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.

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Monday Nov 13th, 2023

Parlee Center Lecture: How to Survive the End of the World

The Ursinus College Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good presents Riley Black, prolific writer and author. In this talk, Riley will discuss what transpired during the million years between impact and life’s recovery as well as how she turned this tale into her award-winning book The Last Days of the Dinosaurs.

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Thursday Sep 28th, 2023

Parlee Center Lecture: Meredithe Mcnamara 

The Ursinus College Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good presents Meredithe McNamara, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine and affiliate faculty at the Yale Institute for Global Health. During this talk, she will discuss the threat posed by scientific misinformation to the well-being of trans and gender-expansive youth.
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Monday Sep 11th, 2023

Parlee Center Screening: Picture a Scientist

The Ursinus College Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good presents a screening of Picture a Scientist, a documentary on women in science that chronicles the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists.
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Wednesday Apr 19th, 2023

CoSA 2023: Celebration of Student Achievement

Every April, we reschedule classes for a day so every student can participate in the Celebration of Student Achievement (CoSA). The day is filled with talks, poster presentations, and performances from hundreds of students from every discipline, from first-year students to seniors.

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Tuesday Mar 14th, 2023

The First Ornithologist of the New World: Afro-Latino Santiago de Cárdenas and his Scientific-Literary Dialogue

Join the Modern Languages Department for a talk by Martina Thorne (Georgetown University).
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Monday Mar 13th, 2023

Marijuana: The Unbiased Truth About The World’s Most Popular Weed

Kevin P. Hill is an addiction psychiatrist, director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His clinical research is focused primarily on medications and behavioral interventions that might improve available treatments for those wanting to stop smoking marijuana.
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Monday Feb 27th, 2023

Parlee Center Lecture: What Matters in Healthcare?

Valerie A. Adelson is the associate director of government relations for the American Thoracic Society. In this talk, she will discuss the need for cultural and linguistic competence in health care and race-based disparities in health care.
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Monday Feb 13th, 2023

Parlee Center Lecture: Karen E. Scheu

Karen E. Scheu, an assistant professor of family and community health at the University of Maryland School of Nursing—and a member of the Ursinus College Board of Trustees— specializes in immigrant health and underserved communities.
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Tuesday Jan 24th, 2023

Restoring the American Dream and the American Economy through Healthcare Price Transparency

Join us for this signature lecture with Cynthia Fisher ’83, H’06. Ms. Fisher is a life science entrepreneur, philanthropist, and corporate board director. She is currently Founder and Chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org (PRA), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on systemwide healthcare price transparency.
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Monday Nov 7th, 2022

Happening (Audrey Diwan, 2021)

Anne, an undergraduate, needs an abortion. But in 1960’s France, it’s illegal

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Monday Oct 24th, 2022

What do we do now? Dissecting the impact of overturning Roe v Wade

Carlene Allana Denis, MD, FACOG
Senior Physician, Valley Forge OBGYN
President, Medical Staff Committee, Phoenixville Hospital

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Tuesday Sep 27th, 2022

Lonely in a Crowded (Locker) Room: Science from Isolation and Inclusion

Casper Voyles, PhD
GATHER Fellow, Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health

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Monday Sep 5th, 2022

Picture a Scientist

A Documentary on Women in Science
Despite the minimal news coverage, sexual harassment and gender inequality against women are no less prevalent in science than they are in pop culture and corporate America.

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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.
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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.
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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

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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.
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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.

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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.

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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

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