D. Stephen Long is Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University. He works in the intersection between theology and ethics and has published over fifty essays and twenty books.

He joins Boston University School of Theology to deliver a Lowell Lecture titled "The Crises of Liberal Democracy and the Response of Theopolitical Visions." His lecture will first examine if liberalism is the cause or the remedy to the democratic crises we face. In other words, Is liberal democracy the problem or the solution to our crises? Has liberalism contributed to it, or have the crises arisen because we failed to uphold liberalism?

Second, if liberalism is the cause then being postliberal, possibly by drawing upon a theopolitical vision, might be a remedy. Some theologians, philosophers, and politicians answer that because liberalism is the problem, its collapse with the rise of Brexit, MAGA, and Trumpism augurs an “interregnum” that will lead to a different form of political society, a postliberal one. Should that be a source of hope for people of faith or is such a vision too dangerous and even more reason to do all we can to uphold liberalism?

Emily Knox, expert on information access and intellectual freedom and censorship, joins Boston College to discuss book banning in public schools and libraries.

Emerson Professor Dr. Mneesha Gellman, artist Cedric Douglas, and Boston’s Chief of Arts and Culture Joseph Henry will consider how communities remember, revisit, and reimagine the stories that define them; and the roles that memory, art, and civic life play in shaping our understanding of the past and the future.

Dr. Mneesha Gellman is professor of political science in the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts at Emerson College. She is a scholar of democratization and violence, and the author of numerous books and articles on human rights, memory politics, and education politics. She serves as an expert witness on Mexico and El Salvador in immigration courts. Dr. Gellman is the founder and director of the Emerson Prison Initiative, which brings a BA pathway to people incarcerated in Massachusetts.

Joseph Zeal-Henry is a designer, curator and public servant currently serving as Chief of Arts and Culture at the City of Boston and is an assistant professor at Columbia GSAPP. He has written for Tank Magazine, Dezeen and Casabella. Joseph was selected as the 2024 Artlab/Loeb Fellow at Harvard University GSD.

Vesko Garčević of Boston University’s Pardee School, sits down with Daniel O’Connor of the United Nations Association of Greater Boston to discuss multilateral diplomacy. They examine the role of multilateral institutions in addressing global challenges and how shifting geopolitical dynamics are reshaping international cooperation.

As Director of Programs at UNAGB, Dan oversees the coordination, execution, and continuous improvement of all UNAGB programs.

Vesko is Professor of the Practice of International Relations; Director of the Center for the Study of Europe at BU. He is the former Ambassador of Montenegro in Brussels (NATO) and Vienna (OSCE)

An expert panel will explain how Israel's electoral system works, break down the key parties and issues shaping the race, and explore what the results could mean for Israeli society, U.S.-Israel relations, and the Middle East.

Join us in person or over Zoom Webinar as the Boston Public Library welcomes Sarah Botstein as a speaker for the Lowell Lecture Series. As a filmmaker who has worked closely with Ken Burns for over 30 years as a part of Florentine Films, Sarah will talk about her latest film, PBS's The American Revolution, historical filmmaking, and the revolutionary techniques that Florentine Films uses to bring history to life.

Botstein will be in conversation with Imari Paris Jeffries from Embrace Boston and the program will be introduced by BPL President David Leonard.

After the main program, in-person audience members can meet the speaker in the Connector Space located just outside of Rabb Hall.