Health concerns amid the pandemic cancelled what for Dartmouth's student artists is usually a full term of recitals, ensemble concerts, student theatrical productions, dance performances and more—the capstone to their Dartmouth arts experience. The virtual Arts at Dartmouth Awards event honors the students as they move beyond the health crisis and looks forward as they continue to make great artistic contributions in the future.
The 2020 event, held virtually, will feature an address by Latif Nasser '08, Director of Research at New York Public Radio show Radiolab, and attendees can connect in real time with fellow viewers via live chat.
Guest of Honor Latif Nasser '08 has done Radiolab stories on topics ranging from snowflake photography to medieval robots, but is most noted for his groundbreaking serialized podcast The Other Latif. After discovering that a detainee at Guantánamo Bay shares his name, Nasser set out to discover whether his Moroccan namesake, Abdul Latif Nasir, is a martyred innocent or a murderer. Along the way, Radiolab's Latif reflected on American values and his own religious past, and wondered how his namesake, a fellow nerdy, suburban Muslim kid, might have gone down such a strikingly different path.