CSN Café

Jonathan Culler, Ian Watt Lecture, “The Problem of the Narrator” (03/02/2026)

Mariana Dimópulos, "The Novel as Philosophy" (02/23/2026)

Books at the Center- Zac Zimmer, First Contact (11/5/25)

Conference: The Novel as Theory - 3/20/2025

Ian Watt Lecture: Judith Butler, “Lukacs On Kafka and Mann” (1/28/2025)

Books at the Center: Peter Boxall, "The Possibility of Literature" -10/14/24

Stories of the Seas Conference with Ross Ballaster and Jonathan Lamb - 4/5/24

Ian Watt Lecture: Caroline Levine, "A Tale of Three Pipelines" - (2/20/24)

Ian Watt Lecture: Wai Chee Dimock, “A Long History of Pandemics” - 3/2/2023

Books at the Center: Charne Lavery: Writing Ocean Worlds and Isabel Hofmeyr: Dockside Reading - 11/3/2022

The Turn Against Fictionality: Percival Everett - May 13, 2022

Books at the Center: Peter Boxall, The Prosthetic Imagination - 10/29/21

Peter Boxall is joined by Ian Duncan and Nancy Ruttenburg to discuss is recently published book, The Prosthetic Imagination.

Crime Narratives with Andrea Goulet, Michelle Robinson, and Héctor Hoyos (4/30/21)

Andrea Goulet, Michelle Robinson, and Héctor Hoyos join Margaret Cohen to discuss the genre of "Crime Fiction."

Nicholas Paige, Technologies of the Novel (2/8/21)

Nicholas Paige is joined by Chloe Edmondson, John Bender, and Margaret Cohen to discuss his new book, Technologies of the Novel.

Books at the Center: Dorothy Hale, The Novel and The New Ethics (1/15/21)

Dorothy Hale is joined by Nancy Ruttenburg, Alex Woloch, and Margaret Cohen to discuss her new book, The Novel and the New Ethics

Sharon Marcus on her Ian Watt Lecture from 10/30/20

Sharon Marcus joins Margaret Cohen to discuss the subject of her 2020 Ian Watt Lecture: "writing as if for death."

Fashion Stories: Emily Apter, Rhonda Garelick, and Anne Higonnet on the Cultural History of Clothing (1/9/20)

Emily Apter, Rhonda Garelick, and Anne Higonnet join Margaret Cohen to discuss the cultural history of clothing

Books at the Center: Stephen Best, Mario Telò, and Kris Cohen on None Like Us (10/10/19)

Stephen Best is joined Mario Telò, Kris Cohen, and Margaret Cohen to discuss the publication of his book, None Like Us.

Ato Quayson, John Kerrigan, and Richard Halpern on Postcolonial Tragedy (9/15/19)

Ato Quayson, John Kerrigan, and Richard Halpern join Margaret Cohen to discuss the relationship between postcolonial literature and the narrative form of tragedy.

Wai Chee Dimock, John Plotz, and Colin Milburn on the literature of Planetary Futures (5/23/19)

Wai Chee Dimock, John Plotz, and Colin Milburn join the center for a conversation about speculative fiction, climate change, and literary response to an endangered future.