FAHSS Dean’s Speaker Series

From Star Wars to South Park: A Conversation with Computer Graphics Pioneer Terrence Masson '89

April 14, 2023
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
O’Leary Library, Room 222
61 Wilder St., Lowell, MA 01854

Join us for an animating presentation and conversation with Terrence Masson ’89, a leading expert in computer graphics and visual effects. Moderated by Assoc. Prof. Pouya Afshar, this talk will spotlight Masson’s experience working on an array of film and television, including “Star Wars” and “South Park,” as well as numerous gaming projects.

Terrence Masson is an educator and computer graphics raconteur with 30 years of production and education leadership experience. His work as an animation and visual effects artist and producer includes live action, animated feature and short animated films, VR/AR, video games and ride films. His book, “CG101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference” is a standard text worldwide for both studio executives and students. Masson earned a B.F.A. in graphic design from UMass Lowell in 1989.

This event is organized by the Art & Design Department and is co-sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Kennedy College of Sciences.

Understanding Variations in Cybercrime Activity Based on Actor Motivation

April 6, 2023
11 a.m.-noon
Allen House
2 Solomont Way, Lowell, MA

Join Thomas J. Holt for a revealing talk that will address the importance of non-economic motives in cybercrime. He will examine these issues through a mixed-methods analysis of open and closed data sources. Prof. Holt will also discuss in detail the implications for cybersecurity, law enforcement and social science theory.

Thomas J. Holt, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. His research focuses on cybercrime, cyberterrorism and the policy response to these offenses. Prof. Holt’s work has been published in a variety of scholarly outlets, including “British Journal of Criminology,” “Crime & Delinquency” and “Terrorism & Political Violence.” His work has been funded by various international agencies, including the Australian Research Council, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Science Foundation.

This event is organized by the School of Criminology & Justice Studies and is co-sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Alumni Showcase with Boston Police Superintendent Nora Baston ’95, ’00

Wednesday, April 5, 2023
5:30-7 p.m.
O’Leary Library, Room 222
61 Wilder St., Lowell, MA 01854

In-person event or Zoom webinar.

Join us for an engaging and insightful Alumni Showcase event featuring Nora Baston ’95,’00, who will share her experiences as a UMass Lowell graduate and former university basketball player. Hear about how her experiences shaped her successful professional journey, spanning from police officer to superintendent in the City of Boston.

A 27-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, Nora Baston was appointed deputy superintendent of the Safe Street Teams Initiative in 2007, and in 2018, was appointed superintendent, overseeing the inaugural Bureau of Community Engagement. Under her leadership, the Safe Street Teams Initiative was recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police with the Community Policing Award and the Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Award. Baston—only the fourth female appointed to the rank of superintendent in the department’s history—is currently chief of the Bureau of Professional Development.

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations and the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Dean’s Speaker Series. 

An Evening with Italian Director Alina Marazzi

Friday, March 17, 2023
5-7 p.m.
Olney Science Center, Room 150
265 Riverside St., Lowell, MA

Join us for a screening of Alina Marazzi’s “Vogliamo anche le rose” (“We Want Roses Too”), an experimental documentary that portrays women during the time of radical feminism and the sexual revolution of the 1970s. Following the screening, Assoc. Teaching Prof. Giulia Po DeLisle will moderate a Q&A with the director.

Alina Marazzi is one of the most established and experimental directors in the world of cinema. Marazzi has shaped a new way of filmmaking that powerfully combines words and images, and her award-winning films and documentaries bring to life female subjectivities, creativity, motherhood and the history of women. Her works include “For One Hour More With You” (2002), “We Want Roses Too” (2007), “All About You” (2013) starring Charlotte Rampling, “Anna Piaggi – Fashion Visionary” (2016) and “To Cut is To Think” (2020).

This event is organized by the Department of World Languages and Cultures and co-sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the History Department and the Gender Studies program.

Empowerment Evaluation and Social Justice

Thursday, March 16, 2023
Noon - 1 p.m.
Coburn Hall, Room 255
850 Broadway St., Lowell, MA

David M. Fetterman, Ph.D., is president and CEO of Fetterman & Associates, an international evaluation consulting firm. His work has taken him to more than 17 countries, with settings ranging from South African townships and Native American reservations to Google and Hewlett-Packard in Silicon Valley. Currently, he is facilitating a USAID-sponsored empowerment evaluation in India focusing on eliminating tuberculosis. In addition, he is providing empowerment evaluation consultation services to Feeding America, one of the largest networks of food banks in America.

This event is organized by the School of Education and is co-sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Finding Artistry With Community

Thursday, March 16, 2023
7-8 p.m.
Durgin Recital Hall
35 Wilder St, Lowell, MA

Throughout her career, acclaimed pianist Sarah Bob has explored the idea of finding an individual artistic voice while engaging with and serving the community. Join us for a special performance and discussion of Bob’s work that brings challenging new music to audiences in diverse and welcoming settings. She will be performing "Junkyard Angel" (2018) by Michael Fiday and "Never Has Been Yet" (2017) for vocalizing pianist by Shaw Pong Liu.

Pianist Sarah Bob is a Boston-based soloist and chamber musician. Considered by Northeast Performer magazine to be a “trailblazer when it comes to championing the works of modern composers and combining art media in the process,” Bob is founding director of the New Gallery Concert Series, which unites new music and contemporary visual art with their creators. Bob also established The Nasty Cooperative, hosting dialogue-driven artistic events that build community and raise funds for nonprofits supporting social equity.

This event is organized by the Music Department and is co-sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

America’s Security Challenges in 2023: The War in Ukraine, China and Beyond

Thursday, February 23, 2023
12:30 - 1:45 p.m.
Coburn Hall, Room 255
850 Broadway St., Lowell, MA

We are proud to offer a timely talk with Former Ambassador Robert Sherman in partnership with the Brad Morse Speaker Series.

Robert A. Sherman served as the U.S. ambassador to Portugal from 2014 to 2017, focusing on bilateral economic development and international security issues. From 1991 to 1993, he was the assistant attorney general of Massachusetts and chief of the state’s Consumer Protection Division. More recently, he served on Maura Healey’s campaign steering committee for governor of Massachusetts, as well Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s campaign steering committee and post-election transition team. Sherman is a founding member of Greenberg Traurig’s Boston office. He has extensive experience in government investigations and litigation, internal corporate investigations and consumer protection matters.

This event is sponsored by the Brad Morse Speaker Series, the Department of Political Science, the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Global Studies Ph.D. program.

An Ethic of Care: Black Feminism and Haitian Fiction

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Join Régine Michelle Jean-Charles for a discussion of her recent book, “Looking for Other Worlds: Black Feminism and Haitian Fiction.” During the talk, she will explore how a Black feminist ethic of care influences the work of three contemporary Haitian authors, Yanick Lahens, Kettly Mars and Évelyne Trouillot.

Régine Michelle Jean-Charles, Ph.D., is a Black feminist literary scholar and cultural critic who works at the intersection of race, gender and justice. She is currently the director of Africana Studies, Dean’s Professor of Culture and Social Justice and professor of Africana Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Northeastern University. Her scholarship and teaching include expertise on Black France, sub-Saharan Africa, Caribbean literature, Haiti and the diaspora. Prof. Jean-Charles is the author of “Conflict Bodies: The Politics of Rape Representation in the Francophone Imaginary,” “A Trumpet of Conscience for the 21st Century: King’s Call to Justice” and “Looking for Other Worlds: Black Feminism and Haitian Fiction.”

This event is organized by the Department of World Languages and Cultures and co-sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Gender Studies program, the English Department and the Latin American & Caribbean Studies Working Group.

The Challenges of Decolonization: European Museums and the Restitution of African Art

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022
5:30-7 p.m.
Coburn Hall, Room 255

Watch a recording of the live stream.

Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have lost more than 90% of its cultural heritage during the colonial era, mostly due to looting by occupying forces. Since the 1960s, many African countries have been expressing their newly gained independence by asking museums, especially in Europe, to return those objects that they argue belong to their own cultural property. 

Join us as guest speaker Alessandra Galizzi Kroegel, Ph.D., discusses the latest developments forcing museums to confront major legal and, above all, ethical questions about ownership and cultural appropriation.     

Alessandra Galizzi Kroegel, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor at the University of Trent, Italy, where she teaches museology and history of art criticism. Her primary field of research is Italian Renaissance, with particular emphasis on Marian iconography, a subject on which she has published a number of essays and articles, and curated two exhibitions. Living between Italy and Germany for the last 30 years, she works as correspondent from Berlin for Il Giornale dell’arte and The Art Newspaper, publishing extensively on the development of the museum landscape in Berlin and former GDR regions after Reunification, as well as on the ongoing debate about the restitution of both Nazi-looted art and cultural property illicitly transferred during colonialism. She earned a Ph.D. in the History of Art at Johns Hopkins University.

Organized by the History Department and co-sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; the Art & Design Department; and the Art History program.