Cooper Series Announces Fall Portion of 2025-26 Season
The Cooper Series returns for Fall 2025 with seven events that bring world-renowned artists, writers, performers, and scholars to campus. This fall’s programming spans visual art, literature, music, dance, philosophy, climate advocacy, and social justice, offering opportunities for the campus and broader community to engage with pressing questions and timeless expressions of human creativity. Spring 2026 events will be announced later this fall.
Transitions: Recent Prints and Animations by Kakyoung Lee
Exhibition
Sept. 10–Oct. 26, Tuesdays–Sundays, noon–5 p.m.
LPAC, List Gallery
Artist Lecture
Wed., Sept. 17, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema
Reception in List Gallery to follow
Through prints, drawings, animations, and installations, Kakyoung Lee explores self-realization, transformation, and mindfulness. A first-generation Korean immigrant, Lee highlights overlooked identities and everyday movements, whether portraying the swaying of a tree, the act of walking, or the transformative experience of giving birth.
Haben Girma: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law
Lecture
Thurs., Sept. 25, 4:30 p.m.
Science Center 101, Chang Hou Hall
Haben Girma, the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, award-winning advocate, and author of the bestselling memoir Haben, shares her journey as a disability rights leader. Recognized by President Obama as a White House Champion of Change, Girma will speak on accessibility and her path as an advocate.
War | Power | Culture
Lecture Series
This series convenes novelists, journalists, and scholars from around the world to examine how war is represented and remembered. Focusing on conflicts since World War II — especially in the Greater Middle East — panelists will address the cultural and human consequences of war, the role of the humanities in advancing human rights, and how individual lives carry the traces of conflict.
Sarah Aziza in conversation with Elise Mitchell
Mon., Sept. 29, 6-8 p.m.
Intercultural Center, Dome Room
Abdulrazak Gurnah in conversation with Bashir Abu-Manneh
Fri., Oct. 3, 6-8 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema
This rare event with Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah will consider his extraordinary contribution to global literature in the context of war, revolution, and colonial conquest. How does the individual survive the great force of this history?
Mirza Waheed in conversation with Razia Iqbal
Fri., Nov. 7, 6-8 p.m.
LPAC, Cinema
British-Kashmiri novelist Mirza Waheed discusses with Razia Iqbal key questions that exercise his work and imagination: war, occupation, and the power of history from Kashmir to contemporary Palestine.
Sangha – Phoenix Ritual: Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers in Residency
Workshop in CHI Awareness Practice
Mon., Sept. 29, 2:30–4 p.m.
LPAC, Boyer Room (003)
Tues., Sept. 30, 10:55–11:10 a.m.
LPAC, Troy Dance Studio (002)
Lecture, Demonstration & Panel Discussion
Wed., Oct. 1, 4:30–6 p.m.
LPAC, Boyer Room (003)
Dance Concert
Sat., Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre
Artistic Director Kun-Yang Lin, along with colleagues and Swarthmore faculty, leads a residency that culminates in a transformative performance featuring Swarthmore taiko students and visiting artist Joe Small, alongside acclaimed repertory from KYL/D. A panel discussion and post-performance talkback will invite audiences into dialogue about sound, movement, and spirit.
Pico Iyer: Living with Silence
Presentation, Reception & Book Signing
Wed., Oct. 8, 4:30 p.m.
Science Center 101, Chang Hou Hall
Pico Iyer’s writing and speaking slow the pace of our ever more frenzied lives. He encourages us to find a space for silence from which we can better understand how best to act in the world.
His most recent book, Aflame, is a beautiful meditation on over 30 years of retreats at a Benedictine monastery. Iyer first visited the monastery after his house burned down in a wildfire and he lost all of his material possessions. Though he does not share the monks’ religious faith, Iyer has become close to the monastic community and found resonance there with the lessons he’s learned from two of his closest friends, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and the singer-songwriter (and sometimes Zen monk) Leonard Cohen.
Pico Iyer has written 15 books which have been translated into more than 23 languages. He has also given four TED talks, which together have received more than 11 million views.
A free copy of Aflame will be available for the first 50 Swarthmore College students who attend the event.
What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Lecture and Discussion
Thurs., Oct. 23, 4:30 p.m.
LPAC, Pearson-Hall Theatre
Marine biologist, policy expert, and bestselling author Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson presents her hopeful vision for climate action. Her book What If We Get It Right? showcases solutions from farmers, architects, financiers, and activists, offering a roadmap for building a more sustainable and equitable future.
Orange Butterflies and Aqua Sequins: Poetry, Music, and Dance with Sanjukta Wagh
Performance
Fri., Nov. 7, 7-8:30 p.m.
Upper Tarble
Workshop
Sat., Nov. 8, 3 p.m.
Upper Tarble
Mumbai-based performer Sanjukta Wagh creates a vibrant, multi-lingual performance celebrating women’s voices across time and culture — from Joy Harjo to Ntozake Shange to Soyarabai. The performance will be followed by a discussion, and a next-day workshop will introduce improvisation techniques rooted in Kathak, Hindustani music, and Bhakti literatures.
