Free Speech 2018: Free At Last sculpture

Illustration of the Free at Last sculpture on Marsh Plaza at Boston University

07. Richard Richards is a Gay Scientist

A little recognized and under-appreciated fact about the august Richard Richards is that he is a gay scientist. I know what you may be thinking—Richard’s never shagged dudes, and if he has, it’s shitty to out him in an essay that’s meant to honor him. That’s strictly his business. Or you may be thinking that that Richard identifies as a philosopher, not a physicist, biologist, or even (egads!) a psychologist. As far as I know, you would be right in both cases—and it would be terrible to call him out--despite the fact that this will hardly rise to the level of an essay. No, what I mean is that Richard Richards practices the sort of approach to philosophy that Nietzsche prescribes in The Gay Science. Now, I won’t pretend to know fuckall about Nietzsche—but that’s okay because there are roughly 7,500 budding philosophy majors lurking in coffee shops, craft breweries, and organic grocery stores around the country who’ve got him figured out and would be delighted to expound on my ignorance. If you are genuinely curious about whether I’ve got Nietzsche right, ask one of them. Or read some Nietzsche. In any case, I’m not entirely convinced that getting philosophers “right” is the point; rather, good philosophers plunder brilliant ideas from better philosophers or scientists, looting those concepts for their own ends–just ask Schopenhauer—and I think Richard might agree with this (c.f., his devotion to Provine and incongruity theory). [excerpt

"Naked Lunch" Banned Books Week posters

These posters make students aware of books that have been banned throughout history and encourage students to exercise their freedom to read without censorship. This poster made for Banned Books Week 2017, references William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch -- a book that was specifically banned in Boston

"Biased Sources? Ghosts" Library Horror Stories posters

These posters were created to make students aware of library resources during the month of October's "Library Horror Stories" media campaign

Mugar Summer Book Club 2017: Timeline

A poster promoting summer reading for Mugar Summer Book Club 2017

Rainbow "happy new year" poster

These posters were created to celebrate a new year

"Therapy dogs at Mugar Library" May 2017 poster

These posters were made by the Mugar Greene Scholars to advertise a destressing opportunity for students, which includes therapy dogs