Marist Library

Academics

Menu Display

Breadcrumb

2023 Autumn Lecture Series

91约炮鈥檚 autumn lecture series kicks off in September and runs through November 6. The 2023 line-up features:

 

DEBATE: IS CONSCIOUSNESS A FUNDAMENTAL
FEATURE OF THE UNIVERSE?

Presenter: Dr. Philip Goff, Dr. Sean Carroll

When: September 8, 2023 @ 7 p.m.

Where: Nelly Goletti Theatre

Dr. Goff is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University (UK). He is the author of the
books, Consciousness and Fundamental Reality (Oxford University Press, 2017) and Why? The Purpose of the Universe (Oxford University Press, 2023), and the trade book, Galileo鈥檚 Error (Vintage 2019). He hosts the Mind Chat podcast with Keith Frankish (Open University).

Dr. Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and is Fractal Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. He is the author of numerous books, including, most recently, The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion (Dutton 2022). He hosts the Mindscape podcast.

image of philip goff

 

image of sean carroll

 

 

 

HOW I LEARNED TO STOP
WORRYING AND LOVE PANPSYCHISM

Presenter: Dr. Michael Tye

When: September 9, 2023 @ 3:30 p.m.

Where: Student Center 3101

Dr. Tye is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas-Austin. He is a leading figure working on consciousness in the philosophy of mind today. He is the author of nine monographs on various problems in the philosophy of mind, with a special focus on the problem of consciousness. His most recent book is Vagueness and the Evolution of Consciousness (Oxford University Press, 2021).

image of michael tye

 

 

EXPLORATIONS IN SOCIAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE
FILM SCREENING - CRIP CAMP: A DISABILITY RIGHTS REVOLUTION

 

When: September 20, 2023 @ 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Where: Murray Student Center

The Explorations in Social Justice Conference aims to bring together students, faculty, staff, alumni, administrators, and community members in an examination of social justice in the Marist and Mid-Hudson Valley community. All are welcome to engage in conversations about constructing justice and promoting ally-ship to build a more inclusive community. This year鈥檚 theme, Ability and Access: Making the Marist Campus Welcoming to All, highlights the Netflix Documentary, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution.

91约炮 the Film
In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle camp 鈥渇or the handicapped鈥 (a term no longer used) in the Catskills, exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking and make-out sessions awaiting everyone, and campers experienced liberation and full inclusion as human beings. Their bonds endured as many migrated West to Berkeley, California鈥攁 hotbed of progressive activism where friends from Camp Jened realized that disruption, civil disobedience, and political participation could change the future for millions.

image of film: crip camp

 

 

 

HANDEL-KROM LECTURE IN HUDSON RIVER VALLEY HISTORY
NETWORKS OF SLAVERY: HOW BONDAGE SHAPED HUDSON RIVER VALLEY CULTURE

Presenter: Dr. Nicole Maskiell

When: September 28, 2023 @ 7 p.m.

WhereNelly Goletti Theatre (virtual option available)

The Hudson River Valley Institute is excited to invite you and your students to the 2023 Handel-Krom
Lecture in Hudson River Valley History, which will be held as both an in-person AND virtual event. The program 鈥淣etworks of Slavery: How Bondage Shaped Hudson River Valley Culture,鈥 will be given by Dr. Nicole Saffold Maskiell on Thursday, September 28, at 7PM. The event will take place in the Nelly Goletti Theatre at 91约炮 and live on Zoom. Pre-registration is required for in-person AND virtual attendees.

Dr. Nicole Maskiell is an Associate Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, and the author of Bound by Bondage: Slavery and the Creation of a Northern Gentry (2022). She has appeared on CSPAN, the podcast Ben Franklin鈥檚 World, and in a Historic Hudson Valley documentary film about the life and legacy of Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse, an early female trader and enslaver. She is series editor for the upcoming book series Black New England from the University of Massachusetts Press, which highlights research on the history of African-descended people in New England from the colonial period through the present day.

image of nicole maskiell

 

 

FIRST YEAR SEMINAR
COMMON READ LECTURE

Presenter: Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Author of Braiding Sweetgrass

When: October 4, 2023 @ 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Where: McCann Center

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. She tours widely and has been featured on NPR鈥檚 On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of 鈥淗ealing Our Relationship with Nature.鈥 Kimmerer lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability.

image of robin wall kimmerer

 

 

 

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

Presenter: Leila Cobo, Chief Music Content Officer at Billboard Espanol, Writer, Novelist

When: October 26, 2023 @ 6 p.m.

Where: Hancock Center 2023

A Fulbright scholar from Cali, Colombia, Leila Cobo is the Chief Music Content Officer of Billboard Espa帽ol. Considered one of the world鈥檚 leading authorities in Latin music, Leila was the first U.S. based journalist to prominently cover Latin music daily and has been instrumental in transforming its coverage and perception in the U.S. Leila also programs the yearly Latin Music Week, the most prestigious and largest gathering for the Latin music industry. Last year she spearheaded the launch of Billboard Espa帽ol, Billboard鈥檚 all-Spanish website, as well as the inaugural Latin Women In Music, which aired on Telemundo. Prior to Billboard, she worked at the Miami Herald and the Los Angeles Times.

Leila is a classical pianist, novelist, and biographer. Her most recent book, Decoding Despacito: An Oral History of Latin Music (Penguin Random House), was featured in the New York Times鈥 summer reading list. She has published two award-winning novels with Grand Central Publishing/Hatchette, and biographies on Jenni Rivera and Ednita Nazario with Penguin. Leila is also the host of 鈥淚n-Tune With Leila Cobo,鈥 her in-depth interview show seen on all U.S. airports via Reach TV.

Leila has degrees in journalism from Bogot谩鈥檚 Universidad Javeriana and in piano performance from Manhattan School of Music, as well as a master鈥檚 in communication management from The Annenberg School at USC.

image of lelia cabo

 

 

WHAT鈥橲 THE MATTER WITH AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?

 

Presenter: Jamelle Bouie, Columnist for the New York Times

When: November 2, 2023 @ 7 p.m.

Where: Fusco Music Hall, Murray Student Center

The missing ingredient in American democracy is political equality, the idea that all citizens are of equal weight, even if they aren鈥檛 of equal voice. It鈥檚 not just that political equality is essential if Americans ever hope to realize the potential of their democracy, but that the absence of political equality from our institutions is part of what has warped our political system into something which struggles to express our democratic values.

Jamelle Bouie, a columnist for the New York Times and former political analyst for CBS News, covers U.S. politics, public policy, elections, and race.

Jamelle鈥檚 political instincts provide audiences with unique insight on the past, present, and future of our national politics, policy, and the state of race relations. As he did while writing for Slate and the Daily Beast, Jamelle shares eye-opening perspectives on issues concerning the issues at play in America today.

Jamelle Bouie appeared on CBS鈥檚 Face the Nation. His writings have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, TIME, and The New Yorker. Jamelle uses his unique perspective to take audiences to the front lines of the nation鈥檚 most significant news events, from civil unrest to political partisanship. He has emerged as a leading voice on the national scene, being named to Forbes 鈥30 Under 30 in Media鈥 in 2015.

Jamelle stimulates provocative, much-needed thinking on critical national affairs issues. He helps audiences analyze current events through the lens of human history and in the age of social media. He deftly illustrates how the past reveals itself in the present, and how policy-makers, citizen activists and cultural influencers can seize the power of information to make a difference.

image of jamelle bouie

 

 

ANNUAL WILLIAM AND SADIE EFFRON LECTURE IN JEWISH STUDIES BETWEEN WORLDS: JEWISH LIFE IN THE ITALIAN GHETTOS DURING THE EARLY MODERN AGE

Presenter: Dr. Frederica Francesconi

When: November 6 @ 7 p.m.

WhereFusco Music Hall, Murrary Student Center (virtual option available)

Federica Francesconi is Associate Professor of History and Director of the Judaic Studies Program at the University at Albany, SUNY. Her research and publications address the social, religious, and cultural aspects of the early modern history of Jews in Italy, focusing on the multifaceted politics and dynamics of ghetto life. She has held fellowships in Europe, Israel, and the United States. She served as Viterbi Visiting Professor in Mediterranean Jewish Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has been a fellow at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania as well as the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Her recent book, Invisible Enlighteners: The Jewish Merchants of Modena, from the Renaissance to the Emancipation (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021), is the 2022 Helen and Howard R. Marraro Prize Winner, granted by the American Historical Association and the 2021 National Jewish Books Awards Finalist for the JDC-Herbert Katzki Award for Writing Based on Archival Material. Among her other publications, there are two coedited volumes: From Catalonia to the Caribbean: The Sephardi Orbit from Medieval to Modern Times (2018) and Jewish Women鈥檚 History from Antiquity to the Present (2021). The latter is the 2021 National Jewish Books Awards Finalist for the Barbara Dobkin Award in Women Studies. She is currently at work on a new monograph, provisionally titled 鈥淭he Jewish Home in Early Modern Venice: Cosmopolitan Intimacy, Global Networks, and Diasporic Material Culture.鈥 This project has received the 2012-14 Gladys Krieble Delmas Grant.

image of federica francesconi

 

 

 

2024-25 Autumn Lecture Series

Fashion Gallery Exhibit: Fashion of Africa and the African Diaspora

Opening Night: Conversation with Kelechi Odu, Idelle Taye, and Maliz Mahop
Date: September 11, 2024 @ 7 pm
Location: Student Center River Rooms 3102-3105

Kelechi Odu is a multifaceted architect, interdisciplinary designer, and artist known for his ability to animate spaces and imbue objects with storytelling potential. His diverse body of work鈥攕panning architecture, film, fine art, and apparel鈥攕eamlessly integrates Western typologies and African cosmologies, reflecting his belief in the power of spatial and temporal dimensions to inform emotional landscapes and drive meaningful change. Odu holds a master鈥檚 degree in architecture from the renowned Spitzer School of Architecture in New York and is currently based in Lagos, Nigeria. 

Idelle Taye, an open minded visionary leader and change-maker, is the founder of Guzangs, an online platform that promotes global representation for African fashion and serves as a powerful movement dedicated to celebrating and empowering African artisans. As its curator, she meticulously selects and showcases exceptional works from African designers, ensuring each piece tells a profound story of heritage and innovation. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Yaound茅, Cameroon, Taye holds a bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degree in nursing. This foundation in healthcare set the stage for her commitment to creating significant and positive change.

Maliz Mahop is a global communication strategist whose career experiences lie in the fields of media/entertainment, production, non-profit leadership, policy, public relations, marketing, partnerships and brand engagement. Her professional training in North America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Jamaica and Cuba has given her global insight and has made her a cultured storytelling practitioner for diverse audiences. Mahop received her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University, where she studied communications and rhetorical studies, global enterprise technology, and public communications. She holds a master鈥檚 degree from Loyola University Chicago in global strategic communication with a concentration in digital media storytelling.

 

                                    

image of kelechi odu

image of idelle taye

 

image of maliz mahop

First Year Seminar Common Read Lecture and Social Justice Conference Keynote Speaker

Discussion of Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, Marist鈥檚 2024-25 Common Read in the First Year Seminar Program

Presenter: Carvell Wallace, best-selling author and podcaster

When: September 25 @ 12:30 pm

WhereMcCann Center Arena 

Carvell Wallace is a writer and podcaster who has contributed to The New Yorker, GQ, New York Times Magazine, Pitchfork, MTV News, and Al Jazeera. His debut memoir, Another Word For Love (MCD, 2024), explores his life, identity, and love through stories of family, friendship, and culture. He is a graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and holds a B.F.A. in Theatre from the Tisch School at New York University.

image of carvell wallace

 

Handel-Krom Lecture in Hudson River Valley History (In-Person and Zoom) 

New Amsterdam鈥檚 Last Slave Ship: The Gideon and the Dutch Slave Trade's Impact on the Hudson River Valley

Presenter: Dr. Andrea Mosterman, professor in early American history, University of New Orleans

When: September 26, 2024 @ 7 pm

Where: Nelly Goletti Theatre (and online)

In August of 1664, only weeks before the English takeover of the region, the Dutch slave ship the Gideon arrived in New Amsterdam with 290 enslaved Africans on board. The Dutch West India Company had contracted its captain to bring these men and women to the colony to expand its enslaved labor force. In this presentation, Andrea Mosterman will discuss the 骋颈诲别辞苍鈥檚 voyage, its role in the English capture of the colony, and what this history reveals about slavery in and the slave trade with New Netherland.  

Andrea Mosterman is Joseph Tregle Professor in Early American History at the University of New Orleans and author of Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York (Cornell University Press, 2021). She currently researches the voyage of the slave ship Gideon and the seventeenth-century Dutch Atlantic slave trade with North America.

image andrea mosterman

 

 

George Sommer Lecture and Hispanic Heritage Month

Presenter: Xochitl Gonzalez, best-selling author, journalist

When: October 10, 2024 @ 6:30 pm

Where: Cabaret

Xochitl Gonzalez is a cultural critic, producer, screenwriter, and the New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming. Named a Best of 2022 by The New York Times, TIME, Kirkus, Washington Post, and NPR, Olga Dies Dreaming was the winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Fiction and the New York City Book Awards. A Reese鈥檚 Book Club Pick, her new novel, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, was published on March 2024 with Flatiron Books. Gonzalez is a 2021 M.F.A. graduate from the Iowa Writers 鈥橶orkshop. Her non-fiction work has been published in Elle Decor, Allure, Vogue, Real Simple, and The Cut. As a staff writer for The Atlantic, she was recognized as a 2023 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary.

image of xochitl gonzalez

 

47th Annual William and Sadie Effron Lecture in Jewish Studies

Horace M. Kallen鈥檚 Frontiers of Hope: An Interwar Journey to Palestine and Eastern Europe

Presenter: Esther Schor, professor of English, Princeton University

When: November 6, 2024 @ 7:00

WhereFusco Recital Hall in the Murray Student Center

*Free and open to the public with refreshments to follow

Esther Schor, the John J. F. Sherrerd 鈥52 University Professor and Professor of English at Princeton, is a scholar, biographer, poet and essayist. Her 2006 biography, Emma Lazarus, won the National Jewish Book Award. A cultural historian of the Esperanto movement, her most recent book is Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of a Universal Language. She has published three books of poems and is co-author, with poets Meena Alexander and Rita Dove, of a bilingual collection of poetry about the Venetian intellectual Sarra Copia Sullam. Recently she was awarded an NEH/Center for Jewish History Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship to support her research on a biography of the philosopher Horace M. Kallen. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey, and London.

The Effron Lecture, through generous support from the Effron family in Poughkeepsie, was established in 1976 to raise awareness of Jewish history, culture, and current affairs at Marist and in the community. Speakers in the series have included Glenn Dynner, Adam Kirsch, Yael Zerubavel, Yossi Klein Halevi, Moshe Halbertal, David Makovsky, Hasia Diner, James E. Young, and Susannah Heschel. 

 

image of esther schor

 

Philosophy Lecture, part of the Apostolos P. Stefanopoulos Prize in Philosophy for contributions in applied Philosophy and Ethics

Stefanopoulos Philosophical Society Ethics Award Lecture

Presenter: Christia Mercer, professor of philosophy, Columbia University

When: February 7, 2025 @ 5 pm

Where: Fusco Recital Hall in the Murray Student Center

Christia Mercer is the Gustave M. Berne Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, editor of Oxford Philosophical Concepts, and co-editor of Oxford New Histories of Philosophy, a book series devoted to making philosophy more inclusive. In 2019-20, she served as president of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division. She has published op-eds in the Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, and other prominent news sources on the importance of prison justice reform, access to higher education, and the need to diversify philosophy. Her work was highlighted in a CBS News report on prison education. She has published widely in the history of philosophy and has been honored with Columbia鈥檚 two most prestigious teaching awards. She studied art history in New York and Rome before earning her Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University. 

 

image of christia mercer