’ paintings line the walls of her studio in Anchorage, Alaska. From “icon portraits” to landscapes, her artwork holds a palpable verve—carrying a panorama of stories, ideas and interpretations with them, often centered on Alutiiq culture and identity.

From April 6-17, Infante Lyons will bring her visual and academic storytelling to ������ as the 2026 . Her two-week residency is organized around the theme of “Visions of Resilience: Sacred Art and Storied Landscapes.” Humanities Center Director Vivian May says she is excited about the many different ways Infante Lyons will engage the community through dialogues, lectures and seminars focused on her art, Indigenous cultural resilience, approaches to environmentalism and environmental activism, storytelling and more. Infante Lyons’ work, says May, “immerses us in a sense of place and asks us to build relationships across boundaries. Infante Lyons visualizes the sacred, imagines the environment and builds stories in ways that invite us to come together and imagine a more just future for all.”

All are welcome to meet Infante Lyons and experience her work in person at an at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, in Eggers Hall and at other .

Infante Lyons, a painter and multimedia artist whose work engages themes of Indigenous sovereignty, cultural resilience and environmental sustainability, was raised in Anchorage. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Whitman College, she studied at the Viña del Mar Escuela de Bellas Artes and spent 18 years in Chile. Her maternal family is from Kodiak Island—a large island in the Gulf of Alaska and the ancestral homeland of the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people—where her grandparents were commercial salmon fishers. She is a registered Alutiiq Alaska Native and has tribal affiliation with the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq corporation, Koniag.

“I’m looking forward to conversations about learning from different cultures: the importance of a diverse mindset, the richness of looking at Indigenous cultures, how they see the world,” says Infante Lyons. Turning to the future, she asks: “And then, how can you apply that to a conversation [about] where we go forward? It could be applied to sustainability, or how we get along as human beings, or how we get along with the rest of the world.”

Notably, two new paintings by Infante Lyons will find a permanent home in the ������ Art Museum. Melissa Yuen, curator at the museum, says Infante Lyons’ potrtaits “invite interdisciplinary conversation, highlighting humanity’s relationship with the environment, disrupting Eurocentric worldviews and celebrating the role women play in Alutiiq culture as connectors with the world.”

These as-yet unnamed pieces, to be unveiled on April 7, each depict Alaskan Native women dressed in kuspuks. The works incorporate traditional and contemporary Indigenous designs, and each woman cradles an animal central to Alutiiq culture: a seal pup in one painting, an otter in the other. The compositions echo a “Madonna and Child” style painting, complete with halos and other visual symbols of reverence.

In portraying animals in the style of sacred Orthodox paintings and iconography, Infante Lyons emphasizes an intimate relationship between humans and the natural world—one that opposes Western models of extraction and domination. Relatedly, some of her upcoming events on campus will highlight how Indigenous mindsets forge new pathways for understanding and caring for the environment.

Chie Sakakibara, associate professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies and geography and the environment, says when she came across one of Infante Lyons’ icon portraits, “” she was speechless.

“I was immediately struck by the work’s powerful expressivity, as Linda brings together multiple elements—ancestral presences and sacred, spiritual words—into the present, rather than relegating them to a past that no longer exists,” says Sakakibara.

Sakakibara invites the campus and broader Syracuse community into a shared encounter with Infante Lyons’ artistic wisdom, and hopes the residency will spark some of the same kinds of connections she cultivates with students around traditional and land-based knowledge, cultural resilience, multi-species relations and the continuity of Indigenous storytelling.

For co-host Timur Hammond, associate professor of geography and the environment, Infante Lyons’ residency opens up new points of academic connection, particularly for his Spring 2026 course, ‘Geography of Memory,’ and for strengthening his ongoing collaborations with the (EHN). One of EHN’s projects includes an , developed with Infante Lyons, to help spark discussion and activity in the classroom and community.

While Infante Lyons’ work carries many layers of meaning, her creative process begins without a preconceived agenda. Referencing Syracuse creative writing professor and author George Saunders, Infante Lyons subscribes to the idea that “the muse finds you.” A blank canvas is an invitation for her to explore meaning, and to see her life experiences naturally flow out onto the canvas.

“You come to the studio, you start something, and you may try to have a concept or an idea or a composition, but that will change,” she says. In being open to spontaneous inspiration during this creative process, “you end up with a better piece of artwork,” says Infante Lyons.

She hopes to inspire the same approach in those who come across her art. Her paintings—and the conversations that arise around them—need not uphold a rigid, absolute message. Rather, her work invites an opportunity for thought, exploration and emotion.

Story by Colette Goldstein G’25

On a February morning, members of the University community sat down at their keyboards with a shared purpose: to pull the voices of history out of the archive and into the digital age—one keystroke at a time.

Gathering at the on Feb. 13 to mark Douglass Day 2026—the annual national celebration honoring abolitionist Frederick Douglass—faculty, staff and students spent the afternoon transcribing collected documents from the Colored Conventions, a Black political movement that spanned seven decades in the 1800s.

The large-scale nationwide transcription effort is a way to broaden digital access to historical documents for all who are interested—community members, educators and scholars.

“The Humanities Center is proud to participate in this shared project each year,” says , professor of women’s and gender studies in the and director of the ������ Humanities Center. “In just a few short hours, we can all pitch in to make a rich trove of knowledge in Black historical materials widely available via digitization, rather than stored in hard-to-access archives or separated across the nation in different libraries.”

Illuminating How Social Change Unfolded

The documents included meeting minutes, proceedings, newspaper articles, speeches, letters, transcripts and images, drawn from both before and after the American Civil War.

“This nationwide, and now international, collective effort really makes a difference,” May says. “For instance, thanks to previous Douglass Day ‘transcribe-a-thons,’ today, we can easily access the Syracuse, New York, 1864 Colored Convention program, ‘.’ Reading the speeches and engaging with this program helps us understand how this movement for social change unfolded across the nation but also right here, in .”

Some students who participated were surprised to learn how many Black newspapers there were in the mid-1800s, and they could see the role of print journalism in getting people together to organize and advocate for civil rights, May says.

For example, with morning and evening editions of Black papers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it became obvious in transcribing different stories and announcements that newspapers were key to political organizing and functioned more like an Instagram post does today—getting the word out and bringing people together around a cause.

The University began partnering with Douglass Day and hosting an event to coincide with the national effort in 2020.

“We look forward to keeping up the annual tradition in honor of Frederick Douglass and Black History Month,” says Diane Drake, assistant director of the Humanities Center.

According to the , the political gatherings offered opportunities for free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans—both men and women—to organize and strategize for racial justice. The first Colored Convention was held in 1830 in response to Ohio’s 1829 exclusionary laws and a wave of anti-Black mob violence that had forced 2,000 Black residents to flee the state.

That first meeting brought Black leaders together to contest widespread discrimination against Black communities, and a movement was born. More than 600 Colored Conventions were held at the national and state levels from 1830 to the 1900s.

Douglass escaped slavery in Maryland as a young man and became a national leader in the abolitionist movement, renowned for his oratory skills, in Massachusetts and New York, and for his newspaper in Rochester, New York, The North Star, which was an important tool in abolishing slavery and advocating for women’s rights and civil rights. The paper’s motto summarizes Douglass’ inclusive approach to human rights nicely: “Right is of no Sex—Truth is of no Color—God is the Father of us all, and all we are Brethren.”

Common lore is that Douglass did not know the exact date he was born in 1818, so in emancipation he chose to celebrate his birth on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. The Annual Douglass Day event is planned each year at that time.

for individuals to assist with the transcription from home.

and the , in partnership with the (IVMF) and the National Veterans Resource Center (NVRC), are hosting a discussion of art, identity and conflict featuring Veterans Writing Award-winning authors on Friday, Nov. 7, at 5 p.m. at the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building at 101 Waverly Ave. The event is featured in the Humanities Center’s on “Creativity.”

Robin Caudell, the 2023 Veterans Writing Award winner, will read an excerpt from her upcoming book, “Black Heel Strings: A Choptank Memoir,” published by ������ Press. In addition, the panel discussion will include award-winning veteran writers Dewaine Farria, Brian O’Hare, Jenny Pacanowski and Maurice Decaul. Those interested in attending should . A reception and book signing will take place following the panel discussion.

As an extension of the Veteran’s Writing Award, the University will also host a on Nov. 8 and 9 at the NVRC. Participants will have the opportunity to receive instruction and develop their writing under the direction of Farria, O’Hare and Pacanowski.

The workshop provides veterans a space to reflect on their experiences, gain insight and solace, process complex emotions, and build public voices and community with other service members while sharing stories with varied audiences. Those interested in applying to participate in the workshop should complete the by Oct. 1. The cost of participating in the workshop is $100, which covers the cost of instructional material and food. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available. If you would like to be considered, please contact vwasubmissions@syr.edu.

The weekend workshop includes two public readings by workshop leaders and participants. A full schedule of events is available on the .

About the veteran writer panelists on Friday, Nov. 7:

• Robin Michel Caudell is an award-winning Press-Republican staff writer. A Native of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Caudell served in the U.S. Air Force and was a John L. Levitow Honor Graduate. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College. Her poetry has been anthologized in national and international publications. She is the director/screenwriter for “Witness Tree at Union Road,” a documentary in collaboration with Skidmore College. Veteran, activist and author Anuradha Bhagwati selected Caudell’s memoir “Black Heel Strings: A Choptank Memoir” as the 2023 winner of the Veterans Writing Award.
• Dewaine Farria served in Jordan and Ukraine as a U.S. Marine. In addition to his military service, Farria served in the United Nations’ Department of Safety and Security. He supervises field security for the Asian Development. He holds an MA in international relations from the University of Oklahoma and an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Farria’s writing has appeared in Literary Hub, The New York Times, Southern Humanities Review, The Daily Beast and War on the Rocks. Tobias Wolff selected his novel “” as the winner of the inaugural Veterans Writing Award.
• Brian O’Hare is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, former Marine officer and Gulf War veteran. He is an award-winning writer and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. National Book Award winner Phil Klay selected his short story collection “” as the winner of the 2021 Veterans Writing Award. His film “Rizoo,” about a young girl deciding whether to wear the hijab for a class picture, was released in 2025 by The New Yorker. His feature documentary “Cannon Shot” about the world’s largest croquet match between the U.S. Naval Academy and St. John’s College, will premiere later this year.
• Jenny Pacanowski is a poet, playwright, military combat veteran and public speaker. She is the founder and artistic director of Women Veterans Empowered and Thriving (WVE&T), which has expanded its programming to include men, civilian support members and LGBTIA+ community members. Her writing has appeared in The War Horse, Spring St, Aquila Theater, The Journal of Military Behavioral Health and multiple poetry anthologies. She wrote the original drama “Dionysus in America,” which premiered in October 2019 at Canopy Theater and The Vortex. In June 2025, Jenny earned an MFA degree in performance creation.
• Maurice Decaul is a former Marine, poet, essayist and playwright. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Sierra Magazine, Epiphany, Callaloo, Narrative and other outlets. His poems have been translated into French and Arabic and his theatrical works, “Holding it Down” and “Sleep Song,” collaborations with composer Vijay Iyer and poet Mike Ladd, have been produced and performed at New York City’s Harlem Stage, the Atlas Intersections Festival in Washington, D.C., and in Paris and Antwerp. He holds degrees in creative writing from Columbia University and New York University.

������ Press, in cooperation with the D’Aniello Institute, established the Veterans Writing Award in 2019. The mission of the Veterans Writing Award is to recognize the contributions of veterans to the literary arts, shine a light on the multivalent veteran experience and provide a platform for unrecognized military writers. For more information, visit the . To ensure accessibility, CART and ASL services will be provided for this event.

Story by Lisa Kuerbis

The themes of healing, identity and community through the lens of the human body are the focus of a new exhibition at .

A opens “Corpórea,” which translates to “of the body,” on Friday, Sept. 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. with music, traditional Spanish-Caribbean cuisine and a presentation of participating artists. The exhibition runs through the 2025-26 academic year.

Featuring large-scale collective works and individual pieces created by members of Syracuse’s Latino community, the exhibition recognizes the body as a site of memory, resilience and transformation, says organizer Bennie Guzmán G’25, a Syracuse-based artist and graduate of the master’s program in in the . Body maps and mixed media, collected over six weeks of art therapy workshops held this summer, reflect the artists’ personal journeys.

“‘Corpórea’ is about what we carry, how we heal and how we thrive,” Guzmán says. “Art becomes a way to regulate, reflect and reconnect. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about being present.”

Emily Nolan, professor of practice in creative arts therapy and a licensed art therapist, was an advisor on the project. M. Emma Ticio Quesada, professor of Spanish and linguistics in the , was also involved. Also assisting were Brenda Teruya, a doctoral candidate in the economics program in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and Paola Méndez G’25, a graduate of the master’s program in museum studies and curator of the exhibit.

The project is part of the 2025–26 , ��presented by the . It is also��supported by the and the University’s .

, executive director of the Office of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community, says the program was “an opportunity [for participants] to share their stories and experience a sense of wellness through creative expression, even as they navigated linguistic and cultural barriers. The project affirms the importance of visibility, empathy and mutual support and is a powerful model of connection and belonging.”

A series of community dialogues on the outcomes of the program is also planned.

A key aspect of preparing students to become engaged global citizens is exposing them to new perspectives. According to a study from the��, humanities public programming is one effective way to achieve this, as it “equips students with essential skills that are transferable to many areas of life and work, making them more thoughtful, informed and critical individuals.”

�ճ������hosts the Syracuse Symposium, which encompasses a variety of art exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, workshops, musical performances and more. These events, open to ������ students, faculty and staff, along with the local community, inspire critical thinking about current issues and encourage reflection on personal values and beliefs, highlighting how the humanities can be applied in various real-world contexts.

The yearlong Symposium����with a series of events centered around this year’s theme, ‘community,’ as selected by the��. Continuing this spring, events will demonstrate how the humanities are essential for helping to create environments in which everyone can thrive, resulting in more inclusive communities and healthier and more just societies. Programming will also spark thoughtful discussions through unexpected juxtapositions, such as how sports and theater are vital to community-building, and how youth storytelling can be brought to life through film, music and dance. Explore the full slate of Symposium events below.

Spring Symposium Events

Sunday, February 2

��–���ճ���� (TwMC) collaborative will present a screening of works by Syracuse-area high school students at the Watson Hall Theater. Films were shot using readily available tools like smartphones, illustrating that anyone can create impactful movies, regardless of their resources.

Friday, February 7 and Saturday, February 8

Resettled refugee youth from the����will host two storytelling events. On Feb. 7, the fellows����through poetry set to music by Iraqi composer Ameen Mokdad, performed by Cuatro Puntos musicians and Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet dancers, choreographed by ECB artistic director Elisa Schroth. On Feb. 8, the poets, composer, choreographer, musicians and dancers will facilitate a��.

Wednesday, February 26

��– In this event presented by Syracuse Stage, former ������ athletes Eric Devendorf (basketball) and Eric Jackson (football) will discuss the role of sports in building community and how it can result in unexpected friendships and lasting connections. The panel discussion, in conjunction with the play��,��will be moderated by��, an instructor of Spanish in A&S and former editor at ESPNDeportes.com and ESPN.com.

Thursday, March 6

��–��, associate professor of teacher education and school improvement at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, will explore pathways and possibilities for justice-oriented, community-based and youth-engaged teaching and learning in the context of today’s polarizing political climate.

Tuesday, March 18

Two related events will spotlight Gertrude Berg, the groundbreaking writer-actress who created the serial comedy-drama��The Rise of the Goldbergs��(1929), later known as��. ������ Trustee Professor����“” viewing series will feature radio and television screenings of Berg’s work, co-curated by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Emily Nussbaum. Later that day, Nussbaum will use archival letters from the Special Collections Research Center’s Gertrude Berg Papers to��.

Thursday, April 3 and Friday, April 4

New York State Poet Laureate����will host a reading of her works and a craft-focused discussion. On April 3, Spears Jones will����at the Syracuse Downtown YMCA’s Shinder Theater. On April 4, she will����in conversation with students and fans of poetry in the campus community. Space for that talk is limited. To register, contact��Phil Memmer, executive director of the Arts and Education Branch of the YMCA of CNY, by March 28.

Saturday, April 5

��–��Film director Will Fraser will share excerpts from his two decades of work producing documentaries and films related to the pipe organ. He will also join a panel of organists to discuss the instrument’s future.

.

A new exhibition featuring the work of renowned photographer, writer, poet, musician and composer Gordon Parks will open at the ������ Art Museum on Aug. 22 and be on view through Dec. 10.

“Homeward to the Prairie I Come” features more than 75 of Parks’ images, examining his wide-ranging artistic ideas. The exhibition not only includes Parks’ documentary photography such as the series Paris Fashions, Fort Scott Revisited and The Redemption of the Champion��(featuring images of Muhammed Ali), but also his thoughts on photography as a fine art medium and his engagement with celebrated paintings and sculptures.

Most significantly, the photographs instigate cultural change by challenging viewers to imagine a more inclusive culture than the one they know: a world where Black skin represents ideal beauty, where an African American athlete embodies the exemplary hero and where an artist of African heritage has a place within the lineage of excellent artists in Western art history.

“This exhibition leverages the power of art to catalyze dialogue about the wide range of issues that Parks engaged with in his photography, from systemic racism to the labor and ethics of the global fashion industry to ideas of celebrity and home,” says Melissa Yuen, the ���ܲ���ܳ�’s interim chief curator.

Interim director of the museum Emily Dittman says, “Gordon Parks was a visionary interdisciplinary artist whose work had a lasting impact on the world. His dedication to continually tell the stories of individuals that were—and still are—too often hidden and overlooked is clearly evident and inspiring throughout his artistic work.”

In this spirit, the museum is taking steps to creating an accessible, diverse and multilingual space for all communities and families. The interpretive text in the exhibition is bilingual, providing both English and Spanish text for visitors, large-type text will be available and a family guide is provided to help youth and families explore the exhibition. An open access digital exhibition catalog for the exhibition will be available for visitors in the reflection area, as well as reading materials on Gordon Parks and his multifaceted career. The exhibition will be accompanied by a dynamic slate of public programming, all free and open to the public.

Co-curated by Aileen June Wang, Ph.D., curator, and Sarah Price, registrar, at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, the tour is organized by Art Bridges. The exhibition and related programs have been made possible by generous support from Art Bridges, the Wege Foundation and the Humanities Center (Syracuse Symposium).

About the Artist

Parks, one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century, was a humanitarian with a deep commitment to social justice. He left behind an exceptional body of work that documents American life and culture from the early 1940s into the 2000s, with a focus on race relations, poverty, civil rights and urban life. Parks was also a distinguished composer, author and filmmaker who interacted with many of the leading people of his era—from politicians and artists to athletes and celebrities.

Born into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1912, Parks was drawn to photography as a young man when he saw images of migrant workers taken by Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographers in a magazine. After buying a camera at a pawn shop, he taught himself how to use it. Despite his lack of professional training, he won the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942; this led to a position with the photography section of the FSA in Washington, D.C., and, later, the Office of War Information (OWI). Working for these agencies, which were then chronicling the nation’s social conditions, Parks quickly developed a personal style that would make him among the most celebrated photographers of his era. His extraordinary pictures allowed him to break the color line in professional photography while he created remarkably expressive images that consistently explored the social and economic impact of poverty, racism, and other forms of discrimination.

Featured Events

• Opening Reception and Keynote—Sept. 6, 4-6:30 p.m.; keynote: 4-5 p.m., 160 Link Hall; reception: 5-6:30 p.m., ������ Art Museum
• The Duke Ellington Orchestra presented in partnership with the Malmgren Concert Series—Sept. 22, 4 p.m.; Hendricks Chapel, with reception to follow at the ������ Art Museum
• Community Screening of “Shaft” (1971), directed by Gordon Parks—Oct. 4, 7 p.m.; The Westcott Theater, 524 Westcott St., Syracuse
• Community Day—Oct. 5, noon-4 p.m.; ������ Art Museum
• Art Break: Gordon Parks with Nancy Keefe Rhodes—Oct. 16, noon;�������� Art Museum
• Celebrating the Legacy of Gordon Parks—Nov. 9, noon-4 p.m.; ������ Art Museum;��1 p.m.: Art Break with contemporary photographer Jarod Lew; 2:30 p.m.: screening of “A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks” (2021)
• Gordon Parks Community Gathering/Showcase—Dec. 7, timing TBD;��Deedee’s Community Room, Salt City Market, 484 S. Salina St., Syracuse

Visit the for event information. Members of the media may contact Emily Dittman, interim director of ������ Art Museum, for more information or to schedule a tour.

[Featured image: Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks, “Mrs. Jefferson,” from the series Fort Scott Revisited, 1950, printed in 2017, gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches. Kansas State University, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.373. Image courtesy of and copyright by The Gordon Parks Foundation]

Philosopher Immanuel Kant’s 1795 essay “Toward Perpetual Peace” still holds significant relevance even now more than two centuries after it was first published. With ongoing wars across the globe, securing peace remains elusive.

An upcoming will explore how Kant’s principles can help lay the foundation for lasting peace. The symposium is supported by the , whose administrative home is based at the . The event, “” will be held Friday, April 19, at Cornell University, with a symposium and workshop on one of Kant’s most widely read essays, Zum ewigen Frieden (“Toward Perpetual Peace”).

The symposium, as part of the , is organized by , Dean’s Professor of the Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences and a founder and co-director of the Perpetual Peace Project, and , director of the Institute for German Cultural Studies and associate professor in the Department of German Studies and Graduate Field of Comparative Literature at Cornell University.

The Perpetual Peace Project, an ongoing international forum on the concept of peace, began as an initiative of the Humanities Center in 2008.

“The purpose of the project is to raise awareness and attention to the fact that war is not one regional issue,” Lambert says. “It is a global issue, and the number of wars only seems to increase each year.”

Open to the public, Friday’s symposium, which also is a celebration of Kant’s 300th birthday, will begin with three individual papers that examine different aspects of Kant’s treatise and its contemporary relevance.

“Kant’s popular essay was reviewed and cited as an inspiration by numerous thinkers from the start,” Gilgen says. “Anyone thinking about peace and what it means and implies had/has to take Kant’s profound remarks into account.”

The treatise served as an inspiration for the League of Nations, the first worldwide intergovernmental organization, founded in 1920, as well as its successor organization, the United Nations, in 1945.

“At the symposium, we hope to draw on a wide audience interested in Kant’s political philosophy as well as the theory and practice of peace—a topic that could not be more timely in light of the many ongoing conflicts in different parts of the world,” Gilgen says.

The second half of the event is dedicated to a workshop on the Perpetual Peace Project.

Lambert, who is also founding director of the ������ Humanities Center in the College of Arts and Sciences, and , associate professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, Arizona State University, and co-director of the Perpetual Peace Project, will present the workshop, which will launch the Perpetual Peace Academy. The academy will feature a curriculum created by faculty from all over the world, contributing designs of courses that they would teach in a virtual setting.

“We are really trying to engage students on all campuses and other participants in talking about the Perpetual Peace Project, and then we’re going to inaugurate the Perpetual Peace Academy,” Lambert says. “The academy will be driven by international faculty who want to contribute their ideas from across the disciplines.”

Along with his presence at the symposium, Nocek also joined Lambert in Lambert’s undergraduate seminar, , Tuesday for a discussion with students, and other participants, about the Perpetual Peace Academy. Nocek’s time at the symposium and in the seminar is supported as part of ������’s Distinguished Visiting Collaborator (DVC) initiative of the CNY Humanities Corridor.

Vivian May, director of the SU Humanities Center and lead director of the CNY Humanities Corridor, says the scholar mini-residency bridges the ������ campus with another corridor campus, a model that deepens collaborative networks.

“In conversation with Lambert, Gilgen, and a range of other interlocutors over the course of his visit,��, founding director of the Center for Philosophical Technologies at Arizona State University, will discuss the importance of philosopher Immanuel Kant’s yet-to-be-realized concept of ‘perpetual peace,’” May says. “I encourage everyone who can to engage with this year’s DVC events and activities, as they offer an important opportunity for us to step back, refuse broad acceptance of violence and devastation, and actively pursue planetary peace—a peace that centers climate justice and holistic thriving.”

Since its start in 2008, the Perpetual Peace Project, structured around Kant’s six preliminary articles, has gone through three phases, with the first at ������ and the United Nations in New York. This first phase included a co-edited and re-issue of a new book publication of Kant’s “Perpetual Peace” and several different events.

In partnership with the Humanities Center and the Centre for Humanities at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, the second phase from 2013-15 included a series of events commemorating the Treaty of Utrecht and a documentary film.

This latest phase has reinaugurated the project following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. Lambert partnered with Nocek to kick off this latest phase, including a launch event conference at the University of Warsaw, Poland, followed by conferences at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy and the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, both in the Czech Republic.

Friday’s symposium features a presentation by Gilgen, moderated by Elke Siegel, German studies, Cornell; a presentation by Patchen Markell, associate professor, government, Cornell, and moderated by , Renée Crown Professor in the Humanities and assistant professor, College of Arts and Sciences, ������; and a presentation by Neil Saccamano, associate professor, literatures in English, Cornell, and moderated by , associate professor, philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, ������.

For this latest phase, Lambert edited a new version of Kant’s original treatise, which has been published and is available for event participants.

This spring, the welcomes a visit by renowned Māori scholar, moral and political philosopher, Krushil Watene. She is a member of the Māori tribal communities of Ngāti Manu, Te Hikutu, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and the Pacific Island of Tonga (Hunga, Vava’u). Watene is the Peter Kraus Associate Professor of Philosophy, and associate professor, faculty of arts, at the University of Auckland/Waipapa Taumata Rau, Aotearoa New Zealand. She will be in residence on campus as the .

The center provides major support for a faculty member to organize the Watson Professorship. This year, two College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) faculty members are partnering to host Professor Watene, each bringing distinct expertise and leadership capabilities: Professor , associate professor of philosophy, and , assistant professor of Native American and Indigenous studies and environmental justice.

Watene’s scholarship draws on Indigenous philosophies to address climate change. For example, she suggests that people can transform how they think about the environment by looking through the lens of “kaitiakitanga,” the Māori concept of stewardship of the sky, sea and land. This mindset, rooted in a deep connection to history, ancestors and the environment, offers valuable wisdom for informing policy and law and helping cultivate a healthier, more reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment.

, the title of Watene’s residency, will address fundamental questions in ethics, politics and Indigenous philosophy. In particular, Watene will explore various philosophical traditions, emphasizing the essential contribution of local communities to achieve global change. Watene’s areas of expertise include mainstream theories of well-being, development and justice, intergenerational justice and Māori philosophy.

“We are honored to welcome Krushil Watene as the Watson Professor this spring,” says , director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies, both in the College of Arts and Sciences. “At a time when we are confronting environmental crises on multiple fronts, we need solutions to climate change that draw from diverse knowledges and experiences, and that foreground the humanities’ important role in our collective future. Watene brings a depth of expertise grounded in Māori philosophy and in her own community engagement and climate justice work in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Professors Erlenbusch-Anderson and Huambachano collaborated to host Watene for the Watson Professorship because of her important contributions to contemporary Western philosophy and scholarship on intergenerational justice. They agree that her body of work provides crucial guidance in finding solutions to environmental degradation and climate change by robustly embracing Indigenous philosophies that consider obligations to future generations, as well as ancestors.

“Professor Watene’s work exemplifies the social and political urgency of philosophy and shows how transformative philosophy can be when it is grounded in a commitment to justice, connected to local Indigenous communities and in dialogue with other disciplines,” says Erlenbusch-Anderson. “Her work provides a striking contribution to contemporary philosophy by foregrounding Indigenous values as an innovative way to ensure a sustainable future.”

“From a local to a global scale, Professor Watene’s research highlights the valuable role that Indigenous epistemologies, ontologies and ethics play in improving planetary health,” says Huambachano. “Her work urges humanity to listen to and learn from Indigenous philosophies about our responsibilities to build resilient communities in which both human and non-human entities, like rivers, forests and the Earth itself, can thrive in unison, paving the way for present and future generations to live in flourishing communities.”

Watene will headline six public scholarly events. These will draw on her research on Indigenous conceptions of well-being and sustainable development, including insights from Māori tribal communities and how these are influencing policy and law.

Her two-week residency includes the following opportunities to engage:

Wednesday, March 20, 4-5:30 p.m.

Watene discusses how Indigenous philosophies are inherently good for equitable social, economic, environmental and cultural development. Also, she shares insights on sustainable development, achievable through the proven methods of Māori communities.

Thursday, March 21, 4-5:30 p.m.

Faculty working in the fields of Native American and Indigenous Studies and Philosophy join Watene to discuss reconciliation, transitional and Indigenous justice.

Friday, March 22, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. (Space is limited, registration required.)

A three-part interdisciplinary graduate student workshop on reclaiming Indigenous philosophy, including the Māori philosophy of kaitiakitanga (stewardship), and how these philosophies are transforming policy and law. Interested students should follow the link for all details and requirements.

Public lecture: Monday, March 25, noon-1:30 p.m.

Watene highlights key Māori concepts for intergenerational justice, showcasing how Indigenous philosophies foster relationships, regeneration and innovation. She suggests that applying these perspectives to policy-making can empower communities and cultivate lasting collective responsibility for climate justice.

Public dialogue: Friday, March 29, 3-4:30p.m.

Kyle Whyte from the University of Michigan and ������’s Mariaelena Huambachano will join Watene to discuss the impact of Indigenous philosophies, leadership and diplomacy on global justice and policy development. They draw from Whyte’s experience with the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, Watene’s service on the UN Human Development Reports and International Science Council’s Committee, and Huambachano’s work with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the UN High-Level Panel Experts on Food Security and Nutrition.

A closing reception will be held on Friday, March 29 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Hendricks Chapel.

All events are free and open to the public. Read all the details about these events, including date, time and location on the .

About the Watson Professorship

The Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the Humanities is a distinguished lectureship founded by the Watson family with the aim of fostering on-campus residencies for distinguished scholars, writers, and artists in the humanities. Individuals who have previously held this professorship include Noam Chomsky, Angela Davis and Toni Morrison.

Those appointed as Watson Professors actively participate in the University community through various means, such as delivering public lectures, conducting mini-seminars, engaging in readings or performances, and more. Their residency extends over a significant duration within a semester, or they may opt for a series of brief visits throughout the academic year. Starting this year, the Watson Professorship will be awarded biennially to maximize its funding and potential for collaboration. The center’s next call for Watson Professor proposals will be in fall 2024 for a spring 2026 mini-residency.

Additional ������ departments and centers that are supporting this year’s Watson Professors residency with Watene include anthropology, the Engaged Humanities Network, Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics’ food studies, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs’ geography and the environment, Hendricks Chapel, the Native American and Indigenous Studies program, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, philosophy, religion and sociology.

The continues to celebrate Syracuse Symposium’s 20th season, with a kaleidoscopic range of events centered on the theme of “Landscapes.” The entire campus community and wider public are invited to attend these free events across the spring semester.

The lineup features lectures, art exhibitions and conversations that invite us as a community to immerse in art, narrative and architecture to raise our awareness about the environmental impacts of chemicals, mass extinction and colonialism. The events invite us to deepen a sense of ecological care, unpack environmental ethics and explore reproductive justice issues in a post-Roe world.

Contemplating Syracuse Symposium’s earlier this year, , director of the Humanities Center and of the Central New York Humanities Corridor, noted that the annual series is core to the center’s mission to advance humanities research, showcase the humanities as a public good and enhance our sense of shared community by bringing people together to confront some of the most pressing issues of our time.

“Connecting humanistic inquiry and expertise with broad questions of social justice and public welfare is fundamental to the ������ Humanities Center’s mission,” observes May. “This spring, Landscapes explores complex global and local issues tied to our natural and built environments, but also our cultural and political landscapes. Whether through art, by learning from ancient trees, or by listening to reproductive justice advocates and health care workers on the ground, Landscapes examines the complex interplay of politics, histories and memories in shaping the diverse environments around us.”

Spring Symposium Events

The 2024 Spring Symposium kicks off on Feb. 13 with . Landscape architect Julie Bargmann (FASLA) will discuss imaginative strategies in architecture and design that reveal rather than conceal the chemical aspects and physical legacy of the built environment and post-industrial sites.

On Feb. 22, a lecture, , by philosopher Timothy Morton from Rice University will explore how art provides a model for ecological ethics in a time of mass extinction. A gallery reception for the ������ Art Museum’s spring exhibition, “Assembly,” will follow.

Historian and author Jared Farmer from University of Pennsylvania will give a talk on March 4, , to discuss how ancient trees, regarded as cultural and religious symbols, are under threat due to climate change.

On March 7, Environmental Storytelling CNY welcomes Susanna Sayler and Edward Morris, both of ������, for a conversation, . They will discuss how art in the “Assembly” exhibition at the ������ Art Museum deepens ecological understanding of the places we share.

, on March 26, will feature a series of multi-disciplinary panels over the course of the afternoon focused on navigating the post-Roe landscape, followed by a closing reception. Speakers include SeQuoia Kemp (Syracuse doula and birth-worker), Lori Brown (School of Architecture), Shoshanna Ehrlich (UMass Boston), Kimala Price (San Diego State) and Melissa Shube (Planned Parenthood Federation of America).

On April 4, artist Sophia Chai will talk about her current exhibition at Light Work, “,” featuring a collection of photographs centered on the Korean alphabet and ideas of language, optics and photography. A reception will follow.

Anna Arabindon Kesson from Princeton will lead a discussion on April 11 titled , exploring the representation of plantations in 19th-century British colonial art and how contemporary artists work with these histories to reimagine forms of care for each other and the environment.

Read more about the , including all event details, times and locations.

A new exhibition examining themes related to art and ecology will open at the ������ Art
Museum on Thursday, Jan. 25, and be on view through May 12.

“Assembly: ������ Voices on Art and Ecology’ features artworks made by faculty and recent alumni that contribute to emergent forms of ecological understanding. By placing these works in dialogue with objects from the ���ܲ���ܳ�’s permanent collection, the installation considers a broad cultural evolution from an environmentalism of the sublime to an ecology of intimacy.

The exhibition is curated by Sayler/Morris (Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris, co-directors of The Canary Lab at ������), with Mike Goode, William P. Tolley Distinguished Professor in the Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences and Melissa Yuen, the art museum’s interim chief curator, assisted by Jeffrey Adams (Ph.D. Candidate in English), Jeanelle Cho ’24 (architecture and art history) and Abi Greenfield�� ’25 (history and political philosophy).

As stated by Sayler/ Morris, “The theme of this exhibition is ecology and any ecology properly regarded is an assembly of disparate beings, each with a distinct voice. We like the word assembly in this context
because it connotes more than a mere collection of voices; it implies that each voice will be heard and given space. Beyond this general meaning, we also intend the title to stand for the specific assembly of artistic voices all working within the Syracuse community that we have brought together here.”

In correlation to the exhibition, and in partnership with Goode, the museum will launch the Art,
Ecology and Climate Project, composed of 15 online galleries highlighting works from the collection,
each devoted to a different ecological topic, idea or issue. A general instructor’s guide offers
assignments applicable to any of the e-museums, and detailed guides to individual e-museums offer
additional tools for teaching ecology and climate through art, as well as instructional techniques for
approaching art in the classroom–or on your own–through the lenses of ecology and climate.

“I have focused my Tolley Professorship on helping create tools for Humanities courses to
engage more with ecological and climatological issues, and Sayler/Morris have been working tirelessly
for years to foster ecological thought and activism through their amazing art and their connections to
other ecologically minded artists,” says Goode.�� “It made perfect sense to partner with them to curate an exhibit whose cross-artwork dialogues could at once anchor courses and foster greater ecological mindfulness in museum visitors more generally.”

The exhibition and related programs have been made possible by generous support from the Humanities
Center (Syracuse Symposium); Department of English; The Canary Lab; College of Engineering and
Computer Science; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Undergraduate Program in
Environment, Sustainability and Policy; and the Environmental Storytelling of Central New York.

Featured events accompanying the exhibition include:

Art Break: ‘Assembly’ gallery tour with Melissa Yuen
Jan. 31, 12:15 to 1 p.m.
������ Art Museum

All Art is Ecological
Feb. 22, 4 to 8 p.m.
������ Art Museum and Shemin Auditorium
Art and Ecology Teaching Guides Launch (4 to 5 p.m.)
Gallery reception (5 to 6:30 p.m.)
Public lecture by Timothy Morton from Rice University (6:30 to 8 p.m.)

Environmental Storytelling CNY: Forging Ecological Awareness Through Art
March 7, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Art Break: Bird Collisions in the Anthropocene with Holly Greenberg
March 19, noon to 4 p.m.
������ Art Museum

Community Day
April 13, noon to�� 4 p.m.
������ Art Museum

Visit the ���ܲ���ܳ�’s for more public programs surrounding the exhibition.

In honor of Douglass Day, ������ Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is hosting a pop-up exhibition, “I’m Still a Radical Abolitionist,” showcasing materials by and about Frederick Douglass on Wednesday, Feb. 14, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Spector Room on the sixth��floor of Bird Library.

Douglass Day celebrates Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a leader of the American abolitionist movement, on his chosen birthday. The pop-up exhibition will showcase a selection of materials pertaining to Douglass and his life, including his three autobiographies, speeches and a selection of letters in Douglass’s own hand from the and .

Attendees will have the opportunity to view and engage with the items on display. This event is open to the public, and SCRC staff will be on hand to answer questions about the materials on view and the Center.

The same day, the Syracuse Humanities Center will be hosting the on the first floor of Bird Library, in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (Room 114) from noon to 3 p.m.

If a picture paints a thousand words, what new Syracuse community portrait will emerge to illustrate the past and present stories of individuals and families who have long been neglected in the public memory?

Organizers of the community photographic project, “,” want to visualize just that and are asking Syracuse families to share their family photos and stories on camera to create a living photo archive. Community members—particularly those whose histories have been marginalized—are invited to talk about their family histories at a recorded interview station, digitize their family photos for later exhibition and have new portraits taken with their family photographs.

The project is designed to build a more inclusive history of the city. It takes place Oct. 13-15 through a��series of activities and events with Yale University artist and filmmaker and his . The initiative is being coordinated by students and faculty in the University’s Turning the Lens Collective. The group is composed of , associate professor of English; , a Ph.D. candidate in English; , a Ph.D. candidate in history; Sarhia Rahim ’26, a policy studies major and Aniyah Jones ’25, an English and textual studies and psychology major.

Three Weekend Events

Events include a film screening and discussion of “: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People,” with Harris (, from 6 to 8 p.m.). The with community members takes place , from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A to celebrate the archived images and oral storytelling is planned on , from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and includes music, poetry and special guests. All events take place at the Everson Museum at 401 Harrison St. in downtown Syracuse.

Hallas says the project will build a testament to marginalized families from across the city, cultivate a more inclusive archival history of Syracuse and recognize the people suppressed, forgotten or lost to a highway (the I-81 viaduct) that created a decadeslong economic and racial barrier in Syracuse.

“Syracuse is experiencing significant transformation and renewed hope for economic progress spurred by Micron’s multi-billion-dollar investment in a semiconductor megafacility, the city’s decades of commitment to refugee resettlement and the redevelopment of housing, transportation and industry when a community grid replaces the I-81 viaduct,” Hallas says. “Yet, in moving forward equitably, it’s necessary to remember and document the past. Syracuse remains one of the most impoverished and segregated cities in the nation, specifically for its Black and Latinx communities. In its redevelopment of housing, transportation and industry, the city must not repeat the systemic violence of the past.”

Jessica Terry-Elliott, a project co-organizer, researches the application of various methodologies that comprise what scholars call “Black archival practices.”��She says Family Pictures Syracuse will use oral history methods��coupled with the captured moments of Black life in photographs that are��often held in domestic��repositories.

“Using these methods to develop this project��is an actual application of Black archival practices,” Terry-Elliot says. “It will reveal the complexities of how Black life in Syracuse was and is documented and remembered,��while at the same time constructing pathways to engage with memory for��the future.”

Collective member Charles is writing a dissertation on the Black visual archive in film. “I’ve discovered that family photographs play a tremendous role in shaping our identity and history beyond the purview of our institutional archives,” Charles says. “The photographs we all keep in our homes—hanging on walls or tucked inside family albums—contribute to a larger story. Yet, those items are not always seen as important historical knowledge. This project affirms our photographs are themselves invaluable archives that should be studied and celebrated as such.”

Undergraduate students Jones and Rahim have supported the initiative through their Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) appointments as research assistants on the project. A team of undergraduate students from the department of film and media arts and the Orange Television Network will staff the photo-sharing event and students in Hallas’ upcoming “Everyday Media and Social Justice” and Jessica Terry-Elliott’s “Public History” courses in spring 2024 will further the project after its launch.

��The collective is also coordinating with the Network’s WriteOut Syracuse, a youth afterschool program designed to get students Interested In writing and storytelling, and Black and Arab Relationalities, a Mellon Foundation-funded research project led by College of Arts and Sciences faculty members and .

Wide Community Connections

Organizers are working with the Community Folk Art Center, Onondaga Historical Association and the North Side Learning Center and are collaborating with several other Syracuse community organizations for future programming.

Many sources of funding have made the project possible, including the University’s departments of African American Studies; anthropology; communication and rhetorical studies; English; film and media arts; history; Jewish studies; Latino/Latin American studies; LGBTQ studies; policy studies; religion; sociology; television, radio and film; visual communications; women’s and gender studies; and writing. External funding has been provided by Humanities NY and the Allyn Family Foundation.

Also sponsoring the project are the Democratizing Knowledge project; Engaged Humanities Network; SOURCE; Special Collections Research Center; Syracuse Humanities Center; The Alexa; Lender Center for Social Justice; Light Work and Orange Television Network.

In November, the Special Collections Research Center at Bird Library will host “Family Pictures in the Archive” (, 5 to 7 p.m.). The exhibition displays Black photographs from the University’s collections along with community photos archived during the Family Pictures Syracuse events.