In The News

Christianity Can Relieve Tensions Over Race, Says Jennings

Willie Jennings, a theologian and professor at Yale Divinity School, gave Boston College’s annual Candlemas lecture on Thursday evening as part of the Lowell Humanities Series. Jennings focused on using Christianity to relieve racial tensions in America.

Uses Excel to ensure his reading is diverse

Viet Thanh Nguyen won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for his best-selling novel, “The Sympathizer,” the story of a Communist double agent who moves to the United States. Last year Nguyen, who emigrated with his family from Vietnam when he was four, published his first collection of short stories, “The Refugees.”

Andersen Discusses Evolution of Fake News in Post-Truth America

Kurt Andersen, a groundbreaking novelist, media entrepreneur, and public radio host, read selections from his new book Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History on Wednesday evening as part of the Lowell Humanities Series. In Fantasyland, Andersen explores the historical origins of the “post-factual, fake news moment we’re all living through,” arguing that truth-bending is something embedded in America’s national character.

Quinones Outlines Effects of Increased Heroin Usage on Modern Society

Sam Quinones, former Los Angeles Times reporter and author, discussed America’s opiate epidemic on Wednesday evening as part of the Lowell Humanities Series. He spoke about Mexican drug trafficking and the recent push toward treating pain with narcotics, citing both as reasons for the increased use of heroin in the United States.

NYU Tisch Professor Performs Excerpts from Recent Play

Actress, playwright, and New York University Tisch School of Arts professor Anna Deavere Smith took to the stage in Robsham Theater on Tuesday evening to perform excerpts from her most recent play, Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education. Acting out her one-woman show, Smith adopted the persona of the people she interviewed as she traveled to investigate the school-to-prison pipeline.

Remembering Refugees’ Stories

Viet Thanh Nguyen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Aerol Arnold Chair of English and professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, spoke on Wednesday evening as part of the Lowell Humanities Series. He has written numerous critically acclaimed books, including The Sympathizer, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, and The Refugees.

'Caffeinated Frenzy:' Roz Chast Discusses Career as Cartoonist

There is humor in everyday life, and Roz Chast captures it perfectly. A cartoonist at the New Yorker since 1978, and recipient of the 2015 Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities, Chast spoke Wednesday evening about her latest work and becoming a cartoonist.

Structural Change Needed to Ease Eviction Burden on Those in Poverty, Desmond says

Matthew Desmond hates poverty. And he wants students to hate it too. Desmond, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and co-director of the Justice and Poverty Project, spoke Wednesday evening about the subject of his book,Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.

Lowell Humanities Fall Lineup

New York Timesbestselling author Matthew Desmond opens the Lowell Humanities Series Fall 2016 lineup at Boston College on September 21, 2016. Read about more about the fall 2016 lineup »

A Writer of 'Timely and Universal' Subjects

Acclaimed and award-winning Ethiopian-American writer Dinaw Mengestu, whose works chronicle the African diaspora in America, will visit Boston College on April 8. Read aboutDinaw Mengestu visit to Boston College »

For Him, Writing a Matter of Passion

Dennis Lehane will offer his insights on writing and more at a campus appearance on March 11 at 7 p.m. in Gasson 100, a Lowell Humanities Series event made possible by the Gerson Family Lecture Fund, established by John A. and Jean N. Gerson, P’14.
His visit is timely: His new novel, World Gone By, will be in bookstores on March 10.. Read about Dennis Lehane's visit in the 㽶 Chronicle »