Oberlin Hosts 5 Symposia in April

Oberlin will host an impressive five symposia throughout the month of April on topics ranging on everything from Asian American identity to climate change. The symposia are all free to attend and are welcoming of students, staff, and faculty.

Midwest Asian American Student Conference

Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2

Wilder 208

This biennial conference strives to highlight Asian American stories that are ignored due to racial generalizations and stereotypes. From poetry on the trauma of war to pressure from Western beauty standards, a variety of topics will be covered throughout the two-day conference. Featured speakers and performers include hip-hop collective Elephant Rebellion, poet Paul Tran, author An Na, and Professor Martin Manalansan of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Global Issues Symposium, Climate Change Consequences: Disruption, Migration, and the Development of Resilient Communities

Wednesday, April 6 through Friday, April 8

Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies Hallock Auditorium and Atrium

The inaugural Global Issues Symposium seeks to address both the global urgency of climate change and the possibilities of climate resilient action in communities around the world. The three-day event kicks off April 6 with a keynote address from Igor Krupnik of the Smithsonian Institute. Other featured speakers include Caroline Cannon, environmental activist and tribal elder in the Inupiat community in Point Hope, Alaska, and Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and an expert in sustainable energy sources. Oberlin faculty and staff will participate in several sessions, and students will present research projects at an evening poster session. More information on this symposium can be found on this webpage.

Student Translation Symposium

Wednesday, April 6 and Thursday, April 7

Science Center Craig Lecture Hall

The fast-paced, multilingual, and transformative Translation Symposium exposes audiences to 20 literary pieces from a dozen or more languages. The symposium also features a keynote lecture from Benjamin Paloff, former poetry editor at the Boston Review and author of two collections of poems, And His Orchestra (2015) and The Politics (2011). The symposium is made possible with the support of the Oberlin Center for Languages and Cultures, the English Department Flint Fund, and the Comparative Literature Program.

Senior Symposium

Friday, April 29

King Hall

Now in its seventh year, the annual Senior Symposium gives graduating seniors and fifth-year students the opportunity to share their scholarly and artistic endeavors with the greater Oberlin community. Anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of graduating students have participated in the symposium for the last few years. The symposium is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Dean of Studies.

Oppenheim Symposium, How Complexity Science is Changing Our Understanding of the World

Saturday, April 30

Science Center Craig Lecture Hall

Five international experts from different scientific disciplines will present talks about how they deal with complexity in their research at this symposium. A highlight of the day will be a panel discussion, with audience participation, on the topic of identifying common principles in diverse models of complex systems. Scientists from all disciplines are invited to attend. Those interested in attending are asked to register at http://tinyurl.com/js7b4mz.