Learn first hand from researchers working with dangerous predators and communities that live alongside them how they are using a combination of new technology and indigenous wisdom to coexist.

An expert panel will shed light on how presidential authority has evolved over time, the constitutional debates surrounding executive power, and how a historical lens is illuminating and relevant today.

Arthur Kay is an entrepreneur, urban designer, and advisor, building solutions for sustainable cities. He is an Advisor to Innovo Group, and founder of several technology and urban design companies, including Bio-bean; Skyroom; and the Key Worker Homes Fund. Arthur is an advisor to various organisations focused on building sustainable cities, including serving as a Board Member of Transport for London (TfL), the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Museum of the Home, and Fast Forward 2030.

Matthew Shaer is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and a fellow at New America. His longform reporting regularly appears in Esquire, National Geographic, The Atlantic, and Harper's, among other magazines. He is also the host of the new weekly podcast Origin Stories, which explores the creative processes of some of the world's best novelists, playwrights, screenwriters, and journalists. Shaer lives in Atlanta with his family and a beagle named Salty Dog.

Historically, America’s cultural identity has become inextricably linked to the automobile. However, what began as a convenient, and often essential, mode of transportation has morphed into an unhealthy tyrannical obsession, which symbolizes success and power. Some would say we have a national addiction with cars – and big ones especially.

In the past twenty years, cars have grown larger, heavier and more intimidating. Mimicking the appearance of military vehicles with names to match, massive SUVs dominate the landscape and the statistics are not pretty. Globally, cars directly take the lives of more than a million people annually they also kill others through air pollution and environmental hazards, including their use as attack weapons.

Our increasing dependency on cars is draining earth’s natural resources, their carbon emissions drive climate change and they create unsafe streets and congestion which make the planet unlivable. We know much of this, yet we continue to ignore the negative consequences of our indulgent behavior and worship at the altar of the auto. Cars dominate our lives and we just love the personal comfort and distraction afforded by the gadgets behind the wheel. But for how long can we ignore the true costs of our driving habits on others and the planet, without paying the price?

Join the discussion on BIG CARS - at what cost? Register on Zoom, and meet our panel and new moderator, Daniel Berger-Jones on October 14 at 5 pm.

Daniel Berger-Jones is an historian and Boston-based entrepreneur. He founded BHC and has 15 years experience conducting. He has won several awards,and worked with the Huntington. ART, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and others. He hosts several successful podcasts including A People’s History of Food and Drink but his interests span a plethora of fields including science, math and astronomy.

The Boston University School of Theology is proud to present the bi-annual Lowell Lecture, which features renowned speakers in fields related to theological studies.

This Lowell Lecture features Rev. Dr. Micah L. McCreary. He will explore the transformative journey of becoming a trauma-responsive leader by embracing, understanding, and transcending personal and collective wounds.

Join us at the Boston Public Library for a conversation with trailblazing costume designer Ruth E. Carter, the first Black woman to win two Academy Awards in Costume Design—for Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Over a four-decade career, Carter has brought history and Afrofuturism to life on screen through iconic collaborations with filmmakers like Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay. Her work on films such as Malcolm X, Selma, and Amistad has cemented her legacy as a master of visual storytelling.

Carter will be in conversation with former Boston Public Library Board Chair, Dr. Priscilla H. Douglas.

After the main program, meet Carter in the Connector Space located just outside of the library's Rabb Hall.

Ruth E. Carter is the 2019 Academy Award winner in Costume Design for Marvel’s Black Panther, making history as the first African-American to win in the category. Carter wows audiences and dazzles critics alike with Afro Future looks that empower the female form and turn a superhero into an African King.

Caitlin Dickerson is an award-winning investigative reporter and feature writer for The Atlantic. She won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. Over nearly 15 years in journalism, Dickerson has also been awarded a Peabody, Edward R Murrow, Livingston, and Silvers-Dudley Prize for her writing and reporting. Before joining The Atlantic, she spent nearly five years as a reporter at The New York Times and five years as a producer and investigative reporter for NPR. Dickerson has reported on immigration, history, politics, and race in four continents and dozens of American cities. She is currently writing a book about the systemic impact of deportation on American society.

Cosponsored by the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics.

The Lowell Humanities Series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, Boston College's Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Provost's Office.