Research Seminars @ Illinois

While the second law of thermodynamics states that entropy increases over time, in some systems entropy decreases in parts of the system while increasing in others. A zebra resists or exploits the second law by shunting extra entropy into its environment. Philosopher Heather Demarest (University of Colorado, Boulder)

Dr. Elias Petrou will explore the evolution and transmission of the Greek book from East to West, beginning with an overview of the Byzantine educational system, the preservation and transmission of classical Greek knowledge through manuscripts, and how this inherited book culture was transformed through the new technology of print.

Erin Brock Carlson’s research centers the relationships between place, technology, and power, focusing on how communities work together to address complex public problems through communication and community organizing. She uses community-based and participatory approaches in her research.

Please join the HRI Sport Studies Research Cluster for a guest talk by Dr. Anna Baeth, senior research manager for Athlete Ally. Her talk will center on the science of trans athletes. What does bench science empirically prove about transgender athletes and their place in sport?

This talk will highlight the Kinsey Institute’s founding and multi-disciplinary history, continued cultural impact, current research program, and reflect on the ways in which today’s social and political climate presents new challenges for multi-disciplinary sex research.

Professor Buff (Univ. of Wisconsin) traces the rise of private consultancies from 20th-century managerial capitalism and the military-industrial complex to their entry into higher education during neoliberal reforms of the 1980s, expanding further through disaster capitalism after the 2008 Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Join us for a lecture with Jennifer Chuong, an assistant professor in the Department of Art History at the U of I. This lecture examines the invention of carborundum mezzotint by the African American artist Dox Thrash (1893-1965), arguing that the technique's significance lies not only in its aesthetic effects but in the labor surrounding its discovery and production.

We are delighted to showcase the work of some of our most productive and creative faculty in this informal series of intellectually and spiritually invigorating presentations. You are invited to drop in when you can to learn about the exciting projects undertaken by our faculty.

The Center for Writing Studies will be hosting Dr. Bobby J. Smith II for a brownbag talk! Dr. Smith will be giving a lecture titled "Writing the Forgotten Black Past: Brief Notes on Recovery." Please join us on Thursday, March 12!

Journalist Helmuth (Slate, Scientific American, Washington Post) will argue that as universities, public health bodies, science agencies, and publishers face growing political attacks, scholars must build public support for academic freedom, long-term research, honest history, and life-saving health policy by engaging journalists and mass media directly.

Merle Bowen, CAS Associate 2024-25 (African American Studies), presents her recent work that sheds light on the hitherto untold stories of Black rural life in Atlantic Canada, analyzing the diverse experiences of people of African descent and by situating them as speakers and agents of their own lives.

Dr. Anastasios Antonaras (Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki,) places Byzantine glass in context to a wider Mediterranean tradition where it emerges as a powerful medium of splendor, authority, and sacred presence.

From its invention in the Bronze Age, glass was conceived as “molten stone” and continuously used to emulate gems, gold, and rare marbles. Drawing on archaeological finds, representations in art works, and written sources, Dr. Anastasios Antonaras (Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki,)

Please join us for the seventh annual symposium in Holocaust, Genocide, Memory Studies. The past annual symposia were wonderful, and we hope that this conference will continue to showcase diverse and brilliant work within memory studies (broadly conceived) of graduate students. The keynote will be at 11am by Solomon Brager, author of Heavyweight.

Story & Place event series: Anke Pinkert Book Talk

Story & Place event series: Anke Pinkert Book Talk 4pm

Join us to celebrate the book launch of Richard (Chip) Burkhardt's The Leopard in the Garden: Animal and Human Lives in Paris at the First Public Zoo of the Modern Era (U of C Press, April 2026). Professor Burkhardt will share some highlights of the book, then participate in a panel discussion with local and visiting scholars.

The Leopard in the Garden: Animal and Human Lives in Paris at the First Public Zoo of the Modern Era presents the inner workings of the menagerie at the Paris Museum of Natural History and how visions for the zoo collided with the interests of humans and animals alike.

2026 Pakistan Studies Lecture by Professor Saad Gulzar, University of Notre Dame on "Politics, Bureaucracy, and the Promise of Better Governance in Pakistan" NO REGISTRATION required.

Jesse Oak Taylor (U Washington), Jonathan Howard (Yale U), Sarah Dimick (Northwestern U), and Min Hyoung Song (Boston College) join UI faculty in a series of talks and a concluding roundtable, which together will take up the question of how the study of literary history can contribute to our understanding of both the causes of and potential solutions...

Join us for a hybrid CEAPS Speaker talk "Finding An Audience: Japan’s First Women Architects and the NHK Ladies' Classroom" with Dr. Michelle L. Hauk (Washington University in St. Louis). Register here!

Join us for a lecture by Andrea Scarantino, a professor of Neuroscience and Philosophy at Georgia State University.

For this event, Dr. Holloway (President and CEO, Henry Luce Foundation, and former President of Rutgers University) will join Chancellor Charles L. Isbell, Jr. and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor John Coleman for a moderated conversation about their experiences and observations on the role of risk management in leadership for higher education today

Award-winning Palestinian artist and filmmaker Basma al-Sharif will present early and recent film works, Morgenkreis/Morning Circle (2025, 20:31minutes), which follows a father and son in their intimate rituals as they prepare to start the day and head to kindergarten; Capital (2023, 19 minutes)...

Join us to help celebrate Political Science professor & CEAPS Advisory Board member Yujeong Yang on her new book! Refreshments will be served. Please register here!

2026 Indian Languages and Cultures Lecture by Professor Andrew Ollett, University of Chicago, on "Context, from 7th century India to today". NO REGISTRATION required.

Join us for presentations by our recent CAS Associates. At 11am Ramón Soto-Crespo (English) discusses the origin of Puerto Rico's ecological literature and at noon, Alison Bell (Evolution, Ecology, & Behavior) presents the evolution of family life in a small fish.

In this talk, Professor Soto-Crespo discusses Enrique Laguerre’s literary works The Blaze (1935) and Montoya’s Plantation (1941), as key roots of ecological thought in Puerto Rico. Laguerre’s ecological viewpoint offers a way to understand the connection between humans and non-human entities within a landscape of harsh exploitation.

Join us for a discussion with GAM Visiting Artist Paul O'Mahony, Founder and Director, Out of Chaos Theatre (London, UK).

How does Greek tragedy respond to and reflect the concerns of modern communities? Drawing on his experiences staging and reimagining Greek literature in theatres, online and within community settings, Paul O’Mahony explores the issues and opportunities these ancient texts present.

This public event will begin with a lecture by Dr. Warren C. Brown (California Institute of Technology discussing medieval textuality and materiality. A reception and open house will follow where visitors may view our recently acquired Merovingian manuscript and Greek papyrus. All are welcome, and refreshments will be served.

This public event will begin with a lecture by Dr. Warren C. Brown (California Institute of Technology discussing medieval textuality and materiality. A reception and open house will follow where visitors may view our recently acquired Merovingian manuscript and Greek papyrus. All are welcome, and refreshments will be served.

Book launch of Ethan Madarieta's Land's Language: On Mapuche Memory, Translation, and the Territorial Aporia.

Book launch of Ethan Madarieta's Land's Language: On Mapuche Memory, Translation, and the Territorial Aporia.

Please join us for the launch of Ethan Madarieta’s first book, Land's Language: On Mapuche Memory, Translation, and the Territorial Aporia.

Drawing on scholarship about the value of suspending economic incentives in everyday life, Dr. Newfield will argue that public universities must replace a financial model that harms education and erodes solvency. His presentation will also examine and challenge the belief that “learning equals earning” amid deep dependence on debt, asset inflation, and risk management.

In honor of the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, Helen Makhdoumian will give a talk entitled "On Beginnings, or the Roots and Routes of the Nested Memory Concept.”

Annual Armenian Genocide Event, featuring Helen Makhdoumian (Postdoc, Vanderbilt University)

Join us for a lecture by Heather Demarest, an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Boulder.

Join us for a hybrid CEAPS Speaker/Political Science Workshop titled “From Correction to Connection: Relational Approaches to Countering Misinformation” with Cesi Cruz (University of Michigan). Register here!

The PhD Program in Architecture and Landscape Architecture hosts a keynote lecture by Hi'ilei Julia Hobart (Native and Indigenous Studies, Yale) as part of the symposium "Creativity in Modern Heritage." Hobart is author of Cooling the Tropics: Ice, Indigeneity, and Hawaiian Refreshment (Duke University Press, 2022).