Special Events 2021-2022

2021-2022 Distinguished Visiting Humanities Lecturer: Jon Grinspan '02
Curating the Past, Present, and Future of Our Democracy
Jon Grinspan is Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. He is the author of the award-winning The Virgin Vote: How Young Americans Made Democracy Social, Politics Personal, and Voting Popular in the 19th Century. He recently published his second book The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915. He frequently contributes to the New York Times, and has been featured in The New Yorker, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. He lives in Washington, D.C.
April 14, 2022

2021-2022 Distinguished Visiting Justice Leader: Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd
How Cities Affect Weather-Climate Systems
Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd is a leading international expert in weather and climate and is the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Georgia.  Dr. Shepherd was the 2013 President of American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation’s largest and oldest professional/science society in the atmospheric and related sciences. Dr. Shepherd serves as Director of the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Atmospheric Sciences Program and Full Professor in the Department of Geography where he was a previous Associate Department Head. Dr. Shepherd also holds a joint appointment in the College of Engineering and is the Associated Director for Climate and Outreach in its Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS).
March 15, 2022

2020-2021 Distinguished Humanities Lecturer: James Ijames
Live virtual Q&A with James Ijames, 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.
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 shared her research. 
April 15, 2019