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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

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.

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.

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.

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.

If Not Us, Who? Human Dignity in the 21st Century - U.S. Senator Ben Sasse
8:15 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Senator Ben Sasse is a fifth-generation Nebraskan and is serving his first term in the U.S. Senate. He was elected to the Senate in 2014 on a platform of restoring the Constitution to its rightful place and encouraging more constructive and transparent politics. Much of his career has been spent guiding companies and institutions through times of crisis, including his five years as president of Midland University in his hometown of Fremont, Nebraska. Sasse earned a PhD in American History from Yale University. He is the author of two books, Them: Why We Hate Each Other and How to Heal, and The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis--and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance. The 2018 Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science.

Catholic Bishops of Mexico and the United States on Immigration - Anne Clifford
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Fifteen years ago, in 2003, Catholic Bishops from Mexico and the United States issued a joint document on immigration titled "Strangers No Longer: Together on a Journey of Hope." It was to encourage persons of good will to consider the causes and effects of migration. Anne Clifford, the Msgr. James A. Supple Chair in Catholic Studies at Iowa State, will discuss this historic document, with attention to Catholic biblically rooted social justice principles and current developments. Msgr. James A. Supple Lecture Series  

Studying the Fall of the Roman Empire with the Science of the Human Past - Michael McCormick
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Michael McCormick is the Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History at Harvard University, Director in Cambridge of the Max Planck - Harvard Research Center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean, and the founding chair of Harvard’s Initiative for the Science of the Human Past. The Initiative brings historians and archaeologists together with other scholars and scientists to apply the tools of 21st-century science and technology to the study of the human past. From using DNA analysis to rethink migration and human health history, to the Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilization, to studying ice cores to assess human-climate interactions over two millennia, the Initiative’s cross-disciplinary work is breaking new ground.

Where Are All the Black People? - Ericka Hart
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Ericka Hart is an activist and sexuality educator, and is currently an adjunct at Columbia University's School of Social Work. Diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer at the age of 28, Hart realized that neither her identity as a queer black non-binary femme nor her sex life as a survivor, was featured prominently in her treatment. She will share her unique perspective on challenging anti-blackness and the importance of addressing sexual expression and human health at their intersections with race, gender, chronic illness and disability. Hart has a Master's of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University and has taught sexuality education for elementary aged youth to adults across New York City for 10 years.

How Archaeology Killed Biblical History - Dr. Hector Avalos
6:30 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Hector Avalos is Professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University. A former fundamentalist preacher and faith healer, Avalos is now one of the few openly atheist biblical scholars in academia. He will discuss how archaeology has been used to refute the claim that the Bible is historically accurate in depicting creation, the Exodus, the reign of Solomon and many other events. Avalos is the author or editor of ten books, including his most recent, The Bad Jesus: The Ethics of New Testament Ethics.