Honors-CLA - Experiential Events Descriptions

Spring 2008 Honors Experiential Events
for Freshman/Sophomore Certificate Program

Experiental Event Program Details
Experiental Event FAQ

Experiental Event Descriptions by Month (click on link or scroll down)
February
March
April

February

Pauline Chen, noted surgeon and author discusses her book Final Exam. Coffman Union Bookstore. Cost: Free.
Friday, 2/1/2008, 7:00-9:00 P.M.
Pauline Chen, a noted transplant surgeon and best-selling author, will discuss her book Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality at the University of Minnesota Bookstore. Final Exam follows Chen's journey through medical school and as a leading transplant surgeon as she shares the experiences through which medical students and trainees first encounter death and ultimately depersonalize it. Chen addresses the many ways death is part of her work and shares how her fears of mortality have incapacitated her, and how she learned to reject what she was taught about suppressing her feelings for her patients--allowing her to carve out a new role for herself as a physician and a human being. Final Exam acknowledges Western medicine's shortcomings in end-of-life care and offers recommendations on how physicians can improve the death experience and enrich the lives of others. For more information, or to order a signed copy visit www.bookstore.umn.edu/genref/authors.html. Chen will sign copies of her book following the discussion.

The Moral Subject in Korea under Japanese Colonialism: Talk with John Treat. 125 Nolte. Cost: Free. Light refreshments served.
Thursday, 2/7/2008, 4:00-5:15 P.M.
What were the circumstances under which colonial intellectuals in the Japanese empire chose to either resist or collaborate? Korean writers under Japanese occupation (1910-1945) best illustrate the ethical issues at stake in making this decision. Prof. John Treat is chair of East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University. He is the author of Writing Ground Zero: Japanese Literature and the Atomic Bomb.

Headliners Event. Topic: TBA Continuing Education and Conference Center (St. Paul campus). Cost: *RSVP to Honors week before for free tickets we have in the office, or pay $10. Refreshments served. Thursday, 2/7/2008, 7:00-8:30 P.M
Topics are announced the prior week. Must RSVP Honors to reserve for a free ticket. Complementary tickets (limited availability) are held at the honors office. See Listserv for event info and RSVP instructions.

Dance Revolutions. Whiting Proscenium Theatre, Rarig Center. Cost: Advance tix $8 for students ($10 at door). Call 612-624-2345 or order online at http://www1.umn.edu/umato/theatre.html.
Friday thru Sunday, 2/ 8-10, 2008. Fri. & Sat.: 8:00-10:00 P.M. or Sunday: 2:00-4:00 P.M.
The annual mainstage offering from the dance program, Dance Revolutions is the product of the Cowles Guest Artist program, which brings world-renowned dance makers to the Twin Cities to set their exciting work on students. Dance Revolutions provides students with a mainstage performance experience, which continues to develop the University Dance Program's importance in the Twin Cities dance community, providing an outlet for innovative, poignant, intelligent, and groundbreaking dance.

Selling Murder: The Killing Films of the Third Reich and Opfer der Vergangenheit with Rick McCormick. 25 Walter F Mondale Hall. Cost: Free. Thursday, 2/14/08, 6:00-9:00 P.M.
Film: Selling Murder: The Killing Films of the Third Reich (1991, 45 min.) and Opfer der Vergangenheit (1937, 25 min.). Commentator: Prof. Rick McCormick, Chair of the German, Scandinavian and Dutch Dept.

Identity, Local Knowledge, & Language Learning in the International Community. 125 Nolte. Cost: Free. Reception follows. Friday, 2/15/2008, 3:30-5:30 P.M.
Renowned scholar, Dr. Bonnie Norton, author of Language and Identity (published by TESOL Quarterly), Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity and Educational Change (published by Longman/Pearson Education), and over 30 refereed journal articles and 28 book chapters will offer University of Minnesota and community participants a preview of her plenary presentation to the 2008 TESOL International Convention in New York City. Her research focuses on identity, gender, and pedagogy, examining their intersections and effects on second language development. Immediately following Dr. Norton's presentation, Dr. William Beeman, Chair of the Anthropology Department, and Dr. Martha Bigelow, Associate Professor in the Second Languages and Cultures Program, will serve as discussants prior to opening the floor for a public discussion.

Listening to Frogs in Guyana – Talk with ecologist and behaviorist Beth Pettitt. Bell Museum Auditorium. Cost: *RSVP to Honors week before to get free entrance to event, or pay $7.
Sunday, 2/17/2008, 2:00-3:00 P.M.
The South American country of Guyana may be the continent’s best-kept secret. More than 80 percent of the area is covered with forests, making it home to a wide array of wildlife. Join University of Minnesota ecologist and behaviorist Beth Pettitt as she discusses her experiences in the area, studying the intricate languages and communicative abilities of frogs!

Best-selling author Jim Wallis discusses his new book The Great Awakening. Coffman Union Bookstore. Cost: Free.
Wednesday, 2/20/2008, 4:00-6:00 P.M.
Jim Wallis, a best-selling author and founder of the global faith and justice network Sojourners, will discuss his new book The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America on Wednesday, February 20 at 4:00 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Bookstore in Coffman Memorial Union. Great Awakening attempts to guide America to rediscover its moral center and provides the needed inspiration and a concrete plan to hold politicians accountable while finding solutions to our greatest challenges. Wallis, the man who changed the conversation about faith and politics, reminds us that religious faith was a driving force behind our greatest national reforms, such as the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement. These "great awakenings" happened at a crucial time in our nation's history and pushed us toward the common good. Wallis illustrates why it's time for another "great awakening" so our country can finally address the biggest issues of our time, including poverty, global warming, terrorism and the endless cycle of violence. Wallis is the author of God’s Politics and The Call to Conversion. Wallis will sign copies of his book following the discussion.

Face to Face with Dr. Strangelove - Film Clips, Pizza, & Discussion with Michael Wilson. Shepherd Room, Weisman Art Museum. Cost: Free. Pizza Provided. Thursday, 2/21/08, 4:00-6:00 P.M.
Released in the throes of Cold War politics, Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film "Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" is a darkly satirical masterpiece that skewers demonic military leadership. This program, which features discussion of specific film segments, invites viewers to reconsider Dr. Strangelove in light of the Iraq War. Framed by Paul Shambroom’s series, “Security” and “Nuclear Weapons,” the discussion will be led by University of Minnesota anthropology professor Michael Wilson, who studies the anthropology of war.

Sak-Sak and Sing-Sing: Fieldwork in Papua New Guinea – Talk with plant ecologist Wendy Clement. Bell Museum Auditorium. Cost: *RSVP to Honors week before to get free entrance to event, or pay $7. Sunday, 2/24/2008, 2:00-3:00 P.M.
Join University of Minnesota plant ecologist Wendy Clement in an exploration of Papua New Guinea—and discover traditions unlike anything found in Minnesota. Learn how to make Sak Sak, a staple food of the country, and participate in a celebration known as a Sing Sing.

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present - Discussion with Harriet A. Washington. Moos Tower, Room TBA. Cost: Free.
Thursday, 2/28/2008, 1:00-2:30 P.M.
Harriet A. Washington will be speaking about issues in her book, Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, in connection with CHGS support of the traveling exhibition from the US Holocaust Museum, "Deadly Medicine," at the Science Museum of Minnesota, February 21-May 4, 2007. Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge--a tradition that continues today within some black populations. Harriet Washington's work as a medical writer and editor focuses upon bioethics, history of medicine, African American health issues and the intersection of medicine, ethics and culture. She has worked as a columnist and contributing editor, writing principally on bioethics issues, for a slew of popular national magazines such as Harvard Health, Essence, and Psychology Today. Ms. Washington has also been published in academic publications such as Nature, the New England Journal of Medicine and the Harvard AIDS Review.

Time in the Shadow Universe - Talk with Marvin Marshak. 125 Nolte. Cost: Free. Light Refreshments served.
Thursday, 2/28/2008, 4:00-5:15 P.M.
Sub-atomic particles known as neutrinos experience only weak interaction and gravity. Neutrinos comprise a "shadow" Universe that occupies the same space as our normal universe, but communicate with us and other regular matter only very weakly. The question of whether neutrinos have mass and thus experience ordinary time has challenged physicists for several decades. We discuss experiments to resolve these questions and their outcome. Prof. Marvin Marshak is Director of Undergraduate Research and a Professor of Physics at the University of Minnesota. This event is also part of the University Symposium on Time.

March

10,000 Years and 50 Miles: Time Travel in Minnesota - Talk with ecologist John Tester. Bell Museum Auditorium. Cost: *RSVP to Honors week before to get free entrance to event, or pay $7. Sunday, 3/2/2008, 2:30-3:30 P.M.
Walking or driving a short 50-mile stretch in Northern Minnesota is like traveling back 10,000 years in time. Whether or not you know the area well, you will see it with fresh eyes after this entertaining and fascinating guided tour with one of the University’s outstanding ecologists, Prof. EmeritisJohn Tester.

Need to Know: Freedom of Information and Photography - Talk with Christopher Ison and Jane Kirtley. Weisman Art Museum. Cost: Free. Thursday, 3/6/2008, 12:00-1:00 P.M.
Join a gallery-based discussion with two University faculty from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, to explore access to information and places of power. Ison is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and associate professor, and Kirtley is Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law.

South African Landscape and Wildlife – Talk with field biologist Nicole Benjamin. Bell Museum Auditorium. Cost: *RSVP to Honors week before to get free entrance to event, or pay $7.
Sunday, 3/9/2008, 2:00-3:00 P.M.
University of Minnesota graduate student Nicole Benjamin traveled the back roads of South Africa to understand the shifting distributions of two Wildebeest (Gnu) species and the effect of changing landscapes on these animals. Join her for an entertaining peek at the life of a field biologist.

Postwar Diaspora & the Physics of Blackness – Talk with Michelle Wright. 120B/C Elmer L. Andersen Library. Cost: Free! Light refreshments served. Wednesday, 3/26/2008, 3:30-4:30 P.M.
Wright will trace the history of collective black identity in the West, focusing especially on changing definitions of blackness in both the U.S. and Europe due to intense immigration from Africa to both continents. Black populations of different ancestries, different histories are living side by side, but not always in cooperation and tranquility. A comparison of how different black groups engage with and interpret history--specifically to explain why they are where they are, why they are who they are will be made. In the U.S. we've used the Middle Passage as our defining point, but for many recent African immigrants (and more have immigrated to the U.S. since 1970 than arrived through the Middle Passages), the Middle Passage does not explain who they are and why they are now in the U.S.

The Theater of Security - Lecture by Bruce Schneier. Shepherd Room/ Weisman Art Museum. Cost: Free. Program followed by reception. Thursday, 3/27/08, 7:00-9:00 P.M.
Security is not mysterious, Bruce Schneier advises, and contrary to popular belief, it is not hard. In this program, security expert Bruce Schneier helps separate “security theater,” or a fictive performance of safety and prevention, from its actual and effective workings. Schneier is one of the foremost experts on issues and tactics of security, from preventing computer hacking to terrorist attacks. Based in the Twin Cities, Schneier speaks across the nation on these issues, has testified before Congress, and regularly writes opinion pieces for Forbes, Salon, Wired News, and the Star Tribune. His most recent book is Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World. This program is cosponsored by the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and its Alumni Association.

April

Citizenship 101 – Student Workshop and Pizza Party. Shepherd Room/ Weisman Art Museum. Cost: Free. Pizza provided.
Thursday, 4/10/2008, 4:00-6:00 P.M.
Citizens can sometimes feel shut out of the political process or may not know where to begin to exercise influence on issues. This workshop will introduce participants to tools and avenues for exercising the power of their democratic rights, using techniques devised by the citizenship schools of the Civil Rights Movement. Designed for University of Minnesota students, the workshop is a lively, participatory event, with discussion issues arising from the concerns of those who attend. Citizenship 101 is a collaboration between the Citizen’s Learning and Leadership Network, based in the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and WAM’s Student Class On Public Engagement (SCOPE).

How to Save Democracy in the 21st Century - Lecture by Harry Boyte Shepherd Room/ Weisman Art Museum. Cost: Free. Program followed by reception. Thursday, 4/17/08, 7:00-9:00 P.M.
In this lecture, Harry Boyte, founder and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, argues that our society requires a much deeper focus on "civic agency," the collective abilities of citizens and communities to work across differences on common challenges. There is a growing body of knowledge from around the world about developing civic agency across many fields, including public health, community development, public space design, education, and environmental sustainability. Civic agency challenges hidden patterns of control by experts removed from a common civic culture, and it offers hope for the revitalization of democracy in the 21st Century.

The Present Moment: Talk with Rebecca Krinke, Diane Willow and Henry Emmons Nolte Study Lounge. Cost: Free. Light refreshments served. Tuesday, 4/22/08, 4:00-5:15 P.M.
A talk with Rebecca Krinke, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Diane Willow, Assistant Professor of Art, and Dr. Henry Emmons, M.D., a member of the faculty at the Center for Spirituality and Healing. The Present Moment Project is creating a contemplative environment for stress reduction on campus. Its investigations include a series of ephemeral spatial transformations for a portion of the Nolte Study Lounge and the prototyping of a simple yet poetic biofeedback interface. In this event, the project's participants will engage the audience through discussion and a visit to the contemplative environment.

Emergent Difference: How to avoid the nature/nurture trap while maintaining respect for the sciences of biology, psychology, sociology, history and anthropology and etcetera - Talk with Anne Fausto-Sterling. 125 Nolte. Cost: Free. Light refreshments served. Thursday, 4/24/2008, 4:00-5:15 P.M.
Understanding the origins of human variation - be it related to gender, sexuality or race - founders on the shoals of the nature-nurture dichotomy. Anne Fausto-Sterling, Brown University Professor of Biology and Gender Studies, and author of Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality, will offer new language and new ways to analyze human variation. Her approach lifts us out of stormy seas and deposits us on a lush landscape where we can see with new eyes, analyze with new questions.

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EXPERIENTIAL EVENTS