The Institute for Freedom and Community welcomes Matt Nelsen, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Miami and a 2012 graduate of St. Olaf College. His work is focused on building a thriving multi-racial democracy in the United States. Nelson recently published The Color of Civics: Civic Education for a Multi-Racial Democracy […]
All are welcome to attend a lecture by Henrik Olav Mathiesen, which addresses two key questions about Norwegians in America: why they came, and how they balanced their unique culture with their developing American identity. By examining pre-emigration Norwegian society and how immigrants sought to belong as Norwegians in America, Mathiesen will reveal how immigrants […]
The St. Olaf community and public are welcome to attend the fourth annual Grose LGBTQIA+ Lecture, hosted by the Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion. Featuring a multi-religious panel, this series strives to highlight the religious diversity present in the lives of LGBTQIA+ people on campus and in the world, building on St. Olaf's "rooted […]
Julia Watkin lecture delivered by Dr. Bruce Kirmmse: "Introducing Kierkegaard—and Encountering Ourselves."
Guest speaker John C. Gibert, Professor of Classics at University of Colorado—Boulder, will give a free public lecture entitled “Greek Myths from Egyptian Sands: Discovering and Interpreting ‘The New Euripides’”. He will discuss the recent deciphering of an ancient Greek papyrus from Egypt and the exciting discovery of 100 lines from two lost plays by […]
Jonathan Pulphus, author and organizer, will share his reflections as a key activist during the Ferguson Uprising of 2014 and beyond. Pulphus will pull lessons from his upcoming book With My People: Life, Justice, and Activism Beyond the University, to share with the St. Olaf community. This event is open to the public and curated […]
Why did the Protestant Reformation take hold in the sixteenth century, when earlier reform movements had failed? What factors determined its success in some territories and its failure in others? Come listen to Tomson Family Chair of Law and Economics Colin Harris as he explores the temporal and spatial variation in the Reformation, examining how […]
From vaccines to climate change, skeptics ask: why does some intellectual elite get to tell us what to think? We can best understand the frustrating dilemma of scientific authority by looking back to a time when modern science emerged alongside modern views on political authority.
One of the most esteemed artists of the seventeenth century, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1654?) began forging her reputation as the era’s premier painter of heroic yet life-like female nudes at the precocious age of seventeen. In doing so, she was consciously following in the steps of one of the greatest artists of the previous century: Michelangelo […]
When we disagree, we should try to work out the truth. For that we have debate. But the meaning of debate is also debatable, and this lecture arranges just such a clash of minds across time and space, between the 19th century English philosopher John Stuart Mill and the classical Buddhist scholar Nāgārjuna.