Hall Center for the Humanities announces 2024-25 Speaker Series
LAWRENCE — The Hall Center for the Humanities' Speaker Series features thought leaders and award-winning authors who share insights that shape understanding of the world along with the joys and challenges of the human experience.
“If you're a curious or creative soul, these are talks you can count on to spark your imagination and inspire intellectual growth,” said Giselle Anatol, Hall Center director. “We invite everyone to come and explore new ways of thinking about cultures and the world.”
Speaker series events are free and open to the public. For further information about these events and other Hall Center programming, subscribe to Hall Center social media channels and visit its website.
Upcoming speakers:
Bonnie Garmus
“Lessons in Chemistry: A Conversation with Bonnie Garmus”
7 p.m. Sept. 30
Liberty Hall (and online via Crowdcast)
The Hall Center will host a conversation with Bonnie Garmus, the author of “Lessons in Chemistry,” a No. 1 global bestseller and winner of several national and international awards.
Gregory Cooke
“Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II”
7 p.m. Nov. 20
Hall Center Conference Hall
Gregory Cooke, creator and director of the film “Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II,” will screen his documentary and discuss it with Kevin Willmott, KU professor of film & media studies.
Lisa Damour
“Gender and the Speech Police: Unpacking the Varied Guidance on How Girls and Women are 'Supposed' to Speak"
7 p.m. Feb. 12, 2025
Lied Center Pavilion (and online via Hall Center Crowdcast)
Psychologist and author Lisa Damour will give the Emily Taylor and Marilyn Stokstad Women's Leadership Lecture this year, addressing popular misconceptions about how women speak and sharing her path-breaking work on how everyone can develop effective strategies for advancing their ideas, managing conflict and saying “no” without harming their relationships.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
“Journey to the Edge of Space-Time”
7 p.m. March 10, 2025
Hall Center Conference Hall (and online via Hall Center Crowdcast)
Exploring concepts from the vacuum to quantum radiation from black holes, theoretical cosmologist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein will take the audience on a plain-spoken journey to the edge of space-time.
Peter Hessler
“Other Rivers: A Chinese Education”
7 p.m. April 1, 2025
Hall Center Conference Hall (and online via Crowdcast)
Journalist Peter Hessler will discuss his book, "Other Rivers: A Chinese Education," which uses his inside view of China's education system as a way of examining the country’s cultural, political and geographical landscapes.
Alicia Elliott
“A Mind Spread Out on the Ground”
7 p.m. April 17, 2025
Haskell Auditorium (and online via Hall Center Crowdcast)
Alicia Elliott, a Mohawk writer and editor living in Ontario, will address topics such as intergenerational trauma, colonization and the complexities of living as an Indigenous woman in contemporary society.
Founded in 1947, the Humanities Speaker Series is the oldest continuing program of its kind at KU. Previous speakers have included authors Jesmyn Ward and actor and author Alan Alda, poets A.E. Stallings and Terrance Hayes, and sociologist Matthew Desmond.