September 14: Seek out patterns in the cultural understandings of the past with Tamim Ansary, the author of The Invention of Yesterday: A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection.

Tuesday, September 15: Draw on the legacies of Pythagoras, Plato, and later Neo-Platonists as the New York Open Center spends an evening dedicated to Beauty, Memory, Unity: An Ancient and New Understanding of Beauty. 

Wednesday, September 16: Get real about Artificial Intelligence as mathematician Andreas Matt explains how it works and what its limitations may be. Museum of Mathematics.

Thursday, September 17: Ponder the point when a discussion becomes a battle with philosopher David E. Smith as he leads a session on Civil Conversation in an Angry Age.

Friday, September 18: Head back in time to The Factory and a 92nd Street Y look at Andy Warhol’s portraits of women.

Saturday, September 19: Follow the unlikely journey of Paul Loong, who want from POW in Japan to a Veterans Affairs doctor for the country that liberated him, the U.S. Chinese-American filmmaker Theresa Loong will speak about her father and the film she made after discovering a secret diary.

Sunday, September 20: Celebrate with the Rubin Museum of Art and its annual block party, this year taking place online.

Monday, September 21: Raise the big questions as a pair of scholars go in search of how to live the good life as guided by Baruch Spinoza and Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die.

Tuesday, September 22: Peer into regional instability as The New School looks into this summer’s Himalayan skirmishes and the India-China Border: Past, Present and Future.

Wednesday, September 23: Separate church from state as the Commonwealth Club presents a pair of leading constitutional scholars looking at shifts in the Supreme Court and its recent spate of misinterpretations.

Thursday, September 24: Savor some chocolate while becoming more aware of its environmental implications as the Museum of Food and Drink hosts SAVE/SAVOR: How Our Choice of Chocolate Impacts Biodiversity and Social Justice, with an optional curated tasting flight.

Friday, September 25: Glory in the treasures of Corinth as The National Arts Club shines a light on Greek Corinth, its destruction by Romans in 146 B.C.E., and the Roman colony founded by Julius Caesar a century later.

Saturday, September 26: Survey the culture, history, and legacy of the Lenape, original settlers here, with archaeologist Dr. Eugene Boesch.

Sunday, September 27: Be guided by Tibet House US and a celebration of the goddess on an evening that weaves together “mystical stories, visualizations, meditations, mantra repetition, and singing chants.”

Monday, September 28: Go In Search of the Soul with philosophy professor John Cottingham, who’ll be in conversation about his contention that the notion of a soul isn’t occult so much as “a way of referring to certain precious human attributes that enable us to engage in a rich repertoire of conscious activities including, most importantly, the search for meaning and value in our lives.”

Tuesday, September 29: Pay your respects to Gilead, Iowa as National Humanities Medal winner Marilynne Robinson presents the latest edition in the series, Jack. Community Bookstore.

Wednesday, September 30: Hit the original frontlines of the battle against cancer as bestselling author Jennet Connant shares the story of a chemical weapons catastrophe, a cover-up, and the birth of chemotherapy, as portrayed in her new The Great Secret: The Classified World War II Disaster That Launched the War on Cancer.

For a printable PDF of the September 2020 calendar, click here.

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