Mark Dion uses scientific and archaeological methodologies to challenge perception and convention in museums and universities. His art examines the line between objective reality and subjective experience while holding a lens to the authoritative forces that shape our understanding of history, knowledge, and the natural world.

Mark Dion’s art makes us think about how museums and universities shape our understandings of history and the natural world. His re-collections and re-creations question the lines between objective reality and subjective experience, using the forms of scientific and cultural institutions to reconsider those institutions. They subvert easy understanding of the past and the world around us, forcing us to look at the old in new ways.

As Public Humanists, we all have a tremendous diversity of skills and interests, and during our time in the program, we refine those skills and hone those interests in preparation for long and fulfilling professional careers. Because of our adaptability, these careers can take any number of tracts. During this lunch talk, we’ll talk about how these skills can be great assets to the public sector, from working in government historical/cultural organizations like the National Park Service to managing construction projects for museums and cultural facilities at the state level.

Jim Egan and Patrick Rashleigh will speak about their work visualizing the library catalog databases that serve as the foundation for Mapping Colonial Americas Publishing Project (http://cds.library.brown.edu/mapping-genres/).

Over 2.3 million individuals are incarcerated in the United States. That means over 2.3 million families and communities are feeling the direct effects of mass incarceration, while our entire nation is confronted with the injustices of our criminal justice system on a weekly, or even daily basis. As individuals working in the public humanities, what do we owe those directly and indirectly affected by mass incarceration in terms of their humanity and our own?

Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos, aka Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, aka Yes Men, will talk about "Just Transition," focusing on how to get good food, a good wage, and a fossil-free campus.

Lunch will be provided. Kindly RSVP by Monday 10/12 here: http://goo.gl/forms/7G8cmhJ4oB

(a Lecture/Photo Presentation with Sylvia Ann Soares:)

Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Associate Professor of Communication and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland, is also a historian, poet, filmmaker, archivist, essayist, and WYPR community commentator. Her talk, "Writing as an Act of Courage, An Expression of Reality, and a Blending of the Personal with the Political,” addresses issues she uncovered and experienced in documenting the Freddie Gray episode and the Baltimore Uprising in her home city.

Facilitated by Valerie Cooley, PhD, MSW , Lecturer, Director of Graduate Studies, Taubman Center for Public Policy, this seminar will provide an introduction to the key issues involved in the evaluation of social and cultural programs. We will briefly review the purpose and types of evaluation strategies. The emphasis of the seminar will focus on the articulation of program theory, distinguishing between program outputs and outcomes, and the challenge of determining program impact.