The Department of Architecture’s annual Preston Thomas Memorial Lecture Series symposium will address “Currents in Indian Architecture: Contemporary Practice + Discourse,” Oct. 13-15 in Milstein Hall. Events are free and open to the public. ... The symposium opens Oct. 13 at 5:15 p.m. in Milstein Dome with a book launch and reception for “Women Architects in India: Histories of Practice in Mumbai and Delhi,” by professor of architecture Mary N. Woods.

Two keynote speakers will represent key narratives of contemporary Indian architecture Oct. 14 at 5:30 p.m. in Milstein Auditorium. Kaiwan Mehta, a theorist and critic of visual culture, architecture and city studies, will address critical curation and architectural discourse in India; and architect and urban conservationist Brinda Somaya will discuss the evolution of professional practice in India over the 70 years since the country gained independence.

Mehta is managing editor of Domus India and author of “The Architecture of I.M. Kadri” and “Alice in Bhuleshwar: Navigating a Mumbai Neighbourhood.” Somaya established her practice in 1978 and received the Indian Institute of Architects’ Baburao Mhatre Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement in 2014.

A concurrent exhibition in Milstein Dome, with an opening reception Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m., will highlight a series of seminal books and topical publications drawn from the Cornell Fine Arts Library, all related to India’s distinct natural beauty, vernacular architecture and diverse cultural landscape.