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Horse Race Journalism: Polls, Politics, Policy and Political Advertising - Panel Discussion
11:00 AM – Pioneer Room, Memorial Union - News coverage, political communication and advertising play important roles in the ever-changing landscape of public opinion during a campaign cycle. Panelists will examine how story telling, truth meters, fact checks and persuasion techniques frame political issues and candidates' positions. Participants include Matt Strawn, Republican Party of Iowa; Sue Dvorsky, Iowa Democratic Party; Ann Selzer, Selzer & Company public-opinion research firm; and Mike Glover, The Associated Press.

The Iowa Bounce: How Political Coverage Shapes the Race - A Panel
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Media coverage during the Iowa caucuses can have a significant impact on a candidate's success in other primaries. Panelists will discuss how a candidate's performance in the caucuses influences coverage in the overall presidential race. Participants include Jeff Zeleny, political correspondent, The New York Times; John McCormick, political reporter, Bloomberg; Kathie Obradovich, political columnist, Des Moines Register; Dianne Bystrom, director, Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics; and, via Skype, Chuck Todd, Chief White House Correspondent for NBC News. Bill Monroe, former director of the Iowa Newspaper Association, will moderate.

Feeding the World, Sustaining the Planet - Jonathan Foley
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Jonathan Foley is the director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of the Minnesota, where his work focuses on global environmental systems and their interactions with human societies. His research has contributed to a greater understanding of large-scale ecosystem processes, global patterns of land use, the behavior of the planet's climate and water cycles, and the sustainability of our biosphere. Foley joined the University of Minnesota in 2008, after spending fifteen years on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, where he founded the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. He is a professor and the McKnight Presidential Chair in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. The 2011 Paul L. Errington Lecture. The audio recording of this event is not complete. PowerPoint slides are available upon request.

The Challenge for an Authentic Multiracial Democracy in America - Carlos Munoz
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Carlos Munoz is a founder of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and a pioneer in the academic disciplines of Chicano/Latino & Ethnic Studies. After four decades of teaching in higher education, he has gained prominence as a political scientist, historian and public intellectual in the areas of racial politics, diversity, immigration, civil and human rights and affirmative action. His book Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement was a key resource for the PBS television series Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Munoz was the founding chair of the first Chicano Studies department in the nation and the founding chair of the National Association of Chicana & Chicano Studies. He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Part of the Latino Heritage Month Celebration. The Latino Heritage Month Noche de Cultura/Cultural Night runs from 7:00-10:00 p.m. in the Great Hall and features food, music and dance as well as Carlos Munoz's keynote talk.

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.