1990s

 

Forum Series

 

Lerone Bennett

White History, Black History, and the American Dream 

 

Lerone Bennett was an editor for the magazine Ebony. His discussion for the forum series focused on how the achievements of African Americans is missing from historical textbooks at all levels of education. The second part of his lecture was on the need for multicultural history courses that would represent everyone within the nation.

Suzanne Somers

"Keeping Secrets"

 

Suzanne Somers acted on the tv series Three's Company and later released an adiobiography, about living her childhood with an alcoholic parent. She described how her childhood consisted of the illusion of a stable family, when really the family life revolved around hiding her father's alcoholism. Somers described alcoholism as a disease that needs to be prevented from affecting future generations. 

Carl Sagan

Comets and the Origins and Evolution of Life

 

Carl Sagan was the creator of the tv series Cosmos  and the president of the Planetary Society, a space interest group. His research focused on determining if the organic molecules responsible for life were endogenous or exogenous. Pushing the research even further was the question: could comets be responsible for introducing these molecules to Earth?

Wilma Mankiller

Cherokee Roots and the American Dream

 

Wilma Mankiller was elected the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Mankiller helped to develop programs so the Cherokee Nation would be more self-sufficient, self-reliant, and autonomous. These projects included creating waterlines, nutrition programs, health clinics, and a vocational training center.

 

"We need to hang on to our native culture and language. We need to trust our own thinking and work things out for ourselves."

 

Jane Goodall

Chimpanzees of Gombe

 

Jane Goodall is recognized as one of the leading researchers in primatlogy. She made foundamental discoveries in primate studies, such as teaching chimpanzees to use sign language and animals using tools. For this reason her lecture focused on the struggles of wild animals.

 

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

 

 

Artist Series

 

R. Carlos Nakai

 

R. Carlos Nakai is a member of the Navajo-Ute community. His instrument of choice is the flute. The music of the flute has significant to Navajo-Ute community both socially and spiritually. Not only did Nakai entertain the audience with his music but also informed them about Native American cultures.

Sandra Reaves-Phillips

 

Sandra Reavevs-Phillips is a jazz and blues singer. Her speciality was recreating music in a one woman act. For example, she did renditions from Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Mahalia Johnson.

Tony Bennett

 

Tony Bennett participated in the artist series with Ralph Sharon as the music director. He performed songs from his album Perfectly Frank, a tribute to Frank Sinatra. Bennett began his singing career as a waiter and he later gained international recognition for over four decades.

Judy Collins

 

Judy Collins has been a folk singer for over fifty years. At a young age she learning how to play multiple musical instruments. At fifteen years old she was training to become a professsional pianist. Collins had the whole audience involved in her concert by having the audience sing the chorus of songs with her.

Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery

 

The Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery shared sacred rituals during the artist series. The monks traveled the world in order to raise awareness about Tibetan culture and to introduce other cultures to Buddhism. There were only a handful of protestors from the Chippewa Valley General Assembly that appeared in front of Zorn Arena, but the general consensus on campus was that the point of the performance was music and information, not conformation. At the same time that this was going on Wagden Tashi, one of the performers, was severely ill and was later hopitalized due to internal bleeding.

 

Recurring Event: Student Research Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Research Days

 

Students have the opportunity to conduct their own research studies on a topic of interest. The process, information, and results of these research studies are then presented at the student research days. The student research days are a great opportunity to demonstrate the skills that students have obtained from their courses.