Fall 2025 Event Details
Eastern University’s distinctive lecture series, Windows on the World, features two or three dynamic speakers each semester. The purpose of Windows is to broaden the conversation on matters important to the pursuit of Faith, Reason, and Justice, by bringing renowned scholars to campus for a public lecture. Additionally, some speakers participate in special classes and workshops on campus. We have some exciting names lined up for the 2025-2026 academic year! Presentations are on Mondays (dates below) at 3 p.m., in McInnis Auditorium. They are sponsored by the Office of the Provost and open to the public.
September 15, 2025: Jose Bowen
Jose Bowen: Educator, Musician, Scholar, Consultant
Windows on the World (September 15th at 3 p.m.): “Educating Humans to Thrive in an AI World”. This thought-provoking discussion will consider the hard to ignore AI threats to economic, academic, political, environmental, and psychological well-being. Because asking better questions and judging answers has always been at the center, a critical thinking education manages the tension between learning to be fully human and preparing for a successful career. Since expertise is also essential to using AI well, students need to prepare to be experts in a world where AI can produce better work than many interns. Understanding how we might (or might not) use AI to support human thriving will be essential as we begin the process of maintaining the best of our tradition while rethinking curriculum for a new world.
José Antonio Bowen has won teaching awards at Stanford and Georgetown, was Dean at Miami and Southern Methodist University, and President of Goucher College. He has written over 100 scholarly articles and has appeared as a musician with Stan Getz, Bobby McFerrin, and others. He is the author of Teaching Naked (2012), the winner of the Ness Award for Best Book on Higher Education, and Teaching Change: How to Develop Independent Thinkers using Relationships, Resilience and Reflection (2021). Stanford honored him as a Distinguished Alumni Scholar (2010) and he has presented keynotes and workshops at more than 300 campuses and conferences in 46 states and 17 countries around the world. In 2018, he was awarded the Ernest L. Boyer Award (for significant contributions to American higher education), and he is now a senior fellow for the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
October 20, 2025: Anthony Scriffignano
Anthony Scriffignano: Distinguished Fellow and member, Alfred Lee Loomis Innovation Council, The Stimson Center
Windows on the World (October 20th at 3 p.m.): “Thinking about AI in Space”. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the changing nature of Data and AI, unique challenges of computers and AI in space, and thinking about the future. Dr. Anthony Scriffignano is an internationally recognized data scientist with experience spanning over 40 years, in multiple industries and domains. With extensive background in advanced anomaly detection, computational linguistics, and advanced inferential methods, he has leveraged that background as primary inventor on multiple patents worldwide. Dr. Scriffignano is a Distinguished Fellow and member of the Loomis Council of The Stimson Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan Washington, D.C. think tank that aims to enhance international peace and security through analysis and outreach.
Anthony Scriffignano serves on various advisory committees in government, the private sector, and academia. He was recognized as the U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year 2018 by the CDO Club, the world's largest community of C-suite digital and data leaders. He is a member of the OECD Network of Experts on AI working group on implementing Trustworthy AI, focused on benefiting people and the planet. Recently contributing to the Report on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data, he has served as a commissioner for the Atlantic Council. Scriffignano also briefed the US National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and contributed to three separate reports to the President, on Big Data Analytics, Emerging Technologies Strategic Vision, and Internet and Communications Resilience.