About MCLA

Notable Speakers

We routinely welcome notable speakers to campus who meet with students and faculty, present to the community and complement our academic mission. Recent speakers include Mariane Pearl, French freelance journalist and widow of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, as part of our Hardman Lecture Series; Jonathan Kozol, award-winning author in education and urban issues as a Leadership Academy speaker; and U.S. Senator John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, our 2008 Commencement speaker.

Hardman Lecture Series

This lecture series presents in-depth discussions with some of the leading journalists of our time and is made possible through the generosity of the Hardman Family Endowment.

Public Policy Lecture Series

In 2008, MCLA announced the establishment of the Public Policy lecture series, making public policy forums an ongoing part of the College's long-term speaker offerings, in complement to MCLA's major in political science and public policy.  The series is made possible through the generous support of the Ruth Proud Charitable Trust.

Vadnais Environmental Issues Lectures

This annual lecture series is named for Professor Lawrence H. Vadnais. Thanks to the support of many alumni and friends, the Vadnais Fund at MCLA has been officially endowed and will support an annual lecture in perpetuity. 

How Sustainable is Modernity?

MCLA hosts a year-long series of special events that focus on the theme, "Is Modernity Sustainable?" in observance of the sesquicentennial of 1859, a year that saw an array of landmark events that influenced the modernization of global society.

Four Colleges Issues Forum

Founded in 2008 by Bennington College, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Southern Vermont College and Williams College, the Four Colleges Issues Forum brings significant discussion of national and global issues to the region. This annual series marks the first time these institutions have participated in a shared educational initiative. The location of the symposium rotates between the four campuses, alternating between a Massachusetts and a Vermont college.

The inaugural forum brought Amory Lovins, author of Winning the Oil Endgame and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute to the Hunter Center at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), in North Adams.

In spring 2009, Anita Hill, professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a former colleague of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, will present her lecture at the Bennington Center for the Arts, in Vermont.