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Academic Speaker Series

Image of former Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin standing at a podium in the Greenhoe Theater. A screen projection shows an image of a forest fire and text reading Why Does Climate Change Matter to You?
Image from the back of an auditorium showing Lydia X.Z. Brown addressing the audience. They are wearing a dark colored jacket and tie. Behind them is a screen projection that says Access Note and contains several figures in silouhette
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The mission of the Academic Speaker Series is to promote the intellectual environment of the College and to facilitate discussion of important issues in the community.

Events take place in the Brooks M. O'Brien Auditorium/Lewis Academic Building, and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

For more information, questions, or accessibility requests, please email Justine Gaskamp.

Fall 2024 Schedule

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Wednesday, October 9, 5 p.m. ET
“Special is a Label”: Challenging Ableism and Promoting Inclusion in Higher Education
Portia Allie-Turco, Ph.D.

This session will explore societal prejudice against disability, starting with historical views framing disability as a punishment to ongoing stereotypes that associate disability with misfortune, poor lifestyle choices, or bad genetics. These beliefs negatively influence public policies and public attitudes by shaping how individuals with disabilities are perceived and treated across different historical periods and into the present day.

Portia Allie-Turco, PhD., LMHC, NCC, is an assistant professor, program coordinator, and clinic director at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh. She owns Adirondack Mental Health Counseling PLCC, a private practice offering counseling, supervision, and consultation services. In both her research and her clinical practice, Dr. Allie-Turco focuses are on the treatment of racial, historical, and generational trauma and dismantling oppressive systems using indigenous and somatic healing approaches.

 

 
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Wednesday, November 6, 5 p.m. ET
Arsenic: The King of Poisons
Michael Fricke, Ph.D.

A humanistic approach to the element starting with the first occupational exposure to arsenic as Bronze Age smiths forged tools and weapons in their new smelters. Dr. Fricke will also discuss the Tactile Periodic Table Project and his advocacy for disabled chemists.

Michael Fricke, Ph.D. is an analytical development chemist at Olon Ricerca Bioscience based in Concord, Ohio and was the analytical lead for the development of Molnupiravir, the first approved oral treatment for COVID-19. He is an expert on elemental impurities which developed from his graduate study of arsenic and led to an appointment as an Oak Ridge Post-Doctoral Fellow and then as a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia. Dr Fricke is also a Councilor for the Akron Section of the American Chemical Society and is a member of the ACS Committee for Chemists with Disabilities.

 

 

 

The College would like to thank Brattleboro Community Television for recording and broadcasting these presentations. 

Click here to view presentations from previous semesters.

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