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Past Events

Tuesday, 27 Nov 2018

*NEW DATE & TIME* Lion Conservation on a Crowded Continent - Craig Packer
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Rescheduled from October 29 Craig Packer is director of the Lion Research Center at the University of Minnesota, where he is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior. For decades, Packer and his research team have conducted comprehensive long-term research on lion behavior and human-lion interaction for the famous Serengeti Lion Project. Their findings have shaped the way we understand lions and their role in complex savannah ecosystems and identified new approaches for protecting these dangerous predators. Packer is the author of Into Africa, which won the 1995 John Burroughs medal, as well as more than 100 scientific articles. Paul L. Errington Memorial Lecture

Men and the Politics of Hegemony in Ghanaian Film and Fiction - Theresah Patrine Ennin
7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Many times we focus on the victims of men’s destructive behaviour. How many times have we stopped to think that such behaviour can be detrimental to the one engaging in It.? In what ways do these behaviours cause harm to the men themselves? The presentation uses films and books to detail the measures these men undertake in their desire to reach the hegemonic ideal and the costs and consequences to themselves and their families. Theresah Patrine Ennin is the 2018 American Council of Learned Societies-African Studies Association Presidential Fellow. She is senior lecturer of African literature in the Department of English at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Ennin obtained her PhD in African Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was also a Fulbright JSDP Scholar at Wisconsin.

Children at War: Born into a War Zone - Panel Discussion with Jean-Pierre Taoutel
7:00 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Members of the International Student Council’s Humanitarian Awareness Committee will share stories and facts about children growing up in nations at war or affected by war. The discussion will be led and moderated by Jean-Pierre Taoutel, a Senior Lecturer of French at Iowa State who also coordinates the university’s Arabic program and has led study abroad programs in France, Spain, and Morocco. Taoutel was born in Syria and grew up in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon. He moved to France to attend La Sorbonne in Paris and has been at Iowa State since 1999.

Monday, 26 Nov 2018

American Politics after the 2018 Midterm Elections - Panel Discussion
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Steffen Schmidt, Lucken Endowed Professor of Political Science at Iowa State, will moderate a panel analyzing the November 6 election results and discussing the future of American politics. Panelists are Jeff Zeleny, CNN Senior White House Correspondent; Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg Senior White House reporter and Iowa State University alumna; David Kochel, national campaign advisor and Iowa State University alumnus who served as chief strategist for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign; and Jonathan Martin, New York Times National Political Correspondent.

Thursday, 15 Nov 2018

Talking Black in America - Documentary & Discussion with Producer Walt Wolfram
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - African American English is the most controversial and misunderstood variety of speech in America. The film Talking Black in America showcases the history and symbolic role of language in the lives of African Americans and highlights its tremendous impact on the speech and culture of the United States. It addresses the persistent misinformation about African American speech and situates it as an integral part of the historical and cultural legacy of all Americans. The film’s executive producer Walt Wolfram will offer remarks and take questions following the 60-minute film. Wolfram is a Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University, a world leader in sociolinguistic research and publications, and the director of the Language & Life Project at NC State University, through which he has facilitated numerous television documentaries, audio compilations, and other publications.

Iowa State and The Great War - Douglas Biggs
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Douglas Biggs, professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, is a native of Ames and a graduate of Iowa State University. In recognition of the 100th anniversary of World War I, he will discuss the impact of World War I for Iowa State and its returning veterans. Douglas Biggs spent much of his youth exploring the ISU campus and later earned both a BA and an MA in history from the university before completing his PhD at the University of Minnesota. His interest in Ames and ISU history has led to several publications and public lectures on such topics as the Dinky, the university during World War II, and the early years of the Iowa State College football team. Veterans Day Speaker

Tuesday, 13 Nov 2018

Maineland - Documentary & Discussion with director Miao Wang
6:30 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Filmed over three years in China and the United States, Maineland follows two affluent and cosmopolitan teenagers from China as they settle into a boarding school in blue-collar rural Maine. Stella and Harry are part of the enormous wave of Chinese "parachute students" enrolling in U.S. private schools, seeking a Western-style education, an escape from the dreaded Chinese college entrance exam, and the promise of a Hollywood-style U.S. high school experience. Director Miao Wang captures their experiences of alienation, culture clash, and personal identity, sharing new understandings and poignant discourses on home and country. A discussion with director Miao Wang will immediately follow the 90-minute film.

Thursday, 8 Nov 2018

Gender and Power in Contemporary Somalia - Fartumo Kusow
7:00 PM – Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Ave. - Fartumo Kusow immigrated to Canada when civil war broke out in her native Somalia. She will discuss her most recent novel, Tale of a Boon's Wife, and how her life and experiences as a Somali woman shape her characters and major themes of her work. Kusow draws connections between the main themes of social hierarchy, female relationships, power, and prejudice and present day unconscious biases. Her first novel, Amran, was serialized in October Star, Mogadishu: Somali National Press in 1984. Since her arrival in Canada in 1991 she has earned a B. Arts Honours in English Language and Literature and B. Education from the University of Windsor. She now teaches English literature courses for the Greater Essex County District School Board.

Monday, 5 Nov 2018

The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown: Newspapers, Op-eds, and American Responses to Antisemitism - Eric Schmalz
7:00 PM – Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Ave. - In 1940, there were nearly 1,900 daily newspapers in the United States read and shared by millions of Americans. These periodicals give us a glimpse into the intense struggles in the American heartland surrounding arguments promoting racism, discrimination, antisemitism, and isolationism during the 1930s and 1940s. Eric Schmalz, community manager for the History Unfolded project at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will talk about the role antisemitism played in the general American cultural landscape and how ordinary Americans reacted.

Tuesday, 30 Oct 2018

The Revolution Generation: How Millennials Can Save America and the World (Before it’s too Late) - Documentary and Discussion
7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - The Revolution Generation: How Millennials Can Save the World (Before It's Too Late) is a new film - and book - from Sundance Award-winning filmmaker Josh Tickell. The film explores the challenges millennials and other young people face in solving current environmental, economic, and social crises. Ticknell takes issue with the notion that millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists with an in-depth exploration of the often-overlooked strengths, activism and commitment of people born between 1980 and 2000. The film features interviews with Corbin Bleu, Senator Bernie Sanders, Rosario Dawson, and Xiutezcatl Martinez among others. It is being screened exclusively on college campuses prior to its release on Netflix. Join a student-led discussion immediately following the 80-minute film.