Past Events

A decorative background image with the words, "Barbecue by Robert O’Hara" overlayed on the image.
Feb. 27, 8:00–10:00 p.m. – Mar. 1, 2025

A play by Robert O’Hara. Guest Director, Taylor Reynolds. Barbecue is about a dysfunctional family staging an intervention. Campus guests only, please. Reservations required.

Person smiling wearing a green no sleeve top with white spots and curly dark hair pinned up and a tree in the background.

Nicole Holliday, Acting Associate Professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley, will present her latest research on how tone-detection systems and digital voice assistants like Siri and Alexa reinforce linguistic and racial bias.

This event is open to the public.

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Elijah Anderson, Sterling Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Yale University and one of the nation’s leading urban ethnographers, discusses his book The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life. Open to the public.

Image of a gas mask respirator with a text overlay that reads: "BE SERIOUSLY SCARED!" A Shot Across The Bow Toward Nuclear Disarmament.
Feb. 25, 2025, 6:00 p.m.

A dynamic, interactive experience that blends performance art, game-show fun, a thought-provoking lecture, and a captivating film screening—all aimed at exploring the horror and danger of nuclear weapons and nuclear war. Open to the public.

A photographic portrait of Gerald Sim.

At a time of both urgent need for algorithmic literacy and heightened social division, it is vital to understand the politicized grammar with which we talk and think about AI. This talk by Gerald Sim will focus on visual media whose power derives from being uniquely vivid, engaging, and visceral.

Campus community only, please.

A simple line icon of two people standing together, arms around each other's shoulders.
Feb. 23, 2025, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Do you know someone who has been meaning to visit the Loeb but hasn’t made it happen yet? Or someone who thinks art isn’t for them, and you’d like to convince them otherwise? Please join us for our second annual Bring a Friend Day, and enjoy a day full of activities—together. The day’s offerings include art-making, engaging mini-tours, and light refreshments.

Closeup of performer playing French horn
Feb. 23, 2025, 3:00 p.m.

Music by Percy Grainger, Arturo Márquez, and Aaron Copland. James Osborn, conductor.

This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live

Photo of boy lying on outdoor exercise equipment below sign reading "Adult Supervision Required".
Feb. 22, 2025, Panel discussion at 2:00 p.m. in Taylor 102; Reception follows in the Loeb atrium and galleries

Gathering historic and contemporary art in various media, the exhibition invites viewers to explore how the Hudson Valley has been pictured as a place both proximate to the city and its opposite—a “great green hope” as much fantasy as reality. Artists Tanya Marcuse, Qiana Mestrich, and Lisa Sanditz will discuss how their work responds to the Hudson Valley landscape in myth and reality. 

A picture with two people standing looking at a graphic display board. A graphic of a light bulb with a dollar sign in it is under the image with a caption that reads, "Your Ideas, Vassar's Monet."

Curious about the Institute? Want to learn how to secure up to $25,000 for an Institute-funded Signature Program? Join two experts from the Vassar Grants Office for a 90-minute workshop on translating your ideas into impactful projects for your community or organization. Catering from the Salt Line provided.

Campus community only, please.

TMI Logo
Feb. 21, 2025, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Discover the power of storytelling with the TMI Project!

Richard Wilson and Mark Risinger

Adrian Morjean, bassoon, Alex Davis, bassoon, Joshua Hodge, bassoon, Brad Balliett, bassoon & contrabassoon, Mark Risinger, bass, Richard Wilson, piano.

The artist
Feb. 20, 2025, 5:30 p.m.

Jackson has worked experimentally across genres including drawing, painting, printmaking, bookmaking, poetry, dance, theater, and costume design.

Person wearing a white long sleeve shirt, long teal scarf, necklace with large teal stone, large round gold earrings with long dark curly hair.

Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the first researcher to explore the full depths of Audre Lorde’s manuscript archives, will give a talk on her new book, Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde. Open to the public.

Dr. Ira Helfand, wearing eyeglasses, a light blue shirt, brown tweed jacket, red patterned tie with a bookcase in the background.

A lecture by renowned activist Dr. Ira Helfand, a member of the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

This event is open to the public.

An old black and white image of a large gathering of people standing outside with Main building in the background.
Feb. 19, 2025, 5:00–6:30 p.m.

Join the Race & Racism in Historical Collections Working Group as they dive into powerful stories and materials from the college archives about the impactful 1969 Black Studies Sit-In.

Campus community only, please.