The Faculty Lecture Series, presented by the Office of the Dean of the College, offers Pomona College faculty the opportunity to share recent research with students, staff and their colleagues during open lectures throughout the academic year.
Lecture dates and topics are posted to this page and to the Pomona College events calendar as they become available. Please check event entries for location and audience. Some lectures are available on-demand (links provided below).
The Faculty Lecture Series
2025-2026
September
Nina Karnovsky, Willard George Halstead Zoology Professor of Biology, and Wallace “Marty” Meyer, Director of the Bernard Field Station and Associate Professor of Biology, presented “Sagehens, Snails and Seabirds: Conservation of Biodiversity in a Changing World.”
October
Gary Champi, Assistant Professor of Dance, presented “Are We Still Dancing?”
November
Tahir Andrabi, Stedman-Sumner Professor of Economics, presented “A Journey into Pakistan’s Educational System.”
February
Alexandra Papoutsaki, Associate Professor of Computer Science, presented “Humans Through the Eyes of Technology.”
Yanshuo Zhang, Assistant Professor of Asian Languages and Literatures, presented “Creative Belonging: The Qiang and Multiethnic Imagination in Modern China.”
March
Bilal Nasir, Assistant Professor of Asian Studies, presented “West Coast Strategy: Policing Palestine in the World City.”
April
Sara Sadhwani, Assistant Professor of Politics, presented “Transforming Los Angeles County Governance: The Implementation of Measure G.”
2024-2025
September
Erica Dobbs, Assistant Professor of Politics, presented “Complaining as Citizenship? Migration, Claims-Making, and Integration in the Two Irelands.”
October
Victoria Sancho Lobis, Sarah Rempel and Herbert S. Rempel ’23 Director of the Benton Museum of Art and Associate Professor of Art History, presented “Pomona’s Art Collection: A preliminary assessment and invitation for further faculty engagement.”
November
Robert Gaines, Edwin F. and Martha Hahn Professor of Geology, presented “The Rise of Complex Life on Earth,”
February
Gibb Schreffler, Associate Professor of Music, presented “What Are ‘Sea Shanties’? A Field Guide to Spotting These Songs in the Wild.”
Nicholas Ball, Associate Professor of Chemistry, and Tom Le, Associate Professor of Politics, presented “Our Academic Journey.”
April
Sara Masland, Associate Professor of Psychological Science, presented “Breaking the Curse of Narcissus: Understanding the Modern Science of Narcissism.”
2023-2024
September
Preston McBride, Assistant Professor of History, and student Colin McAfee, presented “A Lethal Education: A History of U.S. Boarding Schools for Native Americans.”
Konrad Aguilar, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, together with students Esteban Ayala, Evelyne Knight, and Chloe Marple, presented “Contractivity of Quantum Channels.”
October
Miriam Merrill, Director of Athletics and Professor of Physical Education, presented “Beyond the Scoreboard: Exploring the Essence of the Department of Physical Education and Sagehen Athletics.”
November
Nicholas Ball, Associate Professor of Chemistry, presented “Activating Excellence through Chemistry.”
March
Keri Wilson, Assistant Professor of Biology, presented “The Role of Prostaglandins in Mediating Invertebrate Reproduction.”
April
Ernesto Gutierrez Topete, Chau Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Linguistics and Cognitive Science, and Pomona class of 2017, presented “Occlusive salience among Spanish-English bilinguals: Evidence from Code-Switching.”
2022-2023
September
Edray Goins, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, presented “How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Excursions in Monodromy of Belyi Lattes Maps [video]” (on-demand recording).
November
Amanda Hollis-Brusky, Professor and Chair of Politics, presented “The Most Dangerous Branch: The Supreme Court’s Legitimacy Crisis & the Movement for Court Reform.”
February
Tom Flaherty, John P. and Magdalena R. Dexter Professor of Music and College Composer, presented “Composing Ourselves.”
March
Carolyn Ratteray, Associate Professor of Theatre; Co-Chair of Theatre presented.
April
Stephen Marks, Elden Smith Professor of Economics, presented “Effects of Police Force Size and California Criminal Justice Reforms on Crime Rates.”
2021-2022
* The Fall 2021 series has been spread out over the full 21-22 academic year.
November
Fred Leichter, Founding Director of The Rick and Susan Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity (The Hive), presented “Learn About The Hive.”
Edray Herber Goins, PhD., Professor Mathematics and Statistics, presented “The Black Mathematician Chronicles: Our Quest to Update the MAD Pages.”
January
Jorge Moreno, Assistant Professor Physics and Astronomy, presented “Galaxies Without Dark Matter: A Challenge for the Standard Paradigm?.”
February
Friederike von Scherwin-High, Professor and Chair of German and Russian, presented “The Writerly ‘Nature’ of G. E. Lessing According to His Brother Karl Around 1790.”
2020
*Based on the change in schedules and the move to entirely remote interactions, the Fall 2020 series has been spread out over the full 20-21 academic year.
September
Gizem Karaali, Professor of Mathematics, presented “Math…With a Conscience? [video]” (recorded lecture).
October
Thomas Le, Assistant Professor of Politics, presented “Japan’s Aging Peace.”
November
Prageeta Sharma, Professor of English, presented “Sequences and Poems [video].”
February
Dwight Whitaker, Professor and Chair of Physics & Astronomy, presented “Nature’s Weapons of Mass Reproduction [video].”
March
Giovanni Ortega, Assistant Professor of Theatre & Dance, presented “Developing Narratives for Marginalized Voices During a Pandemic [video].”
April
Heidi Haddad, Associate Professor of Politics, presented “Localizing the Global: Cities and International Human Rights.”
2019
September
Nicholas Ball, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, presented “Chemistry that Clicks - Industrial Collaborations that Enrich Undergraduate Research.”
Joti Rockwell, Associate Professor of Music; Music Theory; Coordinator of American Studies, presented “Music in Motion, Music as Motion.”
October
David Kauchak, Associate Professor of Computer Science, presented “Text Simplification - Improving Information Accessibility.”
Arlen F. Chase, Visiting Professor of Anthropology, presented “The Impact of Technology and Long-Term Archeological Research on Perceptions about the Ancient Maya and Caracol, Belize.”
Wallace Meyer III, Director of the Bernard Field Station and Associate Professor of Biology, presented “Ecology of Claremont - Insights for a Sustainable Future.”
November
Manisha Goel, Assistant Professor of Economics, presented “Is Diversity Good for Business?.”
2018
September
Stephan Garcia, W.M. Keck Distinguished Service Professor and Professor of Mathematics, presented “Prime Time Math: Little Green Men, Locust Hordes, and Cybersecurity.”
October
Alma Zook, Professor of Physics, presented.
November
Benjamin Keim, Assistant Professor of Classics, presented “Scrutinizing Politicians in Democratic Athens: How the Athenians Chose and Confirmed their Officials.”
Aaron Kunin, Associate Professor of English; Chair of English, presented “A Paraphrase of Herbert’s ‘Love’ (3).”
2017
September
Susan McWilliams, Associate Professor of Politics, presented “Building the Republic: The Founding Fathers as Architects and Urban Planners.”
October
Peter Thielke, Professor of Philosophy, presented “Paradox, Reason and Inquiry.”
Karen Parfitt, Professor of Neuroscience, presented “‘Smart’ Drugs, in Sickness and in Health.”
November
Jane Liu, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, presented “RNA + Bacteria + Evolution = Sensors!”
Erin Runions, Professor of Religious Studies, presented “Carceral Technologies, Biblical Affects, U.S. Theopolitics.”
2016
September
Kyla Tompkins, Associate Professor of English and Gender and Women’s Studies, presented “On The Gelatinous.”
Nina Karnovsky, Associate Professor of Biology, presented “Asking The Auks About Climate Change.”
October
Joyce Lu, Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance, presented “Spirit and Culture in the Flesh: Pedagogies of Connection.”
Colin Beck, Associate Professor of Sociology, presented “Few Other Ways Out: Anticipating the Outcomes of Revolutions.”
November
Pierangelo De Pace, Associate Professor of Economics, presented “Forecasting Economic Activity Using Financial Variables.”
Lesley Irvine, Director of Pomona-Pitzer Athletics, presented “Sagehen Spirit: Updates, Insights and Lots of Blue and Orange!”
Daniel O’Leary, Carnegie Professor of Chemistry, presented “The Deeds to Deuterium.”
2015
September
Heather Williams, Associate Professor of Politics, presented “A Tiny River that Built an Empire: The Santa Ana in the Making of Market and State in Southern California.”
Ami Radunskaya, Professor of Mathematics, presented “Functions, Formulas and Dendritic Cells: Using Mathematics and the Immune System to Fight Cancer.”
October
Hung Thai, Associate Professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies, presented “Emotional Currencies: What Happens When Poor Immigrants Return Home to Spend and Give Money.”
Mark Andrejevic, Professor of Media Studies, presented “Drone Media: Power Asymmetries Associated with the Automation of Surveillance, Sense-Making and Response.”
November
Alfred Cramer, Associate Professor of Music, presented “How a Tune Creates Meaning: Music and Prosody in ‘This Land Is Your Land’.”
December
Tahir Andrabi, Stedman-Sumner Professor of Economics, presented “Improving Educational Outcomes in Developing Countries: A Pragmatic Approach.”
2014
September
Margaret Waller, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, presented “Napoleon’s Closet: The Emperor, the Priest, and the Men Who Invented Fashion Magazines.”
Rick Hazlett, Stephen M. Pauley M.D. ’62 Professor of Environmental Studies and Professor of Geology, presented “Fracking, Peaking, and America’s Energy Future.”
October
Tomàs Summers Sandoval, Associate Professor of Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies and History, presented “Lessons From the Making of Latino San Francisco.”
April Mayes, Associate Professor of History, presented “What the Cocks Fight Over: Eggs and Human Rights in Contemporary Hispaniola.”
November
Frances Pohl, Dr. Mary Ann Vanderzyl Reynolds ’56 Professor of Humanities and Professor of Art History, presented “Art and Labor in a Time of War: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Workers’ Education, and World War II.”
December
E.J. Crane, Associate Professor of Biology, presented “The Origins of Life on Earth, and Why Your Earliest Relatives Ate Rocks.”
2013
Biotechnology and the Law: Pomona Science On Trial
Len Seligman, Professor of Biology
Irony on Trial: Oscar Wilde v. The Picture of Dorian Gray
Kevin J.H. Dettmar, W.M. Keck Professor of English
Zoned Crystals and the Pace of Earth Processes
Jade Star Lackey, Associate Professor of Geology
Film with No Leader, Movement without Edge: Politics, Fantasy, and Japanese Left Cinema
Jonathan M. Hall, Assistant Professor of Media Studies
Neon Slaves, Electric Savages or How Does a Wired Thing Understand? Mapping Black Women’s Agency via Afrofuturism
Valorie Thomas, Associate Professor of English/Africana Studies
The Hunger Games, Utopias, and Concentration Camps
Oona Eisenstadt, Fred Krinsky Professor of Jewish Studies & Associate Professor of Religious Studies
2012
Spurring Pomona-Pitzer Soccer: Player Development in the English Premiership and at Pomona-Pitzer
William Swartz, Professor of Physical Education and Soccer Coach
Finding Life's Music Through Statistical Noise
Johanna Hardin, Associate Professor of Mathematics
Progress on Pythagoras and the Value of Interdisciplinary
Richard McKirahan, Edwin Clarence Norton Professor of Classics and Professor of Philosophy
A Graph-Based Perspective on the World
Tzu-Yi-Chen, Associate Professor of Computer Science
Machine Project Presents!
Mark Allen, Associate Professor of Art
Zap! Pow! Bam! Superman Fights the Nazis
Lynn Rapaport, Henry Snyder Professor of Sociology