IDEAS Week

IDEAS Week is an annual series of public events dedicated to promoting liberal arts and interdisciplinary education. Each iteration is organized around a theme and keynote speaker and traditionally features the Da Vinci Talks, where Emory undergraduate students can present their research for a chance to win a cash prize and an Interdisciplinary Faculty Conversation. Previous themes have included Immigration and Gender (2024), Breaking the Cycle (2023), and Innovating the Arts (2021).

IDEAS Week 2025: Art and Activism with Yehimi Cambrón

Our theme for this year, Art and Activism, probes the capacity of creative expression to engage communities and galvanize social transformation. We are honored to bring Yehimi Cambrón to Emory University as the keynote speaker for IDEAS Week 2025. Yehimi Cambrón is a “DACAmented” artist, activist, curator, and educator based between Atlanta and Chicago. Cambrón’s work reflects the experiences of immigrants and Undocumented Americans through public art. Her award-winning murals in Atlanta are moving monuments to the presence and humanity of the city’s immigrant communities that challenge our understanding of who is worthy of public celebration.

On Thursday, February 13, Cambrón will deliver a public keynote lecture over dinner for an audience of circa 100 students, faculty, and Atlanta community members, all of whom will participate in a story circle after the talk. The following day, Cambrón will lead a 4-hour bus tour will visit several of her landmark murals in Atlanta and Decatur, where she will speak in situ about her creative process and approach to community engagement through public art.