Tufts Graduate Humanities Conference: Is It a Wonderful Life?

The Tufts Graduate Humanities Conference is a well-established and rigorous conference organized entirely by Tufts English PhD students. This year's conference theme, "Is It a Wonderful Life?" asks: why do we wonder, and what makes us wonder? Does wondering open or foreclose possibilities? How do literature, art, film, and media cultivate or exhaust our capacity for wonder? In 2026, we live in a world that astonishes, unsettles, and challenges us: from large-scale technological breakthroughs, climate change, political upheaval, and international conflicts to everyday personal encounters. We experience wonder and find ourselves wondering. This conference explores wonder in its changing grammatical and affective forms, tracing the shift from awe to inquiry, and fascination to fixation.

View the schedule and register at the RSVP link below!