Critical Conversations

Collage featuring an abstract image of cells, an etching of an eye, a soothing color gradation, a closeup of a microscope, clouds in a blue sky and antique script writing, representing the 2022–2023 Critical Conversations talks.

A required part of the Brandeis Core, the First Year Experience includes a series of “Critical Conversations” to introduce students to our academic community, to model the different types of intellectual inquiries available on the university campus, to create a shared experience, and to invite students to think and talk about issues that are central to their educational development and the world around them.

In particular, Critical Conversations feature interdisciplinary conversations that highlight both the range and substance of intellectual activity on our campus, and the ways in which different disciplines present evidence and rhetorical arguments. Because diversity, equity and inclusion are at the core of Brandeis’ history and mission, we value and seek participants with a variety of social identities as well as proposals that engage with ongoing conversations about diversity and social justice.

Fall 2023 Critical Conversations
How Social Scientists Study Identity and Family 
Wednesday, September 27, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. 
Sherman Function Hall 
Hannah Clark, Psychology 
Sarah Mayorga, Sociology 
Reading Asian America through Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous 
Tuesday, October 3, 5:30-6:30 p.m. 
Sherman Function Hall 
Yuri Dolan, History
Howie Tam, English

Watch videos from previous Critical Conversations below.