Stephen David Engel will read from an experimental history called “Timescape of Rings.” In it, he meditates on a 2,200-year-old redwood round with markers for historical events affixed to its rings—the birth of Jesus, the invention of gunpowder, the drafting of the Magna Carta, and on. By running his fingers over the rings, he recalls histories not commemorated by these markers, in particular revolts and egalitarian movements. From there, Stephen’s daydreams carry him back deeper in time, all the way back to the first woody trees some 385 million years ago.

This event is in-person and online. Register for the virtual option here.

Stephen David Engel is a transdisciplinary scholar who thinks across big scales of history and time and who writes about them using creative genres. His writing has appeared in Rethinking History, ROAR Magazine, The Anthology of Babel, and other publications. He holds a PhD from the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he received the Hayden White dissertation fellowship for excellence in historical theory. This spring, he will serve as Visiting Professor at Deep Springs College, an alternative liberal arts college in the California desert.

This event is presented by HisCon and part of the 2026 Winter Research Colloquium Series.