Please join us on Friday, May 1 at 1:30PM PST for a virtual lecture by Eric Harvey on "Gilgamesh and the Many Faces of Mesopotamian Heroism." Harvey will introduce the Epic of Gilgamesh alongside other Mesopotamian narratives of kings, warriors, and sages, illustrating the strikingly varied vision of heroism produced in the ancient Near East. Eric Harvey holds a PhD from Brandeis University in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, with a specialization in Bible and ...

Jose Marichal is a professor of political science at California Lutheran University specializing in studying the role that algorithms and AI play in restructuring social and political institutions. His book entitled You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem was published in 2025 with Bristol University Press (UK). The book explores the unwritten social contract we have with the algorithms that shape what we see, hear and think. His next project (expected 2026) is entitled Machine Liberalism: ...