The 2026 Night of Ideas in Houston invites you to an afternoon and evening of reflection, conversation, and debate focusing on the emergence of student voices and the conditions that make committed speech and action possible today. In a context shaped by the “manufacturing of ignorance,” where the boundaries between truth and falsehood are increasingly blurred, how can critical thinking be nurtured, legitimate voices be built, and collective action take form? What role do universities and education play in fostering discernment?
Organized in partnership with the Humanities Research Center at Rice University as part of the Critical Futures series, this Night of Ideas brings together scholars, artists, students, and citizens to explore the legacy of the Enlightenment and its contemporary relevance. The night will feature a roundtable with Antoine Lilti, Professor at the Collège de France where he holds the chair in the History of the Enlightenment, 18th-21th-century, and a keynote address by Nadia Yala Kisukidi, Associate Professor of French Literature, Thought and Culture at NYU.
Join us for an afternoon and night of ideas, dialogue, and imagination as we rethink the foundations of critical thought and envision the futures we want to build together.
Free and open to the public.