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Spherical Paintings and the Art of Optical Illusion - Dick Termes
7:00 PM – Kocimski Auditorium, 0101 College of Design - Artist Dick Termes will discuss his unique spherical paintings known as Termespheres. These suspended, rotating globes capture an inside-out view of an entire three-dimensional landscape. Termes, who acknowledges the influence of M.C. Escher and Buckminster Fuller in his work, speaks about the interconnection between math, science and art. He developed what he calls 6-point perspective in order to capture the up, down and all-around visual world from one revolving point in space. Termes's work has been recognized and exhibited internationally. His piece "The Big Bang" was featured on the cover of the French edition of A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Donald Benson Memorial Lecture in Literature, Science, and the Arts An exhibit of Termespheres is on display at the Octagon Center for the Arts January 8-February 13, 2016.

Social Justice, Public Service and the Search for a Life That Matters - Wes Moore
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Wes Moore is a combat veteran, Rhodes Scholar, White House fellow and the author of two books, including The Other Wes Moore, a story of the mentorship and support networks that refused to let him fall into crime and drugs. His latest book, The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters, explores the meaning of success in a volatile, difficult and seemingly anchorless world. He speaks about how we find the most value in work based in service, selflessness and risk taking. Moore also produced the three-part PBS series, Coming Back with Wes Moore, which tells the story of soldiers attempting to reintegrate back into society after returning from war. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Series Keynote

The Arctic Cycle: The Art of Climate Change - Chantal Bilodeau
8:00 PM – Maintenance Shop - Memorial Union - Chantal Bilodeau, a New York-based playwright and translator originally from Montreal, is giving an artistic voice to the challenge of a changing Arctic environment. She is the Artistic Director of The Arctic Cycle, an organization created to support the writing, development and production of eight plays that examine the impact of climate change on the eight countries of the Arctic. She is also the founder of the international network Artists And Climate Change and a co-organizer of the international Climate Change Theatre Action. Pearl Hogrefe Visiting Writers Series.

Veritas Forum: Mercy and Injustice in American Prisons - Alex Tuckness
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Alex Tuckness is a professor and Director of Graduate Education in the Department of Political Science at Iowa State, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. He is the coauthor of The Decline of Mercy in Public Life, which examines why mercy is rarely used as a justification for decisions in law or public policy today. The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates of any large country in the world. Tuckness will argue our current justice system's lack of mercy owes more to modernity than to Christian influence, which is sometimes blamed for encouraging retributive vengeance and promoting harsh punishment. Veritas Forum

My Holocaust Story: A Message of Determination, Perseverance, Faith and Hope - Marion Blumenthal Lazan
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Event to be held as scheduled Marion Blumenthal Lazan provides a moving firsthand account of the Blumenthal family's life in Germany from the events preceding Kristallnacht to imprisonment in concentration camps, including Bergen-Belsen, to liberation in April 1945. She was eleven years old when the family finally gained its freedom. She is the coauthor of Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story and subject of the PBS documentary Marion's Triumph. Her story is a life-affirming, inspirational narrative of survival, reconciliation and the limits of endurance, and renews one's faith in humanity.

Homestretch: Homeless Teens & the Struggle to Stay in School - Documentary & Discussion
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - The Homestretch, a 2015 PBS Independent Lens documentary, follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and make the crucial transition to independence when the structure of school vanishes. The film follows these kids as they navigate a landscape of couch hopping, emergency shelters, transitional homes, street families, and Chicago public schools on the front lines of the homelessness crisis. While told through a personal perspective, their stories connect with larger issues of poverty, race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBTQ rights. A discussion led by Iowa Homeless Youth Center staff will immediately follow the 90-minute film.

Finding Your Path in the Shifting Scientific Workforce - Kendall Powell
6:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Kendall Powell, a freelance science writer and editor, jumped from the lab bench to laptop via the University of California, Santa Cruz, Science Communication Program in 2002. She discusses the tough realities and statistics facing students and postdocs as they enter the scientific workforce and, specifically, the evolution of postdoctoral scholars in the United States. She also offers practical advice on how to make the most of the postdoctoral experience, mentoring tips and best practices for faculty to ensure success in their trainees. As a writer, Kendall Powell covers the realm of biology, from molecules to maternity. She has written news stories, features and scientist profiles for a variety of publications and founded the organization SciLance as a way to network with other freelance writers who are as much word nerds as science geeks.

Iowa Caucuses 2016: What Happened and What's Next? - Panel Discussion
1:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - This event is taking place as planned. A panel of Iowa State faculty will analyze the results of the caucuses and the implications for the 2016 presidential campaign for both parties. Participants include Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, who has had more than thirty years of experience covering, working in, and studying political campaigns, and David Andersen, an assistant professor of political science who does research in voter behavior and the impact of social media on campaigns. Steffen Schmidt, University Professor of Political Science, will moderate the discussion.

Town Hall Meeting with Martin O'Malley - Presidential Caucus Series
12:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Martin O'Malley served as the governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015, investing in renewable energy, signing marriage equality into law, and passing the DREAM Act. Previously, he served seven years as mayor of Baltimore, where he implemented CitiStat, a system that tracked how well Baltimore's government was serving its citizens. CitiStat won Harvard University's Innovations in American Government Award, and TIME Magazine named O'Malley "one of America's top five big city mayors." Since 1987, the Presidential Caucus Series has provided students, faculty, and community members with an opportunity to question presidential candidates or their representative before the precinct caucuses.

God and Government - Barry Lynn
4:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Barry Lynn is executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. A long-time activist, a civil rights lawyer, and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, he offers a unique perspective and a wealth of experience on church-state controversies. Lynn is a frequent First Amendment commentator on national television and radio programs like The Today Show, 60 Minutes, Fox Network's O'Reilly Factor, and NPR's All Things Considered. His new book is God and Government: Twenty-Five Years of Fighting for Equality, Secularism, and Freedom Of Conscience. He also helped author The Right to Religious Liberty: The Basic ACLU Guide to Religious Rights. National Affairs Series: When American Values Are in Conflict