Museum Launches Centennial Speaker Series

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is proud to announce its new Centennial Speaker Series. The initial lineup includes four events featuring trailblazing leaders who embody the Museum’s vision for the future: “To explore, engage, and empower for a better tomorrow.”

  

“The topics and themes that we’re addressing in the Centennial Speaker Series are fundamental,” says Allison Grazia, the Museum’s Manager of Public Engagement. “It’s health, space, nature, human history, race—things that are part of our everyday lived experiences.”

  

Throughout its centennial festivities, which will highlight 100 reasons to celebrate natural history, the Museum is looking to the past to better understand the present and positively influence the future. The thought-provoking discussions in this series will add to the dialogue. Grazia notes that the speakers who will be spotlighted also challenge the traditional idea that STEM is for a specific type of person, instead shedding light on the fact that natural history is of and for everyone. Thus, the Centennial Speaker Series will offer a diverse range of voices representing different ages, races, and professional experiences.

  

The series kicks off on August 13, 2021, in the Museum’s newly reimagined Murch Auditorium. Guests will delve into the concept of a better tomorrow with Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, who was recently appointed Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. With 16 years of experience studying dengue virus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus, and coronaviruses, Dr. Corbett uses her viral-immunology expertise to propel novel vaccine development for pandemic preparedness, including the development last year of mRNA-1273, a leading vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The community is invited to attend “Race to the COVID-19 Vaccine: Then & Now,” presented by Medical Mutual, to learn how Dr. Corbett’s work is driving future innovation and dialogue in the field of immunology. Registration is open for this lecture. You can reserve tickets online now. 

  

On November 5, 2021, the Museum will welcome Bellen Woodard, President of Bellen’s More Than Peach™ Project, the World’s 1st Crayon Activist™, and a multicultural-crayon pioneer. A Young Mensan and highly accomplished 10-year-old, Bellen exemplifies the “empower” component of the Museum’s vision. During this program, also presented by Medical Mutual, she’ll share how her goal of “get[ting] multicultural crayons in the hands of all students” has sparked an international movement toward inclusion that has revolutionized classrooms everywhere. Registration is also open for this lecture. UPDATE: This event has been postponed due to a scheduling conflict. More details will follow regarding the rescheduled date and time.

  

The Centennial Speaker Series will continue in February 2022 with Julia Christensen, an artist, writer, and Associated Professor of Integrated Media at Oberlin College whose work explores systems of technology, time, change, and memory. Through her work, Christensen is collaborating with scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop a technology that will send data about the natural world into space in the form of song, with the hope of eventually connecting with extraterrestrial life. The project, which sits at the intersection of science and art, is poised to take space exploration to another level. You can reserve tickets online now. 

  

United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo will take the stage in March 2022 to discuss how she tackles topics of cultural relevance through her work. As the first Native American to hold the position of Poet Laureate and only the second person to serve three terms in the role, Harjo provides a unique lens through which others can learn about indigenous people. Harjo will engage the audience in a fireside-chat-style discussion, during which the community is encouraged to ask her questions about her work, experiences, and perspectives. This event is made possible through the Museum’s partnership with Kent State University's Wick Poetry Center and the NEA Big Read Northeast Ohio, a community reading program and series of related events focusing on Harjo’s book of poetry An American Sunrise.

  

“These speakers have all done a tremendous job of sharing what we know about different aspects of natural history, while also pushing the envelope to get us to either rethink or approach them in different ways,” says Grazia. “They’re helping push seemingly archaic ideas forward in a way that our society really needs to progress.”

  

Tickets will be available starting at $25 per ticket for nonmembers. Attendees can participate in person or virtually. Visit CMNH.org for more information.