Past Events
& Exhibitions
View recordings of more Radcliffe events on YouTube.
All Events & Exhibitions
Latinx Modernism and the Spirit of Latinoamericanismo
Fellows' PresentationJohn Alba Cutler's new book will examine the literary archive of early-20th-century Spanish-language newspapers in the United States before the advent of “modern” Latinx literature.
12 PM ET
The Popularization of Doubt: Scientific Literacy and Alternative Forms of Knowledge in the Soviet Union after World War II
Fellows' PresentationAlexey Golubev's upcoming book project will examine the mass Soviet scientific literacy campaigns after World War II, and why mistrust of science remains a persistent feature in modern societies.
12 PM ET
And So On: Reading and Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Lectures • Julia S. Phelps Annual Lecture in the Arts and HumanitiesKiese Laymon will talk with Courtney R. Baker about whether the actual histories of American colleges and universities should be ripe sites for Black American horror and comedic narratives.
4 PM ET
AHOTB
Fellows' PresentationDuring her Radcliffe year, Tonya M. Foster is completing a book-length manuscript of poetry, “AHotB,” that takes up Fanny Lou Hamer’s idea that “a black women’s body is never hers alone.”
12 PM ET
Changing Carceral Systems through Compassion, Practice, and Research
Lectures • Driving Progress in Social Policy: Education, Public Health, and Carceral SystemsRacial disparities in our carceral systems are profound and troubling. As a society, we appear to be at an inflection point where racial justice is a core priority for the incoming Biden administration and a majority of the public. This program will bring together the compassionate work of a practitioner on the front lines with the expertise of a world-renowned researcher in criminal justice policy.
4 PM ET
The Sisyphus Project
Fellows' PresentationHéctor Tobar is working on a nonfiction book about the profound shifts in American culture brought forth by the anti-immigrant movement.
12 PM ET
Protest as Politics: African American Young Adults, Reimagining Democracy
Lectures • Kim and Judy Davis Dean’s Lecture in the Social SciencesHow does the precarious position of African American young adults facilitate a reimagining of democracy? What does this reimagining mean for American politics?
4 PM ET
Critical Public Health Questions for 2021: Closing (and Reopening) Schools and Workplaces
Lectures • Driving Progress in Social Policy: Education, Public Health, and Carceral SystemsThe COVID-19 pandemic—the greatest public health challenge in more than a century—has forced many hard decisions. The partial or full closures of schools nationwide have become a flashpoint with very strong opinions on both sides and have reinforced the critical role that schools play in supporting the health of our children.
12 PM ET
The Fugitive Life of Black Teaching: A History of Pedagogy and Power
Fellows' PresentationAs a Radcliffe fellow, Jarvis Givens completed his first book that explores the subversive history of Black education, focusing particularly on the concealed pedagogical practices of African American teachers.
12 PM ET
Addressing Inequalities in Education through Policy, Research, and Practice
Lectures • Driving Progress in Social Policy: Education, Public Health, and Carceral SystemsWe are in the midst of an education crisis, greatly exacerbated by COVID-19, that is preventing many children from reaching their full potential. These gaps are most acutely felt by Black and brown children. The speakers in this program will discuss inequalities among social groups in schools and society, with a focus on racial, economic, social, and cultural differences, and the role of education in the lives of all youth, including African American men.
4 PM ET
Nevertheless, She Persisted
Gallery EventsHarvard College Opera presents an acoustic exploration of friendship, feminism, and resilience inspired by the Radcliffe exhibition Accompanied: The Artworks of Marilyn Pappas and Jill Slosburg-Ackerman.
1 PM ET
The Future of COVID-19 Epidemiology
LecturesJoin leading epidemiologists for a panel discussion as they assess the current and future state of the epidemic.
2020 Visions
Lectures • Voting Matters: Gender, Citizenship, and the Long 19th AmendmentThis concluding sessions asks a variety of experts to briefly unfold a single “big idea” that captures the significance of the 19th Amendment for voting rights, citizenship, and democracy today.
4 PM ET
“Imperfectly Known”: Nicholas Said and the Routes of African American Narrative
Fellows' PresentationIra Dworkin's book “’Imperfectly Known’: Nicholas Said and the Routes of African American Narrative,” will examine Borno's influence on Black literary culture in the US during the 18th and 19th centuries.
12 PM ET
The Impact of 2020 on Higher Education: Colleges, COVID-19, and a Time of Racial Reckoning
LecturesSpeakers on this panel will discuss how higher education can and should rise to the challenges of 2020 and beyond.
4 PM ET
Shrill
Fellows' PresentationShrill, an upcoming book and multimedia chamber opera by Tina Tallon will explore the history of voice technology and how bias in its development continues to influence whose stories are told and how.
12 PM ET
Antiracism in Higher Education: A Conversation with Ibram X. Kendi
LecturesJoin us for a discussion about antiracism in higher education with award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi, joined by Radcliffe Institute Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin and Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana.
4:30 PM ET
Benefiting from the Human Genome
LecturesAnne Wojcicki, cofounder and CEO of 23andMe, will discuss the next phase of consumer genetics: taking action.
4 PM ET
Education Justice: Centering Student Voices
Lectures“Education Justice: Centering Student Voices” is the second in a two-part series that explores education justice in carceral settings and through nontraditional paths.
4 PM ET
Unraveling the Mystery of Cosmic Acceleration
Fellows' PresentationPaul Martini is working on analysis tools and data from DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) to address the mystery of cosmic acceleration.
12 PM ET
Architects of Peace: Redefining the Role of Women in Today’s Growing Security Agenda
Fellows' PresentationAt Radcliffe, Alaa Murabit is working on “Architects of Peace: Redefining the Role of Women in Today’s Growing Security Agenda,” focusing on the unique roles women have in conflict resolution and global peace-building.
12 PM ET
Education Justice: Why Prison Classrooms Matter
Lectures“What college does, it helps us learn about the nation,” said Rodney Spivey-Jones, a 2017 Bard College graduate currently incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility in New York, in the docuseries College behind Bars. “It helps us become civic beings. It helps us understand that we have an interest in our community, that our community is a part of us and we are a part of it.”
They Never Can Jail Us All
Fellows' PresentationMichael K. Honey's upcoming work, “They Never Can Jail Us All: Repression, Resistance, and the Freedom Struggle, a Memoir and History (1960–1976)” considers what is past and what is present in the struggle to be free.
12 PM ET
Obesity, COVID-19, and Systemic Racism
LecturesThis program will explore how uneven distribution of social support drives obesity; how framing affects policy; and how lack of research fuels speculation and reinforces racist stereotypes.
4 PM ET
Next in Water
LecturesThe speakers in this program will discuss water’s vital role across four areas of modern inquiry: biology, earth science, public health, and the search for extraterrestrial life.
New Blocs, New Maps, New Power (ca. 1982)
Conferences & Symposia • Voting Matters: Gender, Citizenship, and the Long 19th AmendmentThis panel draws together the ideas and growing influence of conservative women, the political activism of gay communities, and the mobilization of Latinx constituencies in the ongoing struggle over votes.
4 PM ET
James Baldwin: The Making of an American Icon
Fellows' PresentationRobert F. Reid-Pharr's work “James Baldwin: The Making of an American Icon” is an attempt to understand how Baldwin achieved his fantastic celebrity status and why his image continues to be so compelling to the public.
12 PM ET
On Account of Race (1965)
Conferences & Symposia • Voting Matters: Gender, Citizenship, and the Long 19th AmendmentThis roundtable conversation looks at the relationships among the Reconstruction Amendments, the 19th Amendment, the Voting Rights Act (VRA), and the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
4 PM ET
The Enduring Legacy of Slavery and Racism in the North
LecturesThis panel of experts will examine the role and impact of slavery in the North and discuss the influence of Agassiz and how Black abolitionists responded to scientific racism.
4 PM ET
Animals
Fellows' PresentationDuring his fellowship, Will Mackin is working on “Animals,” a collection of short stories based on his experiences as a special operations soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan.
12 PM ET
On Account of Sex (1920)
Voting Matters: Gender, Citizenship, and the Long 19th AmendmentThis “big ideas” session brings together diverse participants who will each illuminate one facet of women’s political history in relation to the passage of the 19th amendment.
4 PM ET
The Geography of Lethal Force
Fellows' PresentationRajiv Sethi's project on the geography of lethal force investigates the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers in the United States.
4 PM ET
Leaving New Orleans: A Personal Urban History
Fellows' PresentationLeslie M. Harris is completing “Leaving New Orleans: A Personal Urban History" which uses memoir and family, urban, and environmental histories to explore the multiple meanings of New Orleans in the nation.
Opening Discussion for Accompanied
Gallery EventsJoin the artists for a conversation marking the opening of the virtual exhibition Accompanied: The Artworks of Marilyn Pappas and Jill Slosburg-Ackerman.
4 PM ET
Reconstructing the Polity (1870)
Conferences & Symposia • Voting Matters: Gender, Citizenship, and the Long 19th AmendmentThis panel will use gender as a lens to understand the cross-cutting trends of enfranchisement and disenfranchisement that came together in the wake of the Civil War.
4 PM ET
Perfecters of This Democracy: A Conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones
LecturesNikole Hannah-Jones, will engage in conversation with Tomiko Brown-Nagin about pressing issues of race, civil rights, injustice, desegregation, and resegregation.
4 PM ET
Origin Stories: Keynote Address (1848)
Conferences & Symposia • Voting Matters: Gender, Citizenship, and the Long 19th AmendmentOur series Voting Matters: Gender, Citizenship, and the Long 19th Amendment begins with a keynote address by the historian Martha S. Jones who explores the intersection of gender and race in the battle for the ballot.
4 PM ET
Book Talk: A’Lelia Bundles
LecturesJoin us this summer for a series of Virtual Radcliffe Book Talks exploring recent publications whose subjects or authors have a connection with the Radcliffe Institute.
4 PM ET
Book Talk: Gish Jen
LecturesJoin us this summer for a series of Virtual Radcliffe Book Talks exploring recent publications whose subjects or authors have a connection with the Radcliffe Institute.
4 PM ET
Book Talk: Michael Pollan
LecturesJoin us this summer for a series of Virtual Radcliffe Book Talks exploring recent publications whose subjects or authors have a connection with the Radcliffe Institute.
4 PM ET
Book Talk: Maggie Doherty
LecturesJoin us this summer for a series of Virtual Radcliffe Book Talks exploring recent publications whose subjects or authors have a connection with the Radcliffe Institute.
4 PM ET
Is Now the Time to Build a Better System? K–12 Education and Systemic Racism in the Era of COVID-19
LecturesThis Radcliffe webinar, cosponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will bring together experts from public school systems, foundations, and academia to explore the present and future of US education.
American Policing and Protest
LecturesSpeakers discuss contemporary police violence against people of color along with ethical issues that we must consider as we reflect on the current turmoil and attempt to envision how our nation might be transformed.
Amplifying Community Voices: LGBTQ Health and Wellbeing during COVID-19
Lectures • Health Inequity in the Age of COVID-19This Radcliffe webinar brings together historians, physicians, and organizers to discuss the disparate impact of the pandemic on the physical and mental health of sexual and gender minorities.
Decarceration and Community: COVID 19 and Beyond (Part II)
Lectures • Health Inequity in the Age of COVID-19The Radcliffe Institute is offering a two-part series of virtual programs to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on incarcerated people.
Music in the Moment
Lectures • Health Inequity in the Age of COVID-19Music has played a large social function during the coronavirus pandemic: from the daily balcony concerts in Italy to the virtual performances of countless orchestras, it has helped tie communities together where social distancing has atomized us. During this Radcliffe webinar, we will talk with musicians about their experience during the crisis—from the precarious position of performers without gigs to the healing role music can play.
4 PM ET
Decarceration and Community: COVID-19 and Beyond (Part I)
Lectures • Health Inequity in the Age of COVID-19Part I of this discussion series focuses on people who are incarcerated and their families, exploring how systemic racism and mass criminalization threaten both incarcerated individuals and their communities
When “Stay at Home” Isn’t Safe: Domestic Violence during COVID-19
Lectures • Health Inequity in the Age of COVID-19In this Radcliffe webinar, scholars, public officials, community activists, and medical professionals join to discuss domestic violence in the midst of this public health crisis and consider ways to aid those in need.
Naming Racism
Lectures • Health Inequity in the Age of COVID-19Camara Phyllis Jones RI ’20 and David R. Williams will explore how we might overcome, “the somnolence of racism denial,” dismantle the system of racism, and put in its place a system in which all people can thrive.
4 PM ET
Radcliffe Day 2020
Radcliffe DayPlease join us for a conversation between Tomiko Brown-Nagin, current Institute dean, and Drew Gilpin Faust, Radcliffe’s founding dean and president emerita of Harvard University.
12:30 PM ET
Accompanied: The Artworks of Marilyn Pappas and Jill Slosburg-Ackerman
ExhibitionThe virtual exhibition Accompanied: The Artworks of Marilyn Pappas and Jill Slosburg-Ackerman presents a pair of artists whose work was transformed by an abiding friendship. Pappas and Slosburg-Ackerman, both fellows at Radcliffe’s Bunting Institute in the 1980s, have sustained a conversation over four decades about artistic endeavor, studio practice, and pedagogy.
through Saturday, January 16, 2021
Angela Davis: Freed by the People
ExhibitionNo single person sits more squarely at the intersection of transnational struggles for freedom than the controversial political activist and pioneering philosopher Angela Yvonne Davis. Her arrest, incarceration, and trial formed one of the most widely debated legal cases in world history. Because she sparked worldwide movements that changed the 20th century, Davis was “freed by the people” well before her trial came to an end.
through Monday, March 9, 2020
3 James Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Pine in the Sand
ExhibitionPine in the Sand tells a story about unpredictable change while highlighting the often overlooked maintenance and infrastructure enlisted to preserve and stabilize the environment.
through Tuesday, February 23, 2021
10 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138