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Slovenia and the European Union Financial Crisis - Roman Kirn
10:00 AM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - David Peterson, Interim Director of the Harkin Institute of Public Policy and Associate Professor of Political Science, will provide a welcome and introduction. His Excellency Roman Kirn is Ambassador of Slovenia to the United States, a position he has held since May 2009. He will discuss how Slovenia, after twenty years of independence, has shaped its role in the European Union and the global economy. Ambassador Kirn most recently served as Director of the Department for North and Latin America and the Caribbean for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the head of Transatlantic Relations and Preparations for the EU-U.S. Summit during Slovenia's European Union presidency in June 2008. He was Slovenia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, 2002-06, during which time he was Vice President of the U.N. General Assembly and Vice President of the 2005 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. He also served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 2000-02. Refreshments will precede the lecture at 9:45 am.

Disability Awareness Summit Keynote Address - Mark Leddy
9:15 AM – Scheman Building - Mark Leddy is Director of the Research in Disabilities Education Program at the National Science Foundation. The Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) program makes resources available to increase the participation and achievement of people with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers.

Neanderthals and Us - David Frayer
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Anthropologist David Frayer studies the relationship between Neanderthals and subsequent European populations. He has published on topics ranging from Neanderthal toothpick use to evidence for human massacres in the German Mesolithic to evidence for language origins. His current projects include the Croatian Neanderthal site of Krapina; the dental anthropology of an early, pre-ceramic Neolithic site in Pakistan; and the so-called 'hobbit" from Flores, Indonesia. Frayer earned his PhD from the University of Michigan and is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kansas. Sigma Xi Lecture Series.

Democracy Movements in the Middle East: How Can We Help? Phyllis Bennis
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Phyllis Bennis is a fellow at both the Transnational Institute, a global fellowship of scholar activists, and the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC, where she directs the New Internationalism Project. She specializes in U.S. foreign policy issues, particularly involving the Middle East and United Nations. Bennis worked as a journalist at the UN for ten years and currently serves as a special adviser to several top-level UN officials on Middle East and UN democratization issues. She is the author of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer; coauthor of Ending the U.S. War in Afghanistan: A Primer; has published numerous articles on Palestine, Iraq, the UN, and U.S. foreign policy; and is a frequent contributor to U.S. and global media. Part of the World Affairs Series: The World in Transition.

Physical Fitness and Mental Health: Understanding Exercise and Sport Psychology through the Study of Brain Processes - Bradley D. Hatfield
7:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Bradley D. Hatfield is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland. His program in exercise and sport psychology focuses broadly on exercise and its effects on mental health. He also studies performance-related aspects of humans and exercise, including the brain processes underlying motor performance in athletes of various skill levels. Hatfield has an affiliate appointment with the University of Maryland's Neural and Cognitive Sciences Program and is currently serving as president of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity. He earned a PhD in exercise and sport kinesiology science from Pennsylvania State University. The 2011-12 Pease Family Scholar

Constitution Cafe - Christopher Phillips
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Christopher Phillips is the author of Socrates Cafe: Philosophy for a Passionate Heart, Six Questions of Socrates, Socrates in Love; and Constitution Cafe: Jefferson's Brew for a True Revolution. He draws on our nation's rebellious past to inspire meaningful change today. With Thomas Jefferson as a guide, he taps into a broad cross-section of Americans' timely and timeless concerns about the need to give our country's democratic framework a makeover. His most recent teaching appointment was with the graduate program in Media, Culture and Communication at New York University. He earned his doctorate in communications from Edith Cowan University in Australia.

Global Food Insecurity - Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
5:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor, is head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). As United States Secretary of Agriculture, Vilsack has pioneered innovative approaches to promote long-term economic growth in rural America, focusing on investments in broadband internet and renewable energy. Under his leadership, USDA has helped farmers and ranchers produce a safe, affordable and abundant food supply, conserve our natural resources, and provide healthier school meals to our nation's children. USDA is also part of a government-wide effort taking action to meet the combined challenges of feeding a growing global population, mitigating the effects of climate change and meeting increasing energy demands at home and abroad. A reception will precede the lecture in the South Ballroom. Part of the World Affairs Series.

The African Green Revolution Moves Forward - Pedro Sanchez
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Pedro Sanchez was awarded the World Food Prize in 2002 for his pioneering use of agroforestry to restore fertility to some of the world's poorest and most degraded soils. The MacArthur Foundation subsequently recognized his work with a Genius Award in 2003. Sanchez is Director of Tropical Agriculture at Columbia University's Earth Institute and is an international leader in the fight against hunger, having co-led the United Nation's Millennium Project's Task Force on Hunger. Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia, he was for many years director general of the Kenya-based International Center for Research in Agroforestry. A native of Cuba, Sanchez completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in agronomy and soil science at Cornell University. The 2011 Norman Borlaug Lecture. A reception and student poster display will precede the lecture from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Oak Room, Memorial Union. Posters will address world food issues and are submitted by undergraduate and graduate students.

A Diversity Model That Works: The Mentoring Ladder - Isiah Warner
5:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Louisiana State University Boyd Professor Isiah Warner is the mind behind a successful mentoring program that involves faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduates, all of whom reinforce their scientific skills and commitment to research by mentoring young students. His "mentoring ladder" is aimed at science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students who show promise but could benefit from additional guidance. Warner grew up in rural Louisiana and was the first in his family to go to college. He is now Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and the Philip W. West Professor of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry at LSU as well as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. Warner contributed to the National Academy of Science's 2002 National Research Council report "Diversity Models That Work" and is a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring from President Bill Clinton. He will speak about the keys to successful recruiting and mentoring for under-represented graduate and undergraduate students. The 2011 College of Engineering Diversity Workshop Keynote Speaker.

Media Globalization and "Repression 2.0" in the Middle East: A Closer Look at the Syrian Revolution - Christian Sinclair
6:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Christian Sinclair is assistant director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona. He spent ten years living and working in the Middle East, including almost seven years in Syria. His research interests include Kurds of Syria and Turkey, human rights in the Middle East, freedom of press and media repression, and language and identity. He has just published an article at Middle East Report entitled "The Evolution of Kurdish Politics in Syria" and is currently teaching Human Rights, Democratization, and Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa. Part of the Technology, Globalization, and Culture Series.