Williams Releases Schedule for Faculty Lecture Series
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — During February and March, Williams College will sponsor its annual Faculty Lecture Series. The aim of this year's series is to present big ideas beyond disciplinary boundaries. The six lectures of the series will occur on Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28 and March 7 and 14. All lectures will be held at 4:15 p.m. in Wege Auditorium, Thompson Chemistry, with a reception to follow in Schow Atrium. The lectures are free and open to the public.
The first lecture in the series is scheduled for Feb. 7. Katarzyna Pieprzak, associate professor of Francophone and French literature and language, will deliver a talk titled "Useful Memory in the Colonial Museum: Culture and Politics in Contemporary Morocco."
Next, associate professor of English Christian Thorne will give a lecture titled "The Sea Is Not A Place: Putting the World Back in World Literature," on Feb. 14.
William Wootters, Barclay Jermain Professor of Natural Philosophy, will discuss the question "Why Does Nature Like the Square Root of Negative One?" in his talk on Feb. 21.
On Feb. 28, associate professor of Latino/a studies Mérida Rúa will give a lecture titled "A Grounded Identidad: Making New Lives in Chicago's Puerto Rican Neighborhoods."
Associate professor of computer science Brent Heeringa will present a talk on March 7 titled "When Pretty Good is Good Enough: A Tour of Approximation Graphics."
The final talk in the series, titled "Insuring the Uninsured Before and After the Affordable Care Act," is scheduled for March 14. Professor of economics Lara Shore-Sheppard will deliver the lecture.
The Faculty Lecture Series was founded in 1911 by Catherine Mariotti Pratt, the spouse of a faculty member who wanted to "relieve the tedium of long New England winters with an opportunity to hear Williams professors talk about issues that really mattered to them."
