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Is Everybody Stupid(?) A One Man Show with Ise Lyfe
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Ise Lyfe is a spoken word artist and community leader. His artistic work includes a 2006 debut album spreadtheWord, his latest CD Prince Cometh, the play Who's Krazy?, and his forthcoming book, Pistols and Prayers. From local and national poetry slams to Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam on HBO, his performances also include over sixty universities all over the country and in the United Kingdom and Ghana, West Africa. In addition to performing, he works with local organizations addressing the educational, social and political needs of young people in San Francisco and Oakland.

Innovation in Global Agriculture in the Twenty-first Century - Ed Schafer
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer has served as an elected official, business executive, and entrepreneur. As governor of North Dakota from 1992 to 2000, Schafer worked to promote trade relations with China and develop that nation as an export market for North Dakota farm products. He also led efforts to upgrade the state's communications infrastructure and make high-speed voice and data networks available to farmers, ranchers and rural businesses. Schafer was elected chair of the Republican Governors Association in 2000 and that same year cofounded the Governors Biotechnology Partnership. Before entering public life, he was a business executive with the Gold Seal Company in Bismarck. He also cofounded Extend America to provide wireless voice and high-speed data services in five rural Midwestern states.

Unclaimed Legacy: A Call to Service for the Post-Civil Rights Generation - Jeff Johnson
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - A journalist, social activist, and political commentator, Jeff Johnson has a commitment to fostering broad-based communication about issues related to race, politics, pop culture, and socioeconomics. Originally known as "Cousin Jeff," he has earned a reputation as the "conscience voice" of BET Networks. His new book, Everything I'm Not Made Me Everything I Am, is a call to service for the post-Civil Rights generation. Johnson has worked as senior advisor for Media and Youth Outreach for People for the American Way, as national director of the Youth & College Division of the NAACP, and as the vice president of Russell Simmons's Hip Hop Summit Action Network. Part of the Martin Luther King Jr Holiday Series.

Difficult Dialogues - A Forum with Robert J. Nash and DeMethra Bradley
12:00 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Robert J. Nash and DeMethra Bradley are coauthors of How to Talk about Hot Topics on Campus: From Polarization to Moral Conversation. They will outline a model for engaging the university community in productive and civil dialogue on the most difficult and controversial social, religious, political, and cultural topics. Their ideas reach across disciplines and are applicable to most any issue that could be uncomfortable to discuss, cause participants to be disrespectful of differing opinions, and ultimately be divisive to a campus community. This Spring Faculty Forum is open to the entire university community.

What You Can Learn Sleeping in the Residence Halls - Graham Spanier
8:00 PM – Great Hall/South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Iowa State alum Graham Spanier has served as president of Penn State since 1995. His prior positions include chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Oregon State University, and vice provost for undergraduate studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. A family sociologist, demographer, and marriage and family therapist, he is the author of ten books and the founding editor of the Journal of Family Issues. Spanier earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and his bachelor's and master's degrees from Iowa State University. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences 50th Anniversary Celebration Keynote

The Lives of Rocks: Field Notes on Finding Home - Rick Bass
7:00 PM – Sun Room/South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Author and environmentalist Rick Bass is the author of twenty books, including the autobiographical Why I Came West and the short story collection The Lives of Rocks. His first short story collection, The Watch, set in Texas, won the PEN/Nelson Algren Award; and his 2002 collection, The Hermit's Story, was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. The recipient of a Pushcart Prize and an O. Henry Award, Bass started writing short stories during his lunch breaks while working as a gas and oil geologist in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1987 he moved to the Yaak Valley in the northern Rockies, where he has been active in protecting the land from roads and logging and serves on the board of the Yaak Valley Forest Council and Round River Conservation Studies. Part of the Wildness, Wilderness, and the Creative Imagination Symposium. No audio recording available for download or podcast.

Over & Over: Performance by Jennifer McClung
3:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Jennifer McClung is a poet, artist, and musician. As a Pushcart Prize nominated poet and English instructor at Iowa State, she puts lyricism first. But as a long-time musician and the daughter of a working steel guitar player, she knows it takes more than good lyrics to make a great song. She turned down a development contract with a major record label to stick to her own fiercely independent style. And more than a decade later she has released two albums and toured the country. Join symposium participants for an informal reception following the performance. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness, and the Creative Imagination.

Aftermath: Narrating Disaster - A Panel with Patricia Smith
2:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Poet Patricia Smith and Iowa State faculty members Benjamin Percy and David Zimmerman will discuss how themes of violence, destruction, and disaster - personal, cultural, environmental - factor into their writing. The works of all three writers suggest strategies for facing and surviving the aftermath of catastrophic and violent events. Patricia Smith's Blood Dazzler, chronicles the human, physical and emotional toll exacted by Hurricane Katrina and was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness, and the Creative Imagination. No audio recording available for download or podcast.

Blood Dazzler: A Poetry Reading - Patricia Smith
1:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Patricia Smith's fifth book of poetry, Blood Dazzler, chronicles the human, physical and emotional toll exacted by Hurricane Katrina and the disaster's lasting spiritual and political impacts. It was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award. Recognized not only as a writer and poet but also as a performer, Smith is a four-time national individual champion of the notorious and wildly popular Poetry Slam - the most successful competitor in slam history. She was featured in the film Slamnation and appeared on the award-winning HBO series Def Poetry Jam. Smith's other works include Teahouse of the Almighty; Close to Death; Big Towns, Big Talk; and Life According to Motown. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness, and the Creative Imagination. No audio recording available for download or podcast.

Crude Independence - Documentary Film Screening & Director's Talk
10:00 AM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Crude Independence documents the impact our nation's demand for oil and global energy markets are having on America's heartland. Director Noah Hutton takes us to the town of Stanley, North Dakota, population 1300, which sits atop the largest oil discovery in the history of the North American continent. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there to be more than 200 billion barrels of crude oil resting in a previously unreachable formation beneath western North Dakota. Armed with new drilling technologies, oil companies from far and wide are descending on towns like Stanley. Through interviews and imagery, Crude Independence captures the effect this modern-day gold rush is having on small-town life. Director Noah Hutton will discuss the film and take questions following the screening. Part of the Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness, and the Creative Imagination.