Endowed Lectures
Pitzer College hosts a number of endowed lectures throughout the academic year, made possible by generous donations from patrons, donors and alumni. Invited speakers explore topics from a diversity of fields including art, business, science, politics, racial justice and the humanities.
Our Endowed Lectures
Pitzer College’s Stephen and Sandra Glass Annual Humanities Lecture showcases leading international figures in the humanities, enriching the cultural life of The Claremont Colleges community.
The annual Glass Humanities Lecture is named in honor of John A. McCarthy Professor Emeritus of Classics Stephen L. Glass, one of the Pitzer’s 11 founding faculty members, and his wife, Dr. Sandra Glass. It is made possible by the support of Pitzer alumna Nancy Rose Bushnell ’69.
Past Lectures
- 2022: Carolina Caycedo, Artist, Spiral for Shared Dreams
- 2021: Ishion Hutchinson, Poet, Little Music a listening
- 2019: Moussa Sene Absa, Director, Niit Nitki
- 2018: Jeffrey C. Stewart, Author and Professor, Cosmopolitanism and Culture: Alain Locke’s Vision of 21st Century America
Watch - 2017: Ariella Azoulay, Plunder: The Transcendental Condition of Modern Art and Community of fabri
The annual Pepper Distinguished Visiting Artist Lecture is made possible by the Murray Pepper and Vicki Reynolds Pepper Distinguished Visiting Artists and Scholars Endowed Fund at Pitzer College. Established in 2007, the fund helps bring critically acclaimed artists and scholars to campus to hold seminars, workshops, public talks, and one-on-one conversations with students. The fund is named after Trustee Emeritus Murray Pepper and Vicki Reynolds Pepper, long-term supporters of the College and the grandparents of David Pepper ’17 and Morgan Pepper ’12.
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Past Lectures
- 2022: Lauren Bon, Bending the River
Watch - 2022: Beatriz Cortez and rafa esparza, In conversation
Watch - 2021: Sadie Barnette, Rodney Barnette, and Ericka Huggins, In conversation
Watch - 2019: Fr. Gregory Boyle, founder, Homeboy Industries, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
Watch - 2019: Sesshu Foster and Arturo Ernesto Ramirez, Recent Rupture Radio Hour (The East L.A. Dirigible Tapes)
The Melvin L. Oliver Racial Justice Initiative Speaker Series is part of the College’s efforts to infuse racial justice throughout Pitzer’s academic and campus life while examining the College’s own policies and practices and exploring how Pitzer can be a broader agent of change.
Past Lectures
- 2022: Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens, Racial Justice Initiative Distinguished Lecture
Watch - 2021: Cecilia Menjívar, UCLA Professor of Sociology, Post-Detention Experiences of Central American Asylum Seekers in the United States
Watch - 2021: Dina Gilio-Whitaker, Environmental Justice in Indian Country
Watch - 2021: Karam Dana, Founding Director, American Muslim Research Institute, The Politics of Belonging and Exclusion: Orientalism and Radicalization of Arabs and Muslims in the US
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