Periodically, the John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master's Program in Humanities and Social Thought in co-production with the Graduate School of Arts and Science, presents a Distinguished Lecture delivered by an outstanding figure whose life and work inspire excellence in others.

John W. Draper, for whom the lecture series and the Graduate School's Program in Humanities and Social Thought are named, taught in the sciences at N.Y.U. He was one of the Medical School¹s founders and also pursued research on photography. Draper's scholarly curiosity was not limited to the sciences, however. In his later career he went on to write a history of the U.S. Civil War, a study of European intellectual development, and a work on the relationship between science and religion.

The late Joseph Brodsky was the inaugural speaker, reading an essay entitled "The Cat's Meow," which was later published. Brodsky, a Russian émigré poet and essayist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986.

During the 1995-1996 academic year, the two featured speakers were Jeffrey Sachs and Jamaica Kincaid. Professor Sachs, one of the world's leading economists, spoke on "Intellectuals and Social Change." Ms. Kincaid gave a provocative talk on the concept of names and naming.

In spring 1997, Dr. Catharine R. Stimpson, then Director of the MacArthur Foundation's Fellows Program, gave the lecture "Casting Our Lots with Change: The University and Its Covenants."

In fall 1998, Homi K. Bhabha then Charles D. Tripp Professor of Humanities at the University of Chicago. delivered a talk titled "On Cultural Respect."

Amartya K. Sen, 1998 Nobel laureate in economics and then Master of Trinity College, Cambridge gave the lecture, "The People of the World."

In 2004, Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, Managing Director at the World Bank, spoke on "Globalization, Leadership, & Values: Where Are We in the 21st Century?” Click here to view the Webcast.

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