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Events

• May

  9

  Dean's Seminar Series: Dario Robleto: The Poetry of Prisms

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  4:00 PM ITW Classroom, 1-350 Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

  EVENT DETAILS

  Dario Robleto: The Poetry of Prisms
  Presented in partnership with the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art

  Taking on subjects ranging from polar glaciers to time capsules, Robleto's work across sculpture, installation, and sound intertwine multiple histories, including those of human exploration in both outer and inner space. He has exhibited his work in museums and galleries across the United States, and his work, Defiant Gardens, is currently on view on campus in the Block Museum exhibition as part of the exhibition If You Remember, I Remember.
  
  He has served as visiting artist and lecturer at several colleges and universities including Bard College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the California College of the Arts. He was also the 2016 Texas State Artist Laureate, and serves as Artist in Residence in Neuroaesthetics at the University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering.
  
  His talk will survey his transdisciplinary practice working with experts in various fields such as glaciologists, sound archeologists, neuroscientists and artificial heart researchers and engineers.

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  TIME Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

  LOCATION ITW Classroom, 1-350 Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

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  CONTACT Northwestern Engineering Events    northwestern-engineering-events@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Apr

  14

  MSE Colloquium: Goll Lecturer Eric Appel

  Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MatSci)

  4:00 PM L211, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  

  MSE Spring 2026 Colloquium Series

  GOLL Lecture

  “The Magic of Moiré Quantum Matter”

  Prof. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Massachusettes Institute of Technology

  Tuesday, April 14, 2025 | 4PM | Tech L211

  A small reception to follow in the Willens Wing Atrium

  Questions? Email Allison at allison.macknick@northwestern.edu

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  TIME Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  LOCATION L211, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Allison Macknick    allison.macknick@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MatSci)

• Apr

  15

  Center for Synthetic Biology presents: Dario Robleto | Ancient Beacons Long for Notice

  Block Museum of Art

  3:00 PM Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh

  EVENT DETAILSmore info

  

  The Center for Synthetic Biology, in collaboration with the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern, is pleased to welcome Dario Robleto, award-winning multi-media artist, for a screening of his film Ancient Beacons Long for Notice. This third part of Robleto’s trilogy explores the legacy of the “Golden Record”—a gold disc representing Earth's diverse life and cultures, sent beyond our solar system on NASA’s Voyager space probes. The film asks a core question:“ is our moral obligation to fully account for our actions—the good and the bad—in perpetuity, off-planet, and to beings we have yet to confirm exist?” A community conversation after the screening will explore this question in the context of synthetic biology’s history, encouraging us to consider its ethical implications as we forecast the future.

  Dario Robleto’s work has been widely exhibited and is held in prominent collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. A portfolio of the artists prints titled The First Time, The Heart (A Portrait of Life 1854–1913) was acquired by the Block in 2018 with support of Northwestern Engineering. His work has also been featured in numerous media outlets, including Krista Tippett’s On Being and The New York Times. Robleto has held numerous artist-in-residence positions at prestigious institutions, including the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. In 2025, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Middlebury College.

  From 2018 to 2023, Robleto Served as Artist-at-Large at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and the Block Museum of Art, where he developed and screened the first two parts of his trilogy about the history of the heart and the Golden Record. The residency culminated in the exhibition The Heart’s Knowledge: Science and Empathy in the Art of Dario Robleto, as well as a publication of the same name. During his time at Northwestern, Robleto built strong ties with the Center for Synthetic Biology and explored the intersection of art, technology, and ethics in society.

  This event leads up to the Center for Synthetic Biology’s 10-year Anniversary, where Robleto is leading the development of a time capsule representing the future of synthetic biology at Northwestern and in the world.

  Event Details - Northwestern University, Evanston Campus
  📅 Wednesday, April 15, 2026
  🕒 3:00–5:00 PM | Film Screening & Discussion
  📍 The Block Museum of Art

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  TIME Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

  LOCATION Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh    map it

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  CONTACT Block Museum of Art    block-museum@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Block Museum of Art