From the air we breathe to the flood of information that envelops our news feeds, to the ways rapidly releasing drugs target our bodies’ ailments, we live in an ever-evolving world of circulation. How do ideas, books, propaganda, air and breath circulate? How do images and photos become iconic or why does music play again and again in our minds? Why does pseudo-science exist in a world full of widely disseminated scientific evidence? How do cells circulate and morph into new biological structures? Join us for this invigorating series which will explore fresh perspectives on our shared ecosystem as we consider the flow of influence, instructions, information, and inhalation in our lives. 

These lectures are co-sponsored by the Princeton Adult School and the Community Auditing Program of Princeton University’s Office of Community and Regional Affairs. 

NOTE: Lectures will be held in the Friend Center Auditorium, William and Olden Streets. Participants can park in any PU lot for free without a permit in the evening. The closest lots to the Friend Center would be Lot P10 (behind Thomas Sweet) and P13 (across from Lot P10) and both are entered from William Street. The Garmin address for Lot P10 (behind Thomas Sweet) is 41 William Street, Princeton NJ. The P13 lot across the street sits behind the former elementary school building (which was formerly known as 185 Nassau Street building) and it is the bigger of the two. 

You will receive a course ticket for the entire series at check-in at the first lecture you attend. No prior confirmation will be sent. Masks are strongly encouraged, but not required. 

March 21: Pushing Cool: Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette
KEITH A. WAILOO, Henry Putnam University Professor of History and Public Affairs, Department of History, Princeton University 

March 28: Life Magazine and the Power of Photography
ALISSA SCHAPIRO, Associate Curator at the Skirball Cultural Center and Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern University

April 4: NO LECTURE 

April 11: On the Fringe: Where Science Meets Pseudoscience
MICHAEL D. GORDIN, Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History; Professor of History; Director, Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts, Department of History, Princeton University 

April 18: Fighting Fake News: What to Read and Believe in the Digital Age
JOE STEPHENS, Founding Director, Program in Journalism; Ferris Professor of Journalism in Residence, Princeton University 

April 25: Engineering Lungs: Inspiration from Evolution
CELESTE M. NELSON, Wilke Family Professor in Bioengineering, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University 

May 2: On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind
ELIZABETH H. MARGULIS, Professor of Music, Department of Music; Director, Music Cognition Lab, Princeton University 

May 9: Nanomedicine: From High Tech to Global Health
ROBERT K. PRUD’HOMME, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University