Tickets to the 2017 Jefferson Lecture by Martha C. Nussbaum Available April 4

Online registration for tickets to the 2017 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities with Martha C. Nussbaum opens April 4 at noon EDT.

Martha C. Nussbaum, renowned philosopher, distinguished author, and law professor, will deliver the 2017 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, titled “Powerlessness and the Politics of Blame,” on May 1 at the John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. The lecture is a free public event and will also stream live online.

Nussbaum is the University of Chicago’s Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics. In November 2016, Japan’s Inamori Foundation awarded her the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy, noting that she “has led global discourse on philosophical topics that influence the human condition in profound ways.”

The Jefferson Lecture is the Endowment’s most widely attended annual event and it is the highest honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. Past Jefferson Lecturers include filmmakers Ken Burns and Martin Scorsese, novelists John Updike and Toni Morrison, and historian James McPherson.

The public may reserve tickets online starting April 4 at noon (EDT) through this online registration form:

CLICK HERE TO GET TICKETS

Online reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. (NEH cannot accept ticket requests made by phone, email, or other means.) 

Registrants will receive an emailed confirmation receipt. Please note that receipts are proof of registration only, and do not themselves constitute a ticket.

Reserved lecture tickets will be available for pick up the night of the event between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at an NEH Will Call table (located in front of the Concert Hall), using a photo ID or registration receipt. All reserved tickets that have not been claimed by 7:30 p.m. will be awarded to members of the public waiting in a standby line.

The May 1 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities will be live-streamed at www.facebook.com/nehgov. NEH invites those unable to attend to watch the event online and join the national conversation about the Lecture, using the hashtag #jefflec17 and tagging @NEHgov.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Media wishing to cover the 2017 Jefferson Lecture should NOT sign up through the public ticket registration form. Instead, please email media@neh.gov for media seating.