Join us for: 2022 Octavia Elfrida Saunders Memorial Lecture: On the Underground Railroad

16 January 2022

We are delighted to announce that the 2022 Octavia Elfrida Saunders Memorial Lecture will be given by Professor Steven Nelson (Dean, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC) on Wednesday 26th January at 4pm GMT online via MS Teams. Professor Nelson's lecture is entitled 'On the Underground Railroad,' and will be introduced by Professor Lorna Milne (Master of the United College and Deputy Principal). 

It will be followed by a response from Dr Kate Cowcher (School of Art History) and a Q&A with Professor Nelson. 

Do join us by using the link below – we look forward to seeing you there! 

Octavia Elfrida Saunders Lecture 2022 

Steven Nelson is dean of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Nelson has published widely on the arts, architecture, and urbanism of Africa and its diasporas and on queer studies. Nelson is professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he served as director of the African Studies Center and advised the university on its diversity and inclusion strategic planning. Before assuming the role of dean, he was the Center’s Andrew W. Mellon Professor. Most recently, he has joined the Kress Foundation Board of Trustees and has been named as a member of the Society of Architectural Historian’s 2021 Class of Fellows. Nelson earned a BA in studio art from Yale University and an AM and a PhD in art history from Harvard University.