Events

Upcoming Events

Sep
25
2026
Finale: Experiments in Ethnographic Writing, Film, and Performance
Emory University
Reading
Readings of books by Kirin Narayan, Intan Paramaditha, and Danilyn Rutherford; screenings of short films by Yasmin Moll and Jim Hoesterey/Aryo Danusiri; and dramatic monologue by Su’ad Abdul Khabeer
Location: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 3rd Floor, 571 South Kilgo Circle NE, Atlanta, GA 30322
Oct
19
2026
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
University of Minnesota
Book Talk
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Erin Durban
Location: Department of Anthropology, 395 Humphrey Center 301, 19th Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 5545
Oct
22
2026
Is Technology Enough? An Anthropologist Looks at the Meaning of Communication
Closing the Gap
Lecture
A presentation on how anthropologists study disability, with examples from Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World and three recent books on language, communication, and technology that focus on disabled people in India and the U.S
Location: Plaza 2, Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Minneapolis South, 7800 Normandale Boulevard, Minneapolis, MN 55439

Past Events

May
22
2026
Who Signs? Proprioception and the Signature
Disability Research Interest Group
Encore Presentation
My daughter Millie has little hand-eye coordination. Yet I was compelled to bring her to a bank branch to sign a check issued by the State of California that was supposed to provide her access to payment for her care. This story raises a question: if, as disability anthropologists and others have argued, consent is a process, not an event, could proprioception give us entry into a more capacious understanding of what it means to be a political actor?
Location: Online
Link: https://brown.zoom.us/j/99784862256?pwd=BmRRRVKKsAZkIkJChTpb9PGQNSOZWR.1
May
8
2026
How A Mother Learned To Connect Without Language
Embodied
Radio and Podcast Episode
Conversation with Danilyn Rutherford, author of Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World, with host Anita Rao.
Location: Online
May
6
2026
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
South Burlington Public Library
Book Talk
Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Vicki Brennan and Jeanne Shea
Location: 180 Market St, South Burlington, VT 05403
Mar
3
2026
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
A Room of One’s Own Bookstore
Reading
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Krisjon Rae Olson
Location: 2717 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI
Feb
21
2026
Field Studio Launch
Field Studio
Launch Celebration
Readings and discussion with Aisha Beliso-De Jesús, author of Excited Delirium: Race, Police Violence, and the Invention of a Disease; Bridget Guarasci, author of Warzone Ecology: The Violence of Planetary Repair in Iraq; Laurence Ralph, Sito: An American Teenager and the City that Failed him; Danilyn Rutherford, Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World; and Sophia Stamatopolou-Robbins, Waste Siege: The Life of Infrastructure in Palestine, along with Ro Skelton and Nomi Stone
Location: Online
Jan
27
2026
Meet the Author Event
Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Author Event
Beautiful Mystery reading and conversation with Danilyn Rutherford
Jan
20
2026
Nourishing Difference: Parenting and Disability in a Careless Age
University of California, Santa Cruz
Book Talk
Book celebration and discussion with Danilyn Rutherford and Noah Wardrip-Fruin, author of Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Can a Game Take Care of Us? with commentaries from Donna Haraway and Megan Moodie.
Location: Institute for the Humanities, Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Rd, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Jan
14
2026
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
School for Advanced Research
Virtual Book Talk
Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Anand Pandian and Ashanté Reese
Location: Virtual (hosted from Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Dec
17
2025
Author Chat: Danilyn Rutherford on Her Memoir, Beautiful Mystery
Babes in Bookland
Podcast Episode
Interview with Alex Frnka
Location: Online
Dec
13
2025
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
University of Colorado Boulder
Book Talk
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Kathryn Goldfarb
Location: Department of Anthropology, Hale Science 450, 11350 Pleasant Street, Boulder, CO 80309
Dec
13
2025
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
The Bookies Bookstore
Reading
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford
Location: 2085 South Holly Street, Denver, CO 80222
Nov
13
2025
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
Seminary Co-op Bookstore
Book Talk
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Summerson Carr
Location: 5751 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
Nov
13
2025
The Financial Burden of Caregiving
1A
Radio and Podcast Episode
Conversation with Emily Peck, national correspondent, Axios; Beth Pinske, author of My Mother’s Money: A Guide to Financial Caregiving, and Danilyn Rutherford, author of Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World.
Location: Online
Nov
11
2025
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
New York University
Book Talk
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Elayne Oliphant, co-sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Disability Studies
Location: Center for Religion and Media, 14A Washington Mews 1st Floor, New York, NY 10001
Nov
6
2025
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
Columbia University
Book Talk
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Rachel Adams
Location: Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, 763 Schermerhorn Extension, New York, NY 10027
Oct
31
2025
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
CUNY Graduate Center
Book Talk
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Dagmar Herzog
Location: Graduate Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Oct
28
2025
Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World
Purdue University
Book Talk
Anthropologies of Tomorrow lecture with Danilyn Rutherford in conversation with Sherri Briller
Location: Department of Anthropology, 700 W State St, West Lafayette, IN 47907
Oct
14
2025
Autoethnographies of Care: A Conversation with Fanny Ambjörnsson and Danilyn Rutherford
Stockholm University
Book Talk
Reading with Danilyn Rutherford, author of Beautiful Mystery, in conversation with Fanny Ambjörnsson, author of Om Nadja
Location: Stockholm University Library, Main Floor Speakers' Stage, Universitetsvägen 14 D, 106 91 Stockholm
Oct
1
2025
Launch Party: Beautiful Mystery and Tell Me the Number Before Infinity
Launch Party
Reading and celebration with Danilyn Rutherford, Becky Taylor, and Dena Taylor
Location: 245 Ocean View Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Oct
1
2025
Beautiful Mystery with Danilyn Rutherford
Read the Damn Book
Podcast Episode
Book discussion with Michelle Glogovac
Location: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beautiful-mystery-with-danilyn-rutherford/id1479782634?i=1000729349346
Sep
30
2025
Episode 93: Interview with Anthropologist and Author, Danilyn Rutherford
Literary Prospects
Podcast Episode
Book discussion with Kelley Vick
Location: https://www.literaryprospects.com/episodes/smbwobi19qen4gpo6j10d8whom4t53
Sep
30
2025
What Donald Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Mean for Caregivers
1A
Radio and Podcast Episode
Conversation with Kat McGowan, caregiver and journalist; Jason Resendez, President and CEO, National Alliance for Caregiving; and Danilyn Rutherford, author of Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World, rebroadcast on December 24, 2025
Location: Online
Aug
6
2025
The Story Ambassador Program
Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Presentation
Millie Best, star of Beautiful Mystery, describes her volunteer work in local schools
Location: The Grove, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, 400 Beach St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060