Lecture Series

Acknowledging the Society for the Humanities’ legacy of promoting the value of critical theory, the Society organizes an Annual Culler Lecture in Critical Theory. The inaugural lecture was offered in 2015-16 by Jonathan Culler (Class of 1916 Professor of English and Comparative Literature), who served as the Director of the Society for the Humanities from 1984 to 1993.
[Culler Lecture in Critical Theory video archive]

• 2023-24: Pheng Cheah, Professor of Rhetoric, University of California - Berkeley
• 2022-23: Anna Kornbluh, Professor of English, University of Illinois at Chicago
• 2021-22: Sianne Ngai, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English at the University of Chicago
• 2018-19: Nahum Chandler, Professor of African American Studies and Comparative Literature, University of California - Irvine
• 2017-18: Stefanos Geroulanos, Associate Professor of European Intellectual History, New York University
• 2016-17: Ranjana Khanna, Professor of English, Women's Studies, and the Literature Program, Duke University 
• 2015-16: Jonathan Culler, Class of 1916 Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Cornell University

In partnership with the Central New York Humanities Corridor, and in collaboration with the Cornell Media Studies Program, The Society for the Humanities sponsors an annual digital humanities lecture series delivered by invited speakers.
[Digitial Humanities Lecture video archive]

• 2024-25: Hannah Zeavin, Assistant Professor of History at UC Berkeley
• 2023-24: Tung-Hui Hu, Associate Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan 
  (a video of this lecture is available to members of the Cornell Community. Please contact adwhitehouse@cornell.edu to request a link to view)
• 2023-24: Dorothy Berry, Digital Curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 2021-22: Kim Gallon, Associate Professor of History at Purdue University, founder and director of two black digital humanities projects: The Black Press Research Collective and COVID Black, and is a co-PI for the new Andrew W. Mellon-funded Black Beyond Data project.
• 2020-21: Marisa Parham, Director for the African American Digital Humanities initiative, Associate Director for the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, and Visiting Professor of English, University of Maryland
• 2018-19: Rachel Sagner Buurma, Associate Professor in the Department of English Literature, Co-Director of the Aydelotte Foundation, Swarthmore College
• 2017-18: Patrick Keilty, Assistant Professor of Information, University of Toronto
• 2015-16: Sharon Daniel, Professor of Film and Digital Media, University of California, Santa Cruz
• 2014-15: Hoyt Long, Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature, Department of East Asian Languages & Civilizations, University of Chicago
• 2012-13: Cathy Davidson, Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, and Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of California, Santa Barbara
• 2011-12: Kevin Franklin, Executive Director, Institute for Computing in Humanities, Arts & Social Science [I-CHASS], University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Michael Simeone, Assistant Director, I-CHASS
• 2009-10: Mary Flanagan, Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Digital Humanities, Dartmouth College, Kent Kleinman, Dean, College of AAP, Cornell University, and Timothy Murray, Director, Society for the Humanities

The Annual Invitational Lecture of the Society for the Humanities is designed to give a Cornell audience a chance to hear one of our distinguished Cornell faculty members, who may frequently speak at other universities but whom we seldom have the privilege of hearing.
[Invitational Lecture video archive]

• 2023-24: Juliana Hu Pegues, Associate Professor of Literatures in English, Cornell University
• 2022-23: Verity Platt, Professor of Classics and History of Art and Visual Studies, Cornell University
• 2021-22: Derrick Spires, Associate Professor of Literatures in English, Cornell University
• 2020-21: Kate Manne, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Cornell University
• 2018-19: Amy Villarejo, Frederic J. Whiton Professor of Humanities, Department of Performing & Media Arts, Cornell University
• 2017-18: Jason Frank, Robert J. Katz Chair of Government, Cornell University
• 2016-17: Tracy McNulty, Professor of French and Comparative Literature, Cornell University
• 2015-16: Gerard Aching, Director, Africana Studies & Research Center; Professor of Africana and Romance Studies, Cornell University
• 2014-15: Durba Ghosh, Associate Professor of History, Cornell University
• 2013-14: Eric Cheyfitz, Ernest I. White Professor of American Studies and Humane Letters, Department of English, Cornell University
• 2012-13: Bernadette Meyler, Professor of Law and English, Cornell University
• 2011-12: Trevor Pinch, Professor of Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University
• 2010-11: Roberto Sierra, Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities, Department of Music, Cornell University
• 2009-10: Brett de Bary, Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature, Cornell University
• 2008-09: Salah Hassan, Goldwin Smith Professor and Director of Africana Studies & Research Center, Professor of History of Art, Cornell University

The Society for the Humanities previously sponsorsed an annual future of humanities lecture series delivered by invited speakers.
[Future of the Humanities video archive]

• 2021-22: Dianne Harris, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of history at the University of Washington
• 2019-20: Sara Guyer, Director, Center for the Humanities, University of Wisconsin, Madison; President, Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI)
• 2018-20: Christopher Newfield, Professor of Literature and American Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
• 2016-17: Earl Lewis, President, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• 2015-16: William D. Adams, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities
• 2014-15: Philip E. Lewis, Vice President, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• 2012-13: David Marshall, Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, and Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of California, Santa Barbara
• 2011-12: Marjorie Garber, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of English and Visual & Environmental Studies, Harvard University
• 2010-11: Pauline Yu, President, American Council of Learned Societies
• 2009-10: Don Randel, President, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation