The Cooper Series returns for the 2024-25 academic year with 11 artistic events during the fall semester, including concerts, lectures, art exhibitions, and a symposium celebrating James Baldwin. Below are the 11 events for the fall semester. The full spring program will be announced at a later date.

DuPont Brass Celebration

Guest Lecture
Thursday, Sept. 5, 2:40 p.m.
Underhill Music Library, Seminar Room

Meet-and-Greet
Thursday, Sept. 5, 6 p.m.
Black Cultural Center

Concert
Friday, Sept. 6, 6 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre

DuPont Brass is a one-of-a-kind, brass-driven supergroup hailing from the vibrant DMV (D.C./Md./Va.) area. Born out of the musical halls of Howard University, what was once a quintet of music scholars has blossomed into a dynamic ten-piece force, featuring brass, a rhythm section, and vocal prowess. Their journey began with humble origins, as they busked in Metro stations to fund their education, but has since catapulted them onto prestigious stages across the nation. The Music Department welcomes DuPont Brass to Swarthmore College.

The sky loves to hear me sing: Woodland Art in Transmotion

Exhibition
Thursday, Sept. 12–Tuesday, Oct. 29
Tuesdays through Sundays, noon–5 p.m.
LPAC, List Gallery

Lecture by Gerald Vizenor and Panel with Participating Artists Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe), Jason Lujan (Chiricahua Apache and Mexican), and Alan Michelson (Mohawk), Moderated by Visiting Assistant Professor Christopher Green
Thursday, Sept. 19, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema

Reception
Thursday, Sept. 19, 5:30–7 p.m.
LPAC, List Gallery

This exhibition highlights the dynamic, migratory, and sovereign nature of Woodland Native art across time. The featured artists explore and embody visual movement(s) throughout the international meeting places of the Eastern Woodlands, challenging stereotypes, aesthetic and geographic borders, and colonial prerogatives. Join us for a panel and lecture featuring artists from the exhibition and esteemed scholar Gerald Vizenor (Anishinaabe, enrolled citizen of the White Earth Nation) whose writings and influential concepts of survivance and transmotion emphasize the ongoing contemporaneity and sovereignty of Indigenous identities and cultural expression.

Jurisprudence and the Pursuit of Justice

Lecture
Monday, Sept. 16, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema

Reception
Monday, Sept. 16, 5:30–6 p.m.
LPAC, Lobby

This year’s joint Constitution Day and Cooper Lecture convenes judges Stephanos Bibas and Arianna Freeman ’01 to discuss challenging questions of jurisprudence. As members of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, they regularly hear cases that shape federal law. Associate Professor of Philosophy Krista Thomason will moderate the panel, followed by a Q&A and a reception with light refreshments.

Global Justice: Historical Present, Imagined Futures

Reading and Conversation between Natalie Diaz and Fady Joudah
Monday, Sept. 23, 6–7:30 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema

Lecture by Ussama Makdisi
Monday, Sept. 30, 4:30–6 p.m.
Haverford College, Stokes Auditorium

Lecture by Nasser Abourahme
Thursday, Oct. 24, 7–8:30 p.m. 
LPAC, Cinema

Conversation between Maya Wind, Davarian Baldwin, and Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 4:30–6 p.m.
Science Center 101, Chang Hou Hall

A Conversation with Angela Davis
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 7–8:30 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre

Programming continues in Spring 2025.

Global Justice: Historic Present, Imagined Futures is a timely odyssey into the interconnected crises of justice defining our current political landscape. Inspired by the ongoing catastrophe unfolding in Israel-Palestine, Global Justice transcends the immediate, delving into the intricate matrix of power, state violence, and fascism that increasingly exposes the precarity of the rules-based international order that has governed us for decades. The eminent activists, scholars, and artists who comprise the series place the issues of our day within a global and historical framework that expands our intellectual horizons, enriching our understanding of the present and possible futures.

Christian Cooper Walks and Talks

Comics Talk
Tuesday, Sept. 24, 5–6 p.m.
McCabe Library, Lib Lab

Crum Creek Bird Walk
Wednesday, Sept. 25
Location TBD

Keynote
Wednesday, Sept. 25, 7–8:30 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge Bird Walk
Thursday, Sept. 26
Location TBD

Panel Discussion: Birding While a Minority
Thursday, Sept. 26, 6–7 p.m. 
LPAC, Cinema

Christian Cooper is the NY Times-bestselling author of Better Living Through Birding and an Emmy winner for his work on National Geographic’s Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper. Cooper serves as a vice president of the NYC Bird Alliance, where he advocates for greater, safer access to green spaces for all, with a focus on outreach to youth in underserved communities. A longtime activist on issues of racial justice and LGBTQ equality, Cooper combined his passions in the BLM short story “It’s a Bird” from DC Comics. He continues to seek synergy at the intersections of storytelling, progressivism, and environmentalism.

Taiko Legend: Eitetsu Hayashi in Residency

Film Screening
Tomo Ari / My Dear Friends: Taiko Performer Eitetsu Hayashi 
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 6:30 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema
Q&A with Mr. Hayashi and reception to follow

Japanese Dance, Movement & Etiquette Workshops
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 9:55 a.m.–11:10 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 9:30–11 a.m.
LPAC, Troy Dance Studio

Lecture: Forging the Path of a Taiko Drum Artist
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 11:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre

Taiko Drum Lecture-Demonstration and Master Class Workshop
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 6–7:15 p.m. 
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre

Lecture-Demonstration on Taiko History and Development and Eitetsu Hayashi’s Creative Approach 
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 7:30–9 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre

Open Observation of “Sen no Kaikyo” Workshop
Friday, Oct. 4, 6–9 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre

Concert: Sonic Bodies: Taiko Legend Eitetsu Hayashi
Saturday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre

Celebrated as Japan’s most preeminent and pioneering taiko drum artist, Eitetsu Hayashi has received worldwide renown and standing ovations for his dynamic and thunderous performances. Sonic Bodies presents an evening of Hayashi’s emotionally resonant and thought-provoking repertoire — a trailblazing combination of taiko music and choreography steeped both in Japan’s cultural roots of Buddhism and Shintoism, and international, transcultural influences. Hayashi and his elite ensemble, Fu-Un no Kai (The Society of Wind and Clouds), push their physical and spiritual limits to a near-superhuman edge, expressing sound through their bodies to transport the audience.

Unseen: Disability, Immigration, and Mental Health

Film Screening and Discussion
Wednesday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema

Screening will be followed by a discussion with director Set Hernandez and the film’s protagonist and co-writer, Pedro.

Most people dream of a better future. Pedro, an aspiring social worker, is no different. But as a blind, undocumented immigrant, Pedro faces political restrictions to obtain his college degree, secure a job in his field, and support his family. As he finally graduates, uncertainty looms over Pedro. What starts as a journey to provide mental health care for his community ultimately transforms into Pedro’s path towards his own healing.

James Baldwin for Our Times: A Centennial Celebration

Film Screening with Assistant Professor of Theater Isaiah Wooden
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema

Lecture by Eddie Glaude Jr.
Friday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre

James Baldwin for Our Times: A Symposium
Saturday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Science Center 101, Chang Hou Hall

How does the inimitable Black writer James Baldwin (1924–1987) speak to us still? Celebrating the centennial of Baldwin’s birth, this series of events — a film screening, a lecture, and a symposium of public conversations among leading scholars — gathers a number of important thinkers to reflect on his relevance to our contemporary moment. Participants include Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (Princeton), Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman (Brown), Marquis Bey (Northwestern), Marlon Ross (University of Virginia), Savannah Shange (UC Santa Cruz), Maurice O. Wallace (Rutgers), and Dagmawi Woubshet (University of Pennsylvania).

Roderick Williams in Concert

Composition Master Class
Thursday, Nov. 21, 2 p.m.
Lang Music Building, Concert Hall

Swarthmore College Chorus Concert with Roderick Williams
Friday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m.
Lang Music Building, Concert Hall

Programming continues in Spring 2025.

Roderick Williams OBE is one of the U.K.’s most sought-after baritones and is constantly in demand on the concert platform and in recital, encompassing repertoire from the Baroque to world premieres. Engaged as a featured artist with the Department of Music, Williams will perform with the Swarthmore College Chorus and members of the Orchestra, as well as in a recital with Julius Drake. In addition to the vocal master class and a composer workshop he will give, the Swarthmore College Chorus will perform a world premiere commissioned work by Williams.

Arborlight

Lecture and Discussion on the Intersection of Art and Science
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 4:30 p.m.
Science Center 101, Chang Hou Hall

Programming continues in Spring 2025.

Arborlight tells the story of the inner lives of trees through projected animations onto Swarthmore’s grand tree trunks at twilight. Created by artist Meredith Leich ’08, the animations will explore the interrelationships between ecology, plant biology, place, and art to better understand what it means to live among these giant organisms. The animations will be generated through hand-drawn and digital techniques, showing how a first sprout develops to a mature tree, how water and the energy from light move within the xylem and phloem, how moss and lichen grow on the surface, and how climate change will affect local trees.

Collisione Mondiale: Songs from Inner and Outer Space

Class Visits
Monday, Oct. 21–Friday, Oct. 25

Programming continues in Spring 2025.

Collisione Mondiale is a cooperative project by musicians from Europe, Africa, and the U.S., conceived and directed by former Visiting Cornell Professor Hans Lüdemann (center), a pianist and composer. The project brings together balafon master Aly Keita, drummer Christian Thomé, singer Tamara Lukasheva, bassist Nick Dunston, violinist Mark Feldman, and saxophonist Bobby Zankel. Collisione Mondiale includes the interpretation of excerpts of Lüdemann’s opera; compositions, improvisations, and creative work with the other artists and the students in workshops; and rehearsals and performances involving individual student singers and instrumentalists – both jazz and classical.