CULTURAL CENTER
Spring 2026
We are pleased to welcome the community, including family members, local schoolchildren, alumni and friends, to athletic and cultural events on campus. All events are free and open to the public. Please register in advance at events.hofstra.edu.
Science Night Live is Hofstra University’s public lecture series that features exciting science research presented by some of the top scientists and lecturers in their fields. Science is important in our everyday lives, and these timely lectures are sure to inspire and challenge us in unexpected ways. Presented in collaboration with the Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability.
Tuesday, February 24, 6:30-8 p.m.
Annual Darwin Day Celebration:
Ancient Trees Bring New Knowledge in Our Rapidly Changing World
Dr. Neil Pederson will describe how scientists access the memories of trees using a process called tree-ring analysis or dendrochronology. Tree-ring analysis might be one of the most flexible implements in the scientific toolbox, especially in understanding the impacts of global environmental change. Trees are helping us better document the presence of old-growth forests as the rapid pace of environment change blurs these distinctions. Studying old-growth forests has revealed how much we need to learn about the lives of trees. Trees have also born witness to early human events, including the rise of the Mongol Empire, to add nuance in ways that can befuddle human historians. Ancient trees offer new insights into our world by expanding human knowledge.
The Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
California Avenue, South Campus
For more information, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669.
Past Events
Tuesday, October 14, 6:30-8 p.m.
Science Night Live
Disasterology: Managing Disasters in the Climate Era with Samantha Montano
Science Night Live is Hofstra University’s public lecture series that features exciting science research presented by some of the top scientists and lecturers in their fields. Science is important in our everyday lives, and these timely lectures are sure to inspire and challenge us in unexpected ways.
Dr. Samantha Montano will discuss what is at stake for us in this current context of disaster preparedness and emergency response in the United States. Taking climate change into consideration, this talk will also highlight everyone’s ability to support emergency preparedness across all levels, from the local to the global.
Dr. Samantha Montano is an associate professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. She has taught courses on disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation, vulnerable populations, the political and legal foundations of emergency management, disaster communications, disaster film, and disaster nonprofits. The author of Disasterology: Dispatches from The Frontlines of The Climate Crisis (2021), she holds a B.S. in Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Emergency Management from North Dakota State University. Passionate about public engagement, she has written for/ been interviewed by many national publications including the New York Times, The Atlantic, National Geographic, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and published in the Washington Post, Teen Vogue, City Lab, and Vox, among others.
Presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center, Departments of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability Global Studies and Geography.
The Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
California Avenue, South Campus
Tuesday, February 11, 6:30-8 p.m.
Join Us for Our Annual Darwin Day Celebration:
Botanizing in the Galápagos Islands
with Charles Darwin
Most people associate Charles Darwin with finches, giant tortoises, and human evolution, but he was also a accomplished botanist. In fact, the flora of the Galápagos Islands had just as important a role to play in formulating his theory of evolution as the more famous finches. Join us as we explore the amazing plants of the Galápagos Islands through the eyes of Charles Darwin and celebrate his 216th birthday with science and cake!
Presenter: Dr. J Bret Bennington
Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability
The Helene Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
California Avenue, South Campus
Monday, February 12, 6:30-8 p.m.
Science Night Live presents
Annual Darwin Day Celebration
Endless Forms Most Beautiful: A Collection of Short Stories on the Evolution of Bats with Dr. David Boerma
Science Night Live is Hofstra University’s public lecture series that features exciting science research presented by some of the top scientists and lecturers in their fields. Science is important in our everyday lives, and these timely lectures are sure to inspire and challenge us in unexpected ways.
Bats are the only mammals capable of powered flight, and evolution has transformed their bodies in profound ways to achieve this feat. Bat bodies are also weird in a variety of other delightful ways: from molding wings out of hands, to “seeing” with sound, to growing suction cups on wrists and ankles, to feeding on blood in a few species. The diversity of bat anatomy is part of what has made them such a successful group of animals. In this talk, Dr. Boerma will present a collection of “short stories” on these and other topics around how evolution has shaped the form and function of bats over the past 50 million years.
Dr. David Boerma
Assistant Professor, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Pace University and Research Associate in the Department of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History
Presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center in collaboration with the Department of Geology, Environment
The Fortunoff Theater
Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus
The dedicated Cultural Center staff is ready to help you engage with diverse artistic and intellectual opportunities that spark new perspectives.