ASL Speakers Series

Every year, ASL brings distinguished visitors to speak or perform at the School under the auspices of ASL Speakers Series. Inaugurated in 2001-02, the School’s 50th anniversary year, ASL Speakers Series hosts eminent individuals from a wide range of fields and scholarship.

ASL Speakers Series events take many forms, including presentation, live performance or screening, fireside chat and panel discussion. Events typically last 45 minutes, followed by a half-hour question-and-answer session, and conclude with a short reception if the presentation takes place in the evening.

Former events include panels on AI, Brexit and US elections, and guest speakers have included Jung Chang, co-author of Mao: The Unknown Story; Nicholas Hytner, artistic director of the Royal National Theatre; and author Bill Bryson.

ASL Speakers Series 2024-25

Semester I events

Technology
17-18 September
Patrick Green, educational technology author and consultant, shared his vast experience with our community on the following topics: screentime for students, concerns about sexting and pornography; and social media, gaming and mental health. Patrick speaks globally on digital wellness, parenting, screentime and digital citizenship.

Journalism/global perspective: a panel discussion
22 October
The impact of misinformation on global elections and democracy. The panel comprised ASL parents Chris Anderson (LSE), Derya Matras (Meta) and David Rhodes (Sky), and was moderated by social studies teacher Terry Gladis. Questions were posed by Standard editors as the publication is entering its 50th year.

Parent education
6 November
Dr. Frances Jensen of the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, and author of The Teenage Brain, shared research on the unique strengths and vulnerabilities of the teenage brain, and the interplay of our modern environment at this critical juncture in brain development.

Innovation: the Sir Mohamed Mansour Innovator in Residence Lecture
20 November
Our innovator in residence (IIR) for 2024-25, Christina Adane, presented on her life as a Gen Z changemaker, contrasting her experiences of school with her work in the real world. ASL students who collaborated with our IIR, helped Christina showcase their combined creativity at ASL during the semester.

Semester II events

Literature: the Bergeron Lecture
March
Our Bergeron Fellow for 2024-25 is Megan Mayhew Bergman, writer and environmental journalist. Megan will present the annual Bergeron Lecture at an evening event during her week’s residency at ASL working with middle school students in English class on a particular genre of writing. Megan will also hold workshops for English teachers.

Well-being
April
Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, ASL parent, and author of five books, including The Algebra of Happiness: Notes on the Pursuit of Success, Love, and Meaning, will present on the Algebra of Happiness at an evening event.

ASL Speakers Series 2023-24

Photojournalism
Monday, 26 September 2023
An illustrated presentation by parent and award-winning photojournalist for the New York Times Lynsey Addario
History
Monday, 16 October 2023 (Dinny Green History Lecture)
Actor Ian Ruskin presented his one-man play about the life of Thomas Paine
The arts
Tuesday, 28 November 2023
Ailey, an American documentary film following the life of dancer Alvin Ailey, and directed by Jamila Wignot, was presented in partnership with parent Emily Blavatnik
Literature
Thursday, 29 February 2024 (Bergeron Lecture)
A poetry reading with playwright, poet and author Caroline Bird, our Bergeron Fellow 2023-24
Student well-being
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Dr. Fleisher, physician-in-chief at Boston Children’s Hospital, presented Prediction and Prevention: Technology, AI and the future of children’s health
Healthy community cultures
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Dr. Stevenson, professor and psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, presented The Power of Stories: A conversation for parents/guardians

ASL Speakers Series 2022-23

Politics
25 October: US midterms political panel, comprising Chip Cummins of the Wall Street Journal, and ASL parents Jim Yardley of the New York Times, and Steve Coll and Eliza Griswold
History
12 November: Parents of alumni and Washington Post journalist Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan in conversation with Interim Head of School Coreen R. Hester, on the war in Ukraine, and the death of Queen Elizabeth II
History
15 November: Diana Greene History Lecture with former ASL Innovator-in-Residence Kwame Alexander
Writing
15 March: Paul Yoon as the 2022-23 Bergeron Fellow, in conversation with former Bergeron Fellow Ralph Sneeden, while spending a week with high school English students
History
23 March: Screening of Eva Schloss film, Eva’s Promise. Eva is a longtime friend of ASL, Holocaust survivor and Anne Frank’s stepsister, with the event including a Q&A and book signing
Tech and Innovation
15 May: Panel discussion around AI, comprising: Tonik Matthews, Harvard-educated lawyer, specializing in the ethics of young programmers, Livia Piloto (computer science department head), Innovator-in-Residence Francesco Tamburrino, Ari Weinstein (principal scientist at Amazon and ASL parent), Chris Wolf (social studies department head) facilitated by Nadjib Aktouf, director of technology

A history of ASL Speakers Series

Bergeron Writing Fellowship
The Bergeron Fellow delivers the Bergeron Lecture as part of ASL Speakers Series. The Bergeron Writing Fellowship is an annual writer-in-residence program, established in 1996, named for former high school English teacher Luke Bergeron (ASL 1973-91). The Bergeron Fellow spends a week working with a middle or high school English class on a particular genre of writing, as well as holding workshops for English teachers, and delivering the Bergeron Lecture to the community.

Past Bergeron Fellows include novelist Leah Hager Cohen, essayist Phillip Lopate, novelist and screenwriter Justin Haythe ’91, slam poet Taylor Mali, novelists Paul Watkins and Rosellen Brown, writers William Fiennes and Kamila Shamsie, former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins, and poets Mimi Khalvati and Daljit Nagra.

Diana Greene History Lecture
The lecture, given in honor of Diana Greene, a former trustee (1992-2002) with a passionate interest in history, forms part of Speakers Series. In April 2004, author Claire Tomalin inaugurated this lecture series. Subsequent speakers include Adam Nicolson; Hugh Pope; Al Gore, former US Vice-President and recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize; Sir Harold Atcherley; and Sarah Lyall.

Parent Education Series
ASL regularly welcomes educators and psychologists as speakers on parent education, including Robert Evans, Michael Thompson and Diane Frankenstein.