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Past Events
Saturday, 20 Sep 2008
MYTHBUSTERS with Grant Imahara
7:00 PM – Stephens Auditorium, Iowa State Center - Doors open at 6:00 pm - Free Admission - Grant Imahara, a member of the Discovery Channel's MythBusters team, will show clips from the show and explain how they do it all. Imahara is a former animatronics engineer and model maker for George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic, the special-effects shop, where he worked on such movies as The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. He also worked on The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. Imahara earned a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. Mythbusters is a science and technology television series that takes a light-hearted look at modern misconceptions and the bizarre claims of Urban Legends and puts them to the test. Engineers' Week.
Thursday, 18 Sep 2008
An Evening of Spoken Word - Henry Rollins
8:00 PM – Stephens Auditorium - Admission Free - Doors open at 7:00 p.m. - Henry Rollins is a post-punk renaissance man. In addition to making albums with the Rollins Band, he writes books and poetry, performs spoken-word tours, and appears in movies and on television. The former lead singer for Black Flag became a kind of father figure for many alternative bands on the strength of albums like The End of Silence, Weight and Come In and Burn. He hosts the weekly radio show Harmony in My Head and recently finished the second season of his television talk show. Rollins, who won a Grammy Award for his spoken-word performance, is on a new world tour titled Provoked: An Evening of Quintessentially American Opinionated Editorializing and Storytelling.
Civic Professionalism and the Pursuit of Sustainability in the Arts and Humanities - Scott Peters
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Scott Peters current research examines the changing social, political, and cultural roles of academic institutions and their professionals, especially the nature and significance of the land grant university. Before joining the Department of Education at Cornell University, he served ten years as Program Director of the University of Illinois YMCA, where he worked on a variety of civic education and community development initiatives. Part of the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Series: Sustaining the Earth.
Wednesday, 17 Sep 2008
Time to Procreate: Fertility in the Age of A.R.T. (Assisted Reproductive Technology) - Jeanette May
8:00 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - Jeanette May is an artist and activist who creates humorous, feminist works in a variety of media. The exhibit Fertility in the Age of A.R.T wryly combines photographs and text in order to reveal the clashing perspectives on contemporary fertility issues. The sheer volume of fertility-related images, advertisements, news items, and self-help books evidence a peculiar and powerful alchemy of culture, nature, and technology. May received her MFA in photography from the California Institute of the Arts and her BFA in painting from the University of Illinois. She currently teaches photography at the Corcoran College of Art and Design and George Washington University in Washington D.C. May's exhibit will be on display through October 12 in the Memorial Union Gallery.
What Would Jesus Buy? A Musical Performance with Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Reverend Billy and his gospel choir inform and entertain with a blend of street theater, political grandstanding, and performance art. Reverend Billy, using the persona of revivalist street preacher, and his choir spread a message of the corrupting power of consumerism, the need for refusing products produced in sweatshops, and a message of economic justice and environmental protection. They also exhort consumers to hold corporations and mass media accountable for responsible, ethical business practices. Activist groups and student organizations will have tables with sign-up sheets, information and displays before and after the performance.
Banned Book Jeopardy! The Game
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Join a Banned Book Week battle between two teams of literary mavens as they attempt to answer questions about banned books and their authors. Panelists include Ames Tribune editor Dave Kraemer, Iowa State English Professor Donna Niday, Honors Program Faculty Director Susan Yager, Memorial Union Director Richard Reynolds, McFarland physician Jay Brown, and Ames Tribune reviewer and Meredith editor Steve Sullivan. Barbara Mack of the Greenlee School of Journalism will emcee. Questions developed by Iowa State's very own $10,000 Pyramid winner, Fern Kupfer, associate professor of English. Banned books will be on display and available for purchase.
Danger: Artist at Work! - Monona Rossol
7:00 PM – Kocimski Auditorium, Design College - Monona Rossol is a chemist, artist, and industrial hygienist. She is the president and founder of Arts, Crafts and Theater Safety, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing health and safety services to the arts. Rossol works with the users of proposed art and theater facilities to determine what types of ventilation and safety equipment must be installed to comply with OSHA and EPA regulations for the specific processes, chemicals, and equipment being used. Her books include The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide; The Health & Safety Guide for Film, TV & Theater; and Danger: Artist at Work!. Rossol, who has an MFA in ceramics and glassblowing from the University of Wisconsin, also holds degrees in chemistry, math, and music. Her artwork has been exhibited in over forty group shows and four solo shows. Part of the College of Design's 30th Anniversary Celebration.
Monday, 15 Sep 2008
What Would Jesus Buy? The Film
7:00 PM – Pioneer Room, Memorial Union - What Would Jesus Buy? is a satirical and cynical take on consumer culture, pegged to America's most sacred spending season - Christmas. The documentary was produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and directed by Sundance award-winner Rob VanAlkemade. Bill Talen (aka Reverend Billy) is an anticorporate activist who performs with his Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, taking his guerilla-style tactics to the Starbucks, Walmarts, and Disneylands of America. His message focuses on issues of materialism, the alleged over-consumption in American culture, globalization, and the business practices of large corporations.
Reverend Billy and his choir will bring their musical performance to Iowa State on Wednesday, September 17 at 8:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall.
Thursday, 11 Sep 2008
Ecological Economics: Creating a Sustainable and Desirable Future - Robert Costanza
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Robert Costanza is the Gund Professor of Ecological Economics and Director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. He is also the co-founder and past-president of the International Society for Ecological Economics. His research has focused on the interface between ecological and economic systems, particularly at larger temporal and spatial scales. The 2008 Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture.
Wednesday, 10 Sep 2008
How the Financial Markets Are Driving Globalism - James Bernard, Jr.
6:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - James Bernard, Jr. is general manager of MarketWatch.com, where he is responsible for driving product development and innovation, design, operations, and general management of the web business. It is part of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network, the digital arm of Dow Jones's consumer media division. Part of the Technology, Globalization and Culture Series.