Honors College Plenary Lecture 2026: Radical Organizing and Performance in Envisioning Change

Commonwealth Honors College's Plenary Lecture on Justice and Community is an annual event that features thought leaders from across the spectrum of UMass Amherst faculty. The lecture is also connected to the Honors course “Ideas That Change the World.” The Fall 2026 Plenary Lecture will be held on Thursday, October 8, at 5 p.m. at the Student Union Ballroom. Irene Mata, Ph.D., professor of American studies at Wellesley College., will deliver the lecture. Her book, Beyond the Moment: Connecting Histories of Latinx Performance and Resistance, examines how Latinx artists have built a documented resistance movement that both captures moments of dissent and preserves them for the future. Through performance art and theatrical protest, Latinx artists enable ongoing community solidarity and continued resistance. Growing up in the border city of El Paso, Texas has significantly shaped Mata's research interests. She has combined her background in women's studies, border studies, and popular culture in a second project examining US-based cultural productions representing the feminicides in Northern Mexico, exploring how cultural producers portray changes at the US/Mexico border amid mass migration and heavy industrialization. As an educator, she views the classroom as a space for critical engagement with texts and ideas, emphasizing active student participation and extending her mentoring responsibilities beyond the classroom walls. Cosponsored by Phi Kappa Phi.