Dr. Marcia Y. Riggs has an undergraduate degree in religion from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University Divinity School and a PhD in religion/ethics from Vanderbilt University. Her teaching career began at Drew University Theological School in Madison, New Jersey; she joined the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA in 1991. In April of 2006, Dr. Riggs was inaugurated as the seminary’s first J. Erskine Love Professor of Christian Ethics and retired as professor emerita on August 1, 2024. The Marcia Riggs Commons, a residential hall and space for communal gatherings, was dedicated on the campus of the seminary in 2022. Her 20 years of ordained ministry were served in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

The Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation hosts harpsichordist and historian Mark Kroll.

This talk uncovers the story of Frank Hubbard, William Dowd, and Eric Herz—three visionary artisans who transformed Greater Boston into a global hub for historical harpsichord building in the 20th century. From the origins of the harpsichord in Renaissance Europe to the revival of historically informed instrument-making in postwar America, this lecture weaves together music, craftsmanship, and cultural history. Learn how these builders preserved centuries-old traditions while innovating for modern audiences—and how their legacy lives on in instruments, apprentices, and the music they helped bring back to life.


Kroll sets the context in which the Hubbards’ shop at the Lyman Estate carriage house expanded to the old Cotton Picker Building of the Boston Manufacturing Factory site on Moody Street. Hubbard Harpsichords pioneered the use of DIY kits that became popular in the 1960s and 70s, many of which were built in this mill complex.

Mark Kroll’s distinguished career as a performer, scholar and educator spans a period of more than fifty years. He has appeared in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia as a recitalist and chamber musician, winning critical praise for his expressive playing and virtuosity. He has also performed as concerto soloist with the world’s major orchestras and served as harpsichordist for the Boston Symphony from 1979-2008. Kroll’s extensive list of recordings includes the music of Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Biber, Duphly, Balbastre, Royer, Schubert, and Hummel; a 10-disc set of the complete pièces de clavecin of François Couperin; critically acclaimed CDs of contemporary harpsichord music; and Dutilleux’s Les Citations with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players.

Last year, Boston drivers spent an average of 79 hours sitting in traffic. Those hours could have been spent going to the gym, visiting a library, or having lunch with a friend. How different would our lives be if everything we needed was only 15 minutes away on foot?

The 15-Minute City is an urban planning framework in which people live within 15 minutes of the essentials they need by walking or biking. Cities around the world - Barcelona, Paris, Singapore, and Bogota - have adopted this concept for sustainability and to improve general quality of life. As this concept gains popularity, we explore how our cities might leverage this global movement.

For decades, urban planning in the United States has advanced and prioritized automobile use, which led to the destruction and splintering of Black and brown neighborhoods. What resulted was the unprecedented surge of suburbia, which designated for generations of Americans separate spaces for living, working, etc. Now more than ever, the US is confronted with a physical and political landscape demonstrating the importance of connection and community.

In this talk, we explore the principles of the 15-Minute City, how it works, and how urban planning impacts our way of life and shapes how we live and move in our communities.

Christian MilNeil, editor-in-chief at StreetsblogMASS is moderating the discussion.

Carlos Moreno is a Franco-Colombian urban planner and professor at the IAE Paris Sorbonne, University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. Carlos pioneered the award-winning concept of the “15-Minute City” which has since become a global movement for city transformation.

Arthur Frank is professor emeritus at the University of Calgary, Canada. Since his retirement in 2013, he has been Professor II at VID Specialized University in Oslo, visiting professor in the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, and Francqui Fellow at the University of Ghent. His books on illness experience, ethics, clinical care, and narrative include At the Will of the Body, The Wounded Storyteller, The Renewal of Generosity, Letting Stories Breathe, and most recently King Lear: Shakespeare’s Dark Consolations as part of Oxford’s “My Reading” series. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and winner of the Society’s medal in bioethics. He has also been recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Bioethics Society.

Cosponsored by the Boston College Center for Psychological Humanities & Ethics.

Over the past thirty years, we’ve collectively seen a push for greater accessibility options in the arts such as (but not limited to) ASL interpreters, open captioning, audio descriptions, autism and sensory friendly performances, and veterans’ theater going programs.

Likewise, artists breaking the mold are getting their overdue spotlight. Not only have companies like Deaf West taken mainstream theater by storm and become household names, but last year’s Broadway shows showcased a more inclusive slate of talent: The Cost of Living starred Katy Sullivan, Paralympic athlete and amputee, and Gregg Mozgala, who is diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy; Camelot featured Anthony Michael Lopez, who wears a prosthetic leg and Marilee Talkington who is legally blind; In A Doll's House, Michael Patrick Thornton, a wheelchair user, played Dr. Rank.

How do we continue to move the needle to ensure that everyone can access the show and that the material we enjoy reflects humanity as whole - with a wide variety of abilities and differences? In this conversation, we’ll explore both the content and function of representation and accessibility. What does inclusive performance look like, and how do we get there?

Director of Artistic Programming Ronee Penoi discusses with noted bassist and host of the podcast, “Blind? So What?” Ciara Moser, audio describer, performer, and leader in the Spina Bifida community Cori Couture, groundbreaking founder and Executive Director of Abilities Dance Ellice Patterson, and managing director of Open Door Arts, Nicole Agois Hurel.

Nicole Agois Hurel is a musician, educator, arts administrator, and disability advocate whose work centers at the intersection of arts, education and disability. She is the Managing Director of Open Door Arts, an organization that works to increase access, participation, and representation in arts and culture by people with disabilities. She directed Open Door Arts’ education programs for 13 years before assuming the Managing Director role in 2017.

In-show Audio Describer Cori Couture (she/her) has provided audio description (AD) for more than 125 productions in the Boston area at about a dozen different theatres. In addition, she has described TV, film, and projects for the Commonwealth of MA, Paramount, NASA, and Disney Parks. She has coordinated AD for many theatres and maintains a comprehensive calendar of local AD productions. Cori proudly identifies as a person with a disability and her one-woman show explored how the arts buoyed her through growing up with spina bifida. She reminds us that people with disabilities have all kinds of fulfilling jobs and lives.

Ellice Patterson is the founder/ executive and artistic director of Abilities Dance, a Boston-based dance company that welcomes artists with and without disabilities. She currently serves on the board of Massachusetts Cultural Council. She was an artist in residence with the City of Boston’s transportation department, using dance as a way to promote more accessibility on the streets and sidewalks of the city 2022 - 2023.