Speaker Series

The Parlee Center regularly hosts outstanding citizen-scientists and experts on the intersection of science and society.

Upcoming Speakers

Recent Speakers

The Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good is proud to have hosted the following speakers in recent years.

Wednesday Sep 8th, 2021

Covid-19 Vaccines And Variants: Where We Are Now And The Prospects Ahead

Robert W. Doms, pathologist-in-chief at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, discusses the latest information on COVID-19. Members of the community can watch virtually via Zoom. Register in advance.

Tuesday Mar 23rd, 2021

Workshop on the Variety of Careers in Biology

A panel of distinguished graduates will discuss their paths to success, followed by Q & A.

Thursday Mar 11th, 2021

The Science of Business: USciences’ MBA & The Future of Pharma

Learn about USciences MBA program, with which Ursinus has an affiliation agreement. Registration Deadline: 3/10

Tuesday Mar 2nd, 2021

Parlee Center Speaker: COVID-19: Vaccines and Variants

Students, faculty and staff: learn more about the COVID-19 vaccines from Robert W. Doms, the pathologist-in-chief, T. Hewson Bache Endowed Chair in Pediatrics, at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Monday Mar 2nd, 2020

New Date - Surveillance Capitalism: Artificial Intelligence And The Black Community

Mutale Nkonde is an AI policy analyst and researcher based in New York City. She is founding executive director of AI for the People (AIFTP) a nonprofit organization that uses popular culture to educate black communities about the civil rights implications of the integration of AI systems into public life.

Wednesday Feb 26th, 2020

DATE CHANGE - Surveillance Capitalism: Artificial Intelligence And The Black Community

EVENT NOTICE: This event has been postponed to Monday, March 2 at 7:30pm in Olin Auditorium.

Mutale Nkonde is an AI policy analyst and researcher based in New York City. She is founding executive director of AI for the People (AIFTP) a nonprofit organization that uses popular culture to educate black communities about the civil rights implications of the integration of AI systems into public life.

Tuesday Feb 25th, 2020

Is She On the List? Understanding the Role of Women Campaign Funding Groups in State Level Politics

Dr. Jamil Scott of Georgetown University presents research on the increasing numbers of Black women winning seats in local, state, and national elections in the United States

Wednesday Feb 5th, 2020

Shoshana Zuboff: Surveillance Capitalism

Drawing from her landmark new book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power—acclaimed by The Wall Street Journal and praised in the New York Times—Zuboff outlines the consequences of putting a price on private data.

Wednesday Nov 6th, 2019

Exxon Mobil’s Role in Climate Change Denial

Geoffrey Supran is a research associate in Harvard University’s Department of the History of Science.

Wednesday Oct 23rd, 2019

The Impact of Climate Change on Appalacian Communities

Henderson is the co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee.

Tuesday Oct 1st, 2019

For Everything There Was a Season: Retracing Craighead’s Footsteps

Scientist/guide Trevor Bloom will explain how shifts in plant and animal life cycle events reveal how climate has changed in the Greater Yellowstone Region.

Wednesday Sep 11th, 2019

Finding the Good News on Energy and Environment

Dr. Richard Alley, a world-renown expert on ice and climate change, will present the evidence that we can build a sustainable energy system that avoids the pollution causing climate change.

Wednesday Feb 27th, 2019

When We Hurt Migrants, We Hurt Americans

HOW SHOULD WE LIVE TOGETHER?
Journalist Claudia Kolker describes what she learned on the border about our child detention policies – and how they are damaging the American workers who must carry them out.

Tuesday Feb 12th, 2019

Risks of Brain Injury in High School and College Sports

SCIENCE AS A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD
A panel of experts will explore what we know, and don’t know, about the risks of brain injury in high school and college sports.

Monday Feb 4th, 2019

The Neurological Consequences of Brain Injury in Football

SCIENCE AS A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD
Dr. Ann McKee will speak about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease most commonly found in athletes participating in boxing, American football, ice hockey, other contact sports, and military service.

Monday Nov 5th, 2018

Requiem for a Running Back

WHAT SHOULD MATTER TO ME?

Follow Director Rebecca Carpenter’s odyssey across America, as she learns about the brain disease that enveloped her father, Lew Carpenter, star running back and assistant coach of the legendary Green Bay Packers.

Sunday Nov 4th, 2018

Requiem for a Running Back

WHAT SHOULD MATTER TO ME?

Thursday Oct 18th, 2018

The Human Microbiome: The Role of Our Second Genome in Health and Disease

SCIENCE AS A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING. Dr. Jim Brown, an expert on the human microbiome - the collective genome of the thousands of species of microorganisms that live naturally within us - will speak on the role of that genome in human health and disease.

Wednesday Oct 10th, 2018

Challenges of Antibiotic Drug Development

SCIENCE AS A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING. Dr. Steve Rittenhouse explains how the ability of bacteria to rapidly evolve resistance makes the development of new antibiotics a challenging task indeed.

Tuesday Oct 2nd, 2018

Clínica de Migrantes: A Screening & Talk

WHAT SHOULD MATTER TO ME? The documentary Clínica de Migrantes: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness follows the work of the staff of Puentes de Salud, a Philadelphia medical clinic that serves the city’s undocumented immigrant communities.

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