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Past Events
Wednesday, 10 Oct 2007
The Long Emergency: The Coming Global Oil Crisis and Climate Change - James Howard Kunstler
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - James Howard Kunstler is an author and social critic perhaps best known for The Geography of Nowhere, a history of suburbia and urban development in the United States. He also authored The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition. His most recent book, The Long Emergency, tackles the global oil crisis. Kunstler has worked as a reporter and feature writer for a number of newspapers and as a staff writer for Rolling Stone. He is a regular contributor to the New York Times Sunday magazine and op-ed page, where he has written on environmental and economic issues.
Global Screen Industries - Michael Curtin
6:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Michael Curtin is a professor of media and cultural studies in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the UW Global Studies Program, a federally funded National Resource Center for International Studies. He is the author of Redeeming the Wasteland: Television Documentary and Cold War Politics and coeditor of Making and Selling Culture and The Revolution Wasn't Televised: Sixties Television and Social Conflict. Technology, Globalization, and Culture Series.
Tuesday, 9 Oct 2007
The Place of Gays and Lesbians in the Church - Sister Jeannine Gramick
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Sister Jeannine Gramick, a Roman Catholic nun, cofounded along with Fr. Robert Nugent the New Ways Ministry, a national, Catholic social justice center working for the reconciliation of lesbian/gay people and the church. Two of her many books and articles, Building Bridges: Gay and Lesbian Reality and the Catholic Church and Voices of Hope: A Collection of Positive Catholic Writings on Lesbian/Gay Issues, were the subject of a Vatican investigation. Gramick is the subject of the 2006 documentary film In Good Conscience, which tells the story of her faith journey and conflict with the Vatican over the rights of gay and lesbian Catholics. In 1999 the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith permanently prohibited her from any pastoral work with lesbian or gay persons. In 2000 the School Sisters of Notre Dame ordered her to cease speaking about the Vatican investigation and about homosexuality in general. She transferred to the Sisters of Loretto in 2001 in order to continue engaging in lesbian/gay ministry. "In Good Conscience" will be shown prior to her presentation, at 6:00 pm in the South Ballroom. National Coming Out Day.
Tradition and Transformation - Panel Discussion about the History of Iowa State University
7:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - A panel of contributors will discuss the centerpiece to Iowa State's sesquicentennial celebration, a book commissioned to document the university events and themes of the second half of the twentieth century. Sesquicentennial History of Iowa State University: Tradition and Transformation was edited by Dorothy Schwieder and Gretchen Van Houten. Panelists include Tom Kroeschell, Communications Manager in the Athletics Department; Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, Professor of History and Director of the Agriculture History and Rural Studies Program; and Dorothy Schwieder, Professor Emerita of History. Charlie Dobbs, Chair of the History Department, will moderate. Part of the Iowa State 150th Anniversary Celebration.
Monday, 8 Oct 2007
More Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail: The Iowa Caucuses and American Presidential Candidate Selection - Steffen Schmidt
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Steffen Schmidt is University Professor of political science and the director of international programs for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State. He is perhaps best known as "Dr. Politics," the longtime commentator and cohost of WOI Radio's weekly political call-in show. Schmidt joined Iowa State's Political Science Department in 1970. He specializes in public law and the government, policies of globalization, and, more recently, the policy and politics of managing coastal areas. He is also interested in distance learning and teaching and was named the 2007 Innovator of the Year by the Iowa Distance Learning Association. Schmidt has become one of the most quotable political science experts in the media on U.S. presidential elections and the Iowa caucuses. In 2004 he shared his insights with such media outlets as CNN, the BBC, the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and Christian Science Monitor. Schmidt is a coauthor of the annual series American Government and Politics Today as well as coeditor of Soldiers in Politics and Issues in Iowa Politics. The Fall 2007 University Presidential Lecture.
A reception and display of student research will precede the lecture at 7:00 p.m. in the South Ballroom.
Saturday, 6 Oct 2007
Global Citizenship Symposium: Climate Challenge Game
1:00 PM – Pioneer Room, Memorial Union - Bill Gutowski, a professor in the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, will be the lead facilitator of the Climate Challenge Game, a simulation of climate issues facing our world today and what countries can do to lessen the problem. Professor Gutowski will also discuss global warming from his perspective. Other facilitators for the event include representatives from engineering, political science, economics and ISU Facilities Planning & Management.
Thursday, 4 Oct 2007
Clones, Chimeras, and Other Creatures of the Biotechnological Revolution: Toward a Genomic Mythology - Priscilla Wald
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Priscilla Wald is a professor of English and Women's Studies at Duke University. Her current work focuses on the intersections among the law, literature, science, and medicine. She is currently completing a project on the public understanding of genome sciences. Post-lecture commentary will be offered by Amy Bix, Associate Professor of History, and Max Rothschild, Distinguished Professor of Animal Science. Part of the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Series.
Global Citizenship Symposium - A Panel Discussion
6:30 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - A panel of speakers will talk about culture, sustainability and other related topics as part of the Third Annual Global Citizenship Symposium. Panelists: Hsain Ilahiane is a professor in anthropology whose research deals with mobile technology in businesses in Morocco. He will talk about his research on technology transfer among different cultures. Kevin Nordmeyer, an architect from a firm in Des Moines, will talk about purpose-driven design and how it relates to sustainability. Fred Kirschenmann, a Senior Fellow of the Leopold Center who has over twenty-five years of sustainable and organic farming experience, will discuss sustainable agriculture. Gerry Schnepf, director of Keep Iowa Beautiful, will explain the efforts of his organization to beautify the state and how individuals can make a difference.
Wednesday, 3 Oct 2007
It's the end of the world as we know it . . . - Adrian Sannier
6:00 PM – Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Adrian Sannier is the University Technology Officer at Arizona State University. An expert in human/computer interaction and three-dimensional visualization, he was formerly the Stanley Professor of Interdisciplinary Engineering at Iowa State and associate director of the university's Virtual Reality Applications Center. Prior to joining the ISU faculty in 2001, Sannier was vice president and general manager of Engineering Animation, a leading provider of 3D computer graphics software. Technology, Globalization, and Culture Series.
Tuesday, 2 Oct 2007
Covering '08 - Sandy Johnson and Chuck Raasch
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Sandy Johnson, Washington Bureau Chief for the Associated Press, is responsible for editorial and photo coverage of the federal government and national politics, and is in charge of the AP's polling unit. Since 1986, she has directed the AP's political coverage for every presidential election. She will speak on politics and the First Amendment. Chuck Raasch is political editor for Gannett News Service, and has covered political campaigns since 1978, including Tom Daschle's first race for Congress and George McGovern's last race for the Senate. He has covered presidential campaigns since 1988. He will speak on defending the mainstream media. The 2007 Chamberlin Lecture.