Esra Akcan is Michael McCarthy Professor in the Department of Architecture and the Director of IES at the Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University. Her research on modern and contemporary architecture and urbanism foregrounds the intertwined histories of Europe and West Asia, and offers new ways to understand architecture's role in global, social and environmental justice. Akcan received awards and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University, Graham Foundation (3 times grantee), American Academy in Berlin, UIC, Institute for Advanced Studies in Berlin, Clark Institute, Getty Research Institute, Canadian Center for Architecture (2 times scholar), CAA, Mellon Foundation, DAAD and KRESS/ARIT. She is the author of Landfill Istanbul; Architecture in Translation: Germany, Turkey and the Modern House; Turkey: Modern Architectures in History (with S.Bozdoğan); Open Architecture: Migration, Citizenship and Urban Renewal of Berlin-Kreuzberg. Her upcoming books are Building in Exile, Abolish Human Bans and Right to Heal.

About the HCOA Lecture Series:

This academic year's Lecture Series, titled Calibrations: The Space of Practice, has been formed to address and promote the expanded spaces of architectural practice regarding critical issues of diversity and inclusivity.

The series will focus on three practices: architecture, community building, and context: the way practices are multiple and evolving, community building through inclusion and representation of minority voices, and creation of context via reframing of architectural narratives to create inclusive contexts for design.

Individuals from the university, college faculty, and student body will act as moderators for each lecture. Lectures will be synchronous and will partner both the Lubbock and El Paso campuses.