Community Newsletter
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Upcoming Events
Department of Music faculty recital
The College's esteemed music faculty will perform a recital on campus.
• Friday, February 7
• 7 to 9 p.m.
• Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel
Don't miss this opportunity to hear our amazing teachers showcase their talents!
What determines who is disabled?
This panel discussion with Professors Janet McCracken and Holly Swyers is hosted by the Social Justice Program with support from the Department of Philosophy.
• Wednesday, February 19
• 4 to 5:30 p.m.
• Lillard Science Center, Room 200
Both Professor McCracken and Swyers have encountered the topics of accessibility and disability in their broader research on aesthetics and cultural transmission, respectively. After hearing about how their research guided them to these topics, the critical and constructive insights their research has yielded, and how they integrate these findings into their teaching, the panel will be opened to questions from our audience.
Never forget where you came from
As part of the 2025 Curtis Family Lecture Series, Kyra Vidas '18 returns to campus to discuss her experience as Manager of Basketball Operations for the WNBA team Phoenix Mercury.
• Wednesday, February 19
• 7 to 8 p.m.
• Brown Hall, Tarble Room
Chicago native Kyra Vidas ’18 moved away from home directly after graduation from °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï to chase her dream. From being a ball kid and intern to Manager of Basketball Operations, she is entering her 11th WNBA season with the Phoenix Mercury and previously worked two seasons for the Atlanta Dream and four seasons for the Chicago Sky. Despite living thousands of miles from her hometown, she has never forgotten where she came from or the experiences she’s had and people who have helped her grow along the way.
AI and humanity?: A conversation with Meghan O'Gieblyn and Davis Schneiderman
will discuss the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and humanity with Executive Director of the Krebs Center for the Humanities and Professor of English Davis Schneiderman.
• Monday, February 24
• 4 to 6 p.m.
• Brown Hall, Tarble Room
A writer and essayist, O'Gieblyn explores the urgent questions of identity, knowledge, and the purpose of life in an age shaped by materialism, technology, and artificial intelligence. With philosophical rigor, personal insight, and a touch of irony, she offers a thoughtful guide to rethinking existence in a rapidly evolving world.
Schneiderman brings significant expertise to this discussion. He is the Principal Investigator for a $1.2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation for the HUMAN project (Humanities Understanding of the Machine-Assisted Nexus), a multi-year initiative exploring artificial intelligence from a humanities perspective.
Pete Kadens: Creating ventures that solve society’s intractable problems
Join us for the 2025 A.B. Dick Lecture featuring a conversation between entrepreneur and philanthropist Pete Kadens and Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program Gary Johnson, focusing on the critical need for innovation in approaching society’s most difficult challenges.
• Tuesday, March 4
• 4 to 5:30 p.m.
• Brown Hall, Tarble Room
Kadens currently serves as Chairman of The Kadens Family Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to igniting pathways out of poverty through equitable access to education. In 2019 he founded HOPE Toledo in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio to ensure that public school children and a parent could go to post-secondary school for free. He also founded and serves as Co-Chairman of the Board of HOPE Chicago, the largest place-based scholarship program in the country, which will spend $1 billion over the next decade sending underserved Chicago families to college.
Please join us for this special evening made possible by the entrepreneurial spirit and generosity of A.B. Dick and the Dick Family Foundation.
American Beauty: Grateful Dead Photography by Jay Blakesberg
American Beauty is a retrospective exhibition of Jay Blakesberg's iconic photography of the Grateful Dead, considered one of the greatest rock bands of all time.
• Thursday, February 27 through Tuesday, April 1
• M/W/F: 2 to 5 p.m.; SAT/SUN: 1 to 5 p.m.
• Durand Art Institute
and with Jay Blakesberg
• Tuesday, April 1
• 4 to 7 p.m.
• Brown Hall, Tarble Room and Durand Art Institute
Bridging the impasse: 21st century practices for a stronger democracy
Join us for the Krebs Center for the Humanities lecture and book signing with renowned Harvard scholar Dr. Danielle Allen, presented with the Oppenheimer Family Foundation.
• Tuesday, April 15
• 5 to 6 p.m.
• Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel