Beyond Ecocriticism: Environmental Humanities in the Age of Climate Crisis

Date/Time:Thursday, 04 Apr 2024 at 6:00 pm
Location:Curtiss Hall, Room 0127
Summary:The 2024 Donald R. Benson Memorial Lecture, “Beyond Ecocriticism: Environmental Humanities in the Age of Climate Crisis,” will be delivered by Hunter Vaughan, senior research associate and associate professor, from 6–7:30 p.m. Thursday, April, 4, in Curtiss Hall. Light refreshments will be served.Vaughan is an environmental media scholar and a cultural historian at the University of Cambridge. He has done innovative work on the environmental impacts of film production and is the author of Hollywood’s Dirtiest Secret: The Hidden Environmental Costs of the Movies (Columbia University Press, 2019) and the co-editor of Film and Television Production in the Age of Climate Crisis (Palgrave, 2022). He was a 2017 Rachel Carson Center Fellow and is a co-founding editor (with Meryl Shriver-Rice) of the Journal of Environmental Media ​(Intellect Press). He is the co-director of the AHRC-funded Global Green Media Network, co-principal investigator on the Sustainable Subsea Networks project funded by the Internet Society Foundation, and a member of the Convening Team for the UNFCCC’s Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action initiative.

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Thursday, 4 Apr 2024

Flipping the Table on Christian Nationalism
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, activist, and storyteller from Wake Forest, North Carolina. Over the past decade, his thought-provoking blog, Stuff That Needs to Be Said, has reached a diverse worldwide audience with over one hundred million views. A twenty-five-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, Pavlovitz is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities.John's books include A Bigger Table, and If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk.  His new book Worth Fighting For, arrived on April 2nd. He currently directs Empathetic People Network, a vibrant online community that connects people from all over the world who want to create a more compassionate planet.The ISU Book Store will be at the event selling copies of the speaker's book.

Lifting for the Health of It: Beyond Chalk Dust and Weight Belts
7:00 PM – Gerdin 1148 - Pease Family Scholar in KinesiologyDr. Stuart Phillips is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and a member of the School of Medicine at McMaster University in Canada. He is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health. Dr. Phillips' work centers on the interaction of exercise/physical activity, aging, and nutrition in skeletal muscle and body composition. Dr. Phillips is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). He has 488 research publications, and his Web of Science h-index is 96 (Google Scholar h-index 136). He has been in the top 1% of cross-field (nutrition and physiology) highly-cited scholars globally for six straight years 2018-2023.

Tuesday, 9 Apr 2024

Optimism Matters
6:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Barbara Hansen Lecture in Early Childhood DevelopmentSteve Gross, MSW, is a clinical social worker and pioneer in the field of using playful engagement and relationships to overcome the devastating impacts of early childhood trauma. Steve founded Project Joy, a nonprofit organization that used the power of joyful play to heal and strengthen homeless and impoverished children throughout Greater Boston, in 1989. In 2011, Life is Good invited Project Joy, now The Playmaker Project, to be the sole social mission of the brand.Through an outpouring of love, optimism, experience, and expertise, Steve and a trusted team of researchers and colleagues, have spent 30+ years developing the Life is Good Playmaker Project program.Please note: this will be a 60-minute lecture followed by audience Q&A.This lecture will be recorded and available to watch 24-36 hours after the conclusion of the lecture on the Available Recordings page.

An Evening with Hertz Farm Management- Emerging Issues in Agriculture
7:00 PM – 127 Curtiss - The Carl and Marjory Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture was created in memory of the founders of Hertz Farm Management Inc. to inspire generations of industry leaders, research scientists, and young professionals to reach their full potential. Join a panel of Hertz Farm Management leadership for a Q&A style discussion about emerging issues in agriculture, preserving agricultural legacies, developments in agriculture, and questions from you! The panel will include:Chad Hertz, COO Hertz Farm ManagementRandy Hertz, CEO Hertz Farm ManagementJeff Troendle, President Hertz Farm ManagementDoug Hensley, President Hertz Real Estate Services

Thursday, 11 Apr 2024

The Musical Legacies of Phenomenal Women of Color
7:00 PM – Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall - Enjoy works by phenomenal women of color such as Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and many more; learn about their journeys and the legacies they left behind. About the artist: "A compelling, sparkling virtuoso" (Boston Music Intelligencer), Michelle Cann is in great demand as soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, and scholar. Last season included concerto performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic among other major symphony orchestras, and this year brings her to the Des Moines Symphony in March. Ms. Cann is Chair of Piano Studies at the Curtis Institute and winner of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence.Pianist Michelle Cann will also be giving a solo Town & Gown recital on Friday, April 12 at 7:30pm. Tickets and program information for this solo recital are available at www.amestownandgown.org Please note: This event will not be recorded.

Transforming Africa: Navigating the AI Revolution in the African Landscape
7:30 PM – Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Anicia Peters is the CEO of the National Commission of Research, Science and Technology (NCRST), an adjunct Research Professor at the University of Namibia, and the Presidential Task Force Chairperson on 4IR (2021-2022). She founded the Africa Human Computer Interaction Conference (AfriCHI), serves on the Steering Committee of ACM CHI, and was the Technical Programme Co-Chair for the ACM CHI2023 conference.From 2019 to 2023, she also served as an Editor for the African Scientific Journal in collaboration with Elsevier and the Next Einstein Forum. Anicia received the prestigious 2020 Google Inclusion Award and a research grant from Google AI in 2021. She was a Google scholar in 2012 while at Iowa State University.Anicia completed her PhD in Human Computer Interaction from Iowa State University in 2014 and a MSc degree in 2011, under a Fulbright International Science and Technology PhD Award, a Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Award, and a Google Scholar award. Furthermore, she holds a National Diploma and a B.Tech degree in Information Technology (Bus. Comp.), both with honors (cum laude), from the Namibia University of Science and Technology. She completed a Post-Doc at Oregon State University and worked in Silicon Valley complementing her industry experience in Namibia. With over 30 years of academic, industry, and managerial experience both in Namibia and internationally, she has developed a diverse range of expertise.This lecture will be recorded and available to view on the Available Recordings website approximately 48-hours after the conclusion of the event.

Friday, 12 Apr 2024

Natural and Artificial Intelligence: How Rational Are Humans?
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - The 2024 Goldtrap LectureAre humans fundamentally irrational? Is that why so many people commit statistical and logical blunders and fall for fake news, medical quackery, paranormal woo-woo, and conspiracy theories? Is Artificial Intelligence rendering the human mind irrelevant? In this lecture, acclaimed scientist and author Steve Pinker presents an alternative. We humans, after all, have discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives, and discovered the benchmarks for rationality itself. And despite the hype, we are not ready to let AI run simple errands, watch after our babies, or even drive our cars through city streets. Pinker argues that humans think in ways that are sensible in the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but we fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning our best thinkers have discovered over the millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation, and optimal ways to update beliefs and commit to choices individually and with others. Current AI, in the form of deep learning networks and large language models, is yet another tool in the kit of ways we have enhanced out natural intelligence, better in many ways than natural intelligence but worse than others. Another source of irrationality is that the rational pursuit of self-interest, sectarian solidarity, and uplifting mythology by individuals can add up to crippling irrationality in a society. Collective rationality depends on norms that are designed to promote objectivity and truth. Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress.Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist who has been named by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. His keynotes have helped millions demystify the science behind human language, thought, and action. Pinker is a Harvard professor, a TED speaker, and a bestselling author, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Highly respected in the scientific community, his work and opinions are extensively covered in the mainstream media, and have won a wide general audience. In his latest book, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, Pinker argues that we fail to take advantage of the most powerful tools of reasoning discovered by some of our best thinkers: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation. These tools are not a standard part of our educational curricula, and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book—until now. A native of Montreal, Steven Pinker is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. Previously, he taught at Stanford and at MIT. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has won a number of teaching prizes, and his research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has received numerous awards, including the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences.The ISU Book store will be at the event selling copies of the speaker's book.This lecture will be recorded and the recording will be available to those with an ISU login on the Available Recordings page within 24-36 business hours after the conclusion of the event.Programming note: This will be a 60-minute lecture, followed by audience Q&A.

Tuesday, 16 Apr 2024

Our Money and Our Attention: Spending, Investing, and Thriving in the Attention Economy
6:00 PM – 2630 Memorial Union - Financial Literacy Month LectureIn today's world, our attention is a precious commodity, and we find ourselves immersed in what is often termed an "attention economy." With an overwhelming influx of information from various sources such as television, social media, websites, other humans…and even the data that comes from everything from our cars to our smartphones to our refrigerators, our brains are inundated with more data than we can effectively process. The same principles of scarcity that apply to economics also apply to our attention.Navigating this sea of information poses a significant challenge. How do we distinguish between what is relevant and what is not, or between fact and opinion? In this talk, Dr. Chaffin will draw parallels between financial planning and cognitive psychology, outlining how we can live and thrive in this attention economy. Most importantly, we will focus on how we can develop a spending and investing plan for our two most valuable resources: Our money and our attention.Dr. Charles Chaffin’s work encompasses a broad range of fields, from educational and cognitive psychology to financial planning. He has served as the author or lead editor of 7 different books within financial planning and cognitive psychology, helping practitioners become more client-centered and helping individuals and companies address distraction in the workplace.Dr. Chaffin is co-founder of the Psychology of Financial Planning instructional programs, designed to help practitioners better understand the biases, behaviors, and perceptions of their clients. He consults with financial planning firms across various business models to help fine-tune their communication and develop strategies that will help people make better financial decisions. He co-launched the Financial Psychology Inventory, a detailed assessment that can outline and predict client risk tolerance and financial decision-making during market volatility and life events. His Psychology of Financial Planning program has been incorporated into the curriculum of close to 100 colleges and universities in 12 countries.He served as co-Academic Director of the Client Psychology program at The Wharton School as well as Program Lead of the Financial Planning Teaching Seminar at Columbia University. He led research and education activities at CFP Board for close to 12 years. He is also the co-founder of Affirming Advisor™, a first-of-its kind program designed to help advisors and firms better serve LGBTQIA+ clients and allies.He is Professor of Practice in the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State University.The ISU Book Store will be at the event selling copies of the speaker's book.This lecture will be recorded and available to view within 24-36 hours after its conclusion on the Available Recordings page.

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