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The Race for Equality and Education - John Carlos
12:45 PM РSun Room, Memorial Union - John Carlos, an Olympic medalist in track and field, is remembered for his "Silent Protest" against racism and economic oppression at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The iconic image of he and teammate Tommie Smith raising a black-gloved fist during the victory ceremony is one of sports history's most memorable moments. Born in Harlem, New York, he attended East Texas State University and then San Jos̩ State University on track and field scholarships. After winning the bronze medal in the 200 meters at the 1968 Olympics, he continued his education and won the NCAA Track & Field National Championship in 1969. He followed his track and field success with a brief career in the NFL, and later worked for PUMA, the Olympics, and the City of Los Angeles. Part of the 2011 Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity.

The Man Who Invented the Computer: The Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital Pioneer - Jane Smiley
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley has written on such topics as politics, impulse buying, farming and marriage. She now adds John Atanasoff, the Iowa State physics professor credited with inventing the first digital electronic computer, to that list. Her body of work includes a dozen books of fiction, including A Thousand Acres and her 2010 novel, Private Life; four books of nonfiction; and essays and short stories appearing in such publications as Harper's, The Nation, Vogue and The New Yorker. Smiley earned an MFA and PhD from the University of Iowa and previously taught at Iowa State University as a distinguished professor of English. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001. Part of the National Affairs Series on Innovation.

Stuff White People Like - Christian Lander
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Christian Lander takes a satirical look at upper-middle-class white culture on his blog and in his book Stuff White People Like. He continues his anthropological study of how to survive modern white society in his sequel Whiter Shades of Pale. Lander was working in corporate communications at a California interactive agency when he started his blog, "Stuff White People Like," a tongue-in-cheek comprehensive list of everything upper-middle-class Caucasians enjoy, from The Wire and McSweeney's to eating outside and self-importance. When the site amassed 20 million hits, he caught the eye of Random House, publisher of both of his books.

America the Beautiful: Health for Sale - Film and Discussion with Director Darryl Roberts
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Darryl Roberts's 2010 documentary America the Beautiful takes on one of our country's most dire social issues: body image. From plastic surgery to celebrity worship, child models to dangerous cosmetics, the film tackles the issue from every side, including the media's role in advancing unrealistic expectations. Darryl Roberts is a writer, producer and director best known for How U Like Me Now, a film about relationships in the 1990s. He began his career as a Chicago radio personality and produced his own local cable television program before joining WMAQ-TV's Sunday morning news program as host of "Hollywood Hype," an insider's look at the entertainment industry. He has directed commercials and music videos and is the president of Sensory Overload Entertainment. A discussion with director Darryl Roberts will immediately follow the screening (104 min). Part of Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

Lectures Program Event Being Planned
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Speaker to be announced.

Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting - Mike Perry
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Michael Perry is a humorist and author of the bestselling memoirs Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time and Truck: A Love Story; and his latest, Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting. In over his head with two pigs, a dozen chickens, and a baby due any minute, Perry shares stories from his new life in the country. Perry is the author of the essay collection Off Main Street; has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Backpacker, Orion, and Salon.com; and is a contributing editor to Men's Health. He is also a singer/songwriter and has released two cds of original folk country music with his band, The Long Beds. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness & the Creative Imagination.

Gnawed Bones: A Poetry Reading - Peggy Shumaker
4:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Peggy Shumaker is the Alaska State Writer Laureate. Her new book of poems, Gnawed Bones, is a meditation on mortality and the natural world. Schumaker's many other books include the lyrical memoir, Just Breathe Normally, and six collections of poetry. Her nonfiction has appeared in anthologies like Under Northern Lights and A Year in Place as well as Prairie Schooner and Ascent. Shumaker is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, was poet in residence at the Stadler Center for Poetry at Bucknell, and served as president of the Associated Writing Programs board of directors. Professor emerita from University of Alaska Fairbanks, she currently teaches in the low-residency Rainier Writing Workshop. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness & the Creative Imagination.

FLYWAY Magazine's Home Voices - Author Readings
2:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Three writers in the Iowa State MFA Program in Creative Writing and Environment will read from their creative work: Melissa Lamberton, "Tracing the Creek Home"; Nate Pillman, "Fern Canyon"; and Rebekah Beall, "Parkophilia." The participants were selected from a competitive pool of submissions by the staff of Flyway, a journal of writing and environment, in which the readers' work will also be published. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness & the Creative Imagination.

Forty-three countries, Five Continents: Writing on Place and the Travels Between - Pam Houston
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Pam Houston is the author of two collections of short stories, Cowboys Are My Weakness, winner of the 1993 Western States Book Award, and Waltzing the Cat, which won the Willa Award for Contemporary Fiction. Her stories have been selected for the Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Awards, the Pushcart Prize, and the Best American Short Stories of the Century. Houston's other works include the collection of essays, A Little More About Me, and the novel Sighthound. Houston is the Director of Creative Writing at the University of California Davis. She has contributed literary essays for CBS Sunday Morning and has been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness & the Creative Imagination.

Authors on the Craft of Writing: A Rough Guide to the Mind and Heart - A Panel Discussion
4:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Join us for a conversation with three authors who write from the trenches of experience, who treat landscape as a character and whose work wrestles with the mind and heart. Participants include the symposium keynotes. Pam Houston is the author of the collection of essays A Little More About Me and the award-winning Cowboys Are My Weakness. She is the director of creative writing at the University of California Davis. Peggy Shumaker is the Alaska State Writer Laureate. Her work includes the memoir Just Breathe Normally and six collections of poetry, including her latest, Gnawed Bones. Michael Perry is a humorist and author of the bestselling memoirs Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time and the newly released Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting. He is also a contributing editor to Men's Health. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness & the Creative Imagination.