Brown Arts Institute
The Ruckus Sessions
March 31, 2026 | Ongoing
VISIONARY CONVERSATIONS | BROWN 2026
Up Next: Tim Blake Nelson '86
Live, candid conversations with artists, researchers, and cultural leaders examining the rapidly evolving landscape of contemporary culture.
The Ruckus Sessions
March 31, 2026 | Ongoing
VISIONARY CONVERSATIONS | BROWN 2026
Up Next: Tim Blake Nelson '86
Live, candid conversations with artists, researchers, and cultural leaders examining the rapidly evolving landscape of contemporary culture.
READY, SET, RUCKUS!
Join BAI Director Sydney Skybetter for live, candid conversations where visionary artists, researchers, and cultural leaders share their creative practices, discuss the future of arts scholarship, and examine the rapidly evolving landscape of contemporary culture.
Spring 2026
Tim Blake Nelson '86
Celebrated actor, writer, director, and producer with over 100 screen acting credits including The Lowdown, Lincoln, Minority Report, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Holes, and Watchmen.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 5:30 PM
Martinos Auditorium, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
154 Angell Street, Providence, RI
A former Commencement Speaker and Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Nelson has spent the decades since his time at Brown building one of the most versatile careers in modern entertainment. From his iconic turn as Delmar O'Donnell in the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? to his critically acclaimed performance as Looking Glass in HBO’s Watchmen, Nelson has amassed over 100 screen credits while simultaneously establishing himself as a formidable voice in American letters and theater.
In this live, candid conversation, Nelson, BAI Director Sydney Skybetter, and student interlocutor Ilektra Bampicha-Ninou ’26 will explore the intersections of acting, authorship, and the mechanics of storytelling in an era of Hollywood upheaval. The dialogue will dive deep into Nelson’s latest creative frontiers: his newest novel, Superhero (2025), a biting exploration of the Hollywood machine; insights into his latest film as writer-director, The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd and his recent role in Captain America: Brave New World; and the dystopian themes of his Off-Broadway hit, And Then We Were No More.
Don't miss this unique opportunity to welcome one of Brown’s most distinguished artistic alumni back to campus for a Ruckus Session that promises to be as provocative and intellectually rigorous as the career it celebrates.
Tim Blake Nelson's Latest Novel
SUPERHERO
“A uniquely nuanced and engaging perspective on the oddness of Hollywood...Superhero goes inside baseball in all the best ways: unbiased, at times ridiculous, and wonderfully, uncomfortably accurate. It begs to be read because it is so damned good.” —Amanda Seyfried
Purchase at the Brown Bookstore before The Ruckus Session to get it signed in the lobby after the event!
Past Ruckus Sessions
1
of
4
From left to right: Student interlocutor Rishika Kartik, BAI Director Sydney Skybetter, and Dr. Costanza-Chock in conversation on stage at the first Ruckus Session.
2
of
4
BAI Director Sydney Skybetter, and Dr. Costanza-Chock in conversation.
3
of
4
From left to right: Student interlocutor, Lottie Doughty with President and CEO of the Doris Duke Foundation Sam Gill and BAI Director Sydney Skybetter.
4
of
4
From left to right: Student interlocutor, Lottie Doughty with President and CEO of the Doris Duke Foundation Sam Gill and BAI Director Sydney Skybetter.
About Sydney Skybetter
Sydney Skybetter is a choreographer. Hailed by the Financial Times as “One of the world’s foremost thinkers on the intersection of dance and emerging technologies,” Sydney’s choreography has been performed at such venues as The Kennedy Center and Jacob’s Pillow. He has lectured at SXSW, Yale, Mozilla and the Boston Dynamics AI Institute, and consulted for The National Ballet of Canada, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Hasbro, and The University of Southern California, among others. His work has been supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and a Creative Capital “Wild Futures” Award. He is a Senior Affiliate of metaLAB at Harvard University, a frequent contributor to WIRED and Dance Magazine, the Founder of the Conference for Research on Choreographic Interfaces and Host of the podcast, “Dances with Robots.” Sydney serves as the Director of the Brown Arts Institute, is an Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, and was the first choreographer at Brown University to receive tenure.
This event is part of Brown 2026, a campus-wide initiative to observe the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States to demonstrate the important role of research and teaching universities in fostering open and democratic societies. Learn more: brown2026democracy.brown.edu.