The Distinguished Lecture in Psychology
Thursday, February 26, 2026
4pm
AOK Library GalleryMelanie Killen, Ph.D.
Distinguished University Professor, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology
University of Maryland, College Park
Creating Inclusive Classrooms in Childhood: Theory, Research, and Applications
Developmental science perspectives on social exclusion provide a window into determining how to reduce social inequalities and increase positive social relationships. Children begin to understand concepts of fairness and equality early and recognize that social groups often exclude others for unfair reasons. Challenging groups to be more inclusive is costly, however, and may result in exclusion from their group which provides protection, safety, and enjoyment. Facilitating positive cross-group friendships helps reduce “in-group vs. out-group” attitudes which are a salient part of why biases form in the first place. The negative consequences of experiencing social exclusion based on group identity include depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal. This necessitates action to promote healthy child development and a more inclusive society. In this talk, Dr. Killen will discuss her recent research findings on children’s viewpoints about fairness and social exclusion. Then she will discuss their school-based program called Developing Inclusive Youth. Her team is currently creating an AI-powered Teacher App to accompany the program, which she will describe during the talk.
Hosted by the Department of Psychology and co-sponsored by the Center for Social Science Scholarship.
The Low Lecture
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
4pm
AOK Library GalleryWarren Milteer, Jr., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
U.S. History, Early America, Nineteenth-Century U.S.
The Georrge Washington University
Out of This Strife Will Come Freedom:
Free People of Color and the Fight for Equal Rights in the Civil War EraAt the outbreak of the Civil War, the vast majority of the nation’s people of color were enslaved. Yet nearly half a million of these people were free. For the first time, Warren Eugene Milteer Jr. recounts the story of free people of color in the Civil War era United States. He shows how the nation’s growing divide in the years leading up to the war, the events of the war itself, and the policies of the postwar period shaped the lives of free people of color living in various regions of the country. His telling also reflects on the ways free people of color used their voices, military service, and political acumen to push for a better version the United States. Calling upon their experiences fighting for equal rights in the prewar years, free people of color took advantage of the disruption created by the war to lobby for the end of discrimination across nation.
Hosted by the Department of History and co-sponsored by the Center for Social Science Scholarship.
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
4pm
AOK Library GalleryAmber Spry, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Politics
Department of African and African American Studies
Brandeis University
The Technological Future:
Shifting the focus from what we build to who we build it for.Dr. Amber Spry’s research and teaching focuses on political attitudes and behavior in United States politics. Specifically, Dr. Spry is interested in political behavior, identity, race and ethnic politics, political psychology, and survey design methods. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science and Government and her M.A. in Political Science from Columbia University. She completed her undergraduate work at UMBC, earning degrees in Political Science and Media & Communication Studies.
Hosted by CS3 with support from the Division of Research and Creative Achievement and the Department of Media & Communication Studies.
The Eckert Lecture on Health & Inequality
Monday, April 20, 2026
4pm
AOK Library GalleryHanna Garth, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Princeton University
Food Justice Undone: Lessons for Building a Better Movement
Food justice activists have worked to increase access to healthy food in low-income communities of color across the United States. Yet despite their best intentions, they often perpetuate food access inequalities and racial stereotypes. Hanna Garth shows how the movement has been affected by misconceptions and assumptions about residents, as well as by unclear definitions of justice and what it means to be healthy. Focusing on broad structures and microlevel processes, Garth reveals how power dynamics shape social justice movements in particular ways.
Drawing on twelve years of ethnographic research, Garth examines what motivates people from more affluent, majority-white areas of the city to intervene in South Central Los Angeles. She argues that the concepts of “food justice” and “healthy food” operate as racially coded language, reinforcing the idea that health problems in low-income Black and Brown communities can be solved through individual behavior rather than structural change. Food Justice Undone explores the stakes of social justice and the possibility of multiracial coalitions working toward a better future.
Hosted by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health, and co-sponsored by the Center for Social Science Scholarship.
The Lipitz Lecture
Thursday, May 7, 2026
4pm
AOK Library GalleryErle Ellis, PhD.
Professor
Department of Geography & Environmental Systems
UMBC
How People Make Nature Better: Measuring Progress Toward a World Where People and Nature Thrive Together using the Nature Relationship Index (NRI)
Cosponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
CS3 sponsored events are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University’s nondiscrimination policy.