Speakers for the Spring 2019 Lowell Humanities Series are (clockwise from top left): Martha C. Nussbaum, Werner G. Jeanrond, Alvin Jackson, Carmen Maria Machado, James C. Scott, and Francisco Cant煤.
Former Oxford theologian Werner G. Jeanrond will give the Annual Candlemas Lecture on Feb. 6, ushering in the spring semester schedule for the Lowell Humanities Series. The program is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, the Boston College Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Provost鈥檚 Office.
鈥淲e look forward to fostering conversations on campus about pressing issues including鈥攁nd as part of the 10-year anniversary of the Institute for the Liberal Arts鈥攖he crucial role of the liberal arts in the current political climate, immigration and borders, and Brexit,鈥 said LHS Assistant Director Lauren Wilwerding, a part-time English Department faculty member. 听
鈥淭he spring lineup represents our commitment to an interdisciplinary and relevant series.鈥
All Lowell Humanities Series events begin at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public.
Werner G. Jeanrond
鈥淗opes, Hope and Radical Hope: Christian Hope and the Praxis of Love鈥
February 6
Devlin 100
Now a professor at the University of Oslo, Jeanrond served as Master of St Benet鈥檚 Hall and professor of theology at the University of Oxford, after teaching systematic theology at Trinity College Dublin as well at the universities of Lund and Glasgow. His books and articles in theology and hermeneutics have been translated into many languages. Co-sponsored by the Theology Department.
Martha C. Nussbaum
鈥淔ear, Anger, Democracy: Our Need for the Liberal Arts鈥
February 13
Gasson 100
The University of Chicago鈥檚 Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, Nussbaum鈥攚ho identifies the liberal arts as one 鈥減ractice of hope鈥濃攈as worked on political emotions and the capabilities approach, with such recent publications as Creating Capabilities and Anger and Forgiveness. Last year she published The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis on fear, anger, and hope in the current American political moment. Co-sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts.
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Fiction Days: Carmen Maria Machado
鈥淗er Body and Other Parties鈥
February 27
Gasson 100
Machado鈥檚 debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, won the Bard Fiction Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle鈥檚 John Leonard Prize. A fiction writer, critic, and essayist who holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers鈥 Workshop and is University of Pennsylvania writer-in-residence, Machado has published her work in prominent periodicals and outlets; her memoir House in Indiana is forthcoming this year.听
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James C. Scott
鈥淚n Praise of Floods: The Study of Rivers and Civilization鈥
March 20
Gasson 100
Yale University鈥檚 Sterling Professor of Political Science, Scott is also an anthropologist and directs its Agrarian Studies Program. His research concerns political economy, comparative agrarian societies, theories of hegemony and resistance, peasant politics, revolution, Southeast Asia, and theories of class. Recent publications include Against the Grain: A Deep History of the First Agrarian States. He has received many prestigious grants, including from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Guggenheim Foundation, and has recently been working on hill-valley relations in Mainland Southeast Asia.
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Francisco Cant煤
鈥淭he Line Becomes a River鈥
March 27
Gasson 100
An agent for the United States Border Patrol from 2008 to 2012, Cant煤 is a former Fulbright fellow and recently received an MFA in nonfiction from the University of Arizona. His essays and translations appear frequently in Guernica magazine, and his work appeared in The Best American Essays 2016, among other publications. His memoir, The Line Becomes a River, was published in 2018. Co-sponsored by the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics.
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Alvin Jackson
鈥淭he Survival of the United Kingdom, 1707-2017: Bloodshed, Borders and Brexit鈥
April 10
Gasson 100
A former Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies at 糖心vlog直播平台, Jackson is the University of Edinburgh Sir Richard Lodge Professor of History and considered a leading scholar on Brexit. His research on modern Irish, Scottish, and British history has been supported by three major national awards. He has published many articles and six books, including The Two Unions: Ireland, Scotland, and the Survival of the United Kingdom, 1707-2007鈥攕hortlisted for the Saltire Society鈥檚 Scottish History Book of the Year and for the Ewart-Biggs Irish Literary Prize. Co-sponsored by the Irish Studies Program and made possible by the Gerson Family Lecture Fund, established by John A. and Jean N. Gerson, P鈥14.
听For more details on the series and speakers visit .
鈥擴niversity Communications