Each Thursday, the Franklin & Marshall community gathers for Common Hour to engage in dialogue with academically enriching speakers. The tradition resumes Jan. 18 in addition to Campus Hour programming.

Events are Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and held at Lisa Bonchek Adams Auditorium unless otherwise noted. Common Hour and Campus Hour events are open to the public. View the complete schedule. 

Common Hour enables the F&M and Lancaster communities to engage in a campuswide dialogue about vital international, national and local issues. While Common Hour is a lecture format, Campus Hour is  a discussion-and-activity format. 

Campus Hour mirrors Common Hour’s wide-ranging programming, but with an emphasis on F&M topics and resources. 

The Jan. 18 kickoff event, “Abolish the Family: 200 Years of Western Struggles for Gender Freedom,” features Sophie Lewis, visiting scholar at the Center for Research in Feminist, Queer and Transgender Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

There are 13 Common Hour talks scheduled for the spring semester. They feature faculty experts, alumni leaders, and speakers from outside the campus community. The final event of the academic year is a April 25 student concert featuring the F&M Orchestra and Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Many of the events will be recorded and shared with off-campus audiences, including alumni, students studying abroad and friends of the College.