Announcing Weitzman’s Spring 2021 Lecture Series

Philadelphia—The University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design Spring 2021 Lecture Series brings together distinguished architects, landscape architects, artists, statisticians, scholars, and policy makers who are actively re-shaping the built environment and visual culture. Presented online, the series begins on Wednesday, January 27, with a lecture exploring approaches for centering subaltern histories through design and urban planning by Sue Mobley, a visiting scholar at Weitzman’s Center for Public Art and Space.

The series includes a panel discussion on the ways we might look to nature in designing solutions to mitigate climate change, a masterclass on the uses of geospatial models for public health, and a lecture on new forms of place-based activism. The Department of Landscape Architecture has organized a semester-long series of talks, Interdisciplinarity: Right Here, Right Now, that includes scholars and practitioners from an array of disciplines.

Among the scheduled speakers:
American Artist, Interdisciplinary Artist
Jeanne Gang, Founding Principal and Partner, Studio Gang; Professor in Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Lucinda Sanders, CEO, OLIN; Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University 

All lectures will take place online, and admission is free and open to the public. Times listed are Eastern. Information is subject to change; please visit www.design.upenn.edu/calendar or subscribe to the School’s weekly e-newsletter to confirm details.

Select lectures are eligible for continuing education credit. Contact the presenting department or center for more information.

Wednesday, January 27, 5:00pm
“Designing Dissenting Histories”
Sue Mobley, Visiting Scholar
Presented by the Center for Public Art and Space in association with Monument Lab

Wednesday, January 27, 6:30pm
The Jeffrey Fine (C’76, MArch’78) and Andrea Katz Lecture
Jeanne Gang, Founding Principal and Partner, Studio Gang; Professor in Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, January 28, 6:00pm 
The Abend Family Lecture
Diana Agrest, Professor of Architecture, Cooper Union
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Thursday, January 28, 6:00pm
Coco Fusco
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Wednesday, February 3, 6:30pm
Gokhan Avcioglu, Principal and Founder, GAD
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, February 4, 6:00pm 
“Interdisciplinarity: The Artist”
Orkan Telhan, Associate Professor of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Monday, February 8, 8:00pm
“Estimating the Impact of Sea Level Rise on Home Prices in Coastal Florida”
Benjamin Keys, Rowan Family Foundation Associate Professor, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
Presented by the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics Program

Thursday, February 11, 6:00pm
Ricardo Dominguez
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Tuesday, February 16, 6:00pm 
“Interdisciplinarity: The Planner”
Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University 
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Monday, February 22, 8:00pm 
“Using the Open Mobility Data Standard to Regulate Dock-less Mobility in Real Time”
Jarvis Murray, Transportation Administrator, City of Los Angeles 
Presented by the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics Program

Wednesday, February 24, 6:00pm 
“Interdisciplinarity: The Preservationist”
Randall Mason, Associate Professor, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation; Faculty Director, Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Monday, March 1, 8:00pm
“Predictive Analytics in a State Child Welfare Agency”
Jordan Purdy, State of Oregon 
Presented by the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics Program

Thursday, March 4, 6:00pm 
“Interdisciplinarity: The Systems Thinker”
Ellen Neises, Executive Director, PennPraxis; Adjunct Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Thursday, March 4, 6:00pm
American Artist
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Wednesday, March 17, 6:30pm
“Decolonizing the City: Making Professions Learn from the Dreams and Defeats of the 1960s”
Sharon E. Sutton, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Architecture, Parsons School of Design
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, March 18, 6:00pm
Stephanie Syjuco
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Wednesday, March 24, 6:30pm
“Design, Advocacy, and Reimagining Agency”
June Grant, Founder and Design Principal, blink!LAB architecture
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, March 25, 12:00pm
“The Case for Nature-Based Solutions”
Nathalie Seddon, Kleinman Center Visiting Scholar; Professor, University of Oxford
Carolyn Kousky, Executive Director, Wharton Risk Center, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
Mónica Altamirano, Specialist in Public Private Partnerships, Deltares
Moderated by: Matthijs Bouw, Associate Professor of Practice, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Presented by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

Thursday, March 25, 6:00pm 
“Interdisciplinarity: The CEO”
Lucinda Sanders, CEO, OLIN; Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Friday, March 26, 9:00am 
“MUSA Masterclass: Developing Geospatial Models of Health and Disease”
Paula Moraga, Assistant Professor of Statistics, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Presented by the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics Program

Wednesday, March 31, 6:30pm
“Preliminary Plans”
Miroslava Brooks, Co-founder, FORMA, and Daniel Markiewicz, Co-founder, FORMA; Lecturer in Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, April 8, 6:00pm 
“Interdisciplinarity: The Architectural Historian”
Daniel Barber, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Wednesday, April 14, 6:30pm
Scott Erdy, Principal, Erdy McHenry Architecture; Lecturer in Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
Presented by the Department of Architecture

If you require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, please email news@design.upenn.edu to let us know what you need. Please note, we require at least 48 hours’ notice. If you contact us within 48 hours of an event, we won’t be able to secure the appropriate accommodations. 

The University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design prepares students to address complex sociocultural and environmental issues through thoughtful inquiry, creative expression, and innovation. As a diverse community of scholars and practitioners, the School is committed to advancing the public good–both locally and globally–through art, design, planning, and preservation.

Media contact: John Caperton, caperton@design.upenn.edu.