Is there value in invoking “the commons” as a concept or practice? In our present historical moment, questions about what is shared and who belongs converge around a set of ongoing crises: technologies that utilize and control ideas, data and genetic material; ecological destruction and the management of land and resources; conflicts over the spaces and voices that constitute political participation. Can “the commons”—with its multiple histories and applications in fields as diverse as astrophysical sciences, music, religion, archaeology and sociology—serve as an effective definition or critical term or perhaps even as an ideal today?

This fall we look forward to inspiring talks by Gáspár Bakos, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences; Basile Baudez, Asst. Professor of Art & Archaeology; Shamus Khan, Professor of Sociology and American Studies; Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion; Marna Seltzer, Artistic Director of Princeton University Concerts and Department of Music; and Brandon Stewart, Asst. Professor of Sociology.