Confronting important topics for deep conversation, the Albright College Lecture Series brings experts and guest speakers to the Reading, Pennsylvania community. All Albright Lecture Series events are free and open to the public. Spring 2023 topics and speakers include:
MARCH 3
“What you say, and what I hear! Communication and sustainability in a diverse community“
Ellen S. Hurwitz Presidential Lecture | Empowering Albright Voices Day
Speaker: Buffie Longmire-Avital, Ph.D.
Fri., March 3, 9 a.m., McMillan Center, south lounge
Microaggression, a byproduct of latent bias (conscious or unconscious) is an aspect of communication that is difficult to comprehend or even identify. Yet, its impact on BIPOC members of the campus community contributes to personal traumas which impact retention and sustainable diversity. As the spring 2023 Empowering Albright Voices Day keynote speaker, Longmire-Avital will discuss how communication impacts and shapes the environment around us. This lecture is sponsored by the Ellen S. Hurwitz Presidential Lecture Series on Faith, Reason and Imagination in the Liberal Arts.
MARCH 3
“Invisible, Gay Women in Southern Music“
Ellen S. Hurwitz Presidential Lecture | Empowering Albright Voices Day
Speaker: TJ Parsell
Fri., March 3, 12:45 p.m., McMillan Center, south lounge
A filmmaker and the author of “Fish,” TJ Parsell will screen his newest film on lesbian country singer/song writers, drilling down into the challenges they face. The new film has already claimed 11 festival awards.
MARCH 29
“The unapologetic heirs of Nazi billionaires“
Yashek Lecture
Speaker: David de Jong
Wed., March 29, 7:30 p.m., McMillan Center, south lounge
Following Adolf Hitler’s seizure of power in 1933, many German businessmen vigorously capitalized on Nazi Germany’s newly codified antisemitism. These men removed Jewish executives from their company boards before seizing Jewish-owned businesses – first in Germany then across Nazi-occupied Europe. Many of the German moguls used Jewish men and women as slave laborers in their factories and mines during World War II. But were these tycoons ardent Nazis or unscrupulous opportunists looking to expand their business empires at any cost? And how are their heirs dealing with this history today?
MARCH 30
“Christianity, white supremacy and America’s identity crisis“
James J. Gallagher Memorial Lecture
Speaker: Robert P. Jones
Thurs., March 30, 7 p.m., McMillan Center, south lounge
Drawing on history, public opinion surveys and personal experience, Jones will deliver a provocative examination of the unholy relationship between American Christianity and white supremacy, issuing a call for white Christians to reconcile with this legacy for the sake of themselves, their faith and the nation. It is not just the future of Christianity but the outcome of the American experiment that is at stake. Jones is the founder and head of the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture and public policy. Albright College’s Lakin Holocaust Library and Resource Center celebrates its 30th Anniversary in 2023.
APRIL 13
“Setting up house: adventures in organelle biochemistry“
Donald F. Reinhold ’44 Memorial Lecture
Speaker: Meredith Morris, Ph.D.
Thurs., April 13, 7 p.m., Science Center lecture hall
In her molecular cellular biology lab at Clemson University, Meredith Morris, Ph.D. studies the metabolic functions and dynamics of unique glycosome organelles in T. brucei parasites, with the purpose of finding essential parasite processes that can be targeted for drug development.
Named a top national college by Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, Albright College (founded 1856) is home to a diverse community of learners who cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience. Through learning experiences that engage a student’s creative and innovative capacities across all disciplines, both inside and outside of the classroom, an Albright College education guarantees that each student learns how to engage the world, understand the world, and is prepared to make an impact on a rapidly changing world. Located in Reading, Pa., Albright is home to undergraduate students, adult learners and graduate students.
