Experience being part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences! Events include faculty lectures, press readings, and open discussions. Our upcoming events this month are below.

To register for an event, please contact Cynthia Cifuentes at cynthia.cifuentes@woodbury.edu or text “CLAS” to 818.351.2157

Upcoming Events: 

February 14, 2023 – 12:15 PM-1:00 PM PT | Verse Come Verse Serve Open Mic

Located at the Woody’s Patio, Woodbury University

Our beloved Verse Come, Verse Serve student-run open mic series offers original poetry on alternating Tuesdays, throughout the semester. Hosted by student Sarena Vasquez and Professor Mike Sonksen, come enjoy your lunch while listening to work in verse written and delivered by members of the community. All are welcome to participate; all are welcome to attend.

February 27, 2023 – 4:00 PM-6:00 PM PT | B.I.G. / BSA / First Press Reading Series: Toni Ann Johnson

Located at the Ahmanson Main Space, Woodbury University

The initiative called the Black Intellectual Groundworks (or B.I.G.) is the brainchild of Philosophy Professor Rossen Ventzislavov and aims to build resources and programs that celebrate Pan-African culture and scholarship. The BSA is the Black Students Association on campus, which seeks to bring Black-centric experiences to campus. The First Press Reading Series is part of the programming of MORIA, the national literary magazine of Woodbury University, founded by Writing Professor Linda Dove in 2017. Four times a year, the student editors invite internationally-recognized poets and writers to campus for readings, discussions, book signings, and workshops. Toni Ann Johnson is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright who has twice won the Humanitas Prize for her screenplay work. She is the winner of the 2021 Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction with her linked collection Light Skin Gone to Waste, released in October 2022. Roxane Gay selected the book for the prize and is its editor. Johnson’s novella Homegoing was a semi-finalist for the William Faulkner Wisdom Award in fiction. It won Accents Publishing’s inaugural novella contest in 2020 and was released in May of 2021. The novel Remedy For a Broken Angel was released in 2014 and earned Johnson a 2015 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author.

February 28, 2023 – 12:15 PM-1:00 PM PT | Verse Come Verse Serve Open Mic

Located at the Woody’s Patio, Woodbury University

Our beloved Verse Come, Verse Serve student-run open mic series offers original poetry on alternating Tuesdays, throughout the semester. Hosted by student Sarena Vasquez and Professor Mike Sonksen, come enjoy your lunch while listening to work in verse written and delivered by members of the community. All are welcome to participate; all are welcome to attend.