lecture Archives

Join artists Ellie Irons and Anne Percoco of the Next Epoch Seed Library (NESL) for a multisensorial experience with the wild, disturbance-oriented plants of the Wheaton Campus. We’ll get to know Wheaton’s local weedy plants by finding, collecting, sorting and processing their seeds for inclusion in NESL’s popup library in the Beard and Weil Galleries. NESL re-imagines the conventional seed bank for a new epoch defined by massive human impact on the global environment. Rather than focusing exclusively on human utility or agricultural heritage, they champion the contributions of weedy plant species most likely to survive and thrive in an unpredictable future.

Meet in the Beard and Weil Galleries at 2pm, 2nd Floor, Watson Fine Arts.

Technology has vastly outpaced copyright law, yet it has also expanded the bounds of potential creativity in the arts and new media. Join lawyer and copyright expert Kyle K. Courtney for an engaging and informative exploration of how the arts, media and the law intersect.

Braxton Shelley, assistant professor of music at Harvard University, is a musicologist who specializes in African American popular music. His research and critical interests, while currently focused on African American gospel performance, extend into media studies, sound studies, phenomenology, homiletics and theology.

“After twenty-eight years of desire and determination, I have visited Africa, the land of my forefathers.” So wrote Lida Clanton Broner, an African-American resident of Newark, New Jersey, on her return from a South African journey, funded by savings from a lifetime of work as a domestic and hairstylist. Broner’s trip was motivated by a sense of ancestral heritage, but also her anti-colonialist activism. Her collection was subsequently exhibited in the US in the 1940s, against the broader backdrop of pan-Africanist ideology and the emerging civil rights movement. Dr. Clarke will share her groundbreaking research on Broner’s extraordinary story, which animates the experiences of both South Africans and African Americans during a time of struggle and oppression.

It’s no secret that the video games industry boasts supremely sexually objectified, stereotyped, and downright oppressive portrayals of women. In this talk Anita Sarkeesian explains why. She will give a broad overview of the culture that sustains harassment, exclusion, and objectification in gaming, from the dynamics of sexist cybermobs to recurring tropes in video games that reinforce sexist conceptions of women, before concluding with a look at a few games that manage to get it right.

Depending on your political leanings, your expectations for this talk are diametrically opposed. If you are a liberal, you’re likely prepared to enjoy a tirade against right-wing politicians. If you are a conservative, you are probably ready to get outraged by an unhinged leftist ranter. Alberto Cairo, Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the University of Miami, plans to disappoint you. The very title of this talk is an example of its content. It’s intended to prime you and trick you into believing what is not so.

The English word “trumpery” means worthless nonsense, something that is showy and deceitful at the same time. Trumpery can occur in text, verbally, or visually. This non-partisan talk focuses on the visual, examining misleading charts, graphs, and data maps designed by individuals and organizations from all over the political spectrum. Cairo will use these examples to equip you with a solid understanding of “graphicacy,” the word he uses to refer to visual literacy. He believes a literate, numerate, and graphicate citizenry is the best antidote for a world where trumpery runs rampant.

Sponsored by Wallace Library, Computer Science and Kappa of Massachusetts.

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman will be on campus on October, 3, 2018 at 5:00 pm in the Holman Room. We invite the campus community to view his award-winning documentary, EX LIBRIS at one of the four scheduled show times on campus.
EX LIBRIS – The New York Public Library, goes behind the scenes of one of the greatest knowledge institutions in the world and reveals it as a place of welcome, cultural exchange and learning. With 92 branches throughout Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, the library is committed to being a resource for all the inhabitants of this multifaceted and cosmopolitan city, and beyond. The New York Public Library exemplifies the deeply rooted American belief in the individual’s right to know and be informed. It is one of the most democratic institutions in America – everyone is welcome. Sponsored by The Andrew Mellon Foundation

Please join us for an evening with Frederick Wiseman. In our conversation with this award-winning documentary filmmaker, we will explore the creative process that drives his work, as well as his approach to our shared human experience. We will also watch excerpts from his acclaimed documentary EX LIBRIS and we will have the opportunity to ask him questions. A reception will be held in the Woolley Room immediately following the talk. This event is sponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through Wheaton College’s initiative on integrative learning in the humanities. All are welcome to attend.

Campus movie showings: Four screenings of EX LIBRIS have been scheduled in advance of Mr. Wiseman’s visit. Click here for dates and times to watch one of the campus movie showings that fits your schedule.

Campbell is the author of the speculative fiction novel TreeVolution and the story collection Circe’s Bicycle. Her stories and poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines. Much of what she writes is crossover sci-fi, or speculative fiction, about what happens when an ordinary person (or creature) faces extraordinary circumstances. Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, she currently lives in Washington D.C.