Content Warning: This piece deals with issues of death and grief.

In front of an eager audience on Book Culture’s second floor this Thursday, one of Barnard’s most prolific authors, Professor Mary Gordon, sat down with fellow Barnard English professor Margaret Vandenburg to talk about Gordon’s latest book, “There Your Heart Lies.”

The lights of Roone Arledge Auditorium lowered, silhouetting dancers against the purple light of the backdrop. The audience whooped and hollered, screaming out names as they recognized the poised silhouettes at a biannual performance by Orchesis, Columbia’s largest performing arts group.The title of the show this semester, “What I’ve Been Looking fORCHESIS,” is a nod to one of the “High School Musical” duet ballads; as the title implied, the show’s theme was the Disney film. In what amounts to nostalgia for Columbia’s late-’90s-born undergraduate population, the “High School Musical” theme was a chance to revisit the campy movie soundtrack of the student body’s collective elementary school years.

Throughout the weekend, the Athena Film Festival focused on celebrating women in the film industry not just with screenings, but also with panels and talks that gave deeper insight into the unique experiences and work of festival guests.

Athena Film Festival-goers got an exclusive look at the season premiere of critically acclaimed Lifetime show “UnREAL” on Thursday night.