Past Events

Love a fresh, crisp glass of rosé on a hot summer day? Hear all about this summer’s trendiest drink from and all-star cast of wine experts: Jonathon Alsop, founder of Boston Wine School, Master Sommelier Michael Meagher and Marian Leitner-Waldman, co-founder and CEO of Archer Roose Wines. Image: [Pexels](http://www.pexels.com/photo/glasses-of-rose-wine-6290/)

McIntyre traces the development of the post-truth phenomenon from science denial through the rise of “fake news,” from our psychological blind spots to the public’s retreat into “information silos.” Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and an Instructor in Ethics at Harvard Extension School. Image: Book Cover

This program explores laws and policies implemented to limit voting throughout history, and dives into the current issues of voter fraud, voter disenfranchisement and district red-lining.This program is part of the series co-presented by Old South Meeting House and the ACLU of Massachusetts, The Constitution is for You: A Series of Conversations. Image: [Pexels.com](http://https://www.pexels.com/photo/i-voted-sticker-spool-on-white-surface-1550336/)

In an era when science has contributed so much to the progress of humanity, there is a resurgence of anti-reason and rejection of scientific facts. These challenges call for a mental adjustment: the scientific attitude. Dr. McIntyre explains how to adapt that attitude and why it is necessary today.

A special History Matters co-presented by the Congregational Library & Archives and Old South Meeting House. By attendance at services, being baptized, and taking the Lord's Supper, numerous Native Americans and mostly-enslaved African Americans participated in a substantial number of New England churches between the 1730s and 1790s, including the Old South Meeting House and other Boston churches. They did so despite segregated seating arrangements and prohibitions against voting and holding church leadership positions. Professor Richard Boles shares his research into the religious lives of the African Americans and Native Americans who affiliated with eighteenth-century New England churches.

David Toomey, Professor of English Literature, UMass-Amherst, examines the relationship between science and science fiction. In particular he explains how science fiction often anticipates discoveries in science.

Angela Davis, through her activism and scholarship over many decades, has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. Her work as an educator—both at the university level and in the larger public sphere—has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice. Her lecture is titled, "Frameworks for Radical Feminism in the 21st Century.” This lecture is part of the Boston Public Library lecture series, "Notable Women."

Measuring discrimination that can be caused by data-driven algorithms, and finding ways to mitigate it has been one of the most important recent developments in computer science. In this talk, Muhammad Ali, computer scientist and Ph.D. student at Northeastern University, will provide a general introduction to the problems of algorithmic bias, and present a recent case study of Facebook ads. After launching several ads, his research measures how, in the absence of any ad targeting criteria specified by the advertiser, the platform’s powerful machine learning algorithms are able to skew the ad’s delivery along gender and race by themselves — including ads for legally protected categories such as employment and housing. The results of this research further the conversation that, in addition to the content creators, internet platforms share the responsibility for the content their users see.

Technology can be used by the government to take away civil liberties, but it can also be used in the service of civil liberties. This program discusses policy and legal approaches to monitoring government use of surveillance, and advocates for citizens using technology to monitor government.

How do we practice solidarity among liberation movements? In this MFA City Talks, organizers Vanessa Silva and Lily Huang join D. Farai Williams, founder of Dynamizing Equity (dEQ) and MIT Community Innovators Lab strategist Lawrence Barriner, II, for a discussion inspired by the themes found in “Bouchra Khalili: Poets and Witnesses,” on view at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston from March 21 – August 25, 2019. They consider how individuals fighting for their own goals can find solidarity among liberation movements. Image: Pixabay