University Speaker Series

Military Resiliency

MAJ Christopher Mercado was the Army Times Soldier of the Year last year and is the co-founder of the Objective Zero App. His mission is to prevent veteran suicides.

Observation of Agricultural Practices and Life in Vietnam

Fulbright Scholar Dt. Robert (Bob) Thaler and his wife Karen will discuss their observations of agriculture practices and life in Vietnam following their living and working in and around Hanoi during the first half of 2018 .​​​​​

Dr. Thaler is professor and head of Animal Range Sciences at SDSU and Karen is an educator at Mickelson Middle School in Brookings .

Precision Agriculture at SDSU, Current and Future

Van Kelley, Head of the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department at South Dakota State University, the first university to offer a 4-year baccalaureate degree in Precision Agriculture, will speak about current precision agriculture technology and practices, and will discuss what the near future may hold for farming and SDSU students.

This event is free and open to the public.

Fifteen Minutes Ago

Fifteen Minutes Ago is a gripping real-life story of one young man's experience of growing up in a strict Mennonite faith based home only to shake free of this lifestyle to join the Vietnam War, descending into the chaos and darkness of that time and place, punctuated by a chilling murder.

Warrior Wellness Speaker

Come and listen to our guest speaker Craig Tschetter, the author of Fifteen Minutes Ago: A Vietnam Memoir.

We Believe You

Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino are co-founders of End Rape on Campus. Tickets are free and will be available online in mid-September.

Curiosity, Creativity, and Career Contentment

Dr. Russell B. Melchert is the keynote speaker for the 28th Annual Pharmacy Research Presentations and Keo Glidden Smith Convocation on Monday, October 22nd. Dr. Melchert is Professor and the Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).

Burris lecture: Its Elementary! What dictates the elemental composition of our food?

Plants comprise the major portion of the human diet, and improving their elemental nutrient content can greatly affect human health. The presentation will discuss what factors influence elemental composition of crops such as soybean and corn, and how it can be improved.

Dr. Ivan Baxter is an associate member at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St Louis, MO. His research uses high throughput elemental profiling to measure composition of multiple chemical elements simultaneously and determines various genetic and environmental factors that influence nutrition.

Soldier Artists and the Vietnam War | James Pollock

From August of 1966 to January of 1970, the U.S. Army sent teams of artists with sketchbooks and paint brushes into Vietnam as part of the U.S. Army Vietnam Combat Artist Program. South Dakota artist, James Pollock was one of 46 artists that participated in the program. Pollock provides a historical overview of the Vietnam soldier art program, along with examples of his art and that of the other 45 soldier artists. This presentation was prepared for, and first given, at the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in 2003.

Mesonet at SDState: Live Weather for South Dakotans

Nathan Edwards, the Director of Mesonet at SDState will discuss the importance of the Mesonet, SDSU’s statewide network of weather stations, in collecting, researching, and sharing data related to agriculture, weather forecasting, drought monitoring, water management, and research. Edward’s will have a portable professional weather station on hand to show in person how a weather station works, and the benefits it has to offer to our community statewide. This event is free and open to the public.

Adventures after War

Stacy Bare, veteran of the Iraq war, co-founded the Great Outdoors Lab (GO Lab) in 2014 to put scientifically defensible data behind the idea of time outside as healthcare in partnership with Dr. Dacher Keltner at the Greater Good Science Center at UC-Berkeley. Stacy is also a skier, rafter, climber, and the founder of both Adventure Not War, which works to change the narrative about conflict zones and the people who live there, and Bare, LLC a boutique consulting firm focused on organizational and leadership development. 

The Human Right to Health and the Virtue of Creative Resolve

Nicole Hassoun heads the Global Health Impact project intended to extend access to medicines to the global poor. The project is intended to assist policy makers in setting targets for and evaluating efforts to increase access to essential medicines. As part of the 2018 Bioethics Lecture, in collaboration with the International Conference on Global Human Rights, Hassoun argues that the human right to health plays many important roles in national and international affairs.

Writing for Human Rights: Poetry as Sanctuary

Poet, memoirist, scholar and human rights activist Alicia Partnoy is the author, translator or editor of 11 books. She is best known for "The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival," which was used as evidence in the trial against the genocide perpetrators that terrorized Argentina in the 70s.

As part of the International Conference on Global Human Rights, in her keynote address, "Writing for Human Rights: Poetry as Sanctuary," Partnoy explores the power of literature to elevate the human spirit in times of profound crisis.

How Badly Was The New Testament Corrupted?

Many people consider the New Testament to be the result of questionable source material and subject to numerable transcription errors. As a result, it is an untrustworthy document. But, is that true? Dr. Wallace is a leading expert on New Testament textual criticism and has done exhaustive research on virtually all of the thousands of texts that exist of the Greek New Testament. He will provide a scholarly view on this question based on his expertise.

J.P. Hendrickson Faculty Scholar and Herbert Cheever Jr. Liberal Arts Lecture

In 2014, Time published an article claiming rape culture doesn’t exist in twenty-first century America. Twitter exploded. Using the hashtag #RapeCultureIsWhen , a million people took to Twitter to testify to rape culture’s existence. Beyond simply verifying the existence of rape culture in the U.S., these provocative tweets demonstrated the need to thoughtfully analyze and discuss how social institutions and cultural practices normalize sexual violence in all its forms. Four years later, new hashtag activism such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have only increased this urgency. Dr.

Tough Topics, Pulitzer Prizes: How Our Content and Its Coverage Have Changed Over the Years

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Egan (2001, “How Race Is Lived in America, New York Times) and Banaszynski (1988, “AIDS in the Heartland,” St. Paul Pioneer Press) share their experiences writing about controversial topics and examine the way coverage of those topics has changed over the decades.

We Move as a Group: Uniting the Genders in the Fight Against Rape Culture

Alice Sebold discusses her memoir, Lucky, which recounts her rape as a student at Syracuse University and its emotional and legal aftermath. Sebold is committed to inspiring a more open and inclusive conversation about sexual assault.

Sponsored by the South Dakota Festival of Books.

The Great American Read Special Event: An Evening with Alice Sebold, in Conversation with SDPB’s Lori Walsh

SDPB’s Lori Walsh interviews Sebold about her life and writing, focusing on her best-selling novel, The Lovely Bones, which is included on The Great American Read’s list of 100 best-loved books.

Best-selling author Alice Sebold keynotes the 16th annual South Dakota Festival of Books. Her novel The Lovely Bones was named one of America’s 100 best-loved books by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Informing the Public by Informing the News

Thomas E. Patterson, author of the 2018 One Book South Dakota, Informing the News, discusses his research into the civic impacts on public mistrust of the media and suggests ways for improving reporting and involving citizens.

The Muslims Are Coming!

THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING! follows a band of Muslim-American comedians as they all areas of America to combat Islamophobia. The goal is to interact with people from a wide range of perspectives on the issue of Islam and highlight the various similarities between the major religions - at the end of the day, we are more similar than different! The presentation begins with a screening of the documentary, followed by a Q&A with comedian Dean Obediallah.

The Enemy of the American People: Working as a Journalist When Half the Country Doesn’t Trust You

Washington Post assistant editor Jenny Rogers will discuss the challenges and opportunities for rebuilding trust with the press in a turbulent political climate.

2018 Stuart Artist-in-Residence

Neal Rock is a Welsh-born visual artist whose creative practice takes an expansive approach to painting and drawing, incorporating printmaking, object-making and photography. His work has been included in survey exhibitions at venues such as the Albright Knox; CAM Houston; ICA London; Royal Academy of Arts London and the Moravian Museum, Czech Republic.

The Greatest Stories Rarely Told: Biblical Scholars and the Discrepancies of Scripture

Woodbine Productions presents New Your Times bestselling author Bart D. Ehrman, PhD., M.DIV.

Bart.D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religion Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has taught since 1988. Professor Ehrman has published extensively in the fields of New Testament and Early Christianity, having written or edited thirty one books, including five New York Times Bestsellers.​​​​​​​

Oman's Role in Promoting Peace in the Middle East

The lecture will highlight the history, politics and economic of Oman and Oman's current role in promoting peace in the Middle East.

Linda Pappas Funsch is a career specialist in Islamic and modern Middle East history and cultures. Her journey has included travel, study, and residence in a number of Middle East nations from Morocco on the west to the Persian Gulf on the east. She is a respected author and lecturer on a variety of Middle East topics.

Sex Ed Bootcamp

Joni Frater and Esther Lastique are best-selling authors, radio hosts and trained sexologists. Funny, sassy and informative, they empower students to make better decisions about their sexuality with knowledge and confidence.Their program is inclusive of all sexual orientations.

Sponsored by: HEROH and the Wellness Center.

SMILE: A One Man Comedy Show About Clinical Depression

Told by Clayton Raithel, a NYC-based comedian, registered nurse, and mental health advocate who has given TEDx Talks to thousands on the therapeutic benefits of comedy, SMILE is the story of Clayton's graduation from college, when, for the first time ever, things just aren't going his way. Tackling head-on the scary but vital conversation about depression that college campuses need to have with humor, candor, and vulnerability, SMILE is a perfect blend of entertainment and mental health programming for young people.

They Call Me Q

THEY CALL ME Q is the story of a girl from Bombay growing up in the Boogie Down Bronx who gracefully seeks balance between the cultural pressures brought forth by her traditional parents and wanting acceptance into her new culture. Along the journey, Qurrat Ann Kadwani (Q) transforms into 13 characters that have shaped her life. THEY CALL ME Q speaks to the universal search for identity experienced by immigrants of all nationalities.

Trouble in Paradise: Change, Survival, and Dignity in the Amenity-Rich Rural West

As part of the 3rd Annual Department of Sociology and Rural Studies Research Symposium (SRSRS) with the theme of "Making It in the 21st Century:  Sociological Perspectives on Work, Poverty, and Culture,"  department, regional, and national scholars and students will present their research and service work. The keynote address will feature Jennifer Sherman, author of the book Those who Work, "Those who Don't: Poverty, Morality, and Family in Rural America."

Maternal Mortality - A Global Crisis

A relatively high percentage of women die as a result of pregnancy. Efforts are being made to determine the reasons why this percentage has been increasing and methods to reduce the number of deaths, a third of which may be preventable.

Nanotechnology and Jesus Christ: Design & the Origin of Life

Dr. Tour will discuss how his work with nanotechnology illustrates the inadequacy of evolution to explain the development of complex molecules required for life.

Leadership Summit

Learn how to use social media strategically to find professional success, as well as personal balance to go viral for all the right reasons. Keynote session for Leadership Summit.

Speaker Information: Josie Ahlquist is an international digital leadership author, coach, and speaker.

Sponsored by: Women’s and Gender Studies, Leadership and Management of Nonprofit Organization Programs, University Program Council, Non-Profit Leadership Alliance, Office of Career Development, SDSU Extension, LeadState and Experiential Learning Certificate – College of Arts and Sciences

Space and Place

Michael F. Goodchild is emeritus professor of geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also distinguished chair professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Research Professor at Arizona State University, and holds many other affiliate, adjunct and honorary positions at universities around the world. His research interests center on geographic information science, spatial analysis, and uncertainty in geographic data.

A Mind, Body, Spiritual Stress-Buster: Would YOU like one?

Jill Bormann is a research health scientist and clinical nurse specialist in adult psychiatric-mental health nursing. She is an expert in stress management and was recognized nationally in 2017 as a lead innovator in the field.

Speaker Information: Dr. Bormann's credentials: PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN

Sponsored by: College of Nursing

Senegal's "Creative Class": Intersections of Cultural Production, Political Engagement, and Social Change

Dr. Molly Enz will discuss her research in and perspectives on Senegal following her recent experience there as a Fulbright Scholar.

Speaker Information: Dr. Enz is a professor of French and coordinator of the Global Studies program at SDSU.

Sponsored by: South Dakota World Affairs Council

Life in Chinese Villages

Dr. Mary Jo Lee was review four classical studies in discussing life in Chinese Villages and comment on her recent Fulbright experience in China.

Speaker Information: Dr. Mary Jo Lee earned her PhD in Sociology from SDSU where she also  served as coordinator of diversity . She recently completed studies as a Fulbright Scholar in China.

Sponsored by: South Dakota World Affairs Council

The Peyrelevade Asylum Seeker Center: Migration, Connections, and Lessons from Rural France

Marie-Pierre Caquot Baggett, professor of French at SDSU, will deliver the Victor K. Webster lecture. She will discuss an international and collaborative research project on an asylum seeker center in the rural community of Peyrelevade, France, to identify possible lessons and connections for SDSU and its community.

Speaker Information: Dr. Caquot Baggett is a professor of French at South Dakota State University, where she teaches French and French-speaking literatures and cultures, with an emphasis on the extreme contemporary period (post-1980).

From Financial Crisis to Recovery – The Important Role of the U.S. Central Bank

Julie Stackhouse, Executive Vice President and managing officer of Supervision, Credit, Community Development and Learning Innovation for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, will discuss the role of the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis and in today’s economy.

Erosion – 'Soil and Soul'

Tom E. Schumacher, South Dakota State University Professor Emeritus of Soil Science, will give a lecture on soil erosion and the effects it has on the land and society. This event is free and open to the public.

Speaker Information: South Dakota State University Professor Emeritus of Soil Science

Sponsored by: South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum

Global Mass Violence and Atrocities

Dr. Evgeny Finkel will present the keynote address for the two day symposium on global mass violence and atrocities. He will discuss the scope of the global issues, causes and potential solutions. 

Three accompanying 50 minute sessions. 

Sponsored by: South Dakota World Affairs Council

Exploring N.E. Hansen and the Era of Economic Botany

Kevin Kephart, head of industry at Indigo Ag Inc. and VP Emeritus of Research and Development at SDSU, will discuss the career of horticulturalist Niels Ebbesen Hansen, the first USDA plant explorer and SDSU professor's impact on early 20th century botany.

Speaker Information: Kevin Kephart, head of Industry at Indigo Ag Inc. and VP Emeritus of Research and Development at SDSU.

Sponsored by: South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum

"Standing, Kneeling, Respecting, and Protesting: Liberal Arts Education and Clashes Over National Symbols"

The J.P. Hendrickson Liberal Arts Faculty Scholar Award presents the Herbert Cheever Jr. Liberal Arts Lecture.  The award and lecture are named for two former College of Arts and Sciences professors and administrators.  J.P. Hendrickson was a longtime faculty member and head of the Department of Political Science and Herbert Cheever Jr. served as professor, department head and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Warrior Week” Series “Ask a Veteran”

Sgt. Michael Goodale was honored with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his heroic service and inju-ries received in 1993 in Somalia. During a mission to capture two lieutenants of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The mission was profiled in the movie “BlackHawk Down”.

John Barleycorn Returns: Legal Liquor after Prohibition

Historian and SDSU Professor Chuck Vollan, Ph.D. will speak about how citizens and legislators battled to determine how alcohol would return to the state after the repeal of National Prohibition in 1933. The event is free and open to public.

Sponsored by: SDSU Veterans Affairs Office, SD Agricultural Heritage Museum

How Does It Feel to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America

Moustafa Bayoumi, will share his story at the Griffith Honors Forum Lecture. Free tickets required for admission will be available on the Common Read page of the SDSU website beginning October 1st at 12:00pm.

Sponsored by: Van D. and Barbara B. Fishback Honors College, Griffith Honors Endowment

29th Annual Consider the Century Conference

Four speakers including SDSU President Barry Dunn.

Established in 1989, the annual Consider the Century Conference provides a forum for discussion and reflection on relations between American Indian and mainstream cultures over the past 100 years. This year’s conference theme focuses upon American Indian education, and explores best practices for culturally-responsive curriculum and teaching at K-12 and postsecondary schools.

East Asia and Pacific Nations Program Series: China

China Town Hall telecast featuring Susan E. Rice former National Security Advisor and US Ambassador to the UN followed by a live lecture and discussion. 

Location: Daktronics Headquarters 331 32nd Ave

Sponsored by: South Dakota World Affairs Council

The Greatest Job in the World. What is it, you ask? Let me tell you

Dr. Elmquist is the keynote speaker for the 27th Annual Pharmacy Research Presentations and Keo Glidden Smith Convocation on Monday, October 23rd.  Dr. Elmquist is a Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutics at University of Minnesota.

“The Greatest Job in the World. What is it, You Ask? Let Me Tell You.”

Residual Stress Effects in Fatigue: Friend or Foe?

Tony Parker, Defence Academy of the United Kingdon, Cranfield University, England served as a nuclear strike navigator in the Royal Air Force before pursuing a Ph.D. on fracture and fatigue of aircraft structures. He was then appointed to the Defence of Academy of the UK where he taught and undertook research on fatigue and fracture of ‘big gun’.

Korean Economic Institute Panel: The Future of Korea

Three expert panelists will assess the future of Korea in light of global trade issues, North Korean nuclear threat and Pacific maneuvering by China.

Location: Dailey Rotunda, room F

Sponsored by: South Dakota World Affairs Council

Daschle Dialogues with Tom Brokaw

The Daschle Dialogues is held in support of the Senator Thomas A. Daschle Congressional Research Study, which consists of more than 2,000 linear feet of materials from his distinguished 26-year public career. The study is located in the Archives and Special Collections of the Hilton M. Briggs Library on the South Dakota State University campus. This year will mark the third Daschle Dialogues. Sen. Trent Lott joined Daschle in 2014, while former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was a guest in 2015.

Communicating about Diseases in the Age of Epidemics

An Emmy award-winner, Dr. Seema Yasmin is a JSK Knight Fellow in Journalism at Stanford University where she researches the way news spreads during epidemics. She previously worked as a disease detective in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the CDC, a hospital doctor in London, and a reporter at the Dallas Morning News. Yasmin trained in medicine at the University of Cambridge and in journalism at the University of Toronto.

Sponsored by: Journalism & Mass Communications, Communication Studies, and South Dakota World Affairs Council

Normal for Me, living life being different

A Normal for Me special event! Mark Sternhagen will be speaking about his book, Polio, and Making the Most of Life with Polio.

Available at the SDSU bookstore, The Town and Country Shopper, and the South Dakota State Ag. Museum.

For more info on my book “Normal For Me, please go to my website www.normal4me.com

Microbiology of Brewing

Dr. Andrew Russell, an Assistant Professor of Biology at Northern State University, will lecture on the microbiology of brewing. Russell will explain what yeast is, and how it transforms malt into beer. This includes discussing the propagation and pitching of yeast, sanitation and control of spoilage organisms, as well as how modern brewers improve fermentation efficiency today. The event is free and open to public.

Energy-Aware Resource Management for Computing Systems

Speaker: Howard Jay Siegel

Scientists and engineers always want faster and faster computing systems, and in general faster computers require more energy. With rising energy costs, there is an urgent need for energy-efficient computing at many different levels. This presentation focuses on resource management in an oversubscribed energy-constrained heterogeneous distributed computing system.

Location: Brookings, Dakota Nature Park

Blanketing the Plains: Navajo Chief Blankets in Indian Country

The South Dakota Art Museum is hosting a lecture by Jill Ahlberg Yohe, Assistant Curator of Native Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia). Refreshments will be served. This is free and open to the public.

Throughout the 19th Century, Navajo Chief Blankets were imported into the Northern and Southern Plains, becoming one of the most important inter-tribal luxury goods of its time. This lecture explores the significance, trade, and use of Navajo Chief Blankets in Navajo communities and across Indian Country.

The SpaceShip 2 Accident - An Inside Look at the NTSB Investigation

John DeLisi, is the director of the Office of Aviation Safety of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Discusses the Virgin Galactic SpaceShip 2 accident as a case study of how the National Transportation Saftey Board investigates accidents to determine the probable cause and to make safety recommendations.

Sponsored by: Jerome J Lohr College of Engineering

An Independent Mission to Save Our Democracy

A native of Humboldt, SD, Senator Larry Pressler attended Harvard Law School and served two combat tours in Vietnam, receiving honors and a number of distinguished military awards. He represented South Dakota in Congress for 22 years, including three terms in the U.S. Senate where he chaired the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committees and was an active member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

The Erosion of Civilization

David R. Montgomery is a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington. He is an internationally recognized geologist who studies landscape evolution and the effects of geological processes on ecological systems and human societies. He is an author of three award-winning popular-science books and has been featured on TV and radio programs.

Sponsored by: South Dakota Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

Wit of the Woosters

Speakers:  Jim Woster, Kevin Woster, Terry Wooster, and Mary Alice Haug

The Wosters - Jim, Kevin, Terry and Mary Alice Haug — Hilton M. Briggs Library is hosting a discussion by the Woster siblings as the keynote event of its 40th anniversary celebration. These four SDSU alumni have a talent for storytelling and have led respected careers in journalism, writing, teaching and public speaking. They will speak on the impact of books and reading and the value libraries bring to communities.

Japan’s Foreign Policy Options in the Trump Era

Professor Nakayama, who was a high school exchange student in Watertown, will provide a broad assessment of past US-Japan relations and the current state and future direction of that relationship in light of developments in the Far East and Pacific Region. East Asia is an increasingly dangerous place, with tensions high on the Korean Peninsula, a more assertive China, disputed territorial issues, and questions about the future role of the United States. These developments present critical challenges for Japanese foreign and security policymakers.

The Difference is Dialogue: Understanding, Appreciating and Respecting Differences

Next week the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access will launch a new series of campus wide conversations – “The Difference is Dialogue.” The first dialogue will focus on understanding, appreciating and respecting differences and will be held Tuesday from 7-8:30 p.m., in the Volstorff Ballroom at the University Student Union.

Health and Diseases - Exploring the World of Large Protein Machineries

Henry A. Lardy Distinguished Lecture Series in Chemistry

The Story Approach to a Career: Life After a Liberal Arts Degree

"Career Linguist" Dr. Anna Marie Trester has the answer! She will guide students through the career process using the story approach: how to use your research, critical thinking, and communication skills to identify organizations of interest, how to navigate social media, networking, and interviews, and how to best tell your own story to get that dream job. Free and open to all students! This workshop will benefit anyone with an uncertain career plan.

Plus: Open house with refreshments at 4:30 p.m.! Networking with job recruiters until 8 p.m.! Résumé and social media headshots!

Developing Practically Wise Leaders

Dr. Statler is the Richman Family Director of Business Ethics and Social Impact Programming and a Clinical Associate Professor of Business and Society at the Stern School of Business at New York University. 

Pragmatic American philosopher John Dewey refers to the habit of continually reflecting on and refining our lives as 'practical wisdom'. This presentation will explore how the integration of the humanities with business education can help students to develop practical wisdom that complements their technical skills and enables them to become better leaders.

Trumpexit: Promises and Pitfalls of Applied Sociology and Community Action

91st Anniversary Sociology Symposium Keynote Presentation

Leading Everyday Resilience Enactment in the Workplace

What are the processes and strategies by which we lead ourselves and others to enact resilience in the workplace? This talk takes a research-to-practice approach to demonstrate how to enact resilience at present and for the future. Strategies rely on core communication of resilience processes and empirical evidence for these approaches.

The American Denial of Climate Change

Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University.  She is the author of "The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change," which laid to rest the idea that there was significant disagreement in the scientific community about the reality of global warming and its human causes.

"There is No Health Without Mental Health: Our Nation in Crisis"

Dr. Mary D. Moller, PhD (hon), DNP, ARNP, PMHCNS-BC, CPRP, FAAN is an advanced registered nurse practitioner who is dually certified as a clinical specialist in adult psychiatric-mental health nursing and a psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner. She is an Associate Professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA where she is track coordinator for the psychiatric nurse practitioner Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

The Value of a Liberal Arts Skillset for Our Workforce and Communities

The 2016-2017 Phi Kappa Phi Victor K. Webster Faculty Lectureship will explore how the complex challenges of the 21st century require creative approaches that transcend specialized knowledge and require a liberal arts skillset including communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and perspective-taking.

Women's Challenges and Opportunities in a Complex Political Situation (Conflicts Zones in Eastern Congo)

The African Student Association (ASA) is inviting Dr. Lee Ann De Reus from the Panzi Foundation, who will talk about their activities in the Congo. Their foundation helps victimized women in a conflict zone in DRC.

The Minneapolis Plan to End Too Big To Fail

Ron Feldman is executive vice president and senior policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He is the senior officer for Supervision, Regulation and Credit. Feldman is also a primary adviser on monetary policy to the Bank president. He helps oversee the Federal Reserve’s monitoring of financial system stability and identification of risks to stability.

Feldman is the co-author of Too Big to Fail: The Hazards of Bank Bailouts, published by the Brookings Institution.

Sponsored by: SDSU Department of Economics.

Walking Forward Research Program: Assessing Cancer Stage and Screening Disparities Among American Indians in South Dakota

Dr. Daniel Petereit developed the NCI-funded Walking Forward (WF) Program in 2002.

"Bone Dry South Dakota: The Failure of Prohibition in a Rural State"

“In 1917 South Dakota adopted a very strict form of alcohol prohibition with a 0.0% tolerance for alcoholic beverages. Americans of that day and ours viewed prohibition as a rurally-supported policy, yet it failed here as it did everywhere else because alcohol was America’s drug of choice.” Speaker - Charles Vollan.

"Learning How to Learn: The Path Less Traveled in Education"

Fourth Annual J.P. Hendrickson Faculty Scholar and Herbert Cheever Jr. Liberal Arts Lecture.

Michael Dianovsky’s lecture focuses on educating and preparing students for the changing pace of today’s world by teaching them how to learn rather than how to conform to the world around them and to conditions that may no longer exist in the future.

Cyanobacterial carboxysome: The beautiful machinery for better photosynthesis

Dr. Cheryl Kerfeld is a worldwide leading scientist working on cyanobacteria. She is currently a Hannah Distinguished Professor of Michigan State University and an Adjunct Professor of UC Berkeley.

Can Global Prosperity Benefit People and Nature?

Ruth DeFries, is Denning Family University Professor at Columbia University based in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology and the Earth Institute and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Recipient of a MacArthur “genius” award, her research addresses how the world’s demands for food and other resources are changing land use throughout the tropics and affecting ecosystem services and human development.

Sung Wokhoyaka "Horse Regalia"

“The use of the horse regalia was a common practice that was utilized for a giveaway in honor or in remembrance of a relative, identification of a warrior society or used for ceremonies such as the horse dance or simply to parade in celebration. Unfortunately over time, this practice has become almost obsolete and unknown by most among the Oceti Sakowin.” - James Star Comes Out, 2016

"Keep Strong, Keep On Your Feet - A Key to Successful Aging" Ethel Austin Martin Distinguished Lecturer

Dr. Martin Runge is a specialist in Geriatrics and Rehabilitation Medicine. He received a degree in Theology from the University of Tubingen and his medical degree from the University of Essen. He has published extensively in the area of muscle and muscle-bone interactions, including authoring textbooks, chapters, and original research articles.

In Canada, People Like You and Me Can Sponsor Syrian Refugees

The lecture will focus on Shulman’s effort to cover the conflict in Syria and the refugee crisis. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Campus Consortium is sponsoring her visit and lecture.

Based in New York City, Shulman has reported on immigration, education, food, the environment, poverty, urban policy and other issues in U.S. cities, the Middle East and other parts of the world.

Lessons Learned from Five Decades of Teaching, Research and Service Experience in the Pharmaceutical Sciences

Dr. Ronald Borchardt is the keynote speaker for the 26th Annual Pharmacy Research Presentations and Keo Glidden Smith Convocation. Dr. Borchardt is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at The University of Kansas with more than 500 scientific publications on drug design and drug delivery.

Students from the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions will get a chance to hear from a professor who spent nearly five decades teaching and researching pharmaceutical chemistry.

28th Annual Consider the Century-Native American Perspectives over the last 100 years

9 a.m. - "Native American Community Policing in Rapid City, South Dakota" by Rich Braunstein, University of South Dakota

10 a.m. - "Racial Disparities in Access to Educational Opportunities in SD" by Weiwei Zhang, State Data Center SDSU

1 p.m. - "Collaborative HealthCare Initiatives & Research in Indian Country" by DenYelle Baete Kenyon, Center for Health - Sanford Research and Heather Larsen, Tribal Education - Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate

My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family

Zach Wahls is the son of two lesbians and an activist for LGBT equality. His journey began after testifying before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee on family and gay marriage.

Pulsed Light Treatment to Enhance Food Safety

Dr. Carmen I. Moraru is an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of physical and engineering properties of foods, food/dairy processing and food safety engineering.

Izel Vargas, 2016 Stuart Artist-in-Residence, School of Design

Izel Vargas is a South Florida based artist who hails from the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. He cites his upbringing in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands as playing a vital role in his approach to making art; Vargas’ works are informed by identity, border politics, displacement, and popular culture.

Gene regulatory networks in early endosperm development in maize

Dr. Ramin Yadegari is a professor in the School of Plant Sciences at The University of Arizona and will speak on regulatory mechanisms of seed development in the Life Science Seminar of Agriculture and Biology College.

Good Reads: A Book Critic's Perspective with Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic from the Washington Post

Michael Dirda, a Pulitzer Prize-winning book columnist for The Washington Post, is the author, most recently, of Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books. He has also published the memoir An Open Book and four collections of essays.

Film screenings: "Our Own Words" and "Rising Voices: Hótĥaŋiŋpi - Revitalizing the Lakota Language"

Speakers: Jay and Paul Fishback and Delphine Red Shirt

New Roles for an Ancient Organelle: Ciliary Defects Cause Cystic Kidney Disease and Structural Birth Defects

Dr. Greg Pazour is an SDSU Biology alum and recipient of the 2015 Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for the Advancement in the Understanding of Polycystic Kidney Disease. He is Professor at University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

One Book South Dakota Keynote: Creating a Midwestern Trilogy, Beginning with Some Luck - Jane Smiley in Conversation wtih SDPB's Lori Walsh

Jane Smiley is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and most recently, The Last Hundred Years trilogy; its opening book, Some Luck, is the 2016 One Book South Dakota.

Making Sense of the New Arab Wars

Dr. Marc Lynch is a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. He is a globally recognized frequently published expert on Middle East affairs and conflict.

"Women Working from Women" - Reception and A Poetry Ekphrasis

Poetry reading by Christine Stewart-Nunez of the poems from her "Woman Working from Women" exhibition. This is scheduled in conjunction with the South Dakota Book Festival.

Sex Ed Boot Camp

Joni Frater and Esther Lastique, best-selling authors, radio hosts and trained sexologists. Funny, sassy and informative, empower students to make better decisions about their sexuality with knowledge and confidence.

Talking Trafficking: Framing People and Forging Policy in the Fight against Human Trafficking

Dr. Karen Vasby Anderson is Professor of Communication Studies at Colorado State University, where she serves as Director of Graduate Studies and teaches courses in rhetoric, political communication, and gender and communication.