Signature Gallery Event Recordings and Exhibit Descriptions

Recorded January 14, 2025
How can film and media impact crises around the globe? Explore the power of individual voices to create change and foster understanding regarding human rights issues through media and the arts.

Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.

Featured speaker: Alexia Georgakopoulos, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Conflict Resolution Studies, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

Recorded January 16, 2024
Hosted by Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured Speaker: Rita Shea-Van Fossen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Management, H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business & Entrepreneurship

How can we overcome our implicit biases? learn about evidence-based ways we can make our world fairer for all with this engaging talk.

Recorded February 6, 2024
Hosted by Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Ioana Scripa, Ph.D., RDN, LDN, Program Director/Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

How can we live longer, healthier lives? Explore the cultural norms, diets, and behaviors that allow people in the Deep Blue Zone— five locations around the world where residents live the longest— to thrive.

Recorded March 6, 2024
Hosted by Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: David Kilroy, Ph.D., Chair/Professor, Department of Humanities and Politics, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

What happens when we confuse memory with history? Learn about the differences between the two and the rise of censorship in education when talking about the past with this timely talk.

Recorded April 16, 2024
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Tracey-Ann Spencer, Ph.D., LMFT, MSHRM, Assistant Professor, Department of Couple and Family Therapy, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

What can we learn from the infamous slap heard around the world at the 2022 Oscars? Explore the Influence Differentiation of Self and Emotional Intelligence in regulating and managing our impulses and achieving our goals with this insightful talk.

Recorded September 24, 2024
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Yair Solan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Politics, 
Halmos College of Arts and Sciences 

What responsibilities do filmmakers have when depicting stories that are not their own? Learn about the different responses to the portrayal of traumatic historical events in popular films. 

Recorded October 1, 2024
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Ismael Muvingi, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Conflict Resolution Studies, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences 

What are the challenges faced by immigrants and receiving communities as a result of transnational ism in Florida? Learn about the varying perspectives on these challenges beyond what's covered in the media. 

Recorded October 15, 2024

Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Charles Zelden, Ph.D.- Professor, Department of Humanities and Politics, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

How will our choices this November impact our nation and its place in the world? Learn about what's shaping up to be one of the most important elections in living memory.  

Recorded November 11, 2024
Hosted by Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured Speaker: Jeffrey Matthew Hoch, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

How and why have people rejected science throughout history? Learn about significant cases of science denial and how we can shift to a culture of trust.

Recorded November 19, 2024
Hosted by Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured Speaker: Chitra Paul Victor, Ph.D., M.S.N., M.D. (A.M.), R.N., R.M., C.N.E.

How are we preparing future nurses to care for the diverse population of immigrants coming to the US from around the globe? Learn about the art of nursing as a global profession and the importance of compassionate care for all.

Recorded January 11, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Dr. Lucas Hollar, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

Learn about the aftermath of the Champlain Towers South Collapse in Surfside and the importance of public health and public administration when discussing safe structures, social vulnerability, and equity.

Recorded February 10, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Kershen Huang, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Finance Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship

Traditional corporate theory emphasizes the maximization of shareholder wealth as the single objective of firms. In more recent decades, changes in social norms, as well as the accessibility to broader and more granular data, have allowed more detailed examinations of a wide array of stakeholder aspects. These include creditors, managers, employees, and even bystanders that are outside of financial contracts. Researchers have since studied how corporate actions intertwine with stakeholder well-being and ultimately the implications of these relationships on agency issues, valuations, and economic conditions. During this talk, I will introduce to the Open Classroom audience the important concept of negative externalities and how they take a toll on the state of a free market (through both theoretical concepts and a short session of economic experiment on Poll Everywhere). From there, I will review some of the most recent evidence on how the internalization of externalities by firms can contribute to desirable outcomes not only for the society, but also eventually for the firms themselves.

Recorded March 9, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: G. Nelson Bass III, J.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor & Associate Chair Department of Humanities & Politics, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences
Join this Open Classroom session and learn about the human rights concerns and controversies surrounding the World Cup through the broader lens of political science and global inequality.

Recorded April 4, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.

Featured speaker: Aarti Raja, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

Microorganisms have been around since the early days of planet Earth’s existence. With the arrival of humans’ microorganisms and we have learned to co-exist or rather we are still learning how to co-exist. These organisms are experts at adapting to changing conditions around them. Over time they have greatly impacted human civilization from human expansion on the planet to the many things’ we humans do.

With a PhD in microbiology, my interest lies in microorganisms, specifically viruses. Majority of my work involved studying the virus HIV trying to understand its proteins in an attempt to find a protein that can serve as a vaccine candidate against the virus. I currently work with bacteria to help in the search for the next new antibiotic. Besides research, I have worked as a consultant for the pharmaceutical industry and the financial industry. Additionally, I serve as NSU’s spokesperson for the local media (TV news and local newspapers) on viral infections/diseases in an effort to educate the local community about SARS-COv2 and other viral infections. Teaching remains my passion and I hope to provide students a lens into the many fields they can play a role in.

I remain in awe of microorganisms and their ability to survive on this planet for billions of years. Through this talk I will share some of this information to showcase to people that microorganisms while tiny and invisible to the naked eye have had and continue to have a remarkable impact on us humans; specifically impact on religion, art, societal impacts, and innovations in the field of medicine.

Recorded April 11, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Christi M. Navarro, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Public Health, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

Come to this Open Classroom session and learn about how the "Florida Man" trend on the news and social media highlights public health issues with a focus on mental health illness, substance abuse, and injuries.

Recorded September 13, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Mario D'Agostino, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, Halmos College of Arts & Sciences 

'That ain't got nothing to do with rap, check the facts, expose those cats': Protest Music's Power to Transform American Civic Life 
Can a song effect change or function as a catalyst for a social/political movement? Learn about the power of music to shape society and politics with this engaging talk. 

Recorded October 17, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins, Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Amanda Furiasse, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Politics, Halmos College of Arts & Sciences 

Should we establish off-world settlements? Learn about the ethical and cultural implications of space exploration using the humanities and technology with this timely talk. 

Recorded November 7, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Janine Morris, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, Halmos College of Arts & Sciences 

How do we know what's real in the era of fake news and deep fakes? Learn about the history of these pressing issues and the importance of media literacy in combatting falsehoods with this enlightening talk.

Recorded November 15, 2023
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Mark Cayabyab, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Oral Science and Translational Research, Health Professions Division, College of Dental Medicine 

Is there a biological basis for gender identity? Learn about the possible genetic, epigenetic, and physiologic forces that make us male, female, or gender ­nonconforming with this important talk. 

Recorded February 21, 2022
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Kandy Lopez-Moreno, M.F.A., Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts

The Open Classroom features conversations with scholars from various disciplines who share their expertise on important issues and provide insightful perspectives rarely seen in the media. The first installment, Social Change Through Art, discusses how contemporary artists use art as a form of social activism to challenge the historic use of images as a tool to marginalize women of color.

Recorded March 15, 2022
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Aileen Farrar, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Literature in the Department of Humanities and Politics in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

Explore how social media narratives are changing experiences, expressions, and perceptions of disability. The Open Classroom series is a collaboration between the Farquhar Honors College and the Alvin Sherman Library.

Recorded April 13, 2022
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Jason Gershman, Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics

Learn how the abuses and misuses of big data lead to unfair credit scoring and explore potential solutions to this pervasive problem.

Recorded May 21, 2022
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Kate Waites, Professor Emerita, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Humanities and Politics

As with most historically marginalized and repressed groups, Queer History is fraught, fractured, and not at all monolithic. Originally, the word “queer” was an adjective used to refer to a strange or peculiar behavior. By the early 20th century however, the word Queer became a noun, and a pejorative one at that since it referred in a condemnatory way to a homosexual. By the 1990s, a sea-change in social attitudes, stemming from two decades of political activism that began with the 1969 Stonewall Riots in NYC, led to an empowering reclaiming of both the word and the personal identifier, “Queer.” This activism was accompanied by a kind of theorizing about queerness that would add to the discourse and, once again, stretch the flexible boundaries of the word itself. Viewed through the lens of popular culture, specifically, epochal films and theatrical productions, as well as groundbreaking theoretical texts, such as Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble, Queer History is a rich and complicated account of a social and political identity formed in struggle.

Recorded May 31, 2022
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speaker: Kelly Concannon, Assistant Professor Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Writing and Communication

Language is one of the most powerful tools through which to create our realities and it reflects what we do and do not value. While there has been progress in the cultural attitudes toward the LGBTQA+ community, language gender bias impacts all areas of private and public life. In this lecture, we will discuss the evolution of language inclusivity—paying close attention to how the language we use reinforces harmful binaries—and will explore approaches to integrating more inclusive uses of language (I.e. gender-neutral pronouns).

Recorded October 11, 2022
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speakers: Dr. Charlene Désir, Professor, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, and Dr. Rachel Panton, Assistant Professor, Department of Communications, Media, and the Arts, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

Within this Open Classroom experience, connections between African Diasporic Religions and environmentalism, specifically ocean conservation, are derived and analyzed in order to further understand the importance of natural elements and forces of nature within various religions, and why climate change threatens these connections.

Recorded November 8, 2022
Hosted by Andrea Nevins Ph.D., M.F.A.
Featured speakers: Leanne Boucher, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, College of Psychology

Within this Open Classroom experience, conspiracies surrounding COVID, autism, and the distrust that people of the general public have about the way science progresses is discussed.