Schedule of Events

Unplanned Pregnancy & the Choice for Adoption - Catelynn & Tyler
Thu, 05 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra shared the story of their teen pregnancy and decision to place their daughter, Carly, up for adoption on MTV's "16 and Pregnant." Now students at Baker College, the couple speaks frequently in support of adoption. They discuss their sacrifice in order to give Carly a better life; the role of family, friends, and counselors in their decision; and their choice for an open adoption, which allows for regular communication and face-to-face visits. Catelynn and Tyler have also appeared on MTV's "Teen Mom."

A Call to Climate Action: Our New National Purpose - Rob Hogg
Tue, 10 Sep 2013, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Rob Hogg is a state senator from Cedar Rapids and author of the new book America's Climate Century. In the book he argues that everything Americans do this century will be shaped by the need to reduce carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases while at the same time dealing with an increasing number of climate-related disasters. Senator Hogg represented Cedar Rapids during the flood of 2008. A fourth-generation Iowan, he is a graduate of the University of Iowa and earned a master's degree in energy policy from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. He holds a law degree from the University of Minnesota as well. Hogg is serving his second term in the Iowa Senate after two terms in the Iowa House.

What's Going On in Egypt? Mahmoud Hamad
Tue, 10 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Mahmoud Hamad joined the Politics Department at Drake University in 2008 after teaching at Cairo University, Brigham Young University, and the University of Utah. As a Fulbright scholar, he attended Brandeis University's Summer Institute for Israel Studies. His teaching and research interests focus on Middle East politics, comparative judicial politics, civil-military relations as well as religion and politics. His current research projects focus on the judicialization of politics in the Middle East. He received his PhD from the Department of Political Science at the University of Utah and his BA and MA in Political Science from Cairo University, Egypt.

Genes, Race, Free Speech, Same-Sex Marriage and the U.S. Supreme Court - Panel Discussion
Thu, 12 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Panelists will discuss recent Supreme Court rulings ranging from Marriage Equality and the Voting Rights Act to gene patents and affirmative action, as well as potential cases that may go before the court. Panelists include Drake Constitutional Law Center Director Mark Kende and ACLU of Iowa Executive Director Ben Stone and Dirk Deam, senior lecturer in Political Science. Iowa State Bioethics Program Director Clark Wolf will moderate. Constitution Day Event

Islamophobia: The Challenges of Being Muslim in America - Moustafa Bayoumi
Wed, 18 Sep 2013, 6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Moustafa Bayoumi is the author of How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America, which won an American Book Award and the Arab American Book Award for Nonfiction. The book introduces us to seven twenty-something men and women living in Brooklyn, home to the largest number of Arab Americans in the United States, and uses their stories to break down stereotypes and cliches about Arabs and Muslims. A professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Moustafa Bayoumi was born in Zurich, Switzerland, grew up in Kingston, Canada, and moved to the United States in 1990 to attend Columbia University, where he received his PhD in English literature.

Who's Up, Who's Down and What's Really Going On - Eugene Robinson
Wed, 18 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, MSNBC political analyst and author of Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America. He writes a twice-weekly op-ed column on politics and culture for the Washington Post and contributes to the paper's PostPartisan blog. In his three-decade career at The Post, Robinson has been a city hall reporter, city editor, foreign correspondent in Buenos Aires and London, foreign editor and assistant managing editor in charge of the paper's award-winning Style section. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his commentary on the 2008 presidential race and Barack Obama's election as the first Black president. 2013 Chamberlin Lecture in Journalism

The End of Money - David Wolman
Thu, 19 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - A contributing editor at Wired and author of The End of Money, David Wolman shares how going cashless will affect the world, your wallet, and the retail, banking, and finance industries. His investigation into the future of money examined an array of virtual and alternative cashless currencies and technologies, including mobile-based banking systems. It also included a personal experiment of a year without cash. Wolman has written for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek and Forbes. His other books include A Left-Hand Turn around the World and Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email. Greater Iowa Credit Union Business Lecture Series.

Understanding the Mind and Brain - George D. Pollak
Fri, 20 Sep 2013, 5:30 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - George Pollak is a professor of neurobiology at the University of Texas, where he studies how the brain controls behavior. His expertise is in auditory neuroscience and how we process sound, including how the brain computes from where in space a sound is coming. He uses bats as experimental subjects due to their high reliance on hearing. Dr. Pollak's many honors and awards include a Claude Pepper Award from the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders and a Career Research Award from the National Institutes of Health. Pollak earned his PhD in physiology from the University of Maryland and has been on the faculty at the University of Texas since 1973.

A New American Space Plan - Rocket City Rednecks' Travis Taylor
Fri, 20 Sep 2013, 7:00 PM – Stephens Auditorium, Iowa State Center - No tickets - Doors open at 6:15 pm - Travis Taylor is the official ringleader of the Rocket City Rednecks, a National Geographic Channel series that follows five guys from Huntsville, Alabama - home to NASA's Marshall Flight Center and the birthplace of the U.S. space programs. Travis will show clips from the show and explain how they do it all. The Rednecks are rocket scientists with PhDs, and their weekend experiments combine a little hillbilly ingenuity with advanced engineering and physics. Travis has worked with the Department of Defense and NASA for the past twenty-five years, holds five degrees, is completing a second PhD in aerospace engineering, and is the author of A New American Space Plan. Engineers Week 2013 Book signing to follow.

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations - David R. Montgomery
Mon, 23 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Geologist David R. Montgomery is the author of Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, a mix of history, archaeology and geology that shows how soil use - and abuse - has shaped great civilizations from Mesopotamia to the Roman Empire, China to Central America, and the American push westward. A MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient, Montgomery teaches at the University of Washington, where he studies the evolution of topography and how geological processes shape landscapes and influence ecological systems. He will discuss his current work, a solution-oriented approach to the problem of global soil erosion outlined in Dirt. Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture Homo sapiens, wise man indeed. There's still time to live up to our name - if only we stop treating our soil like dirt. - David Montgomery

How Artists Are Transforming the Narrative on Immigration and Equality - Favianna Rodriguez
Tue, 24 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Favianna Rodriguez is a printmaker, digital artist and cultural organizer. She is known for her vibrant posters dealing with issues such as war, immigration, globalization and social movements. She also promotes the use of art in civic engagement and leads art workshops at schools around the country. She is directing CultureStrike, a national arts organization that engages artists, writers and performers in migrant rights and in 2009 helped found Presente.org, a national online organizing network dedicated to the political empowerment of Latino communities. Part of the Latino Heritage Month Celebration.

Me the People: One Man's Quest to Rewrite the Constitution - Kevin Bleyer
Thu, 26 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Kevin Bleyer, Emmy-winning writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, hopes to end the constant bickering about the Constitution by simply rewriting it. With humor and wit, he drags our nation's founding document into the 21st century in Me the People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America. He takes readers to Greece, the birthplace of democracy; Philadelphia, the home of American freedom; and debates the failures of Article III with Justice Antonin Scalia. Kevin Bleyer also negotiated bipartisan consensus as a writer and producer for Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and Dennis Miller and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Banned Book Week, Constitution Day Speaker and part of the National Affairs Series.

The Political Status of Puerto Rico: Independence or Statehood?
Fri, 27 Sep 2013, 12:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Juan Manuel Dalmau Ramerez is a leader in Puerto Rico's independence movement and the Puerto Rican Independent Party (PIP). He was the PIP's candidate for governor and has served as secretary general and commissioner of the party. An attorney, Dalmau worked as a legistlative assistant under Senator Ruben Berrios, as a legal officer for Puerto Rican Supreme Court Chief Justice Jose Andreu Garcia, and as an advisesr to Senator Manuel Rodriguez Orellana. He earned his law degree from the University of Puerto Rico and has taught constitutional law at the undergraduate level.

The Puerto Rican Independence Movement in the 21st Century
Sat, 28 Sep 2013, 7:00 PM – Central Campus - South of Campanile - Juan Manuel Dalmau Ramerez is a leader in Puerto Rico's independence movement and the Puerto Rican Independent Party (PIP). He was the PIP's candidate for governor and has served as secretary general and commissioner of the party. An attorney, Dalmau worked as a legistlative assistant under Senator Ruben Berrios, as a legal officer for Puerto Rican Supreme Court Chief Justice Jose Andreu Garcia, and as an advisesr to Senator Manuel Rodriguez Orellana. He earned his law degree from the University of Puerto Rico and has taught constitutional law at the undergraduate level. This presentation is part of the Puerto Rican Student Association's Cultural Night, which runs 7-10 pm and includes traditional food and dancing. Lecture rain location: 127 Curtiss Hall

Is Technology Gendered in Africa? A View from Namibia - Heike Winschiers-Theophilus
Mon, 30 Sep 2013, 6:30 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Heike Winschiers-Theophilus is a professor in the Department of Software Engineering at the Polytechnic of Namibia. Her work has focused on designing visualization systems and technology interfaces for use by indigenous people. She is interested in how indigenous culture and knowledge is captured and managed, and how indigenous peoples are represented. She earned her PhD from the University of Hamburg and has undergraduate and Master's degrees in computer science. She was formerly dean of Polytechnic's School of Information Technology. Part of the Women in STEM Series.

The Strange Saga of Academic Freedom and the Law - Matthew Finkin
Mon, 30 Sep 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Matthew W. Finkin is the author of For the Common Good: Principles of American Academic Freedom and the The Case for Tenure. He is on the faculty at the University of Illinois College of Law, where he is the Albert J. Harno and Edward W. Cleary Chair in Law, and director of the Program in Comparative Labor and Employment Law and Policy.

The Second Vatican Council and Pope John XXIII's Commitment to Religious Unity - Anne Clifford
Tue, 01 Oct 2013, 7:00 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - In 1959 Pope John XXIII called an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, the first in nearly a century. Anne Clifford, the Msgr. James Supple Chair in Catholic Studies at Iowa State, will examine Pope John's life with a focus on how his years as a Vatican diplomat in Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and France contributed to his vision for the Second Vatican Council and the resulting commitment of the Roman Catholic Church to cultivate relations not only with other Christian churches but also with other religions, especially Judaism and Islam. Anne Clifford earned a PhD in theology from the Catholic University of America and has held faculty positions at Duquesne University and John Carroll University. She is the author of Introducing Feminist Theology and coeditor of Christology: Memory, Inquiry. Supple Lecture Series

Emerging Powers and the Responsibility to Protect - Ramesh Thakur
Tue, 01 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Ramesh Thakur, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, currently directs the Centre for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament at Australian National University. He has held academic positions in Australia, New Zealand and Canada; advised the Australian and New Zealand governments on arms control and international security issues; and served as UN Senior Adviser on Reforms as well Senior Vice Rector of the United Nations University in Tokyo. He was a principal author of the 2001 Responsibility to Protect report, which the UN later adopted as guiding principles for the prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity. Thakur is coeditor of the newly released Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy, the author of more than thirty books, and writes regularly for the international press. Part of the World Affairs Series

Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers - Kwame Anthony Appiah
Wed, 02 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Kwame Anthony Appiah, named one of Foreign Policy's Top 100 public intellectuals, is the Laurence S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. He is also the president of the PEN American Center, the world's oldest human rights organization. In 2012 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by the White House. Born in London to a Ghanaian father and a white mother, he was raised in Ghana and educated in England at Cambridge University, where he received a PhD in philosophy. As a scholar of African and African-American studies, he established himself as an intellectual with a broad reach. His book In My Father's House and his collaborations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., including The Dictionary of Global Culture and Africana, are major works of African struggles for self-determination. His latest book is The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen. Part of the Technology, Globalization & Culture Series and the World Affairs Series.

The CEOs of Leadership: Clarity, Example and Optimism - Karen Hughes
Thu, 03 Oct 2013, 12:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Ambassador Karen Hughes worked for more than thirty years in public administration, public policy and communications. As Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from 2005 to 2007, she dramatically reshaped the State Department's communications efforts. As counselor to President Bush from 2001 to 2002, Hughes was a strategic adviser to the president on policy and communications and managed the White House offices of communications, media affairs, speechwriting and press secretary. In 2008, Hughes joined Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations and communications firm, and currently serves as worldwide vice chair. Mary Louise Smith Chair for Women and Politics

Dating in a Digital World - Nev Schulman of MTV's CATFISH
Fri, 04 Oct 2013, 11:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - It was love at first type, but will it be love at first sight? MTV's Catfish: The TV Show tackles the mystery and complexities of dating in a digital world. Series hosts Nev Schulman and Max Joseph track "catfish" - people who create a false identity or intentionally misrepresent themselves in online forums - as they follow the first-time, real-life encounters of young couples taking their online-only relationships to a new level, face-to-face. Schulman shares his experiences and some insights on how social media sites, and the always lurking catfish, have both simplified and complicated dating for Millenials. ISU After Dark

United States and India: How Far Have We Come, What Lies Ahead? Ambassador Nirupama Rao
Tue, 08 Oct 2013, 7:30 PM – Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall - Her Excellency Nirupama Rao has served as India's ambassador to the United States since September 2011. In a diplomatic career spanning more than three decades, she served in various capitals around the world, including Washington, Beijing and Moscow. She was India's Foreign Secretary from 2009 to 2011. After serving in the East Asia Division of the Foreign Ministry at the policy level, she was named India's first female Ambassador to China. She was High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and served as spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs. Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science and part of the World Affairs Series. Parking available in the Memorial Union Parking Ramp or in the East Parking Deck behind East Hall.

Entrepreneurs & Leadership in the Swine Industry
Wed, 09 Oct 2013, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Dr. Howard Hill is president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council and a strategic council to Iowa Select Farms. Hill earned a master's degree and PhD in veterinary microbiology from Iowa State and subsequently joined Iowa State's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. During his twenty-year tenure at the university, he served as an industry leader in the eradication of pseudorabies (PRV). In 2011 Dr. Hill was one of nine veterinarians appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Animal Health. William K. Deal Endowed Leadership Lecture

Innovative Solutions for Restoring Water Quality - Joe Whitworth
Thu, 10 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Joe Whitworth is president of The Freshwater Trust where he and his team focus on cooperative, market-based solutions that benefit rivers, working lands and local communities. This work is especially important as traditional conservation methods used over the last quarter century are proving inadequate to the environmental challenges of today. A native Midwesterner, Whitworth has dedicated the last two decades of his career working to restore freshwater quality through innovative solutions. The Trust has developed strategies for water quality credit trading programs as well as an innovative, patented online platform to manage the funding, permitting, and implementation of restoration projects. The organization's goal is a new kind of conservation that properly integrates the economy and the environment to achieve measurable benefit and workable solutions. Part of the National Affairs Series on Innovation

Scientific Discovery and the Fight to End Global Hunger - Marc Van Montagu, Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T. Fraley
Mon, 14 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - From laboratory research to in-field applications, the innovations of Marc Van Montagu, Mary-Dell Chilton and Robert T. Fraley are helping farmers around the world improve crop yields and feed a growing global population in an increasingly volatile climate. Van Montagu, Chilton and Fraley are joint recipients of the 2013 World Food Prize for their research and achievements in agricultural biotechnology. Working in separate facilities on two continents, they were pioneers in molecular biology and the science of genetically engineering plants. Their work has made it possible to develop crops that are resistant to insects and disease, tolerate extreme variations in climate, require less chemical fertilizer and help ensure an agricultural livelihood for some of the world's poorest farmers. Norman E. Borlaug Lecture A reception and student poster display will precede the lecture from 7 to 8 p.m. in the South Ballroom, Memorial Union. Posters will address world food issues and are submitted by undergraduate and graduate students.

How Migration Is Changing Our World - Paul Collier author of The Bottom Billion
Tue, 15 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Economist Paul Collier, author of The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, is an expert on developing markets. He is director of the Centre of the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, advisor to the Strategy and Policy Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and advisor to the Africa Region of the World Bank. His most recent books include The Plundered Planet: Why We Must - and How We Can - Manage Nature for Global Prosperity and, most recently, Exodus: How Migration is Changing Our World. Part of the World Affairs Series: Development, Defense and Diplomacy

What Is (Ab)Normal? How to Identify Mental Illness - Robert Krueger
Wed, 16 Oct 2013, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Psychologist Robert Krueger will discuss the differences between normal and abnormal human behavior and how the two overlap. He specializes in the diagnosis of mental illness and the role of genetics in personality and personality disorders. Robert Krueger recently served on the task force to develop the upcoming 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder. He is the Hathaway Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University Minnesota. His awards include the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution from the American Psychological Association. Disability Awareness Week.

Challenging Chinaphobia: Gender Differences - Kesho Scott
Wed, 16 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Kesho Scott is an associate professor of American Studies and sociology at Grinnell College and a diversity trainer with more than two decades of experience leading programs to unlearn racism. She developed an "affirmative duty" technique for facilitating workshops that help participants shift their awareness, commitment and skill-set away toward being actively and personally anti-racist and anti-sexist, rather than passive observers. Kesho Scott is the author of The Habit of Surviving: Black Women's Strategies for Life, and coauthor of Tight Spaces.

Importance of Congressional Papers for Research - Timothy Walch
Thu, 17 Oct 2013, 3:30 PM – Special Collections Reading Room - 403 Parks Library - An open house and reception to acknowledge the gift from former Congressman Edward Mezvinsky of his papers to the Iowa State University Library. The collection contains his Congressional and public service papers. The gift includes papers from the United States House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate hearings.* After a welcome by Dean Olivia Madison, remarks regarding the importance of congressional papers to research will be provided by Timothy Walch. Timothy Walch is director emeritus of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, one of thirteen such libraries that are part of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Watergate Forty Years Later: What Lessons Have We Learned? Ed Mezvinsky, Elizabeth Holtzman and Jonathan Yarowsky
Thu, 17 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Edward Mezvinsky was a congressman representing Iowa's 1st congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1977, serving on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate hearings. He will join a discussion featuring Elizabeth Holtzman, who also served on the House Judiciary Committee and Jonathan Yarowsky, General Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. James McCormick, professor and chair of the Iowa State Political Science Department, will moderate. The House Judiciary Committee reviewed and endorsed three counts of impeachment charges against President Richard Nixon as a result of the Watergate break-ins and its aftermath.

Classical Kevlar: Reconstructing Ancient Greek Body Armor - Gregory S. Aldrete
Fri, 18 Oct 2013, 3:30 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - History professor Gregory Aldrete leads the Linothorax Project, an ongoing effort to reconstruct and study a widely used a type of ancient body armor created by laminating together layers of linen. Despite being documented in ancient literary texts and visual images, the linothorax remains something of a mystery: due to the perishable nature of its material, no examples have survived. Aldrete's group has not only reconstructed several of these armors used by the armies of Alexander the Great and others, it has also tested the linothorax's effectiveness as a type of battlefield protection. Gregory Aldrete is the Frankenthal Professor of History and Humanistic Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He is coauthor of the recently published Reconstructing Ancient Linen Body Armor: Unraveling the Linothorax Mystery.

In Pursuit of the Perfect Pig - Carl Blake
Fri, 18 Oct 2013, 6:00 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - Carl Blake has been researching and working for years to craft the most delicious pig in the country. Now, his Iowa Swabian Halls, raised on his fifteen-acre Rustik Rooster Farm, are winning culinary contests, attracting praise from chefs across the country, and drawing the interest of the Food Channel's Andrew Zimmern. He will share how his life's work went from computer consulting to a passion for pig perfection, and to a guest appearance with two piglets on The Colbert Report. National Affairs Series on Innovation

Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America - Wenonah Hauter
Tue, 22 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Wenonah Hauter is the Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. Her book Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America is an investigation into the economics and politics behind our current food systems and how corporate consolidation affects farmers and consumers. A grassroots organizer and activist, Hauter's work on environmental issues has included roles as director of Public Citizen's Energy and Environment Program, environmental policy director for Citizen Action, and senior organizer with the Union of Concerned Scientists. She has an MS in applied anthropology from the University of Maryland.

Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson: How They Changed Our World - Robert Fishman
Wed, 23 Oct 2013, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Robert Fishman is an expert in the areas of urban history and urban policy and planning. He will discuss the impact of Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson, two women who revolutionized the fields of urbanism and environmentalism as well as changed the way we think about sustainability. Professor Robert Fishman currently has an appointment in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. He has written two books widely regarded as seminal texts on the history of cities and urbanization: Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century and Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia.

The Science of Speed: Faster, Stronger and Safer - Diandra Leslie-Pelecky
Thu, 24 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, author of The Physics of NASCAR, knows you can't win races without getting the math and science right. Her work has been featured in everything from TIME Magazine to the New York Times to Sporting News magazine. She blogs at www.buildingspeed.org, explaining the math and science behind current events in motorsports. Leslie-Pelecky earned undergraduate degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of North Texas and a PhD in condensed matter physics from Michigan State University. After fourteen years at the University of Nebraska, she recently became director of the West Virginia Nano Initiative and Professor of Physics at West Virginia University. Her current research seeks new ways to apply magnetic nanoparticles to make chemotherapy more efficient and decrease the side effects. Sigma Xi Series and Women in STEM Series

How Artists-Teachers Create an Exceptional Learning Environment - Gerard Morris
Fri, 25 Oct 2013, 3:10 PM – Gold Room, Memorial Union - Gerard Morris, a faculty member in the University of Puget Sound School of Music, discusses how the success of any teaching style or pedagogical process is directly linked to the artist-teacher in front of the room. Artist-teachers are in a constant state of sensitizing or desensitizing students, which has an impact on the learning environment - the reality - they are trying to create. Morris draws on the research, teaching, and writing of physicist Alan Lightman, neuroscientists David Eagleman and Jonah Lehrer, and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to show how an increased awareness of how individuals perceive and create "reality" can foster success in the classroom.

At Home and Abroad - Bill Bryson
Mon, 28 Oct 2013, 8:00 PM – Stephens Auditorium - Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. The author of more than two dozen books, Bill Bryson finds delight in the minutiae of travel and the subtleties of culture. He has chronicled everything from hiking the Appalachian Trail in A Walk in the Woods to his adventures Down Under In a Sunburned Country to his visit to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International in Billy Bryson's African Diary. His other books include Notes from a Small Island, The Lost Continent, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe, and his memoir of growing up in Des Moines, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. His newest book is One Summer: America, 1927. Book signing to follow in the Celebrity Cafe. Part of the World Affairs Series

Is the War on Drugs Helping or Harming? Brian Leininger
Wed, 06 Nov 2013, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Attorney Brian Leininger speaks on behalf of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization that represents members of the law enforcement and criminal justice communities who believe current drug policies fail to effectively address the problems of drug abuse and related crimes. Leininger has served as an assistant district attorney in Kansas City and as General Legal Counsel to the Kansas Highway Patrol. He is a criminal defense lawyer and member of the Legal Committee of NORML, a national organization working to legalize the responsible use of marijuana.

Public Ideologies & the Future of Immigration Reform - Alejandro Portes
Mon, 11 Nov 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - For more than thirty years sociologist Alejandro Portes has helped shape the study of immigration and urbanization. His work on the causes and consequences of immigration to the United States has focused on informal economies, transnational communities and the adaptation of immigrant children. Most recently he's looked at immigration and the American healthcare system. He is the Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of Sociology and director of the Center for Migration and Development at Princeton University. His books include City on the Edge - The Transformation of Miami and Immigrant America: A Portrait. The first 10 minutes of this audio recording is unavailable due to technical difficulties.

The Difficult Quest to Unravel the Secrets of the Tornado - Bill Gallus
Mon, 18 Nov 2013, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Bill Gallus has always been obsessed with the weather. Raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a place known for its infamous floods, his fascination evolved from a weather diary as a first grader to researching severe storms as an Iowa State meteorology professor and storm chaser. Gallus was on the team that pioneered development of Iowa State's tornado simulator, the first of its kind to create a moving tornado large enough to simulate the effects of a twister on different types of structures. His research has been funded by NSF and NOAA and is paving the way for better understanding of tornado interactions with the ground, which can improve structural design and building safety. Gallus joined the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences in 1995 after completing a PhD at Colorado State University and a postdoctoral position at the National Center for Environmental Prediction. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean's Lecture Series. This talk will be given in memory of Tim Samaras, an engineer, scientist, and storm chaser who collaborated over nine years with Iowa State. Tim was killed while deploying instruments in an Oklahoma tornado on May 31.

Pharmageddon: The Rx Drug Crisis - Linda Kalin
Tue, 19 Nov 2013, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Linda Kalin directs the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center, a partnership between UnityPoint Health and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She has over twenty-five years of experience in clinical toxicology and speaks frequently about the abuse of prescription drugs, including opioid painkillers and Adderall. Kalin began her career as an emergency room nurse and in 1989 became Iowa's first Certified Specialist in Poison Information. She was instrumental in the development of the statewide poison control center in 2000.

Satellites & Butterflies: Climate Change and Species Conservation in North America - Jeremy Kerr
Tue, 19 Nov 2013, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Biologist Jeremy Kerr studies how biodiversity is changing as a consequence of climate change. His University of Ottawa lab recently launched the eButterfly Project, allowing researchers and scientists across North America to monitor the numbers and migratory paths of butterflies, which are often viewed as indicators of environmental change. Jeremy Kerr's research program has had practical applications for continental-scale species- and habitat-conservation efforts. It has also been used to predict how changing environmental conditions affect the abundance of disease-carrying species and the prevalence of vector-borne illnesses like malaria. He teaches lecture and field courses in aspects of ecology in Ottawa and Tanzania. The Annual Paul L. Errington Memorial Lecture

Living as Transgender - Ellen Krug
Wed, 20 Nov 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Ellen (Ellie) Krug, the author of Getting to Ellen: A Memoir about Love, Honesty and Gender Change, transitioned from male to female in 2009. A graduate of Coe College and Boston College Law School, Ellie practiced as a trial attorney in Boston and Cedar Rapids for 28 years. Before changing careers, she became the only Iowa attorney, and one of the few in the nation, to try lawsuits in separate genders. She speaks frequently about living as a transgender person, including how her perspectives on gender have changed. Her talks have included lessons learned about the need to live authentically and true to one's self. Ellie currently works as the executive director of a Twin Cities-based nonprofit, where she also writes for Lavender Magazine and ACCESSline. National Transgender Day of Remembrance

The Global Struggle against AIDS: The U.S. Role & Prospects for Sustainability - Mead Over
Tue, 03 Dec 2013, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Mead Over is a former World Bank economist whose work focuses on the economic impact of the AIDS epidemic and efficient, effective, and cost-effective health interventions in developing countries. He co-authored the World Bank's first comprehensive treatment of the economics of AIDS in the book Confronting AIDS: Public Priorities for a Global Epidemic. His most recent book, Achieving an AIDS Transition, focuses on prevention efforts. Mead Over has taught economics at Williams College and Boston University and is currently at senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. World AIDS Awareness Week Event and part of the World Affairs Series

Blood Brother - Documentary Film
Wed, 04 Dec 2013, 7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Blood Brother is a documentary feature that tells the story of Rocky Braat, a disillusioned college student whose impromptu trip to India one summer dramatically changed his understanding of love and family. While traveling, Rocky met a group of orphaned children at an AIDS hostel. Unlike others who had simply passed through these children's lives, Rocky did not abandon them. Instead, he moved to India to restart his life among the dispossessed. The children became his family, and he theirs, and for five years Rocky has dedicated himself to their health and wellbeing. Blood Brother is directed by Rocky's best friend, Steve Hoover. It won the 2013 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. 92 minutes. World AIDS Awareness Week Event.

How Local Organizing Can End Global AIDS and Malnutrition - Ken Patterson
Thu, 05 Dec 2013, 7:00 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Ken Patterson is Global Grassroots Manager of RESULTS, an organization that works to create long-term solutions to poverty by supporting programs that address its root causes - lack of access to medical care, education, or opportunity to move up the economic ladder. Patterson provides community organizing, advocacy, and legislative support and training to a network of seventy RESULTS chapters around the United States. With the assistance of grassroots advocates and the legislative team, he has helped change U.S. policy and funding levels to improve the lives of the world's poorest people. World AIDS Awareness Week Event

Let Freedom Ring - Carillon Concert
Wed, 15 Jan 2014, 12:00 PM – Central Campus - A carillon concert in honor of Dr. King. Tin-Shi Tam, carilloneur. Part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Series.

Slavery by Another Name - Documentary & Discussion
Wed, 15 Jan 2014, 7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - In the years following the Civil War, insidious new forms of forced labor emerged in the American South, keeping hundreds of thousands of African Americans in bondage until the onset of World War II. This documentary spans eight decades, from 1865 to 1945, uses archival photographs and dramatic re-enactments, and is filmed on location in Alabama and Georgia. Following this film, Brian Behnken, associate professor of history, will lead a discussion. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Series.

Ames Community Celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mon, 20 Jan 2014, 6:00 PM – Ames Middle School, 3915 Mortensen Road - Celebrate with song, story and birthday cake. An Ames tradition! After sharing birthday cake, the program begins at 6:30 pm and includes a keynote address by Iowa State University Dean of Students Pamela Anthony.

Lectures Program Event Being Planned
Wed, 22 Jan 2014, 7:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Environmental Imagination Series. Speaker to be announced.

The Art of Fermentation - Sandor Ellix Katz
Wed, 22 Jan 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Sandor Ellix Katz is a self-taught fermentation experimentalist. He is the author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods, which Newsweek has called "the fermenting bible." Katz demystifies the process of this preservation method and shares the history, health benefits and cultural significance of fermentation. He discusses how foods like yoghurt, kefir, kimchi and ginger beer came into existence. Katz is also the author of The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Legacy Convocation - A Loving Story: Perseverance, Change and Civil Rights
Thu, 23 Jan 2014, 3:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Come celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and learn how his global vision of equality for everyone remains relevant today. The program will feature The Loving Story, a documentary about interracial marriage in the United States, followed by a discussion and Q&A led by Natasha Croom, Assistant Professor of Education. The Advancing One Community Awards will also be presented.

The History of White People: Can A Black Scholar Write About White People? - Nell Irvin Painter
Wed, 29 Jan 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Nell Irvin Painter is the Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, at Princeton University and author of The History of White People. Her other recent books include Creating Black Americans and Southern History Across the Color Line. Nell Painter earned her doctorate in history from Harvard University and has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the American Antiquarian Society. She has served as president of the Organization of American Historians and the Southern Historical Association. As a public intellectual, Professor Painter is frequently called upon for lectures and interviews on television and film. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Series.

Comedy with Tig Notaro
Fri, 31 Jan 2014, 11:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Comedian Tig Notaro began her set at Largo in Los Angeles the day she was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer with: "Good evening, hello. I have cancer. How are you?" There was nervous laughter, weeping and total silence in the audience. Comedian Louis C. K. tweeted about her performance that night: "In 27 years doing this, I've seen a handful of truly great, masterful standup sets. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo." After a double mastectomy, the cancer was contained and Notaro is now in remission and feeling well. Her set at Largo, "Tig Notaro: Live," is out on CD. In addition to standup, Notaro has appeared on This American Life and Conan. Notaro was also a writer on the Comedy Central series Inside Amy Schumer and appears in the new film In A World. ISU After Dark

Freedom Riders: Documentary and Discussion
Mon, 03 Feb 2014, 7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, testing their belief in nonviolent activism. Based on Raymond Arsenault's book, Freedom Riders tells the story of six months that changed America forever. Brian Behnken, associate professor of history, will lead a discussion immediately following the film. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Series.

The Life Code: Changing Lives, Changing Business - Juan Enriquez
Thu, 06 Feb 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Juan Enriquez is one of the world's leading authorities on the uses and benefits of genomic research and the impact of the life sciences on business, technology, and society. He co-founded Synthetic Genomics, a company developing genomic-driven solutions to address global energy and environmental challenges. Synthetic Genomics was a partner and major funder of the J. Craig Venter Institute's breakthrough creation of the first synthetic bacterial cell. Juan Enriquez is managing director of Excel Venture Management, former director of the Harvard Business School Life Sciences Project, and author of As the Future Catches You: How Genomics & Other Forces are Changing Your Life, Work, Health & Wealth. He has an MBA from Harvard University, and is a member of the Harvard Medical School Genetics Advisory Council.

Women in Physics and Astronomy: Past, Present, and Future - Panel Discussion
Sun, 09 Feb 2014, 7:30 PM – 3 Physics Hall - Meg Urry, Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Yale University and director of the Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics, will be joined by Iowa State faculty and administrators for a panel discussion and Q&A. Participants include Amy Bix, associate professor, History of Science and Technology; Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of physics; Elizabeth Hoffman, professor of economics; and Lee Anne Willson, University Professor of Physics and Astronomy. A reception will follow in 18 Physics Hall. Women in STEM Series

Understanding Black Holes and Active Galaxies - Meg Urry
Mon, 10 Feb 2014, 8:00 PM – Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall - Meg Urry is chair of the Physics Department at Yale University and director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. She investigates the formation and evolution of the super-massive black holes that astrophysicists believe anchor each galaxy. Prior to joining the faculty at Yale, Urry was a senior scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA. The first tenured female physicist at Yale, she is also known for her efforts to increase the number of women in the physical sciences, for which she won the 2010 Women in Space Science Award from the Adler Planetarium. Part of the Women in STEM Series.

How Women Lead and the Difference It Makes - Melissa Harris-Perry
Tue, 11 Feb 2014, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Melissa Harris-Perry hosts a weekend MSNBC program and is a professor of political science at Tulane University, where she directs the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South. The "Melissa Harris-Perry Show," features analysis and guest-driven discussion of political, cultural and community issues. Topics often reflect Perry's academic research interests in the challenges facing contemporary black Americans. Harris-Perry is the author of Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America as well as Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought. She has a PhD in political science from Duke University. Book signing & reception to follow. Part of the Women and Leadership Series.

Evolution and Computation - John Mayfield
Thu, 13 Feb 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - John Mayfield is Emeritus Professor of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology at Iowa State and former associate dean of the Graduate College. His new book, The Engine of Complexity, Evolution as Computation, grew out of his interest in the relationship between computation and biological process. It is a new approach to understanding how evolution works based on information theory and computational science. He will discuss how general concepts of computational evolution can help explain not only how life is possible but also how human technology and the complex outcomes of human society are possible.

Multiple Ways to Love: A Valentine's Day Poetry Reading - Eduardo Corral
Fri, 14 Feb 2014, 4:00 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - Poet Eduardo C. Corral earned degrees from Arizona State University and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. His debut collection of poetry, Slow Lightning, won the Yale Younger Poets Prize, making him the first Latino recipient of the award. His work is recognized for its exploration of Latino identity and gender and sexuality. His other honors include a "Discovery"/The Nation Award, the J. Howard and Barbara M. J. Wood Prize from Poetry, and writing residencies from the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo. He is a CantoMundo fellow and has held writing residencies at Colgate University, Bucknell University and Columbia University.

Religious Freedom for All: Living Together with Our Deepest Differences - Os Guinness
Mon, 17 Feb 2014, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Os Guinness is an author and social critic who writes frequently about modern American culture. The author or editor of thirty books, he focuses on how the worlds of scholarship and ordinary life overlap, particularly as they touch on issues of faith. His new book, The Global Public Square, champions the freedom of thought, conscience and religion as a way to negotiate differences in public life. Born in China and educated in Britain, Os Guinness now lives in the United States. He is a former BBC reporter; has been a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies and at the Brookings Institution; and served as executive director of The Williamsburg Charter Foundation, a bicentennial celebration of the First Amendment. Veritas Forum

Chinese Painting History and Techniques - Visiting Artists Discuss Their Work
Wed, 19 Feb 2014, 5:30 PM – Kocimski Auditorium, 101 College of Design - Five distinguished artists and visiting scholars from Wuhan University in China's western Hubei Province will speak about their work and traditional Chinese painting techniques. They will discuss unique methods and styles of Chinese water color painting, sketch drawing, engraving, photography, ceramic tile painting, and how traditional cultural elements are incorporated into contemporary work. The artists include Professor Guan Jiaqing; Associate Professors Wen Qingwu, Xia Lijun and Zhou Xiumei; and Lecturer Wang Xin. The artists will be in residence at Iowa State February 17-21, and their work will be featured in an exhibition February 12-21 in the College of Design's Gallery 181.

An American Memoir: Japanese American Internment - Neil Nakadate
Wed, 19 Feb 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Neil Nakadate is the author of Looking After Minidoka: An American Memoir. During World War II, 110,000 Japanese Americans were removed from their homes and incarcerated by the U.S. government. In Looking After Minidoka, the "internment camp" years become a prism for understanding three generations of Japanese American life, from immigration to the end of the twentieth century. Nakadate is also the author of Understanding Jane Smiley and coauthor of A Rhetoric of Doing: Essays on Written Discourse in Honor of James L Kinneavy and Writing in the Liberal Arts Tradition: A Rhetoric With Readings. He has a doctorate in English and American Literature from Indiana University and is Iowa State University Professor Emeritus of English. No podcast available due to technical difficulties.

Brain Fix: Using Neuroscience and Nutrition as a Metaphor for Recovery - Dr. Ralph Carson
Thu, 20 Feb 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Dr. Ralph Carson is a clinical nutritionist and exercise physiologist who has been involved in the clinical treatment of addictions, obesity, and eating disorders for more than thirty years. He currently manages Oprah Winfrey's web page on eating disorders and is the consultant for Pine Grove's eating disorder program. Dr. Carson is also a nutritional advisor to numerous university athletic departments, including the University of Tennessee National Basketball Champion Lady Volunteers. With a Bachelor of Health Science degree from Duke University Medical School and a PhD in nutrition from Auburn University, he offers a unique understanding of health, wellness, exercise, and nutrition and how they all affect brain health. Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Endangered Languages: A Poet's Journey into Global Cultures - Bob Holman
Thu, 20 Feb 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Bob Holman is a poet, spoken word artist, professor, activist, filmmaker and soon-to-be host of a PBS documentary on endangered languages. His focus on oral traditions has included a study of the origins of Hiphop in West Africa and inspired his current work on the cultural crisis brought about when a language is lost. It is the subject of his latest PBS project, "Listen Up! Language Matters with Bob Holman." Holman's new book, Sing This One Back to Me, includes translations of poems as sung in the griot tradition of West African storytelling. Dubbed a member of the "Poetry Pantheon" by the New York Times Magazine, he produced the PBS Series "United States of Poetry," was the original Slammaster and a director of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and has performed in places ranging from Madison Square Gardens to Addis Ababa. The Goldtrap Lecture in English

The Catholic Church in the 21st Century: New Directions, Ancient Convictions - George Weigel
Mon, 24 Feb 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and frequent commentator on issues of religion and public life. Weigel is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II-The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy; Practicing Catholic: Essays Historical, Literary, Sporting, and Elegiac; and, most recently, Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church. A frequent guest on television and radio, he is also Vatican analyst for NBC News. His weekly column, "The Catholic Difference," is syndicated to sixty newspapers. Msgr. James A. Supple Lecture Series

Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth? - Alan Weisman
Mon, 24 Feb 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Author and journalist Alan Weisman's best selling book The World Without Us asked readers to envision how our planet would respond to a loss of the human race. His new book, Countdown: Our Last Best Hope for a Future on Earth? tackles population growth and the challenges it poses for a sustainable human future. The book took him to more than twenty countries, seeking insight into how we could achieve a stable, optimum population and design an economy that allows for prosperity without endless growth. Alan Weisman's reports have been featured in publications ranging from the Atlantic Monthly to Vanity Fair and have earned him appearances on The Daily Show, Nova and The Today Show. He is a former contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times Magazine, a senior radio producer for Homelands Productions and taught international journalism at the University of Arizona. Part of the Wildness, Wilderness & the Environmental Imagination Series and the University Symposium on Sustainability.

Climate Preparedness and Resilient Cities: What It Means in Iowa - Mayor Frank Cownie
Tue, 25 Feb 2014, 6:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie was one of eight U.S. mayors recently appointed to the State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience. The group has been charged with making recommendations to the White House for developing and financing tools to improve preparedness at the local level for increasingly frequent extreme weather conditions. Mayor Cownie has been an advocate for environmental sustainability within the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), and he was invited to participate as a local government delegate at the International Climate Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the 2014 Symposium on Sustainability

The Global Pandemic of Physical Inactivity: An Urgent Priority for Public Health - Bill Kohl
Thu, 27 Feb 2014, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - For nearly thirty years, Harold (Bill) Kohl has worked to promote exercise and fitness as a public health priority. He helped create the first U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines, which were published in 2008, and is an advocate for increasing physical activity among adults and children, including in K-12 school environments. Kohl worked previously for the Centers for Disease Control, where he served as the lead epidemiologist and team leader for the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. He is currently a professor of epidemiology and kinesiology at the University of Texas School of Public Health. The 2013-14 Pease Family Scholar

Redefining Hip Hop Culture with Respect and Dignity - MC Lyte
Fri, 28 Feb 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - MC Lyte has long been considered one of hip-hop's pioneer feminists. She first gained fame in 1988 as the first solo female rapper to release a full album, Lyte as a Rock. This past September, MC Lyte was honored with the "I Am Hip-Hop Award" at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. She is the CEO of Sunni Gyrl, an entertainment management and production firm, and author of Unstoppable, Igniting the Power Within to Achieve Your Greatest Potential. She is also active in social projects, including anti-violence campaigns and Rock the Vote. MC Lyte is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and chair and founder of the nonprofit Hip Hop Sisters. Annual Big XII Conference on Black Student Government Keynote Speaker

LIVE via WEBCAST: Language and the Internet - David Crystal
Sun, 02 Mar 2014, 3:00 PM – Doziel Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall - Linguist David Crystal is perhaps best known as the author of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. He has authored more than one hundred books on the English language, with topics ranging from phonetics and grammar to Shakespeare to clinical linguistics. He has also been a presenter or consultant for several television programs, including the BBC's The Story of English. His latest book, with his wife and business partner, Hilary Crystal, is Wordsmiths and Warriors: The English-language Tourist's Guide to Britain. Crystal is an Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. Quentin Johnson Lecture in Linguistics

Lectures Program Event Being Planned
Mon, 03 Mar 2014, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Speaker to be announced.

How to Find Inner Peace in the Modern World: A Buddhist Perspective - Arjia Rinpoche
Tue, 04 Mar 2014, 4:30 PM – Gallery, Memorial Union - Arjia Rinpoche is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Indiana University and one of the most prominent Tibetan lamas in the world. In 1998, after sixteen years of confinement in a forced labor camp and as he was about to become leader of the Chinese National Buddhist Association, Arjia Rinpoche chose exile overseas. He eventually settled in Mill Valley, California, where he established the Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom. In 2005 he was appointed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as Director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana. Both centers are dedicated to the preservation of Buddhist teachings and Tibetan art and culture. In 2010, he published his memoirs, Surviving the Dragon.

Engaging Conservatives on Energy and Climate - Bob Inglis
Tue, 04 Mar 2014, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Bob Inglis was a six-term Republican congressman from one of South Carolina's most conservative districts when he told an audience at a 2010 campaign event that he believed in human-caused climate change. The fallout from that comment helped ensure his defeat. After leaving Congress, Inglis established the Energy and Enterprise Initiative at George Mason University. The organization has taken on a mission to convince American conservatives that climate change is real and that free enterprise principles hold the keys for dealing with it. Inglis favors removing all fuel subsidies - from solar and wind to fossil fuels - and imposing a carbon tax as the fairest way to make polluters pay for the greenhouse gas emissions they cause. Part of the National Affairs Series

Girl Rising - Documentary & Discussion
Thu, 06 Mar 2014, 7:00 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Girl Rising journeys around the globe to witness the strength of the human spirit and the power of education to change the world. Viewers get to know nine unforgettable girls living in the developing world: ordinary girls who confront tremendous challenges and overcome nearly impossible odds to pursue their dreams. Prize-winning authors put the girls' remarkable stories into words, and renowned actors give them voice. The organization Girl Rising is a global campaign working for girls' education.

The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon: Lessons from the Past for a Sustainable Future - Stanley Temple
Thu, 06 Mar 2014, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Stanley Temple is a Senior Fellow and Science Advisor with the Aldo Leopold Foundation. For more than thirty years he was the Beers-Bascom Professor in Conservation in the Department of Wildlife Ecology at University of Wisconsin-Madison, a position originally held by Aldo Leopold himself. His talk marks the centennial of the extinction of the passenger pigeon in 1914. Temple uses the case of the passenger pigeon to call attention to the world's ongoing extinction crisis and our relationship with other species.

ISCORE Keynote Address on Race and Ethnicity - Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr.
Fri, 07 Mar 2014, 12:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Dr. Harold L. Martin, Sr., is chancellor at North Carolina A&T State University, the institution where he began his academic career as a student in electrical engineering and later served as dean of the College of Engineering and vice chancellor of academic affairs. Most recently he was the senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina. Prior to joining UNC, he was chancellor of Winston-Salem State University. Part of the 2014 Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity, ISCORE.

The Second City - Sketch Comedy & Improv
Fri, 07 Mar 2014, 9:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - The Second City, the company that launched the careers of Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and more, brings the next generation of the comedy world's best and brightest in an evening of hilarious sketch comedy and improvisation. Whether it's ripped from the morning headlines or a classic gem from their archives, The Second City is always a laugh out loud hit.

10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack - Max Brooks
Fri, 07 Mar 2014, 11:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide, is considered to be one of the world's foremost Zombie experts. He won an Emmy as a writer for Saturday Night Live and is the son of legendary comedian Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. His other New York Times bestsellers include the graphic novel The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks and World War Z, which has now been made into a movie starring Brad Pitt. Even the CDC has embraced this pop culture phenomenon, citing Brooks and the Zombie Apocalypse in its call for disaster and survival preparedness.

Leading in a Crisis: Real Stories Behind
Mon, 10 Mar 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Judy Smith, a crisis manager and former White House deputy press secretary for President George H. W. Bush, is the real-life inspiration for Olivia Pope, the lead on ABC's Scandal - a show about the life and work of a professional fixer. Smith's career in public relations and strategic communications has included service as Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney of the District of Columbia and corporate communications executive at NBC. She has overseen legal and public communications on a number of high-profile criminal and civil cases and provided counsel to international heads of state, executives of major corporations, and Hollywood celebrities. She serves as Co-Executive Producer of the ABC series and provides insight and technical expertise on crisis management issues. Her new book on crisis management is Good Self, Bad Self: How to Bounce Back from a Personal Crisis. Women's Leadership Series Book signing to follow.

Eating Without Heating: An Intro to Raw Food - Sheree Clark
Tue, 11 Mar 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Sheree Clark is a certified raw culinary arts chef and instructor. She educates people nationwide about nutrition and healthy lifestyles through her Des Moines-based practice, Fork in the Road, which offers classes, hands-on workshops, coaching and consultations. She hosts a Sunday morning television series on KCCI, is a frequent contributor to magazines like Purely Delicious and Get Fresh, and blogs at "What the Fork?" Clark is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York and attended the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute. She holds an undergraduate degree from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Masters degree from the University of Vermont.

The Dating Doctor: Advisor to the Romantically Challenged - David Coleman
Wed, 12 Mar 2014, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Relationship expert David Coleman is known worldwide as The Dating Doctor. He has been speaking on college campuses for more than twenty years about the complexities of dating, relationships, romance and sex. His books Making Relationships Matter, Date Smart! and 101 Great Dates are filled with anecdotes, strategies and ideas to help expand one's relationships and potential. He also has a CD, Prescriptions for Life and Relationships, and a DVD, "David Coleman in Concert!"

Finding Your Passion: Publishing and DOCTOR WHO - Lars Pearson
Thu, 27 Mar 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Lars Pearson, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Hugo Award-winning Mad Norwegian Press, provides an overview of his nineteen-year career in geeky magazines, newspapers and book publishing, and offers advice for budding journalists, writers and editors. Pearson will also share how his obsession with the BBC-produced television show Doctor Who led him to become one of the foremost experts in North America on the science fiction series, and just how many of his fellow Gen-Xers burned out taking the safe path and not following their passions.

Women, Politics and Leadership: Taking Risks is "Ladylike" - Claire McCaskill
Fri, 28 Mar 2014, 12:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Sen. Claire McCaskill became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri in 2006. She has spent much of her career in public service, serving six years in the Missouri State House of Representatives and seven as Missouri state auditor. McCaskill began her career as an assistant prosecutor in Kansas City. She was one of the few women who handled criminal cases and later became the first woman elected Jackson County prosecutor. She is serving her second term in the U.S. Senate, where she is recognized for working on government fiscal accountability, confronting sexual assault in the military and as a champion of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. She serves as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and was named chair of the Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. Mary Louise Smith Chair for Women and Politics

Gender, Sexuality, Dress and Identity - Kelly Reddy-Best
Fri, 28 Mar 2014, 3:00 PM – 142 West Lagomarcino - Kelly Reddy-Best is assistant professor of apparel design at San Francisco State University, where she studies the interrelationships of gender, sexuality, dress and identity. She is currently working on projects that examine experiences of discrimination, anxiety and stress as they relate to appearance among individuals in the LGBTQ community. Kelly Reddy-Best teaches courses on draping, apparel construction, advanced apparel design techniques, collection development, hand and computer fashion illustration, and the history of dress.

Rescuing the World: Ecological Disaster in the Young Adult Novel - Panel Discussion
Sun, 30 Mar 2014, 2:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Panelists will discuss themes of ecological disaster in such books as The Hunger Games, The Uglies, and The Ship Breakers as well as how the heroes and heroines in young adult fiction are often forced to grow up in a world damaged and corrupted by previous generations. Panelists include Tanvia Rastogi, Teen Librarian at the Ames Public Library, and four faculty members from the Iowa State Department of English: Donna Niday, Charissa Menefee, and David Zimmerman. Part of the Wildness, Wilderness & the Environmental Imagination Series

FLYWAY Magazine's "Home Voices" Reading
Sun, 30 Mar 2014, 3:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Writers from the MFA Program in Creative Writing & Environment read from their prize-winning work: Lindsay D'Andrea, "Rock Wall, New Hampshire," and Dana Thomann, "Flood Gap." Elizabeth Bradfield, author of Approaching Ice, selected this year's winning pieces. Part of the Wildness, Wilderness & the Environmental Imagination Series

The Brief History of the Dead - Kevin Brockmeier
Sun, 30 Mar 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Kevin Brockmeier is the author of three novels, The Brief History of the Dead, The Truth About Celia, and The Illumination. He has also published two short story collections, Things That Fall from the Sky and The View from the Seventh Layer. Brockmeier was named one of Granta magazine's Best Young American Novelists. He is also the recipient of the Borders Original Voices Award, three O. Henry Awards, the PEN USA Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an NEA Grant. His work has appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, The Georgia Review, The Best American Short Stories, and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. Part of the Wildness, Wilderness & Environmental Imagination Series.

Language, Poetry and Resilience - Natalie Diaz
Mon, 31 Mar 2014, 3:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Join us for a moderated conversation with poet Natalie Diaz about the process of writing poems, about the place of myth in writing, and about the language revitalization program she directs at Fort Mojave, where she works and teaches with the last Elder speakers of the Mojave language. Natalie Diaz is the author of the poetry collection When My Brother Was an Aztec. She earned a BA from Old Dominion University, where she received a full athletic scholarship. She played professional basketball in Europe and Asia before returning to Old Dominion to earn an MFA. Diaz is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian community. Part of the Wildness, Wilderness & the Environmental Imagination Series

Battle Ground Road Drummers & Meskwaki Nation Dancers - Performance
Mon, 31 Mar 2014, 6:30 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - The Battle Ground Road drum group and Meskwaki Nation Dancers will share traditional and contemporary songs and dances. Battle Ground Road draws its name from the gravel road leading to the Meskwaki Powwow Grounds near Tama, Iowa. The group performs regularly at powwows across the Upper Midwest. Their performance precedes the 2014 Richard Thompson Memorial Lecture, delivered by Walter Echo-Hawk. Iowa State University's ROTC Joint Color Guard will join members of the Robert Morgan Post 701 from Tama, Iowa, to present the colors at 6:50 pm.

In the Light of Justice - Walter Echo-Hawk
Mon, 31 Mar 2014, 6:30 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Walter Echo-Hawk is a lawyer, tribal judge, scholar and activist, with legal experience that includes cases involving Native American religious freedom, prisoner rights, water rights, treaty rights, and reburial/repatriation rights. A Native American rights attorney since 1973, he was instrumental in the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990) and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments (1994). Echo-Hawk has written extensively about the rise of modern Indian nations. He is the author of In the Courts of the Conqueror: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided and, most recently, In the Light of Justice: The Rise of Human Rights in Native America & the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.The 2014 Richard Thompson Memorial Lecture The Battle Ground Road drum group and Meskwaki Nation Dancers will perform at 6:30 p.m., preceding Walter Echo-Hawk's 7:00 p.m. talk. Iowa State University's ROTC Joint Color Guard will join members of the Robert Morgan Post 701 from Tama, Iowa, to present the colors at 6:50 pm.

Interior Mythologies - Literary Readings & Discussion - Natalie Diaz & K. L. Cook
Mon, 31 Mar 2014, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Natalie Diaz is the author of the poetry collection When My Brother Was an Aztec. She is a recipient of the Nimrod/Hardman Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, the Narrative Poetry Prize, and a Lannan Literary Fellowship. Diaz is Mojave and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian community. She earned a BA from Old Dominion University, where she received a full athletic scholarship. She played professional basketball in Europe and Asia before returning to Old Dominion to earn an MFA. Diaz lives in Mohave Valley, Arizona, where she works with the last speakers of Mojave and directs a language revitalization program. K. L. Cook is the author of three books of fiction. His most recent book, Love Songs for the Quarantined, won the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. His novel, The Girl from Charnelle, won The Willa Award for Contemporary Fiction, and his first book, Last Call, won the inaugural Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction. He is an associate professor of English at Iowa State and teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing and Environment. Part of the Wildness, Wilderness & the Environmental Imagination Series

Soil Health and Sustainability - Ray Archuleta
Tue, 01 Apr 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Ray Archuleta is a soil agronomist at USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service. His work promotes conservation practices like no-till farming and the use of cover crops to improve soil health. Archuleta has more than twenty-five years of experience with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, working in New Mexico, Missouri, Oregon, and now at the NRCS East National Technology Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has held positions as a soil conservationist, nutrient and irrigation specialist, water quality project manager and area agronomist. He also spent two years in Guatemala as a livestock specialist in the Peace Corps. Shivvers Memorial Lecture.

Social Justice: A Spoken Word Performance - Andrea Gibson
Tue, 01 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Andrea Gibson is a spoken word poet who advocates for solidarity and equality. The winner of the first ever Women's World Poetry Slam, Gibson offers listeners a new means by which to examine social justice issues. Her performances cover topics ranging from global poverty and worker exploitation to environmental degradation and the dangers of international warfare. Gibson is the author of two books of poetry, The Madness Vase and Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns. Her albums include Truce, When the Bough Breaks, and Yellowbird.

Republican Candidates for U.S. Senate: Forum - Hosted by the College Republicans
Wed, 02 Apr 2014, 6:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Candidates vying for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate will participate in a campus forum. A June 3 primary will determine the Republican nominee for retiring Senator Tom Harkin's seat in the November congressional elections. Participating candidates include twenty-five-year Air Force veteran Sam Clovis, former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker, State Senator Joni Ernst, and Navy veteran and Iowa State graduate Scott Schaben. Kevin Kimle, the Rastetter Chair of Agricultural Entrepreneurship at Iowa State, will moderate. Part of the Campaign 2014 Series, providing the university community with opportunities to question candidates before the June primary election.

Synthetic Aesthetics: Investigating Synthetic Biology's Designs on Nature - Daisy Ginsberg
Wed, 02 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg explores the shared territory of science, engineering, art and design as a Design Fellow with the international research project Synthetic Aesthetics. She is especially interested in new roles for design in emerging fields like synthetic biology, which aims to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, ranging from biofuels to medical applications. Daisy Ginsberg studied architecture at Cambridge University, design at Harvard University, and earned an MA in design interactions at the Royal College of Art. She is coauthor of the forthcoming book Synthetic Aesthetics and guest-edited a recent issue of the scientific journal Current Opinion in Chemical Biology. National Affairs Series on Innovation and Women in STEM Series

Understanding Movement Impairment in Parkinson's Disease - Colum MacKinnon
Thu, 03 Apr 2014, 2:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Colum MacKinnon is an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota. His team studies how the brain controls movement in people with neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease. He is also using brain imaging methods to study the neuroanatomy and neurochemistry of movement disorders. His current work focuses on three areas: the relationship between freezing of gait and sleep disorders in people with Parkinson's disease, the mechanisms by which external cues facilitate gait initiation in Parkinson's disease, and the mechanisms of impaired control of repetitive movements in Parkinson's disease. MacKinnon was previously on the faculty in the Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences at Northwestern University and a neurophysiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Parkinson's Disease Research Forum

Intervention Programs for Patients with Parkinson's Disease - Chris Hass
Thu, 03 Apr 2014, 3:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Chris Hass is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology at the University of Florida. His work focuses on the efficacy of intervention programs for improving quality of life, neuromechanical control, and disease progression in Parkinson's disease. His research is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Autism Speaks. He also collaborates on funded projects from the Michael J. Fox Foundation and Department of Veterans Affairs. He has held academic positions at Columbia University and Georgia Institute of Technology. Parkinson's Disease Research Forum

Emerging Issues in Agriculture - Jim Blome
Thu, 03 Apr 2014, 7:00 PM – Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall - Jim Blome is the president and CEO for Bayer CropScience and the head of Crop Protection for the North American region. During his career he has served in executive positions in some of the nation's largest agricultural companies. Blome has launched several initiatives at Bayer CropScience North America to support the future of agriculture, including the Young Farmer Sustainability Award and the North American Bee Care Center. He grew up on a family farm in Hubbard, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State in 1985 with bachelor's degrees in agronomy and pest management. The Carl and Marjory Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture.

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History - Elizabeth Kolbert
Thu, 03 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer for The New Yorker, an award-winning environmental journalist, and author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. Her new book, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, and introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction. Part of the World Affairs Series and the Wildness, Wilderness & the Environmental Imagination Series.

The Pros and Cons of Interdisciplinary Research - Stephen Gilbert
Fri, 04 Apr 2014, 5:00 PM – Kocimski Auditorium, 101 College of Design - Stephen Gilbert, associate director of Iowa State's Virtual Reality Applications Center and its graduate program in Human Computer Interaction, will describe some of the challenges and benefits of conducting research across disciplinary boundaries. Gilbert worked for ten years in the software industry before returning to academia. He has a BS from Princeton in civil engineering and operations research and a PhD from MIT in brain and cognitive sciences. He joined Iowa State in 2007 as a lecturer in Psychology and since 2012 is an assistant professor in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering. Graduate and Professional Students Research Conference Keynote Address A 3-Minute Thesis Competition will precede Stephen Gilbert's talk at 4:15 pm.

Beauty, Abundance and Environmental Action in the Franciscan Tradition - Mary Beth Ingham
Mon, 07 Apr 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - For the first time in history a Pope has taken the name of Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the environment. Sr. Mary Beth Ingham specializes in the Franciscan tradition. She will speak about the centrality of beauty in this tradition, drawing on the philosophy of John Duns Scotus, a medieval doctor of the Church who also greatly influenced secular thought. Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ, is a professor emerita at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and currently on faculty at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is the author of several books, including The Harmony of Goodness: Mutuality and Moral Living According to John Duns Scotus and Rejoicing in the Works of the Lord: Beauty in the Franciscan Tradition. Msgr. James A. Supple Lecture Series

God Loves Uganda - Documentary & Discussion
Mon, 07 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - God Loves Uganda is an exploration of the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting "sexual immorality" and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow Biblical law. Filmmaker Roger Ross Williams exposes the missionary movement in Uganda as an outgrowth of Africa's colonialist past and a twenty-first century crusade to recreate a continent of people in the image and likeness of America's most extreme fundamentalists. 90 minutes.

VEISHEA Opening Ceremony - Simon Estes
Tue, 08 Apr 2014, 5:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Simon Estes, the world-renowned opera singer, has sung for 6 Presidents of the United States as well as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the late Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa. He is also committed to philanthropic work, including his own foundation that is partnering with the United Nations Foundation to raise funds to help eliminate malaria in Africa. He teaches music at Iowa State and is the 2014 VEISHEA Parade Grand Marshal. A reception with refreshments will precede his talk in the Sun Room, 4-5 pm. Student Organization Awards, including Adviser of the Year and Student Leader of the Year, will be presented.

Committed to the Core - Charlie Wittmack
Tue, 08 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Charlie Wittmack is an Iowan who has twice summited Mount Everest and is the only person in history to complete the World Triathlon. He is an explorer and adventurer, who trained and prepared for the expedition for more than fifteen years. Formerly an attorney, Wittmack is now executive director of Above & Beyond Cancer, a Des Moines-based organization headed by oncologist Richard Deming. He leads cancer survivors and others on life-changing adventures around the world. VEISHEA 2014

What Can the Atheist Movement Learn from the Gay Movement? - Greta Christina
Wed, 09 Apr 2014, 7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Greta Christina is one of the most widely-read and well-respected bloggers in the atheist blogosphere. She is author of Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, an Amazon bestseller in the Atheism category. Her writing has appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, and anthologies, including Ms., Skeptical Inquirer, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the anthology Everything You Know About God Is Wrong. She has been writing professionally since 1989 on topics that include sexuality and sex-positivity, LGBT issues, politics and culture.

Local Adaptation and Life History Evolution in Monkey Flowers - John Willis
Wed, 09 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – 125 Kildee Hall - John Willis is a professor of biology at Duke University. His research program focuses on the evolutionary forces that maintain diversity in plant populations and examines how plants adapt to their local environments. Much of Dr. Willis's work utilizes the emerging model system of Mimulus guttatus (yellow monkey flowers), a species complex that is distributed broadly across the western United States. Dr. Willis is a renowned expert in plant evolutionary genetics and author of hundreds of manuscripts published in top scientific journals such as Science, Nature and PNAS. Charles E. Bessey Lecture A reception will precede the lecture at 7:30 pm.

Whatever Shall Remain? A Look at Art and Permanence - Melanie Vote
Thu, 10 Apr 2014, 7:00 PM – Kocimski Auditorium, 101 Design - Iowa State graduate Melanie Vote was a visiting artist at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art in 2013. She has taught drawing and painting at numerous institutions, including the Pratt Institute and the New School, and her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Mexico and South Korea. Vote received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant in 2007 and was awarded residencies with Abu Dhabi Art Hub in 2013, Jentel in 2009, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in 2007, and the Vermont Studio Center, with a full fellowship from the Dodge Foundation, in 2002. She earned her BFA in craft design from Iowa State in 1995 and MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art in 1998.

Canceled! - An Evening with Kristian Bush of Sugarland
Thu, 10 Apr 2014, 8:30 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - As part of the famed Sugarland duo, Kristian Bush has sold more than 22 million albums and received honors from the Grammys, Academy of Country Music, and the Country Music Association.

One Health
Sat, 12 Apr 2014, 5:00 PM – 2226 Vet Med Building - Michael Cranfield, DVM, is the project director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, a non-profit dedicated to the care of mountain gorillas. One Health Lecture Series

Canceled! - VEISHEA Comedy with David Koechner
Sat, 12 Apr 2014, 10:00 PM – Stephens Auditorium - Actor and comedian David Koechner is best known as Champ Kind in the Anchorman films and Todd Packer on NBC's The Office.

Iowa Civil Rights & the First Amendment - An afternoon with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission
Mon, 14 Apr 2014, 3:00 PM – Campanile Room, Memorial Union - Join members of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission to explore the First Amendment as a foundation of civil rights. The afternoon opens with a 3:00 pm keynote talk, Civil Rights Pioneer: Iowa’s History of Advancing Justice for All Iowans. Two breakout sessions will follow: Let’s Talk about More than Sex - Gender Identity and Civil Rights in Iowa (4:00 pm) and Fair Housing for Everyone (5:00 pm). No registration required. First Amendment Day Celebration

Government Spying, Threats to Privacy and Your Rights Online - A panel discussion
Mon, 14 Apr 2014, 6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - April Glaser, a staff activist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, will join a panel discussion that examines the National Security Agency's spying and the future of journalism, as well as the importance and challenges of adopting privacy tools online. Iowa State panel members include Jane Fritsch,Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication; Zayira Jordan, Human Computer Interaction; and Nik Kinkel Digital Freedom Group founder. Jonathan Tsou, Philosophy and Religious Studies, will moderate. 2014 First Amendment Day Celebration CryptoParty at 7:15 p.m., Sun Room, Memorial Union Bring your own digital device to the Digital Freedom Group's CryptoParty. Members of the Digital Freedom Group will help you experiment with and install software and other freedom-enhancing tools on your own devices. These tools will help protect you from surveillance when using your digital devices.

Asian Americans, We're So American - A Night with Def Poetry's Beau Sia
Mon, 14 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Beau Sia is an original cast member of the Tony Award-winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and has been featured on all five seasons of the HBO version of the show. The son of Chinese immigrants from the Philippines, Sia attended New York University's Dramatic Writing Program at The Tisch School of The Arts. He has been on two National Poetry Slam championship teams and wrote the lyrics for the Hip-Hop dance musical Krunk Fu Battle Battle. His new book is titled The Undisputed Greatest Writer of All Time. Part of the Asian Pacific Heritage Week Cultural Night The APAAC Cultural Night begins at 7 pm and features additional dancers and performers prior to Beau Sia's 8 pm performance.

Building Platforms for Creativity and Innovation - Pamela Jennings
Tue, 15 Apr 2014, 12:00 PM – Lee Liu Alliant Energy Auditorium, Howe Hall - Pamela Jennings has been involved in many groundbreaking projects in information technology and education technology, and has played a critical role in national and international policy implementations for initiatives bridging the arts and technology. She has served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation Computer & Information Science & Engineering, Intelligent Information Systems cluster. She led the CreativeIT program and co-managed the Human Centered Computing, Cyberlearning and Computer Research Infrastructure programs. Previously, she held a joint appointment at Carnegie Mellon University and the School of Art and the Human Computer Interaction Institute. Prior to CMU, Pamela was the Project Manager and Lead Designer for the IBM alphaWorks.com project.

The Invisible War: Documentary & Panel Discussion
Tue, 15 Apr 2014, 6:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - The Invisible War is an investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. It paints a startling picture of the extent of the problem: a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire, and 20% of all active-duty female soldiers are sexually assaulted. A nominee for the 2013 Academy Awards, the film features interviews with rape survivors, mental health professionals, members of Congress and high-ranking military officials. Part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. A panel discussion will immediately follow the 90-minute film. Participants include Cynthia Conte, Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Coordinator for the Department of Veterans Affairs; Katina Mach, director of the Des Moines Vet Center; Lt. Col. Mike Kuehn, Staff Judge Advocate, Iowa National Guard; Lt. Col. Mary Beveridge, Director of Health Services, Iowa Army National Guard; 1st Lt. Joel Sage, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, Iowa Army National Guard; and Christian Wimmer, Staff Psychologist at the Student Counseling Center will facilitate.

Addressing the Challenges of Today's Labor Market - Katharine G. Abraham
Tue, 15 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Katharine G. Abraham was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 to 2013. She has returned to the University of Maryland, where she is Professor of Economics and Survey Methodology and has been appointed as the first director of the Maryland Center for Economics and Policy. Abraham’s research has included work on employment and unemployment, labor market policy and the measurement of economic activity. She also served as Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1993 to 2001. Abraham earned her BS in economics from Iowa State in 1976 and later a PhD in economics from Harvard University. National Affairs Series on Innovation and Women in STEM Series

Corporate Constitutional Rights and the Erosion of Democracy - David Cobb
Wed, 16 Apr 2014, 3:00 PM – Oak Room, Memorial Union - David Cobb is a former Green Party presidential candidate and the spokesperson for the grassroots organization Move to Amend. Move to Amend is leading a coalition of organizations and individuals working for a constitutional amendment to reverse the 2010 Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision. Cobb will discuss the history of corporate constitutional rights and how their evolution has changed the democracy on which our government was founded.

Exonerated by the Evidence, Convicted by the System - Kerry Max Cook
Wed, 16 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - At 21-years-old, Kerry Max Cook was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an East Texas woman. He was tried and re-tried nearly four times over 22 years in what is considered, "...the worst documented example of police and prosecutorial misconduct in Texas history." Twenty years after his first conviction, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction, and prosecutors still refused to drop the charges against Kerry. After rejecting multiple plea deals, Kerry reluctantly accepted a plea-of-no-contest in exchange for immediate freedom. Kerry's plea did not include an admission of guilt or the standard "Stipulation of Evidence." Despite this, the judge accepted Kerry's no-contest plea, the first and only in a Capital Murder case in Texas, and he was released. Two months later, the results of a DNA test showed that semen found in the victim's underwear belonged to her 45-year-old, married ex-boyfriend, James Mayfield. Despite this exonerating DNA evidence, Kerry remains convicted of a murder he did not commit.

Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins - A One-Woman Play
Wed, 16 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Ames City Auditorium, 515 Clark Avenue - Admission free! No tickets required. Red Hot Patriot, a one-woman play written by sisters Allison and Margaret Engel, celebrates the life and work of syndicated columnist Molly Ivins. Ivins, who died in 2007 at the age of 62, was noted for her satirical columns, especially about Texas politics. Ivins will be played by actress Barbara Chisholm, who starred in the show's run in Austin, Texas. After the performance, playwrights Allison and Margaret Engel will discuss writing the play and the First Amendment. The sisters have strong Iowa ties. Their father, Jack Engel, was on the journalism faculty at Iowa State, and both spent part of their careers at the Des Moines Register. 2014 First Amendment Day Celebration.

Student Speech and the First Amendment: Two Supreme Court Cases and Their Legacies - Mary Beth Tinker, Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey & Mike Hiestand
Thu, 17 Apr 2014, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Almost fifty years after several Des Moines students were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, John and Mary Beth Tinker are returning to Iowa to discuss free-speech rights and the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in their case, Tinker vs. Des Moines. Mary Beth Tinker will be joined by Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey, one of three students who thirty years ago sued their Missouri school district after their principal cut stories about pregnancy and divorce from their high school newspaper. The Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier decision tempered Tinker by allowing administrators to consider the "valid educational purpose" of speech. Mike Hiestand, a former staff attorney for the Student Press Law Center, will moderate. First Amendment Days

Medieval Superstition and Modern Skepticism - Michael Bailey
Thu, 17 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Michael Bailey, an associate professor of history at Iowa State, examines how magic and superstition have been defined in various historical eras and how these constructions have changed over time. He will discuss how Medieval superstitious beliefs like magic, astrology and divination often transcended religion and draw on rational and scientific thinking. Bailey is the author of Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, and Reform in the Late Middle Ages; Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft; and Magic and Superstition in Europe: A Concise History from Antiquity to the Present. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean's Lecture Series

That Horse Has Stripes! How Zoos and Veterinarians Are Helping to Save Wildlife - Joe Flanagan
Mon, 21 Apr 2014, 7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Joe Flanagan is Chief Veterinarian at the Houston Zoo where he is responsible for the healthcare of 6000 animals ranging from invertebrates to great apes. Set in a 55-acre lush tropical landscape, the Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species. When he is not treating the animals at the zoo, his conservation activities include providing medical care to the National Marine Fisheries Sea Turtle barn in Galveston, advising the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, and extensive work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Dr. Flanagan graduated from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1982. After graduation, Dr. Flanagan trained at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo until he began work as a veterinarian at the Houston Zoo in December 1982. Part of the National Affairs Series on Innovation.

The Beginning of Something Big: IT and the Post-Traditional World - Diana Oblinger
Mon, 21 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Diana Oblinger is president and CEO of the nonprofit EDUCAUSE, where she works with more than 2,000 institutions to advance higher education through information technology. Oblinger has held many leadership roles in academia and business, including Vice President for Information Resources and the Chief Information Officer for the University of North Carolina system, Executive Director of Higher Education for Microsoft, and IBM Director of the Institute for Academic Technology. She was on the faculty at the University of Missouri-Columbia and at Michigan State University and served as the Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the University of Missouri. Oblinger earned all three of her degrees from Iowa State, including a doctorate in cytogenetics. Part of the Women's Leadership Series and Women in STEM Series

Caucus Chaos - Dave Price
Tue, 22 Apr 2014, 7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Dave Price is political director and weekend news anchor at WHO-TV and author of the new book Caucus Chaos. The year 2012 brought an Iowa Caucus campaign like the country had never seen before. What happened then could have a big impact on how future candidates run, how Iowans choose their favorites and how the country views the results. Price reveals never before told stories from hundreds of conversations with presidential candidates, key staffers and analysts. Price has covered local, state and national politics in Des Moines since 2001, including the past three Iowa caucuses.

A One Health Approach to Mountain Gorilla Conservation - Michael R. Cranfield
Thu, 24 Apr 2014, 5:00 PM – 2226 Vet Med Building - Michael Cranfield, DVM, is the project director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, a non-profit dedicated to the care of mountain gorillas. Five years ago, the MGVP partnered with the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine to form Gorilla Doctors, which is co-directed by Dr. Cranfield. Gorilla Doctors employs more than a dozen veterinarians and health experts to provide healthcare in the countries where mountain gorillas live. He was one of the first veterinarians to embrace the One Health concept for great ape conservation. He is a graduate of the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College, and completed a residency program at the Toronto Zoo. He is also a consulting veterinarian for the Maryland Zoo and serves on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University. Part of the One Health Lecture Series. A reception will precede the lecture at 4:30 pm in the Fish Tank Lobby.

Caucus Cup Debate: College Democrats v. College Republicans
Thu, 24 Apr 2014, 8:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - The ISU College Democrats will debate the College Republicans on an issue of the day for the chance at the Caucus Cup. The winner claims the trophy for a year and will defend the Cup at the 2015 debate. This year's issues will include gun control and voter identification laws. The judges are Jean Goodwin, Valerie Hennings and Peter Orazem. Jake Swanson will moderate. First Amendment Days