Events

Schools are facing a "polycrisis" that demands innovative and equitable responses from educators. Join Dr. Patricia Virella MSEd '09 to discuss actionable strategies for teachers and leaders to navigate these complex issues and foster hope in their classrooms and communities. Focusing on critical self-reflection and advocacy for radical change, Dr. Virella introduces an eight-pillar framework for equity-oriented crisis leadership. Through real-world examples and practical tools, we can learn how to address the disproportionate impacts of crises on marginalized students, build resilience, and create a more equitable and supportive education system, one classroom at a time.

We will also celebrate Dr. Virella's latest book Crisis as Catalyst: Equity-Oriented School Leadership During Difficult Times (Harvard Education Press 2025). Books will be available for purchase, and a book signing will follow the lecture. REGISTER HERE. 

Dr. Patricia Virella MSEd '09 is an Assistant Professor of Urban Educational leadership at Montclair State University. Additionally, Dr. Virella is the Founder of My Academic Writing Routine, an organization committed to demystifying academic writing for grad students, focusing on graduate students of color.

This event is sponsored by the Child Development Institute. 

Program:

Rossini:  Overture to “The Barber of Seville”

     (Kate Cornyn, SLC Student conductor)

Benjamin Kitchen:  Symphonic Interlude (premiere)

     (SLC Student composer/conductor)  

Copland:  Clarinet Concerto

    (Alan Schaffer, soloist)

Debussy:  Petite Suite, and/or

Grieg:  Peer Gynt Suite No. 1

     ~ * ~

Pre-concert musical offering (2:30 pm):

Stravinsky:  Three Scenes from Petrouchka

Free admission for Sarah Lawrence College students, faculty, and staff. 

This Faculty Spotlight features filmmaker, Jazmín López. Jazmín is a director and actress known for Lions (2012), If I Were The Winter Itself (2019) and Te amo y morite (2009). Come join a great discussion on film, art, and life recorded for The Sarah Lawrence College Podcast. 

The current moment in global affairs above all seems to be one of challenges and uncertainty, compounded by the U.S. administration’s radical repositioning on development aid, diversity, global conflicts, and climate change. Drawing on her experience as a former diplomat at the United Nations and as a key member of the team that negotiated the Iran nuclear agreement, Ambassador Brooke Anderson ’86 will provide perspective on the effects of the new U.S. policies on global priorities and challenges and where there might be opportunities to engage in new ways.

Brooke D. Anderson is an experienced leader and an accomplished diplomat, negotiator, and strategist.  In her various roles, she has navigated high-stakes challenges, carried out sensitive diplomatic missions, and achieved results on the most complex global and national issues. Brooke is currently President of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company founded by Melinda French Gates dedicated to advancing social progress and expanding women’s power and influence in the United States and around the world.

Registration information to come.

Charles Baxter is the author of seven novels, including the most recent Blood Test: a Comedy, published by Pantheon in 2024, and six story collections; the most recent There’s Something I Want You to Do was a finalist for the Story Prize in 2016. He has also edited or co-edited several books, and published essays on fiction collected in Burning Down the House (Graywolf), Beyond Plot, and Wonderlands: Essays on the Life of Fiction (2022). He now lives in Minneapolis and was the Edelstein-Keller Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, and Harper’s, among other journals and magazines. His fiction has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories seven times, eleven times in The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and translated into many languages.

This event is colloquium credit eligible. Register HERE for Zoom livestream.