2025-2026 Events
Cultural Enrichment Center Events for Fall 2025 to Spring 2026
Text and Textile in Indian Culture: A conversation with author Dr. Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni
August 16, 2025
10 A.M. - 12 P.M.
Event Location:
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Susan and Fayez S. Sarofim Campus
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
Hirsch Library, Lower Level 5601 Main Street
Paid parking available at 1144 Binz Street
UHD students, faculty, and staff are warmly invited to an upcoming community engagement program at the MFAH Hirsch Library in connection to the exhibition, From India to the World: Textiles from the Parpia Collection.
Renowned author and UH professor, Dr. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, will lead a conversation on text and textile in Indian culture, with a focus on Indian mythologies. Additionally, MFAH curatorial assistant of Art of the Islamic Words, Anushka Hosain, will provide an introduction to two Mughal pages depicting scenes from the Razmnama (Mahabharata). Following the talk, guests will be invited to join the speakers and curator for a complimentary visit to the exhibition.
Dr. Chitra Divakaruni is a professor of creative writing at the University of Houston and a best-selling author of 23 books. She is the winner of literary awards such as the American Book Award, a PEN Josephine Miles Award, a Premio Scanno Award from Italy, a Light of India Award, and a Times of India Best Author Award. Her work has been translated into 30 languages and made into films, plays, dance dramas, and operas.
Space is limited. Kindly RSVP to Estefania Garcia at esgarcia@mfah.org.
This event is brought to you by UHD’s Cultural Enrichment Center in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
14th Annual UHD Halloween Horror Film Screening
October 16, 2025
Film starts at dark (around 7 P.M.) ends around 8:30 P.M.
Students begin to gather at 6 P.M.
North Deck (Robertson Auditorium if weather does not allow outdoor screening)
UHD’s 14th year of horror film programming for the public during Halloween season provides the third and final installment in a three-year commitment to classic U.S. slasher films with NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (dir. Wes Craven, 1984). Slashing apart the difference between waking life and dream worlds, NIGHTMARE is an original in the slasher subgenre in how it horrifically melts, mutates, and stretches the limits of what seems like ordinary reality. Ordinary spaces like a high school boiler room, a classroom, and the bedrooms and bathrooms in suburban middle-class homes become nightmarish spaces of danger. Freddy Krueger; the film’s once-human, undead monster whose very touch threatens to slice open our skin; also breaks new ground in American horror story telling. Selected to complete a program that began with 2023’s screening of HALLOWEEN (dir. John Carpenter, 1976) and continued with 2024’s screening of FRIDAY THE 13th (dir. Sean S. Cunningham), students in UHD’s film studies minor and concentration suggested this independent, atmospheric slasher as our very best choice.
UHD’s Annual Halloween Horror Film Screening transforms UHD’s North Deck into a lit-up site of artistic and cultural expression, community belonging, and public feelings. Please join UHD students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of Houston’s vibrant film communities for this evening of socialization, networking, and thinking through fear and disgust under the waning crescent moon.
Latinfest 2025 featuring “Bombazo Houston”
October 27, 2025
5 P.M. - 8 P.M.
ACAD 300
Will Cruz presents “Bombazo Houston”: a repertoire of performative drum and dances from the Afro-Puerto Rican communities of the island. Leslie Lugo brings a showcase of tropical rhythms, from salsa to cumbia, that taps into the heart of Afro-Latino culture’s most recognized beats.
Latinfest is the signature fall event hosted by the Center for Latino Studies at UHD. Designed to engage both the university and the broader Near Northside community, Latinfest celebrates the rich cultural heritage and substantial traditions that Latin culture contributes to our campus and the city of Houston.
Each year, the festival showcases vibrant performances—from Spanish Flamenco and Argentinian Tango to Texan Conjunto, Native American Aztec dance, and Afro-Honduran Garifuna folklore. This year’s guest artists become part of a cherished UHD tradition: bringing our learning community together through music, folklore, and food.
This event is sponsored by the Cultural Enrichment Center
Réquiem de los Muertos Concert
November 2, 2025
4 P.M. - 6 P.M.
Location: St. Philip Presbyterian Church
4807 San Felipe St, Houston, TX 77056
Houston Masterworks Chorus presents a captivating celebration of Día de los Muertos, blending the Latin American traditions of Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramírez with the haunting beauty of the Mozart Requiem. Experience an unforgettable concert of cultural fusion as these powerful works come together to honor both life and legacy, enhanced by the vibrant traditional dance of Ballet Folklórico. This unique concert promises to be an emotionally stirring journey through music and remembrance.
Tickets are free to UHD students—just go to the website and add the discount code “UHD” in the student section of the ticket dropdown.
Tickets for Requiem de los Muertos Concert
Concert Details
Jeremy Garcia, guitar
Professional chamber orchestra
Soloists: Tessa Larson, Cecilia Duarte, Thomas O'Neill, and Daniel Boyd
Join us afterwards for light bites and refreshments.
- Free parking is available.
- Reach out if questions - office@houstonmasterworks.org
This event is brought to you by UHD’s Cultural Enrichment Center in partnership with UHD’s Center for Latino Studies, Houston Masterworks Chorus, St. Philip Presbyterian Church and Choir, and Ballet Folklórico.
Creative Writing Student Reading
November 12, 2025
2:30 P.M. - 4 P.M.
40,000 Windows Café - Dykes Library
This Creative Writing Student Reading will showcase the wonderful talent of the UHD students writers who will share their work with other writers and UHD community members.