Get the latest updates and reminders. Follow us on Twitter:
Tuesday, September
1 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Climate of Change: Global Warming and the
Struggle for a Science-Wise Nation
Dr. Robert Davies
Physicist and Associate of the Utah Climate
Center
Earth's changing climate is fast emerging as the preeminent issue of the
21st century. A diverse collection of broad, deep, independent lines of
evidence has lead to robust scientific conclusions: Earth is warming,
principally attributable to human activities, posing substantial threat to
humans, human society and the human ecosystem. Every facet of civilization
is implicated: food, water, energy, health, economy and security. Incurring
enormous risk, humanity will soon envelope itself in a climate it has never
known.
So say the world's preeminent scientific organizations, from dozens of
National Academies to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
one of the largest and most comprehensive scientific panels ever assembled.
Yet faced with the unprecedented risk proclaimed by society's very best
science, response from society itself has been confused and hesitant. Slowed
by powerful financial interests, a public that remains in large part
confused or indifferent--and an intensely powerful fringe that is altogether
dismissive--we muddle towards greatness in irony: a society that has
simultaneously cultivated the ability to identify great risk scientifically;
the ability to mitigate that risk technologically; and the inability to act
meaningfully. At the heart of this irony lies a nonscientific public largely
unprepared to assess the blizzard of confusing and conflicting information
that permeates our daily lives.
Dr. Robert Davies is a Utah-trained physicist and educator.
Arriving at Utah State University in 1991, Rob studied upper atmospheric
physics and electrical interactions between spacecraft and the near-Earth
space environment. He has worked for NASA as a U.S.-Russian scientific
liaison on the International Space Station project; as project scientist for
USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory; and taught on the faculty of three
universities. He has published work in the fields of spacecraft-environment
interactions and quantum optics.
In 2005, on a research stint at Oxford University, studying the fundamental
nature of light and information, Rob renewed his longstanding interest in
climate physics, spending time with researchers at the university’s
Environmental Change Institute and delving into the primary scientific
literature. Three years ago, impressed with the sheer volume and diversity of data, with
dramatic advances in modeling—and with the sharp contrast between science’s
broad consensus and the public’s near-extreme confusion—Rob decided take a
year-long public service sabbatical in the northern Utah community he calls
home.
Today
Dr. Davies is an associate of the Utah Climate Center, teaches physics and
the physics of climate change at USU, and continues to be heavily in public
climate change education. He also serves on Logan City’s Renewable Energy
Advisory Board. He has studied physics at South Dakota State University,
atmospheric physics at Texas A&M University, and served as an officer and
meteorologist in the United States Air Force.
Tuesday,
September 15 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Land of Wildest Desolation: History Along
the Green River
Dr. James Aton
SUU 2009 Distinguished Faculty Lecture
Desolation Canyon is part of a canyon/river system in one of the most remote
sections of Utah. The Green River cuts a 118-mile, serpentine swath through
part of a larger geomorphic unit called the Tavaputs Plateau. At its deepest
section, the river is more than 5,000 feet below some of the wildest country
in the lower 48 states; it is deeper than the Grand Canyon. Because the
region is remote and protected by such daunting ramparts, it is rich in
wildlife, from flying squirrels to black bears.
The Euro American exploration of the Green River and Desolation Canyon was
part of the larger saga of the exploration of the Green and Colorado River
system that began with the famous fur trapper William Ashley. It continued
with such adventurers as John Wesley Powell and subsequent government
surveys, as well as with adventurer/trappers like George Flavell and
Nathanial Galloway. Many explored the canyon to exploit its animals; some
surveyed it to serve as a transportation corridor; and some traveled the
canyon with the idea of damming it for irrigation and power. Nothing
ultimately came of any of these various exploitive ventures. The
adventurers, however, were the first wave in what has become the major use
of the canyon: recreational river runners.
Dr. Aton received a B.A. in English from Spring Hill College in
Mobile, AL in 1971, an M.A. in English from the University of Kentucky in
1977, and a Ph.D. in American Literature from Ohio University in 1981. He
has taught in the Department of English at SUU since 1980, where he is
Professor of English. He teaches classes in Writing, Mythology, American
Studies, and Continental European Literature.
Dr. Aton has twice been a Visiting Fulbright Scholar in American Studies,
first in 1989-90 at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and
second in 1997-98 at Sichuan University in Chengdu, Peoples Republic of
China.
Dr. Aton has published articles on environmental history in Western American
Literature, South Dakota Review, Southwest Art, and Blue Mountain Shadows.
Twice he has presented the SUU Distinguished Faculty Lecture. His monograph,
John Wesley Powell, appeared as part of the Boise State University's Western
Writers Series. His book with Robert S. McPherson, River Flowing from the
Sunrise: An Environmental History of the Lower San Juan, was finalist for
the 2000 Utah Book Award in non-fiction and was awarded the 2000 Norris and
Carol Hundley Award for "best book on any historical subject" from the
Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. His book with
photographer Dan Miller, The River Knows Everything: Desolation Canyon and
the Green, was published in April 2009.
Tuesday,
September 22 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
The Movement for Democracy in China
Twenty Years after the Tiananmen Square Massacre
Dr. Jianli Yang
Leader in the Chinese Democracy Movement
This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of
1989 that captured the attention of the entire world and culminated in a
brutal and deadly crackdown by the Chinese government. This tragedy is now
known across much of the globe as the “Tiananmen Square Massacre.”
Dr. Yang was protesting in Tiananmen Square when the now infamous massacre
took place. His involvement in the cause put him on a list of 48 protest
leaders banned from China by the Chinese government. Dr. Yang used a
friend's passport in 2002 to reenter China to report on unfolding labor
unrest. He was detained and held by Chinese authorities without
communication for almost a year. Yang was tried on unreasonable charges and
by the time he was given a five-year sentence, he had already been held for
two years. Dr. Yang was tortured and not allowed to go outside for several
long stretches. After his release, he was still denied a passport and other
documents needed to return to the United States to his family for four
months.
As President of the Foundation for China in the 21st Century and Founder of
the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars, Dr. Yang is at
the forefront of the Chinese Democracy Movement. He has testified on several
occasions before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on the
Human Rights situation in China. In addition, he is editor-in-chief of the
China in the 21st Century series.
Dr. Yang received his BA and MA from Chinese universities in mathematics and
statistics, respectively. He went on to get his Ph.D. in mathematics from
the University of California, Berkley, and received a second Ph.D. from
Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He was the recipient of
the "Outstanding Chinese Student in America" award in 1990 and has taught at
the University of California, Berkley, University of the Pacific, as well as
at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Frequently consulted by national media for his views, Dr. Yang has also
spoken to audiences around the world concerning democracy in China,
including engagements at Harvard University, Soochow University (Taiwan),
and Yale University.
Tuesday, October
6 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
An Unlikely Life in Letters
Brandon Schrand
Author and Coordinator, MFA Creative Writing
Program at the University of Idaho
Brandon R. Schrand is the author of The Enders Hotel: A Memoir, the 2007
River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize winner, a 2008 School Library Journal
Best Adult Books for High School Students selection, and a 2008 Barnes &
Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. His work has appeared or is
forthcoming in The Dallas Morning News, The Utne Reader, Tin House,
Shenandoah, The Missouri Review, Columbia, Colorado Review, Green Mountains
Review, River Teeth, Ecotone, Isotope, and numerous other publications. He
also has essays forthcoming in several anthologies including Borne on Air:
Essays by Idaho Writers (EWU Press); Now Write!: Nonfiction Writing
Exercises from Today’s Best Writers and Teachers (Tarcher/Penguin); and The
Book of Dads: Essays on the Joys, Perils, and Humiliations of Fatherhood (Ecco/Harper
Collins).
Mr. Schrand is an alum of Southern Utah University, Utah State University,
and University of Idaho, where he received his MFA. He won the 2006 Willard
R. Espy Award, Shenandoah’s 2008 Carter Prize, the Pushcart Prize, two
Pushcart Prize Special Mentions, and has had Notable Essays in both the Best
American Essays 2007 and Best American Essays 2008. His nonfiction has also recently earned a
Yaddo fellowship. He lives in Moscow, Idaho with his wife and two children
where he teaches and coordinates the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the
University of Idaho.
Tuesday, October 13 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Dado: Southern Utah University in Mexico
Filmmaker Benjamin Peterson, et al.
A Documentary Film Screening
Over the past decade hundreds of SUU students, faculty, staff, and
supporters have traveled during their spring, winter, and summer breaks to
southern Sonora, Mexico to offer helping hands in a huge variety of service
and educational projects. Working side-by-side residents in the communities
of Guaymas, Empalme, and Hermosillo, these SUU volunteers have served in
orphanages, schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, after-school programs, and
have even built homes in desperately poor barrios.
In the spring of 2009 filmmaker Ben Peterson, who had himself previously
participated in these service endeavors at SUU, joined the trip to film the
work being done in Mexico. The resulting documentary is titled Dado:
Southern Utah University in Mexico. The Convocations program at SUU is
pleased to invite Mr. Peterson back to SUU for a screening of his film to be
followed by questions and answers with many of the SUU personnel currently
overseeing the tremendous work being done in Mexico. Additionally, many of
the students, faculty, staff, and SUU supporters who have participated in
service in Mexico will be in attendance at this Convocation.
Copies of Dado: Southern Utah University in Mexico will be available on DVD
with all proceeds going to the SUU Service & Learning Center. For a $1
donation, you may also buy a brick that will be used to build homes in
Guaymas. Opening remarks will be offered by SUU President Michael Benson.
International Week Convocation
Tuesday, October 20 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
A Window Into South Asia: Major Social,
Economic, and Political Challenges in the New Millennium
Dr. Anup Kumar Pahari
Foreign Service Institute, U.S. State
Department
Southern Utah University’s annual International Week will focus on South
Asia this year. SUU is pleased to announce that Dr. Anup K. Pahari,
independent contractor for the U.S. Sate Department, will bring his
expertise to campus for a Convocation address.
Dr. Pahari holds a Masters degree in sociology and public policy from George
Washington University, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. He has taught at the Catholic University of America
(Washington DC) and Goucher College (Baltimore). Currently Dr. Pahari works
as Nepali Language and Culture Instructor, Foreign Service Institute, US
State Department, Washington DC.
Dr. Pahari is a frequent participant in seminars and conferences on Nepal
and has been invited to Cornell University, the Mountain Film Festival,
Williams College, University of British Columbia, UC Berkeley, and the
University of Maryland to speak on various aspects of the conflict in Nepal.
In August 2005 he was invited by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to
brief Senator Daschle prior to the latter’s visit to Nepal. Dr. Pahari has
been featured on NPR radio several times, and is an active contributor to
Nepali media and academic discussions in Nepal and the USA. A book titled,
The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal: Revolution in the Twenty-First Century,
(edited with Mahendra Lawoti ) is forthcoming from Routledge India this
Fall.
International Week Convocation
Tuesday, October 27 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Pakistan: Divided Pasts, Uncertain
Futures
Dr. Benjamin Cohen
Director of Graduate Studies, History,
University of Utah
Continuing an exploration of South Asia as part of SUU’s International
Week, Convocations welcomes Dr. Benjamin Cohen, Director of Graduate Studies
in History at the University of Utah. He received his PhD in History from
the University of Wisconsin, Madison; and an MA in South Asian Studies also
from the University of Wisconsin. He has published on colonial India's
largest princely state, Hyderabad. He speaks Hindi, Telugu, and Urdu.
Dr. Cohen will address the question: Is modern Pakistan on the verge of
collapse? This vital South Asian country has a long past - founded as a
homeland for South Asia's Muslims and carved out of the remains of the
British Raj - its future is anything but certain. How did Pakistan reach
this point? What forces drove its creation and now possible disintegration?
This Convocation will address Islam in South Asia, Pakistan's creation, and
its uncertain futures.
Tuesday,
November 10 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Conditions for Success
Nancy Weber
Celebrated Education Consultant
There are four ingredients which contribute to one’s overall sense of
confidence and competence. They are Connectedness, Uniqueness, Power, and
Models. All four ingredients must be present continuously for individuals to
be successful; otherwise there is a decrease or distortion in a person’s
ability to perform. In this presentation, participants will learn to define
and develop raw materials for success. They will learn how to fortify
against losses in all of the four areas in a practical, involving and
enlightening convocation.
Nancy Weber is a former classroom teacher with over 30 years of experience
in the field of education. She has presented more than 2500 seminars,
workshops and keynote speeches, internationally. She is co-author of Teacher
Talk: What It Really Means and has worked as a film consultant for Disney
Educational Productions. You may have enjoyed her heartwarming story, "A
Simple Touch," in the bestseller, A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the
Soul or her lead chapter in the 2003 NAEYC publication, The Power of
Guidance.