Public Lecture Series
Each semester, the Sam Fox School’s Public Lecture Series brings nationally and internationally recognized architects, artists, designers, historians, and critics to campus for an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary issues and challenges, from climate change and sustainable design to the importance of local communities.
Upcoming Lectures
Apr 15 at 5:30pm • Museum Lobby
Being and Becoming in Contemporary Chinese Art
This talk by Peggy Wang, associate professor of art history and Asian studies at Bowdoin College, addresses the conflicting pressures that artists in China confronted during the 1990s and early 2000s, including rapid urbanization and cultural globalization. Even as they navigated political constraints and deficits in resources, contemporary artists enacted productive strategies for making and exhibiting their art. This lecture foregrounds artists’ assertions of being and becoming, both as critical tactics for configuring identity and generative topics unto themselves. Wang will particularly examine how artists studied the vibrant dynamics of change through temporal, historical, and material dimensions in their art.
This lecture is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Looking Back Toward the Future: Contemporary Photography from China, on view at the Kemper Art Museum from February 27 to July 27, 2026.
Part of the Sam Fox School Public Lecture Series
Parking and Directions
Free parking is available in the East End Garage beginning at 5:00 p.m. Enter the garage from Forsyth Boulevard or Forest Park Parkway.
Past Lectures
Check out some of our recent Public Lecture Series events. If a recording of the lecture is publicly available, you can find it by clicking through to the event page.
Visit the Sam Fox School YouTube channel for archived recordings.
