Special Events 2020-2021

2020-2021 Distinguished Humanities Lecturer: James Ijames
James Ijames is an award-winning Philadelphia-based playwright, director, performer, and educator. Ijames discussed his work, including his play Fat Ham, being premiered in digital form at the Wilma Theater this spring and described as a "contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, set on a pig farm in the American South, that explores big issues (like toxic masculinity and cycles of violence) with a light touch."
April 22, 2021

2020-2021 Distinguished Visiting Scientist: Dr. Robin Hopkins
Live virtual talk and Q&A with Dr. Robin Hopkins, an evolutionary biologist with a deep background in botany, ecology, plant-pollinator relationships, and the dynamics of natural selection and speciation. Dr. Hopkins is the John Loeb Associate Professor of Natural Sciences and Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
April 7, 2021

2020-2021 Distinguished Visiting Justice Leader: André Robert Lee
Live virtual Q&A with André Robert Lee, director of Virtually Free, a documentary exploring an unlikely Richmond partnership and its effort to transform the justice system and stop mass incarceration
October 27, 2020

2019-2020 Distinguished Visiting Humanities Speaker: Daniel Immerwahr '98
Author and associate professor at Northwestern University, specializing in 20th-century U.S. history within a global context. His recent book, How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, described by the New York Times as “wry, readable, and often astonishing.”
Virtual Visit - spring 2020

2019-2020 Distinguished Visiting Scientist: Helen White
Haverford College Associate Professor whose work as a geochemist has focused on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a collaborative project that examined what happened chemically to the oil and to the dispersants used in the aftermath of the disaster.
Virtual Visit - spring 2020

A Night Out in the Classroom 2019
A special opportunity for parents and guardians to become Friends’ Central students for just one night. With plenty of offerings from Microscopy and the Science of Browning to Islamic Architecture and Quaker Schools & Climate Change, this year's program was A Night Out to remember. 
November 25, 2019

2019-2020 Distinguished Visiting Justice Leader: Dr. Steven Larson
Dr. Steven Larson, subject of the HBO documentary Clínica de Migrantes, is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Puentes de Salud, a nonprofit organization that promotes the health and wellness of Philadelphia’s rapidly growing Latinx immigrant population. 
October 29, 2019 

Friends' Central and Children's Book World hosted author Raina Telgemeier, New York Times bestselling author of Smile
October 16, 2019 

Winged Wonders Monarch Butterfly Program
A Free science program for Children ages 2 1/2 to 6 and their families, held at the Lower School
September 22, 2019

2018-2019 Distinguished Visiting Scientist: Rebecca Saxe
Cognitive neuroscientist and professor in the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Dr. Saxe will share her research. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
April 15, 2019

Kwame Alexander and Friends - The Versify Tour
Friends' Central and Children's Book World hosted Kwame Alexander - poet, educator, New York Times bestselling author of 21 books, and recipient of the 2015 Newbery Medal - and authors/illustrators from his new publishing imprint, Versify. Kwame and his authors and illustrators presented a performance unlike any other! 
April 5, 2019