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Past Events
Monday, 12 Feb 2024
Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love, 1850s-1950s
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell found a 1920s vintage photo of two men embracing and gazing at one another--clearly in love. They were intrigued that the men posed for the photo during a time when they would have been even less understood than today. They bought the photo from a Dallas, Texas antique shop. Hugh and Neal began searching for similar photos in their travels around the United States, Canada, and Europe. They found photos of male couples openly showing their relationships that were as old as the art of photography. Their collection eventually included more than 2,700 images from 70 to 170 years old. Those photos are featured in their book, Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love, 1850s-1950s. In conversation with Associate Professor Kelly Winfrey, Hugh and Neal will share their journey and how their book reminds us that love is timeless.Dr. Kelly L. Winfrey became Interim Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program in August 2022. She is also an associate professor and Director of Graduate Education in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. Her research focuses on gender and political campaign communication. She published Understanding How Women Vote: Gender Identity and Political Choices in 2018.The ISU Book Store will not be selling copies of "Loving" at the lecutre. The book can be purchased online by clicking here.This lecture was recorded and can be viewed on the Available Recordings page.
Thursday, 1 Feb 2024
George Washington Carver Day of Recognition
5:30 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Join Iowa State University in celebrating the second annual George Washington Carver Day of Recognition, February 1, 2024.Keynote Address, "A visit with Professor George Washington Carver" by Paxton Williams, Attorney, Belin McCormick, PCIn addition to Williams' performance, the Carver Day celebration will feature:Recognition of Iowa State students involved in the annual Food Insecurity Challenge, a campus competition that educates students about local and global hunger issues and challenges them to develop solutions.Remarks by Jay Byers, president of Simpson College; and Rolundus Rice, chief operating officer and vice president for student affairs at Tuskegee University.Reflections on Carver's legacy by Kenneth Quinn, former U.S. ambassador to Cambodia and emeritus president of the World Food Prize Foundation; and Simon Estes, the F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Artist-In-Residence in the department of music and theatre.Welcome and closing remarks from Dan Robison, Endowed Dean's Chair of the Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life SciencesFollowing the program, ISU Creamery ice cream will be served.Registration requestedMore details regarding the program and speakers can be found online: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/george-washington-carver-dayThis lecture will be live streamed and recorded. Join the livestream here. The recording will be added to the Available Recordings page when available.On George Washington Carver Day in Iowa, Carver’s life and legacy live on as a potent symbol of courage, perseverance, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Carver’s story is one of extraordinary resiliency. Born into slavery in Missouri around 1864, he sought higher education in Iowa, at Simpson College and Iowa State University. He was Iowa State’s first Black student, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. After graduation, he became Iowa State’s first Black faculty member.Carver left Iowa for the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he spent the rest of his life applying his innovative genius to agriculture. He became world renowned for creating hundreds of products made from peanuts, sweet potatoes and other native Southern crops. A kind and patient teacher, Carver showed farmers how alternative crops and practices could benefit their bottom line and sustain their land. He took practical knowledge gained from science and delivered it to those working in the fields and rural areas.
Thursday, 25 Jan 2024
Reimagining a New American Democracy
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative LectureThe Advancing One Community Awards will be awarded prior to the keynote addressSherrilyn Ifill is a civil rights lawyer and scholar. From 2013-2022, she served as the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. She is currently a Distinguished Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School, and she serves as Ford Foundation Fellow at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), leading a project focused on exploring the values of the 14th Amendment in artistic expression. Ifill was most recently appointed to be the Inaugural Vernon Jordan Endowed Chair in Civil Rights at Howard Law School, where she will launch the 14th Amendment Center for Law and Democracy. As the President & Director-Counsel at LDF, Ifill’s voice and analysis played a prominent role in shaping our national conversation about race and civil rights. She led the organization in groundbreaking litigation in the areas of voting rights, economic justice, and education, and took a prominent role in confronting police violence against unarmed Black people. Ifill raised the profile of LDF, growing the organization in staff, resources, and influence. Her strategic vision and counsel are highly sought after from leaders in government, business, law and academia. She continues to write scholarly articles and is currently completing a book about race and the current crisis in American democracy entitled, Is This America? which will be published by Penguin Press in 2024. Ifill graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law. She is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world. Ifill is a recipient of the Radcliffe Medal, the Brandeis Medal, the Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association, and The Gold Medal from the New York State Bar Association. Ifill serves on the board of the Mellon Foundation, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the board of the Learning Policy Institute, and the Board of Trustees of New York University School of Law. The University Book Store will be onsite selling her book at the event.In this moderated conversation, she will discuss civil rights, race, and the challenges facing American Democracy with Dr. Karen Kedrowski. Dr. Karen M. Kedrowski is Director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics and Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University. The Catt Center conducts research on women and politics, with a focus on Iowa; and promotes civic engagement. In addition to her duties at the Catt Center, Dr. Kedrowski teaches courses in American Politics and conducts research on women in American politics and civic engagement. She joined the Iowa State faculty in January 2019.Dr. Kedrowski is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the University of Oklahoma, Norman. Prior to coming to Iowa State, she spent 24 years at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where she served in many roles, including Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She also received Winthrop’s highest faculty honor, Distinguished Professor, in 2011.All are welcome to stay after the lecture for a reception with light food and beverage and a book signing with Ms. Ifill.This lecture was recorded and can be viewed on the Available Recordings page.
Wednesday, 6 Dec 2023
Presidential Candidate Event: A Conversation with Ryan Binkley
6:00 PM – 2630 Memorial Union - This event is not available for extra credit, and this event will not be recorded.Ryan Binkley is the President and CEO of Generational Group located in Richardson, Texas. With over 300 employees, Generational focuses on business consultancy, M&A, and wealth advisory for business owners throughout North America. Ryan and his wife, Ellie, are also founders of Create Church, a multiethnic, multigenerational church in Richardson, Texas. As lead pastor, his deep passion is to see church members of all walks of life discover and live out their purpose.Before starting Generational, Ryan worked in various positions at Procter & Gamble and Boston Scientific Corporation. He holds a BBA from the University of Texas and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.Ryan and Ellie married in 1999. They have five children in various stages of school and college. They chose to adopt their youngest from South Korea, where Ellie was born before immigrating to the U.S. with her parents. It’s one more way their faith has led them to reach across boundaries, finding unity where others might see differences.Today, Ryan is leading a new conversation. He is calling America’s leaders to return to the core values of trusting in God and each other again, caring for the hurting, leading with integrity, and bringing hope and healing to our nation.
Thursday, 30 Nov 2023
Deep Cities: Using a City's Heritage and History to Create a Sustainable Future
11:00 AM – 2630 Memorial Union - The lecture will use the recently completed JPI-CH research project 'Curating Sustainable URBAn Transformations through HERITage' as a lens for discussing how archeology can be a theoretical resource in planning with urban heritage for future cities. In our project, we have launched the concept of 'Deep Cities' as a methodological approach to understand how the layered historical city - the transformative and trans-temporal character of cities - turns into heritage values which merits conservation and for being implemented in urban planning.The presentation will first focus on the role of urban heritage for socially sustainable urban futures, introducing some of the key findings of the CURBATHERI – Deep Cities project. What makes a "livable city" that supports factors such as identity, belonging, quality of life and health for all residents in mixes of historic and renewed urban environments? What is the role of urban heritage in socially inclusive and sustainable placemaking? Afterwards, the presentation will focus on the distinctive nature of urban archaeological heritage when activated as a conceptual tool in urban placemaking. Theoretical terms such as 'decay', 'collage', 'palimpsest' and 'stratigraphy' and the role urban transformation has in Change Management are discussed as planning concepts which in their own way define approaches to implementing the traces of the past in different cityscapes.Note: This lecture will feature Dr. Guttormsen presenting via Zoom. He will be taking questions live at the end of his talk.Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen PhD is Research Professor and the Head of the Heritage and Society Department at Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research. He is trained in archaeology and heritage studies with research emphasis on cultural heritage management and politics, heritage and planning, urban heritage, immigrant heritage, difficult heritage, public archaeology and the history of archaeology. With his focus on studying monuments, memorials and commemorations his research also interfaces memory studies and museum studies.Torgrim is an Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy for the period 2021-2024. He was a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Land and Cultural Resources Research at Fudan University in China for the period 2017-2022 and has been a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, the Australian National University. His edited books include ‘Heritage and Sustainable Urban Transformations. Deep Cities’ (Routledge, 2020) and ‘Heritage, Democracy and the Public. Nordic Approaches’ (Routledge, 2016). Latest publication is the co-authored paper from 2023 ‘Assemblage urbanism: the role of heritage in urban placemaking’, published in Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development. This lecture was recorded and can be accessed on the Available Recordings page.
Thursday, 16 Nov 2023
WLC Connects: Arab Women's Revolutionary Art
3:30 PM – Carver 0305 - The Department of World Languages and Cultures annual invited speaker series, with introductions and commentary by two interdisciplinary WLC faculty members. Nevine El Nossery (UW-Madison) discusses her recent book Arab Women’s Revolutionary Art: Between Singularities and Multitudes with commentary from ISU faculty members Michèle Schaal and Xavier Dapena.Please note: This lecture will not be recorded.
Wednesday, 15 Nov 2023
Predator: A Memoir, A Movie, An Obsession
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Pearl Hogrefe Visiting Writers SeriesA sincere and playful book that lovingly dissects the film, Predator also offers questions and critiques of masculinity, fandom, and their interrelation with acts of mass violence. In his first memoir, Ander Monson guides readers through a scene-by-scene exploration of the 1987 film Predator, which he has watched 146 times. Some fighters might not have time to bleed, but Monson has the patience to consider their adventure, one frame at a time. He turns his obsession into a lens through which he poignantly examines his own life, formed by mainstream, White, male American culture. Between scenes, Monson delves deeply into his adolescence in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Riyadh, his role as a father and the loss of his own mother, and his friendships with men bound by the troubled camaraderie depicted in action and sci-fi blockbusters. Ander Monson is the author of nine books, including Neck Deep and Other Predicaments, Vanishing Point, Vacationland and Predator: A Memoir, A Movie, An Obsession. A finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Award and a National Book Critics Circle in criticism, Monson is also a recipient of a Howard Foundation Fellowship, the Graywolf Nonfiction Prize, the Annie Dillard Award for Nonfiction, the Great Lakes Colleges New Writers Award in Nonfiction, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He edits the magazine DIAGRAM (thediagram.com), the New Michigan Press, Essay Daily (essaydaily.org). He directs the MFA program at the University of Arizona. For more about the author: https://otherelectricities.com/index.html The University Book Store will be onsite selling Monson's books at the event.This lecture was recorded and can be viewed on the Available Recordings page.
Monday, 13 Nov 2023
The Right to Repair: Reclaiming the Things We Own
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Aaron Perzanowski is the inaugural Thomas W. Lacchia Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. He teaches and writes about the intersection of intellectual and personal property law.Much of his work explores the notion of ownership in the digital economy. His books include The End of Ownership, co-authored with Jason Schultz (MIT Press, 2016), and The Right to Repair (Cambridge University Press, 2022). His current book project addresses how shifting conceptions of ownership threaten to undermine the core functions of libraries.Professor Perzanowski also has written about the ways in which informal governance and social norms influence creative production in contexts ranging from the tattoo industry to the clowning community. Creativity Without Law, his 2017 book with Kate Darling (NYU Press), collected much of the growing body of scholarship exploring the interplay between IP and social norms. The University Book Store will be onsite selling Right to Repair at the event.This lecture will be recorded, and the recording link will be added here within 36-48 hours after the lecture has finished.
How to Debate Anyone: Strategies and Tips from an Online Firebrand
5:30 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Steven Bonnell, known online as Destiny, is a progressive political streamer and YouTuber known for his aggressive style of debating, openness to challenging conversations, and attention to detail when communicating with hostile audiences. Join Steven for a discussion about how he approaches debates and his strategies to be succesful.This lecture will be recorded, and the recording link will be added here within 36-48 hours after the lecture has finished.
Thursday, 9 Nov 2023
Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth's Past and Will Shape Our Future
6:00 PM – 2630 Memorial Union - It is rare for life to change Earth, yet three organisms have profoundly transformed our planet over the long course of its history. Porder will discuss how microbes, plants, and people used the fundamental building blocks of life to alter the climate, and with it, the trajectory of life on Earth in the past, present, and future. He will highlight humans’ similarities to, and differences from, our world’s changing predecessors. Finally, Porder argues that understanding world-changing organisms helps illuminate a path to a more sustainable future. Stephen Porder is associate provost for sustainability and professor of ecology, evolution, and organismal biology at Brown University, where he is also a fellow in the Institute for Environment and Society. Porder is the author of over 70 peer reviewed publications and the new book Elemental: How five elements changed Earth's past and will shape our future. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Time Magazine, Natural History, and other leading publications. He is also the cofounder of Possibly, a radioshow/podcast that airs on The Public’s Radio and provides practical advice on sustainability to a general audience (available on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher).The University Book Store will be onsite selling Elemental at the event.This lecture was recorded and can be found on the Available Recordings page.