Constitution Day Lecture
September 17, 2025
12pm
AOK Library GallerySenator William C. Smith, Jr.
State Senator, Distric 20, Montgomery County
William C. Smith Jr. was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. His parents were young adults during the height of the civil rights movement. It was their struggle and sacrifice that opened doors of opportunity for Will. His parents taught him the importance of a good education and showed him the benefit of living in a caring, engaged community. With the support of his family, Will became a first-generation college student when he attended and graduated from the College of William and Mary. He would go on to earn a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from William and Mary.
After college, Will enrolled in AmeriCorps where he worked as a community
engagement leader for IMPACT Silver Spring and worked at the ACLU as a Legislative
Assistant. During law school Will worked at a law firm handling employment discrimination
cases and sought a commission as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, a position in which Will continues to serve today.In 2010, Will received a White House appointment to serve as a Director at the Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama. In 2014, Will was elected to represent District 20 in the Maryland House of Delegates. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Will served on the criminal justice and family law subcommittee. Along with these roles, Will was a member of several key workgroups including Justice Reinvestment, Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights and Death with Dignity.
In 2016, Will was appointed to represent District 20 in the Maryland State Senate, making him the first African American Senator from Montgomery County. In the Senate, Will has worked to forge relationships with his colleagues from across the state and political spectrum which has allowed him to become an effective legislator in Annapolis. In 2019, Will became the 50th Chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee. He is the first African American to hold that post. As Chairman, Will has championed robust criminal justice reform measures and has led efforts to provide economic and educational opportunities for all Marylanders.
Today, Will continues to practice law. His practice focuses on national security and
employment discrimination. He lives in Silver Spring with his wife, Camille, and daughters,
Jacqueline and Isabelle.Organized by the Institute of Politics. Cosponsored by the Center for Social Science Scholarship, the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, and the Department of Political Science.
Photo provided by Senator Smith.
Korenman Lecture
October 16, 2025
4pm
AOK Library GalleryDr. Banu Subramaniam
Luella LaMer Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
Wellesley College
Migrant Ecologies: Plant Worlds and the Afterlives of Empire
Organized by the Department of Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies. Cosponsored by the Center for Social Science Scholarship and the Dresher Center for the Humanities.
Photo provided by Dr. Subramaniam.
47th Annual W.E.B. DuBois Lecture
November 10, 2025
6pm
University Center BallroomDistinguished Professor of Humane Letters
School of Arts and Science
Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Ecological Thoughts in Sahel West African Women’s Literary and Cultural
NarrativesIn the 47th Annual W. E. B. Du Bois Distinguished Lecture, Alidou examines life and being human in West African Sahel women’s ecological thoughts as articulated in their literary and cultural narratives. Alidou’s aim is to expand our understanding of Sahelian women’s enduring contributions to ethical engagement with environmental concerns and preservation, climate change, vulnerability, migration, gender equity, and resilience. She highlights comparative perspectives that can be drawn between the Sahel ecological thoughts and W.E.B Du Bois’ sociological meditations on the intersection of race, class, gender, and environmental justice.
Ousseina D. Alidou is a Distinguished Professor of Humane Letters in the School of Arts and Science, Rutgers University-New Brunswick. She teaches in the Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures and the Graduate Program in Comparative Literature. Dr. Alidou’s specialization is Theoretical Linguistics, Gender, and African Studies. She is the author of three books and co-editor of three, including Protest Arts, Gender and Social Change: Fiction and Popular Songs in Hausa Societies Across Borders (Michigan University Press, 2023); Muslim Women in Postcolonial Kenya: Leadership, Representation, Political and Social Change (University of Wisconsin Press, 2013); and Engaging Modernity: Muslim Women and the Politics of Agency in Postcolonial Niger (University of Wisconsin Press, 2005, a runner-up Aidoo-Schneider Book Prize of Women’s Caucus of the Association of African Studies). She co-edited Writing through the Visual and Virtual: Inscribing Language, Literature, and Culture in Francophone Africa and the Caribbean with Renée Larrier (Lexington Books, 2015); Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Africa with Ahmed Sikainga (Africa World Press, 2006); and A Thousand Flowers: Social Struggles Against Structural Adjustment in African Universities, with Silvia Federici and George Caffentzis (Africa World Press, 2000). In addition, she has published over 50 book chapters and articles which appear in Research in African Literatures, Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika (SUGIA); Comparative Literature; Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; and Africa Today.
Photo provided by Dr. Alidou.
