Over the past semester, students may have noticed fliers posted around campus about some events called ‘colloquiums.’ These colloquiums were a series of lectures discussing topics related to history, philosophy, environmental studies, and current geopolitical issues. Topics included French counter-revolutionaries in the 1800s, the potential mercantilist roots of Egypt’s colonial history, and the future of agriculture in the modern age, among others.
Organized by Dr. Kyle Anderson, a history & philosophy professor here on campus, these colloquiums have been a good forum for people on and off campus. “We had a similar series of events…when I was a PhD student at Cornell University,” Anderson said, “I took the initiative to reach out to professors.”
Professors from O.W. that gave lectures include Chelsea Shields-Más, Xavier Marechaux, and Ela Tokay. Anderson also worked with on-campus programs like the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) and the Social and Environmental Justice Institute (SEJI).
But not all the speakers were from OW. Outside speakers include Zoe Griffith (from Baruch College), Tim Daniels (from Hofstra University), and Sylvain Durand (a photographer). Durand’s photography work is currently on display at the SEJI Art Lab in Woodlands Hall 1.
These events are part of an initiative to create a more intelligent campus. “Now that [O.W.] is officially a University, having the opportunity to engage with this kind of research is important,” Anderson said. “ I hope [students] learn something from a nuanced, complex, academic perspective, instead of the often shallow and stereotypical depictions of issues you see on the news and social media.”
For next semester, Anderson is looking outside and within the campus community for potential speakers. “I would like to continue bringing a mix of outside speakers to campus in addition to giving opportunities for our own faculty to share their works in progress, “ Anderson said. “We would also like to continue collaborating across campus, similar to how we worked with [SEJI] and the [WGSS] program this year.”
But for this, he’s got to have a budget; money talks after all. “We need a budget to be able to pay outside speakers honoraria,” he said. Honoraria is a standard cost for bringing outside speakers. As a history student, this is a price well worth paying, especially if it can help mold the minds of OW’s students.
