Katherine Boo is a journalist and author of the book Behind

Amy Wilentz is a journalist specializing in Haiti. Her books include Farewell

Anna Deavere Smith is an actress and playwright. She will speak at the Hall Center Feb. 18.

Natasha Trethewey is the U.S. poet laureate and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book of poetry Native

The Hall Center for the Humanities has announced its 2014-15 Humanities Lecture Series featuring renowned scholars, journalists and authors as well as the national poet laureate.

Speakers include Katherine Boo, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, MacArthur “genius grant” recipient and author of “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” which follows families living in a makeshift settlement near luxury hotels in Mumbai; Amy Wilentz, an author and journalist who has spent much of her career covering Haiti and has won a PEN award for nonfiction and was a nominee for a National Book Critics Circle Award; actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith, who has played roles in the television series “West Wing” and the films “Dave” and “The American President” and who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her play “Fires in the Mirror”; and U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry collection “Native Guard.”

All events are free and open to the public.

Here is the full schedule for the series:

Katherine Boo, “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16, Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

John Symons, “What Can We Teach Our Posthuman Descendants?”, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7, The Commons in Spooner Hall.

Amy Wilentz, “Haiti: Tragedy and Hope,” 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3, Woodruff Auditorium.

Anna Deavere Smith, “Snapshots: Portrait of a World in Transition,” Feb. 18, 2015, Lied Center Auditorium.

Natasha Trethewey, “An Evening with U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey,” March 3, 2015, Woodruff Auditorium.

James Oakes, “Rethinking Emancipation: Freedom National,” April 9, Woodruff Audiorium.