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Student Life at Iowa State: 1869-90 - Douglas Biggs
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Iowa Agricultural College, as Iowa State University was designated upon its establishment in 1858, began formally admitting students in 1869. Land-grant colleges and their ideals of making higher education accessible to all and providing instruction in liberal and practical subjects were still much more theory than tradition in 1869. Historian Douglas Biggs, a native of Ames and a graduate of Iowa State University, will discuss student life at Iowa State during it first two decades. He’ll share stories about the challenges students faced living in relative isolation, issues over the requirement for manual labor, and the fight over the colonizing of fraternities and sororities on campus.

Designing Secure Fleets of Drones: Possibilities, Challenges, and Limitations - Borzoo Bonakdarpour
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, are expected to play a significant role in future technologies, especially when programmed in teams. Drone fleets could aid with surveillance and data collection for crops or wildlife, search and rescue missions, border security, deliveries, and more, but they also present challenges and vulnerabilities. Iowa State assistant professor of computer science Borzoo Bonakdarpour will discuss his work designing programmed drone fleets that are efficient enough for large-scale projects but also safe, secure, and adaptable. College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Lecture Series

Active Mic: Mental Health through Hip Hop - Kai Roberts
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Kai Roberts was a student at Carnegie Mellon University when he began experiencing extreme anxiety and panic disorder. He discovered healing power in writing and created a series of hip hop lyrics to illustrate what he was feeling. Roberts recorded his “Carnegie Café” album in 2013, which quickly became a resource for students dealing with mental health disorders and a key element in his own recovery. Kai Roberts is currently the assistant director of admissions at Carnegie Mellow and a professional speaker with Active Minds, a nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for students.

We Rise: Building a Movement that Restores the Planet - Xiuhtezcatl Martinez
8:15 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Xiuhtezcatl (‘Shu-Tez-Caht) Martinez is an 18-year-old indigenous climate activist, hip-hop artist, and a voice on the front lines of a global youth-led environmental movement. He has addressed the UN General Assembly, taken on local issues such as eliminating pesticides from parks, and is a lead plaintiff in a youth-led lawsuit against the U.S. government for their inaction on climate change. Martinez is Youth Director of the Earth Guardians, a tribe of young activists, artists, and musicians inspiring global change. He published his first book, We Rise, in 2017 and recently performed at MTV Music Week in association with the EMAs. National Affairs Series: Building a Better Democracy Celebrating 10 Years of the Live Green! Initiative

Canada-US Relations: Still Friends, Partners, and Allies? - Colin Robertson
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson is now vice president and fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and hosts its regular Global Exchange podcast. He will speak about the U.S.-Canadian relationship beyond the Beltway and offer some perspectives on how it can continue to mutually benefit both nations even with the Trump administration's focus on "America First" policies in trade, climate and security. During his foreign service career Robertson served in the Canadian Embassy in Washington, Consul General in Los Angeles, and at the UN and Consulate General in New York. He was a member of the teams that negotiated the Canada-US FTA and then the NAFTA. World Affairs Series: The U.S. Role Abroad

Crime Solving with Genetic Genealogy - CeCe Moore
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - The 2018 arrest of the Golden State serial killer in California made international headlines in part because police teamed up with genealogists to use familial DNA to track him down. This new method of sleuthing raises questions about how it’s done, ethics and privacy, and the reliability of genetic and DNA tests. CeCe Moore is an investigative genetic genealogist and media consultant. She has worked as the genetic genealogist for the PBS Television documentary series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. since 2013. She is the founder of The DNA Detectives and recently joined forces with Parabon Nanolabs to lead their new Genetic Genealogy Services for law enforcement unit. National Affairs Series: Building a Better Democracy

The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Child Survivor - Inge Auerbacher
6:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Inge Auerbacher shares her story as a Holocaust survivor who spent 3 years as a young child in Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Auerbacher was born in Kippenheim, Germany, survived Kristallnacht, and was deported with her parents in 1942 to Terezin, where out of 15,000 children only about 1 percent survived. Miraculously, she and both of her parents survived and immigrated to the United States after the war. Inge Auerbacher speaks frequently about her experience and has shared her story in the books I Am a Star-Child of the Holocaust and Beyond the Yellow Star to America. She was a featured speaker at the United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony last month. My hope, wish, and prayer, is for every child to live in peace without hunger and prejudice. The antidote to hatred is education, no more genocides, no more anti-Semitism. --Inge Auerbacher

My Journey as a Woman in STEM - Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen
3:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Join your ISU Student Government in a celebration of International Women's Day. President Wendy Wintersteen will speak about her journey from as a woman in STEM, from being one of the first female ISU extension associates in integrated pest management to becoming the first woman president of Iowa State University. Wintersteen completed her doctorate in entomology at Iowa State and rose through the academic ranks to become a professor of entomology. She served as dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for 11 years before becoming president. President Wintersteen is also featured in the Women in STEM banner exhibit, which goes on display March 4 in Parks Library and recognizes the achievements of many women from Iowa State in their STEM fields.

Law and Story: Reframing the National Conversation about Immigration - Rev. David Vasquez-Levy & Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller
7:00 PM – Pioneer Room, Memorial Union - Rev. Dr. David Vasquez-Levy, President of the Pacific School of Religion, and Tom Miller, Iowa State Attorney General, will discuss both our immigration laws and the current immigration narrative. How can our academic, legal, and religious communities move the discussion away from fear and towards a more compelling vision of our place in an increasingly global society? David Vasquez-Levy was in northeast Iowa at the time of the Postville raid in 2008 and worked as part of the community response effort. He remains a leader on issues of immigration, promoting social awareness and public policy that maximizes a healthy and just mix of diverse persons in our communities. Part of the National Affairs Series: Building a Better Democracy

Thomas L. Hill Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity - Keynote Speaker Vernon Wall
12:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Vernon Wall is a nationally known speaker in the areas of social justice and leadership styles and is one of the founders and facilitators of the Social Justice Training Institute. He has accumulated over 30 years of professional Student Affairs experience at Iowa State University, the University of Georgia, UNC-Charlotte and UNC-Chapel Hill and has experience in Greek life, new student orientation, student activities, leadership development, global education and university housing. Wall currently lives in Washington DC, where he serves as Director of Business Development for LeaderShape, Inc. He is also president and founder of One Better World, a consulting firm specializing in engaging others in courageous social justice and equity conversations.