For over forty years, the Lectures in Criticism series has brought renowned scholars in the humanities to Boston University. It has run since 1983, hosting four external speakers every year in addition to one member of the BU faculty. Lectures in Criticism is dedicated to continuing this legacy of excellence with lectures every year in Fall and Spring. Visit the Lectures in Criticism website.
Fall 2025
Fall 2025
“Towards a Social History of a Sacred City: Epistemological Challenges in Studying Teotihuacan, Mexico”
David Carballo, Professor of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Latin American Studies
2024-2025 Lectures in Criticism
Fall 2024
“On the Pleasures and Perils of Personhood: Slavery and Artificial Life”
Louis Chude Sokei, Professor of English and Joyce Wein Chair in African American & Black Diaspora Studies, Boston University
Spring 2025
“Art in the Shadow of Military Dictatorships in 1980s Nigeria”
Chika Okeke-Agulu, Robert Schirmer Professor of Art and Archaeology and African American Studies, Princeton University
2023-2024 Lecture in Criticism
Fall 2024
The Episodic Reception of Medieval Persian Women Poets
Sunil Sharma, Professor of Persianate & Comparative Literature; Director, Center for the Study of Asia; Director, Global Medieval Studies Program, Boston University
Lecture Archive
Please visit the Past Lectures page for more information on lectures between 1983 and 2023.