University Speaker Series

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

"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.

Boy Meets Depression - Griffith Honors Forum Lecture

Kevin Breel is a 22-year-old writer, comedian, and activist for mental health from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Breel's book "Boy Meets Depression" shares his profoundly vulnerable story of being young, male and depressed, exploring what it means to struggle and tell one's story whole-heartedly. This is the Common Read book.

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.

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.

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

Speakers: Jay and Paul Fishback and Delphine Red Shirt

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.

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.

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.

Common Read Kickoff

An engaging, interactive introduction to Boy Meets Depression and a discussion on how we can RAISE ourselves and others using the themes of RAISE: Resilience, Awareness, Identity, Support and Expression.