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Past Events

Thursday, 22 Apr 2010

The Audacity to Heal: A Conversation about Surviving Sexual Assault - Scheherazade and Salamishah Tillet
7:30 PM – LeBaron Hall 1210 - This is an in-depth, intimate conversation with the photographer Scheherazade Tillet and her sister, Salamishah Tillet, whose journey of recovering from sexual assault Scheherazade has been photo-documenting since 1998. The Tillet sisters incorporate Scheherazade's photographs in the award-winning multimedia performance, Story of a Rape Survivor (SOARS), which tells the story of Salamishah's journey to reclaim her body, sexuality, and self-esteem after being sexual assaulted in college. Part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This event immediately follows the Take Back the Night rally & march, which begins at 6 p.m. on the Iowa State Memorial Union West Terrace.

Wednesday, 21 Apr 2010

Food Science and Humanitarianism - Alex Buchanan
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Alex Buchanan is a food scientist who has developed such products as infant foods and high-protein biscuits for use in developing countries and disaster relief. He is a former executive director of the Crawford Fund, a division of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering that promotes technological expertise and agricultural research to increase sustainable global food production. For over a decade he managed food research projects for the ASEAN-Australia Economic Corporation. Buchanan was named a member of the Order of Australia for his research supporting aid programs in the South East Asia region, and is the 2008-09 recipient of the Rotary Foundation Global Alumni Service to Humanity Award. He earned his MS from Iowa State in dairy bacteriology and agricultural economics and a PhD in biochemistry at the University of London. He is currently a consultant editor at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia.

Tuesday, 20 Apr 2010

Taking Steps toward Global Citizenship: Linking Linguistics, Language Teaching and Learning, and the Goals of Undergraduate Education - Heidi Byrnes
8:30 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - Heidi Byrnes is the George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German at Georgetown University. Her work focuses on the acquisition of academic literacy in a second language by adult, instructed learners and draws on curricular, pedagogical, and assessment perspectives. Brynes has edited and coedited a number of publications, including Advanced Foreign Language Learning: A Challenge to College Programs and Educating for Advanced Foreign Language Capacities, and she recently served as guest editor of a special issue of Linguistics and Education that explores the contributions of systemic-functional linguistics to foreign language teaching and learning. She is also an associate editor of the Modern Language Journal. Brynes earned her MA at Kansas State and PhD at Georgetown University. The Quentin Johnson Lecture in Linguistics.

Monday, 19 Apr 2010

The Life-Changing Journey of Zaid Abdul-Aziz
7:00 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - Zaid Abdul-Aziz, known as Don Smith before his conversion to Islam in 1973, was a three-time All-Big Eight basketball player for Iowa State and a two-time All-American. He was the fifth player taken in the 1968 NBA draft, selected by the Cincinnati Royals and traded during his rookie year to the Milwaukee Bucks. Zaid Abdul-Aziz played for the Sonics for two years before pericarditis - viral heart inflammation - forced him to give up the game. He now works as a chemical dependency professional in Seattle. Zaid Abdul-Aziz has five children, including Yusef Aziz, who played basketball for Seattle Pacific and professionally in Brazil. He is the author of Darkness to Sunlight: The Life-Changing Journey of Zaid Abdul-Aziz.

Saturday, 17 Apr 2010

Bonnaroo College Comedy Tour - VEISHEA 2010
11:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Join VEISHEA for the 2010 Bonnaroo College Comedy Tour, featuring Pete Homes, Amy Schumer, and Kumail Nanjiani. Pete Holmes has appeared on VH1's Best Week Ever, Comedy Central's Premium Blend and John Oliver's NY Standup Show, has had his cartoons appear in The New Yorker, and is a warm-up comedian for The Daily Show. Amy Schumer made her network debut on NBC's Last Comic Standing! and has appeared regularly on MTV and VH1 shows such as Best Week Ever and I Love the 80s. Chicago native Kumail Nanjiani is a New York-based writer and performer who has been featured in Variety's "10 Comics to Watch" and the Hollywood Reporter's "10 Rising Comedy Talents."

Friday, 16 Apr 2010

Late Night with Dr. Drew
11:00 PM – Stephens Auditorium - Doors open at 10:30 PM - Dr. Drew has been helping young adults with relationship, sexuality, and drug addiction problems for almost three decades. He is best known as the producer and host of VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Sober House and Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew as well as host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Loveline." But Dr. Drew Pinsky is also a practicing medical doctor and is board-certified in addiction medicine. He is currently the medical director for the department of chemical dependency services at Las Encinas Hospital, a psychiatric facility known for treating celebrity patients. He is also a staff member at Huntington Memorial Hospital, continues to run a private practice and is assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Keck USC School of Medicine. He is the author of three books: The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Seducing America; Cracked: Life on the Edge in a Rehab Clinic; and When Painkillers Become Dangerous. VEISHEA 2010 Immediately following, there will be a book signing downstairs in Stephens' Celebrity Cafe.

VEISHEA Opening Ceremony - John Walters
12:00 PM – Central Campus (Rain location: Cardinal Room) - John Walters is the radio voice of Iowa State athletics and sports director for WOI-TV . He hosts the Paul Rhoads Show and the Greg McDermott Show on ABC5 as well as the call-in shows on the Learfield Cyclone Radio Network.

Thursday, 15 Apr 2010

What to Eat, What to Drink, What to Leave for Poison: A Poetry Reading - Camille Dungy
7:00 PM – Pioneer Room, Memorial Union - Camille Dungy is cofounder of From the Fishouse, a nonprofit organization that promotes the oral tradition of poetry. She is coeditor of From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great, and her poetry collection What to Eat, What to Drink, What to Leave for Poison was a finalist for the PEN Center USA 2007 Literary Award and the Library of Virginia 2007 Literary Award. Dungy lives in San Francisco, where she is an associate professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University. She is assistant editor of Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem's First Decade, editor of Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, the recipient of several prominent writing fellowships, and a former artist-in-residence at Rocky Mountain National Park. Part of the Eco-Voices Series.

Wednesday, 14 Apr 2010

From GILBERT GRAPE to THE HEIGHTS: Peter Hedges on Writing and Directing
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Peter Hedges, who grew up in West Des Moines and attended Valley High School, is a novelist, screenwriter, and film director. He wrote both the novel and the screenplay What's Eating Gilbert Grape and is the writer-director of Pieces of April and Dan in Real Life. His screenplay for About a Boy was nominated for an Academy Award well as a BAFTA and a Writers Guild of America Award. His other novels include An Ocean in Iowa and the forthcoming The Heights.

Monday, 12 Apr 2010

The Business of Geek: Film, Comic Books, and Gaming - Jeff Katz
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Studio executive, producer and comic book author Jeff Katz will speak about the changing face of the entertainment industry and emerging opportunities for "geek" creators in the film industry, comic book business, internet, gaming and online self-promotion. Katz, who has overseen production for box office hits like Freddy vs. Jason and Wolverine and cult classics like Snakes on a Plane will take the audience through the making of a genre movie from start to finish. He will also cover his odd career path as comic book author and one of the youngest studio executives ever. Katz has worked for New Line Cinema, 20th Century Fox, and with DC Comics. He recently launched his own company GeekWeek.com centered on all things "Geek."