ETSU’s Festival of Ideas is set to return on Feb. 27-29, 2024.

“The ETSU Festival of Ideas is a big and really special event that allows our campus community to engage with speakers that they might not get to meet. . . they are older, best-selling authors who have great ideas that I think will inspire them and help them to think about their classes and their future work in a way that they might not have thought about it before,” says Provost Kimberly McCorkle.

This multi-day event began in 2019 as an initiative from the President’s Office to bring thought readers to campus. Festival of Ideas creates spaces to connect campus and community through collaboration with inspiring individuals within their fields. This year’s keynote speakers are bestselling authors Mitch Albom and Piper Kerman.

“They will challenge us to think about ways that we can help in our own career path to change the world, to pick a cause that we are passionate about and to pursue that so that we can have a truly fulfilling life,” says McCorkle.

Albom, speaking on Feb. 27, is known for his book, “Tuesdays with Morrie,” which details his conversations with a college professor towards the end of his life about how to live with meaning. Albom’s most recent book, “The Little Liar,” is a fictional story of truth, taking place during the Holocaust and which he crafted through interviews with survivors. Albom has also worked for over 20 years at ESPN, having achieved numerous accreditations within sports journalism.

Photo of Mitch Albom. (Contributed/ETSU)

Kerman, speaking on Feb. 29, is best known for her memoir “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman’s Prison,” which details her time experiencing incarceration, and the experiences of the women around her. Her memoir was the inspiration for a Netflix original series, and Kerman has used her platform to advocate for criminal justice reform, involving herself in numerous nonprofits. Kerman has received several awards for her advocacy efforts and was given the opportunity to speak at the White House regarding her cause.

Photo of Piper Kerman. (Contributed/ETSU)

“What we attempt to do is to bring people who, in both instances, are very well known in their field, in their discipline, (that) have contributed to society in a meaningful way. . . and we hope that they’re thought-provoking, that they will be people who will help us expand the way that we think about societal issues and so we are excited to bring two bestselling authors to campus,” says McCorkle.

Festival of Ideas also welcomes the community to a facilitated discussion about the current campus read: “The War for Kindness” by Jamil Zaki on Feb. 28. Students in certain programs within literature and women’s studies will also have the opportunity to meet with the keynotes as they make class visits. Tickets for the keynote presentations at the Martin Center are free and going fast.

Author