
Q&A: The man who invented Dothraki
Linguist David Peterson, best known for creating the Dothraki and Valyrian languages for the HBO series Game of Thrones, will discuss the craft of creating new languages at a talk April 13.

Parting words: Leave-taking during the Renaissance
As this year’s keynote speaker for the Ferrari Humanities Symposia, literary critic Jane Tylus will outline some of her new ways of thinking about how artists and others in early modern Europe depicted rituals of separation in a public talk, “Saying Good-bye in the Renaissance: Leave-Taking as a Work of Art,” on April 5.

Race, sex, and Allied power relations during WWII
Mary Louise Roberts talk, “The Leroy Henry Case: Sexual Violence and Allied Relations in Great Britain, 1944,” takes place on Thursday, March 31, 2016, at 5 p.m. in the Hawkins-Carlson Room.

Can a computer tell if you’re drinking while tweeting?
Computer science graduate student Nabil Hossain and his collaborators have taught computers to analyze tweets about drinking to determine if people were actually drinking at the time they were tweeting and if they were tweeting from home or some other location.

Taking a ‘look’ at historical hoaxes
During the mid-19th century, a series of grand hoaxes captured the American imagination: the Great Moon Hoax, the Cardiff Giant, and the fantastical creatures of P. T. Barnum. Joan Saab, an associate professor of art history and visual and cultural studies, examines the relationship between seeing and believing.

National Urban League president to deliver MLK Commemorative Address
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans, will deliver the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Address. The event has been rescheduled and will now be held on Monday, February 29.

Translator, collaborator, editor: Creating an award-winning work of ‘living text’
Kaija Straumanis ’12 (MA), a graduate of Rochester’s literary translation program and now editorial director at Open Letter, speaks about her work with Latvian writer Inga Ābele.

Scholars to discuss ‘Transparent’ at first academic conference
In December, the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies will host a conference examining the nexus of sex and gender studies, Jewish studies, American studies, and media studies themes that run through the show.

Teens are more caring when they feel support from others
A new study shows that values of social responsibility and caring for others decrease between the ages of 10 to 16. These decreases, however, are in concert with feelings of decreasing support from their parents, schools, and friends.

Pulitzer Prize winner to speak on Black Lives Matter, persistence of prejudice
Journalist and professor Pamela Newkirk will deliver two lectures in February, discussing the case of Ota Benga and the media’s coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement.