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Finding Her Voice: Writing about Women's Struggles and Triumphs - Rekha Basu
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Rekha Basu has been a columnist for the Des Moines Register since 1991, focusing on human rights, racial and gender issues and commenting on cultural trends. A collection of her columns was recently published as Finding Her Voice. Born in India to United Nations parents, Basu grew up internationally. She has worked as a reporter, editorial writer and columnist at newspapers in Iowa, New York State and Florida. Basu's column appears three times a week on the Register's opinion pages and is syndicated by Gannett News Service. Her many awards include the 2008 Women of Influence Award, the Iowa Interfaith Alliance Award, and the Iowa Farmers Union Media Award. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a master's degree in political economy from Goddard Cambridge Graduate School.

VEISHEA Comedy! Harvard Sailing Team
9:00 PM – Stephens Auditorium, Iowa State Center - Harvard Sailing Team is the New York-based sketch comedy group that features clean-cut performers in preppy clothes, none of whom went to Harvard or sail. The group performed weekly at the New York City People's Improve Theater for six years and have been featured on CBS, VH1's Best Week Ever, Comedy Central.com and even Sesame Street. They are winners of the 2011 Nightlife Award, the Friars Club Sketch Competition and the ECNY and INNY awards. VEISHEA 2013

Graphic Storytellers: Illustrating Horror and Fantasy Books - Jeremy Caniglia
7:00 PM – Kocimski Auditorium, 101 College of Design - Jeremy Caniglia is a successful studio-based artist and commercial illustrator. His artwork has been used on the covers of more than fifty CDs, magazines and books, including novels by such authors such as Stephen King, Ray Bradbuy, Douglas Clegg and F. Paul Wilson. He also painted the cover image for a new, limited edition of Max Brooks's novel World War Z. Caniglia will discuss his artwork as well as artists throughout the ages who have used graphic storytelling to depict the human condition and build compositions in religious, mythological, allegorical and political narratives. He received his BFA in drawing and painting from Iowa State in 1993 and his MFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1995.

How to Be Black - Baratunde Thurston
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Baratunde Thurston is a technology-loving comedian from the future. He co-founded the political blog "Jack and Jill Politics" and served as Director of Digital for The Onion before launching the comedy and technology startup Cultivated Wit. He writes the monthly back-page column for Fast Company, and his first book, How To Be Black, is a New York Times bestseller. Thurston resides in Brooklyn, lives on Twitter and performs standup comedy regularly in New York City. He grew up in the inner city of Washington DC in the 1980s, attended the Sidwell Friends School on a scholarship, and graduated from Harvard.

The Women of Downton Abbey - Jessica Fellowes
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Jessica Fellowes is the bestselling author of The World of Downton Abbey and the follow-up, The Downton Chronicles, both based on the hit PBS series. Jessica is the niece of Lord Julian Fellowes, who created and wrote the series. While she focuses on the characters, sets and plot lines, she also discusses the sociohistorical context of the show, particularly as it relates to the changing role of women, the rise of technology, and the crumbling of class hierarchy in Britain following World War I. Jessica Fellowes has extensively researched the life and people, women in particular, of the post-Edwardian period and draws surprising parallels between the world of Downton and the world of today. No audio download available.

The Real Jesus: New Evidence from History and Archeology - Paul Maier
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Paul Maier is professor emeritus in the Department of History at Western Michigan University, where he was the Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History. His will share new information on Jesus from ancient sources beyond the gospels. Maier is the author of sixteen published books, including The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction?, co-written with Christian apologist Hank Hanegraaf. His nonfiction includes published translations of the writings of Josephus and Eusebius of Caesarea's Church History. Maier's historical fiction includes the national bestseller in religious fiction A Skeleton in God's Closet as well as Pontius Pilate, The Flames of Rome and More Than A Skeleton. He has a master's from Harvard University and Concordia Seminary and a doctorate from University of Basel, Switzerland. Veritas Forum

The Lolita Effect: Girls, Sexuality & Contemporary Media - Meenakshi Gigi Durham
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Meenakshi Gigi Durham's work centers on media and the politics of the body, with an emphasis on gender, sexuality, race, and youth cultures. She is a professor of journalism at the University of Iowa and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies. Durham is the author of The Lolita Effect and coeditor of the text Media and Cultural Studies: KeyWorks. Her professional journalism experience includes reporting, editing, and design for various newspapers and magazines, including the Pensacola News-Journal, The Times of India, and Science Today. Before joining the faculty at the University of Iowa in 2000, she taught magazine journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.

Social Media and the First Amendment - Frank LoMonte
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Frank LoMonte is the executive director of the Student Press Law Center, an experienced commercial litigation attorney, and a former investigative journalist and political columnist. Before attending law school, he worked in state capitol news bureaus in Florida and Georgia, and in Washington, D.C., with the Morris newspaper chain. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was a senior editor of the Georgia Law Review. The 2013 First Amendment Day Celebration Keynote Address.

The Freedom of Art - A Discussion with Brian Duffy & Heidi Wastweet
6:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Two artists will discuss their experiences and challenges with the First Amendment within the art world. Participants include former Des Moines Register editorial cartoonist Brian Duffy and American medallist and sculptor Heidi Wastweet. Brian Duffy's editorial cartoons appeared on the front page of the Des Moines Register for twenty-five years. His animated editorial features can be seen on KCCI-TV and are nationally syndicated through King Features. Heidi Wastweet is a commission-based medallic sculptor and a studio artist who specializes in bas-relief bronzes. She serves on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which advises the treasury about the designs on all the coins that circulate in the United States. 2013 First Amendment Day Celebration

Aging, Physical Activity, and Well-Being - Edward McAuley
3:30 PM – 2019 Morrill Hall - Edward McAuley is the Khan Professor in Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign, with appointments in the Departments of Kinesiology and Community Health, Psychology, and Internal Medicine at Illinois. He will present an overview of findings from a systematic series of physical activity interventions designed to enhance multiple aspects of well-being in older adults, including physical function, quality of life, and cognitive function. Reception immediately following in 2015 Morrill Hall.