A city is more than just tall buildings, busy streets and traffic jams during rush hour. To Saskia Sassen, cities are a place where anyone can create a history and a culture — regardless of
Samantha Ickes
Starting in the 1920s in New York, black artists, musicians and writers spawned a Harlem Renaissance that celebrated African-American expression in an era of widespread racism following the Reconstruction and the Civil War. Such
The largest amount of growth across the globe will occur in small, developing cities like Mangshi, China; Hosur, India; and Segura, Spain. Over the next five years, the majority of population growth will occur
Cairo-based architect and urban planner Kareem Ibrahim referred to the 21st century as the “era of cities” — in his native country, Egyptians occupy only 8 percent of the land. He described Cairo’s streets
Sergio Fajardo never saw himself as a politician. He went to school to study mathematics with the goal of becoming a professor. Fajardo lived in a Colombian city considered the most dangerous in the
Three years ago, journalist and producer David Simon opened Week Six and the theme “Crime and Punishment” by speaking in the Amphitheater about the drug war and mass incarceration. At 10:45 a.m. Monday, Simon
Nearly 30,000 elephants are slaughtered every year. Elephants die to make cutlery handles, religious sculptures, piano keys, billiard balls and more — all out of the ivory of their tusks. As founder of the Special
David Doubilet got his first look at the world beneath the water at 8 years old. He spent that summer at a camp in the Adirondack Mountains, where he was given a blue French water
Brittany Nicole Waddell, better known as Britt Nicole, started singing at 3 years old in her grandfather’s church. Since then she has followed the path God created for her by pursuing a career in music
Cory Richards’ life changed in 2011 with the force of an avalanche. Richards nearly died on his way down Gasherbrum II, the 13th tallest mountain in the world. The force of the avalanche hit
Forest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni believes life is like a tapestry — all different values and beliefs can be woven together to create a bond between nature and society. Nadkarni, a professor of biology at
A photo of 13 dead koalas projected on the screen above the stage in the Amphitheater during the 10:45 a.m. July 25 morning lecture. National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore explained that, with the koalas’ natural habitat
A thumb held up against the night sky would block out the area the Kepler Spacecraft has explored in the last four years. From a human’s perspective on Earth, that small section of the night
Astronomer Jill Tarter believes there is a possibility all terrestrial life descended from Mars. She believes there is a chance Martians are ancestors of humans. Tarter discussed extraterrestrial life and the quest of scientists to
When Sara Seager looks at the night sky, she doesn’t just see the stars. She envisions the planets and solar systems these stars hold and the possibility of finding another earth. Seager, the Class
As a little girl, Sara Seager was fascinated by the moon. She remembers watching the round, silver moon as it followed her father’s car. Wherever she went, it went, and Seager wanted to know more