51ΑΤΖζ

Join L&S for the Dean’s Distinguished Lectures in Humanities and Natural Science

Side by side headshots. On the left is a white man in a blue coat with binoculars hanging from a string on his neck. Bare trees are in the background. On the right is a black man wearing a black suit and glasses against a gray background.
Join the College of Letters & Science for the upcoming Dean's Distinguished Lectures in the Humanities and Natural Sciences in April.

The College of Letters & Science invites the 51ΑΤΖζ campus community and the public to join us for the annual Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities and in the Natural Sciences.

Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Natural Sciences

The Revolution Is Here: Artificial Intelligence, Citizen Science, and the Future of Conservation presented by Dr. Ian Owens

Thursday, April 9, 2026
5-6 p.m., reception to follow
Ball Room – 51ΑΤΖζ Student Union
2200 East 51ΑΤΖζ.

A headshot of a middle-aged white man with gray hair. He is wearing a blue puffy jacket and has binoculars on a string around his neck. He stands in a wooded area with bare tree branches in the background.
Dr. Ian Owens will present the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Natural Sciences on April 9.

It’s an exciting time to be a natural historian! New technologies are revolutionizing how we discover, monitor, and conserve nature. Amateur naturalists, armed with cell phones and apps are collecting data at rate that would have seemed impossible only a few years ago, and there is now the prospect of using similar technologies to understand how populations are changing in even the most remote forests and deepest oceans. Tens of millions of people are getting excited about what the spring sounds like. Ian Owens will ask what the next ten years will look like in this fast-moving area, drawing on examples from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and other leaders in the field.

Ian Owens is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. As an ornithologist, he focuses on the ecology, evolution and conservation of birds, using their appeal to engage the public in critical scientific and sustainability issues. Since 2021, he has served as the Louis Agassiz Fuertes Executive Director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, a leading scientific institute that integrates major programs in technology, research, education, communication, and global bird conservation. The Cornell Lab is not only a hub for research and training but also enjoys a prominent public profile as the home of several citizen science projects, apps, and websites. Notable initiatives include eBird, Merlin, All About Birds, Bird Cams, Celebrate Urban Birds, Birds of the World, and the Macaulay Library of sound recordings.

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Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities

Black City-Builders: Reinforcing the Case for Reparatory Justice in America

Friday, April 17, 2026
4:30 – 6 pm, Reception to Follow.
Alumni Fireside Lounge – 51ΑΤΖζ Student Union
2200 East 51ΑΤΖζ.

A headshot of a middle-aged Black man. He is bald and wears glasses. He is wearing a black suit with a blue shirt and tie.
Dr. Joe William Trotter, Jr. will present the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities on April 17.

Dr. Joe William Trotter, Jr. is the Giant Eagle University Professor of History and Social Justice and past History Department Chair at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the director and founder of Carnegie Mellon’s Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE) and past president of both the Urban History Association and the Labor and Working Class History Association.

This lecture is based upon Dr. Trotter’s recent book, Building the Black City: The Transformation of American Life (California, 2024).Β  While contemporary urban and labor studies acknowledge the impact of Black labor on the built environment of American cities, both Β scholars and the larger public have found it more difficult to conceptualize predominantly poor and working-class Black urbanites as β€œCity-Builders.”  Hence, this talk will underscore how African Americans double-taxed their own labor and built their own city within the city to serve their own needs.Β  Whereas the case for reparations is usually based on land dispossession, unpaid and underpaid labor, this lecture will move the notion of a β€œBlack City” from the periphery to the center of the case for reparatory justice for descendants of African people β€œenslaved” and later β€œJim Crowed” in the United States of America.Β  As such, the case for reparations, he concludes, must also include a focus on the creativity of Black people as β€œCity-Builders” in their own interests as well as exploited workers.

The Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities is made possible by generous funding from the Vilas Trust.