The Department of Philosophy and Humanities is preparing for a Veroni Lecture discussing kindness and the effects of being kind to others. Professor Cheshire Calhoun, a professor of philosophy from Arizona State University, will be speaking.

Professor Calhoun was a two-term chair of the American Philosophical Association’s board of officers and currently serves as the faculty head for philosophy at ASU. 

The Veroni Lecture series was created in 1999 by Dr. Frank Veroni, a Northeast Ohio physician and philanthropist. The series is intended to appeal to a broad university audience.

“Our guests include many students: those in our courses, our majors and minors, and our graduate students,” said Michael Byron, professor and chair of the philosophy department. “They also include faculty and staff across the university.”

Calhoun works in the areas of normative ethics, moral psychology, philosophy of emotion, feminist philosophy, and gay and lesbian philosophy. 

The Veroni Lecture speakers stay in Kent for a few days and meet formally and informally with faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and members of the university community. 

“We usually have 80–100 guests at these lecture events. High profile speakers draw more,” Byron said. 

Each Veroni Lecture is free to attend and open to the public, according to the Department of Philosophy’s webpage. 

The event will be held Friday, Feb. 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the Center for Visual Arts, room 165. 

There will also be a dessert reception to follow.

More information about the event and future Veroni Lectures are posted on the Department of Philosophy events page. 

Kaitlyn Sanders is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].