1300F Spring 2026 Inaugural Distinguished Professor Lecture: What Global Cultural and Technology...

1300F  Inaugural Distinguished Professor Lecture: What Global Cultural and Technology Flows Tell Us About Our Interests and Values. And What Can We Do About Them?
One session
Instructor: J.P. Singh
Friday, Apr. 24, 1:00—2:30
From Hollywood to Bollywood, or from airplanes to artificial intelligence, we are surrounded with global cultural and technology flows. For some, it is exciting bringing the world closer. For others, this is threatening and leads to calls for deglobalization and closing borders. The question is how will we negotiate our future amid global flows? This lecture turns to historical antecedents: from railways to Facebook, and from arts practices that have both stabilized and destabilized our understandings of ourselves. The answers are varied, ranging from grand celebrations to open conflicts. The question remains: under what circumstances do we learn from history, and where and how do we ignore it?
J.P. Singh is a Distinguished University Professor at George Mason University, and Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow with the Robert Bosch Academy, Berlin. Singh has published ten books and over 100 articles and received nearly $3 million in grants funding at GMU. Recent awards include a Fulbright-Nehru Professional Excellence award, an Outstanding Scholar Award at Schar School, and the Distinguished Scholar award in international communication from the International Studies Association.