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Gorge: My 300-Pound Journey Up Kilimanjaro - Kara Richardson-Whitely
8:15 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Kara's message of body acceptance, body love and health at every size are a vital message for everyone. Her life story with her eating disorder is one many people connect to emotional eating; using food as a way to escape daily stressors; hiding food behaviors and ashamed of the person whom they have become. Hearing her process up the mountain and finding herself is awe inspiring. Body Image and Eating Disorder Awareness Week Speaker

Indigenous Peoples in Children's and Young Adult Literature - Dr. Debbie Reese
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Dr. Debbie Reese is an independent scholar of Indigenous children’s literature and the teaching of Indigenous peoples and history in K-12, editor of American Indians in Children’s Literature. In this lecture, Dr. Reese will examine depictions of Native peoples in children's books, past and present, and provide suggestions for how to become more skilled in selecting and presenting information about Indigenous peoples to children. 2019-2020 Helen LeBaron Hilton Chair Series

The Power of One - Erin Brockovich
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - It's been almost 20 years since Julia Roberts starred in the Oscar-winning biopic Erin Brockovich. The film turned this unknown legal researcher into a 20th century icon by showcasing how her dogged persistence was the impelling force behind the largest medical settlement lawsuit in history. Erin’s exhaustive investigation uncovered that Pacific Gas & Electric had been poisoning the small town of Hinkley, California for over 30 years. It was because of Erin’s unwavering tenacity that PG&E was exposed for leaking toxic Chromium 6 into the ground water. This poison affected the health of the population of Hinkley. In 1996, as a result of the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, spearheaded by Erin and Ed Masry, the utility giant was forced to pay out the largest toxic tort injury settlement in US history: $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents. Today, Erin consults on numerous environmental projects all over the world and encourages people to believe in their personal power to affect change. 2020 Symposium on Sustainability Keynote

The Future of Human-Robot Interaction - Dr. Kate Darling
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Dr. Kate Darling is a Research Specialist at the MIT Media Lab. Her interest is in how technology intersects with society. Dr. Darling’s current work looks at the near-term effects of robotic technology, with a particular interest in law, social, and ethical issues. She has also explored economic issues in intellectual property systems. She runs experiments, holds workshops, writes, and speaks about some of the more interesting developments in the world of human-robot interaction, and where we might find ourselves in the future. Engineers’ Week Keynote

The Traveling Feast: On the Road and At the Table with My Heroes - Rick Bass
8:00 PM – Gallery Room, Memorial Union - Author and environmental activist, Rick Bass is the author of over two dozen books of fiction and nonfiction including Why I Came West, Ninemile Wolves, The Watch: Stories, All the Land to Hold Us, and The Traveling Feast: On the Road and At the Table with My Heroes. His nonfiction has been anthologized in Best American Spiritual Writing, Best American Travel Writing, and Best American Science Writing, and he has received fellowships from the NEA and the Guggenheim Foundation. His fiction has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, and his work been excerpted in and received commendations from many magazines including O, The Oprah Magazine, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. In 2017, Bass was awarded The Story Prize for his short fiction collection, For a Little While. His stories and articles have appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including the Paris Review, the New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Narrative, Men’s Journal, Esquire, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, Harper’s, and Orion. Pearl Hogrefe Visiting Writers Series.

Managing Risk in a More Uncertain World: What We Can Learn from Surfers, Studs, and Sexworkers - Allison Schrager
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Allison Schrager is an economist, award-winning journalist at Quartz, and author of An Economist Walks into a Brothel. She has spent her career examining how people manage risk in their lives and careers and will discuss five principles for dealing with risk shared by some of the world’s most interesting risk takers. Schrager has worked in finance, policy, and media and currently teaches at New York University. She is also cofounder of LifeCycle Finance Partners, LLC, a risk advisory firm that develops innovative technology solutions to finance retirement.

The Women's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote - Elaine Weiss
1:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Elaine Weiss is an award-winning journalist and writer whose latest book, “The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote,” chronicles one of the greatest political battles in American history: the ratification of the constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote. It tells the story of American women’s seven-decade struggle to win the ballot, as it all came down to a pitched battle in Nashville, Tennessee, to gain the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment. The central character is Iowa State alumna and national suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt. As part of her visit to Iowa State, Weiss will speak about the lessons of the woman suffrage movement and the relevance of its themes in 2020, as the nation marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Weiss holds a graduate degree from the Medill School of Journalism of Northwestern University. Weiss’ keynote is part of the larger celebration of the commemoration centennial. Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics Let's celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage! 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration Statewide Kickoff This event is the kickoff of a whole year of events that are being scheduled across the state of Iowa to celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage. Join us for a half-day commemoration of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which will celebrate the diverse voices of the women’s suffrage movement in Iowa and note other important landmarks in the American journey to universal adult suffrage. Although the vote was hard won, the work is not yet done. Click Here for more information and schedule of events. WHY CELEBRATE ON VALENTINE'S DAY? In her presidential address at the National American Woman Suffrage Association’s 50th convention in St. Louis in 1919, Carrie Chapman Catt proposed the creation of a league of women voters to “finish the fight” and aid in the reconstruction of the nation. On Feb. 14, 1920, the national League of Women Voters was formally organized by Catt at NAWSA’s convention in Chicago, six months before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote was ratified. This event is free and open to the public.

A Rewarding Career at the Mayo - Dr. Kai-Nan An
7:00 PM – Great Hall - Dr. An, director emeritus of the orthopedic biomechanics laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, will discuss his ongoing studies about medical and biochemical factors influencing soft tissue integrity, performance, and remodeling. Dr. An will also discuss the culture in health care and his personal life lessons from working at the Mayo Clinic. The Pease Family Scholar in Kinesiology

Legislative Wake-Up
8:30 AM – Rm 3512, Memorial Union - Students and faculty and staff are invited to meet with Ames and Story County's representatives in the Iowa Legislature. You will be able to ask questions about legislation being considered this session. This event is cosponsored by the Ames and Story County League of Women Voters and the Committee on Lectures.

White Immunity: Working Through the Pedagogical Pitfalls of Privilege – Dr. Nolan Cabrera
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Dr. Nolan Cabrera is a nationally-recognized expert in the areas of racism/anti-racism on college campuses, whiteness, and ethnic studies. This presentation is Dr. Cabrera’s development over “White Privilege.” In it, he explores the historical development of whiteness, and shows how white advantage developed through systemic racism to which white people were socially inoculated. This lecture links the history of racial Oppression to contemporary times, and helps work through some of the pitfalls of privilege such as, “How can white kids from Appalachia be ‘privileged’?” Dr. Cabrera is currently an Associate Professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona, and was the only academic featured in the MTV documentary White People. 2019-2020 Helen LeBaron Hilton Chair Series