(Unless otherwise indicated, events are at the Center and are for faculty and staff only.)
Wednesday, April 30 , 4 pm
Colin Calloway, Dartmouth College, "White People, Indians, and Highlanders."
Thursday, May 1, 4 pm
Madhavi Sunder, Yale Law School/UC Davis Law, "The New Enlightenment: How Muslim Women are Bringing Religion Out of the Dark Ages"
Thursday, September 25, 4 pm
Susan Neiman, Philosopher, Director of the Einstein Forum, Potsdam, Germany, "What about evil?"
Thursday, November 6, 8 pm
Richard Thompson Ford, Stanford Law School. Annual
W. Allison Davis '24 and John Davis '33 Lecture, title TBA. Lecture open to the public.
Other Programming for 2007-2008:
Charles H. Long gave the W. Allison Davis '24 and John Davis '33 Lecture on November 8. The title of his talk was, "Religion and the Sociological Imagination of African American Social Scientists." Brooks-Rogers Auditorium, 8 pm.
Lisa Randall, the Harvard physicist, presented the Richmond Lecture, "Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensionson," on Thursday, January 8, at 7:30 in Brooks-Rogers Auditorium.
Helen Epstein, biologist and journalist, presented the Weiss Lecture on Tuesday, April 8. The title of her lecture was "The Hidden Cure: Africa, The West, and the Fight Against AIDS." This lecture is free and open to the public.
The Oakley Center was established in 1985 to support faculty research across the humanities and social sciences, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary work. Since that time, it has come to play a vital role in the scholarly life of Williams College. The Center provides a meeting place where faculty and administrative staff can pursue their intellectual and research interests. It sponsors many events and programs throughout the year, some exclusively for faculty and staff and others for the entire campus and the wider public. Programs especially for faculty include colloquia with distinguished visiting scholars and Center-supported faculty research and reading groups. The Center's public events include occasional conferences and the annual Richmond, Weiss, and Allison Davis Lectures.
Williams faculty on leave may apply for Center Fellowships. The Center provides an office and research stipend. Through the Clark-Oakley Fellowship, offered in conjunction with the Research and Academic Program of the Clark Art Institute, the Center also provides an office and funding for one scholar, from outside the College, who will take part in the programs of both institutions. Each semester, about ten faculty Fellows are in residence and participate in a weekly research seminar. Through the Ruchman Fellowship program, one Williams senior participates in the Fellows' seminar as well.