Graduate students from across the varied departments in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) are coming together to host a speaker whose areas of expertise will resonate throughout HASS and the larger Rensselaer community.

Peter Galison, a Harvard University professor in the physics and history of science departments, has varied and wide-ranging areas of expertise. From security — he co-directed the documentary “Secrecy” which explores government secrecy and its implications on both security and democracy – to the intersection of art and science, to his recent research into how society deals with nuclear waste, Galison’s body of work touches on every department in HASS.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg, a doctoral student in the arts department, is a member of the graduate student committee organizing the event. The committee accepted speaker nominations from all HASS graduate students and Galison was a top choice.

This is the first time graduate students across the HASS departments have come together to host a colloquium. Dewey-Hagborg said the interdisciplinary nature of Galison’s work was a natural fit for the endeavor. “The goal was to create some form of graduate community because we are so dispersed,” she said. “We want to get everyone together for a conversation that touches on all of us.”

The lecture will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, March 24, in the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public.