2018 AHA! Festival

The arts and humanities came alive on campus and at Playhouse Square for our second AHA! Festival on June 7, 8 and 9.

By Cleveland State University

Meet the Headliners

This year's AHA! Festival lineup included astrophysicist Janna Levin, actor Hill Harper, choreographer Derek Hough, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, cartoonist Bob Mankoff, Senator Sherrod Brown, and journalists Connie Schultz, Maureen Dowd and Carl Hulse. Head to Flickr for more photos!

Day One

Dr. Janna Levin, an astrophysicist, author and artist, kicked off the AHA! Festival with her mind-blowing presentation about our universe and how to draw creativity from limits.

The KeyBank State Theatre provided a gorgeous setting for our book festival.

We took the stage at the KeyBank State Theatre for our Arts Education Day Luncheon, which featured beautiful performances by students from the Rainey Institute...

...and the Cleveland Heights High School Barbershoppers.

Actor and activist Hill Harper gave an inspiring keynote, making a case for the importance of arts education.

Emmy Award-winning choreographer Derek Hough signed books and posed for photographs...

...before teaching us how to dance like stars!

Six-time NBA champion and New York Times bestselling author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gave a talk about his passion for writing.

Day 2

Bob Mankoff gave us an insider's look into the cartoon history of The New Yorker and made us laugh in the process.

We stretched our bodies and minds during a performance by dance artist Doug Gillespie and participants in our Summer Dance Program.

ChamberFest Cleveland presented beautiful performances by world-renowned pianist Roman Rabinovich, talented cellist Oliver Herbert and award-winning violinist David Bowlin.

Senator Sherrod Brown and Pulitzer Prize-winner Connie Schultz had the audience in tears with a touching performance of A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters."

We listened to a conversation between New York Times journalists Maureen Dowd and Carl Hulse about how politics are formed into narrative.

Meanwhile, bestselling author Fredrik Backman talked about his creative process...

...and Hershey Felder gave a dazzling performance as America's composer, Irving Berlin.

DAY 3

Al Letson broadcast his popular radio program Reveal from the AHA! Festival.

Playhouse Square and Young Audiences of New York presented "Fahrenheit 451," which examined the internal struggle of fireman Guy Montag.

The Foundry hosted AHA! Festival curator John Frohnmayer, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, for a talk about what sports and philosophy can learn from each other.