Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson will deliver three lectures at Washington University this week as a part of the Assembly Series sponsored by the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.

Dan Ariely, a New York Times bestselling author and five-time TED presenter, discussed his research concerning the motivations behind our oft-dangerous short-term behaviors despite our positive future goals Thursday in Hillman Hall.

A lecture Thursday shed light on the Washington University’s attitude towards research conducted at the University decades ago concerning the human body’s experience during sex. The story is captured in the Showtime television series “Masters of Sex.”

This semester’s Assembly Series will highlight topics ranging from queer theory to urban equality to campaign strategy. The Assembly Series, which runs from from February 4 through April 15, has been bringing leaders and experts from various fields to Washington University since 1953.

A Los Angeles Times columnist encouraged listeners to express themselves without inhibition on Monday evening in her Assembly Series lecture.

The recently-announced speaker slate for the fall Assembly Series features an emphasis on issues of race and the criminal justice system.

In Wednesday’s Assembly Series event, speaker Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., suggested that Mike Brown’s death on Aug. 9 unveiled a decades-old problem with continuing racial tensions.

Celebrating its 60th year with a roster including celebrities, noted scientists and social activists, Washington University announced its spring 2014 Assembly Series schedule on Monday.

Wes Moore, author of the Freshman Reading Program Book, “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” spoke to students and faculty in College Hall Tuesday. His book narrates the lives of two men, both named Wes Moore. One, the author, grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, U.S. Army veteran and avid voice for education.

In the first Assembly Series lecture of the semester on Feb. 10, author Dr. Parker J. Palmer spoke on how to make democracy possible through a “cultivated heart.” Although the student attendance was low, Graham Chapel was packed on Friday with attendees from the Washington University community and local area.