Guest Speakers and Expanding Minds

Christina Knapp, Gavin Brennen, and Rovin Blume-Kohout, each raised in Alaska, explain Quantum Information Science and their research challenges. What is quantum information science? · At low temperatures and small system sizes, nature acts very differently than our everyday life would indicate. For instance, particles can act probabilistically with their behavior changing dramatically if they are being observed. · Furthermore, particles can be highly correlated with each other so that a measurement of one particle can instantaneously affect a different particle far away. · The field of quantum information science seeks to understand how these properties can be used to create new technologies, such as quantum computers or secure communication. · This subject is of broad interest to academic groups, government agencies, and the technology industry, and spans the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, and engineering. Christina Knapp was born and raised in Anchorage, and graduated from East High School in 2009. She then went to Williams College in Massachusetts, where she planned to study English or history, but switched to physics and math after being introduced to the strange and wonderful world of quantum physics. She finished her PhD in physics in June at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and will move to Caltech in the fall for a postdoc. Her research focuses on how to use exotic phases of matter to build a quantum computer that is resilient to noise. Much of her work is done in collaboration with Microsoft Station Q, a Microsoft research group dedicated to building what is known as a topological quantum computer. Gavin Brennen grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska and graduated from UAF with a degree in physics. He went on to complete a PhD in quantum information at the University of New Mexico with a thesis proposing one of the first quantum computer architectures in what is known as an optical lattice. Afterward he worked as a post-doc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland and a senior scientist position at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck Austria. In 2007, Gavin moved to Macquarie University, Sydney Australia where he is currently a Professor of Physics and director of the Centre for Quantum Engineering. His interests range from how to build quantum computers and quantum enhanced sensors, to simulations of quantum field theory and quantum security for cryptocurrencies. Robin Blume-Kohout was born on a kitchen table in the Bush, about 25 miles north of the village of Tanana. After graduating from Fairbanks’s Lathrop H.S. in 1994, he went to Kenyon College in Ohio, where he majored in physics and English, swam competitively, and graduated in 1998. He earned a Ph.D. in physics from UC-Berkeley in 2005 for research at Los Alamos National Lab on how decoherence lets classical reality emerge from quantum physics. After postdoctoral fellowships at Caltech, the Perimeter Institute, and Los Alamos (again), he joined Sandia National Labs (Albuquerque, NM) as a staff scientist. Today, Robin is the principal investigator for Sandia’s Quantum Performance Laboratory and an associate research professor at the University of New Mexico. He tries to measure how well quantum computers work, and why they fail. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and daughter, commutes a really long way to work, and tries to get back to his cabin in the Bush at least once a year to saw boards and fix the roof.

Go is a strategic board game for two players in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent does. According to the International Go Federation, “The history of Go stretches back some 3000 years, yet throughout this time the rules have remained essentially the same. The game is thought to have originated in China or the Himalayas. Mythology has it that the future of Tibet was once decided over a Go board. It is said that a Buddhist ruler refused to go into battle and instead challenged the aggressor to a game of Go to avoid bloodshed. In the Far East Go enjoys great popularity today, and interest in the game is growing steadily in the rest of the world.” Today, there are over 40 million Go players worldwide. Jacobo Franco is a student at UAA studying Computer Science. Everyone is encourage to learn how to play, and perhaps teach, the game Go.

Professor Daniel Phil Gonzales is Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. At his eveny, he offers a critical analysis of the establishment of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and the role of Filipino Americans in its founding and development. Professor Daniel Phil Gonzales has a JD fro Hastings College of Law at UCSF and a BA in International relations from San Francisco State College. He is recipient of the prestigious 2011 Lifetime Achievement Honoree, Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), San Francisco. This event is held in celebration of Filipino American History Month and is sponsored with Alaskero Partnership Organizers at UAA, UAA Center for Community Engagement and Learning, and UAA Diversity Action Council.

Delisa Renido discusses her new cookbook and demonstrates how to prepare delicious plant based recipes. The Barefoot Gardener in the Kitchen Cookbook contains 132 plant-based recipes for people who want to be slim & healthy and who love to eat. With color photographs, the cookbook highlights the use of whole plant foods that support optimal health and vitality. Delisa Renido, a former RN, holds a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University and is a Certified Life Coach, skilled in using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). In addition, she has been an important contributor to the Food for Life Course for Diabetes Prevention & Reversal. Delisa Renido lives near Wasilla, AK, is an avid organic gardener, and feels more at home with her hands in the dirt than almost anywhere else.

The event, Let Your Memoir Be Your Resistance: How Booker Wright's granddaughter turned his story, and her journey to uncover it, into American History, welcomes Yvette Johnson. Yvette Johnson is author of The Song and the Silence: A Story about Family, Race, and What Was Revealed in a Small Town in the Mississippi Delta While Searching for Booker Wright. In 2011, she traveled back to Greenwood, Mississippi–home of the Emmett Till murder and home of the man convicted of slaying Medgar Evers–to uncover true the story of her late grandfather Booker Wright. Booker Wright spent his evenings waiting tables for Whites at a local restaurant and his mornings running his own business. In the 1966 NBC interview and documentary Mississippi: A Self-Portrait, his remark, “Have to keep that smile,” sent shock waves throughout America. Moreover, what life was truly like for Black people of Greenwood, Mississippi finally received national attention. Four decades later, Yvette Johnson uncovered footage of the controversial documentary. Oddly, no one in her family knew of his television appearance. Even more curious for Yvette was that for most of her life she had barely heard mention of her grandfather’s name or stories explaining his murder. Due to this silence, and her own struggles with race and identity, Yvette Johnson decided to honor the memory of Booker Wright and write The Song and the Silence: A Story about Family, Race, and What Was Revealed in a Small Town in the Mississippi Delta While Searching for Booker Wright Yvette Johnson currently works as the Executive Director of The Booker Wright Project. In this role, she creates and facilitates workshops on unconscious bias and privilege. This event is sponsored with UAA Dept. of Sociology, UAA Student Affairs and Diversity Action Council.

The presentation part 2 for the event Biblical Perspectives, Part 2 features Robert Diamante and his research on the material construct of the Israelite Ark Narrative. This presentation is part 2 for the event Biblical Perspectives, Part 2. It features Robert Diamante and his research on the material construct of the Israelite Ark Narrative. (Part 1, also posted in iTunes, features Rabbi Michael Oblath's examination of the Exodus Itinerary Sites.) At the event, artist and scholar Robert Diamante discusses his article “The State of the Ark” (Adornment, The Magazine of Jewelry & Related Arts, Volume 10 No. 4, 2016) and the composition of the Israelite Ark. An amazing examinatiion of Diamante's original photography and classic still life depictions is also included. ( Note, the audio podcast for the event and the presentation part 1 are also posted in iTunes.)

The event Biblical Perspectives, Part 2, features Robert Diamante and his research on the material construct of the Israelite Ark Narrative. (Part 1, also posted in iTunes, features Rabbi Michael Oblath's examination of the Exodus Itinerary Sites.) At the event, artist and scholar Robert Diamante discusses his article “The State of the Ark” (Adornment, The Magazine of Jewelry & Related Arts, Volume 10 No. 4, 2016) and the composition of the Israelite Ark. An amazing examinatiion of Diamante's original photography and classic still life depictions is also included. (Note, the presentations that accompany this talk are also posted in iTunes. See presentaion part 1 and part 2.)

At this event called Biblical Perspectives, Part 1 features Rabbi Michael Oblath and, also posted in iTunes, Part 2 features Robert Diamante who present their research on the Exodus from Egypt and The Israelite Ark Narrative Rabbi Michael Oblath presents his controversial research and discusses his book The Exodus Itinerary Sites: Their Locations from the Perspective of the Biblical Sources. In it, he investigates the biblical account for the path of the Exodus from Egypt. He is the Rabbi at Congregation Beth Sholom in Anchorage, Alaska.

The presentation part 1 for the event Biblical Perspectives, Part 2 features Robert Diamante and his research on the material construct of the Israelite Ark Narrative. This presentation is part 1 for the event Biblical Perspectives, Part 2. It features Robert Diamante and his research on the material construct of the Israelite Ark Narrative. (Part 1, also posted in iTunes, features Rabbi Michael Oblath's examination of the Exodus Itinerary Sites.) At the event, artist and scholar Robert Diamante discusses his article “The State of the Ark” (Adornment, The Magazine of Jewelry & Related Arts, Volume 10 No. 4, 2016) and the composition of the Israelite Ark. An amazing examinatiion of Diamante's original photography and classic still life depictions is also included.

Provacative artist Thomas Chung discusses his life, art, expression and American life. Born in New Jersey and raised in Hong Kong and New York City, Thomas Chung received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a Master’s of Fine Arts Degree from Yale University. Having participated in numerous group and solo shows throughout the U.S., his multidisciplinary work has been written about in Art in America, The New Yorker, and Modern Painters Magazine. He currently teaches in the UAA Art Department. Note: the event presentations, slide show and video, that accompany the audio podcast are also posted in iTunes.

This is the presentation for the event called Art and Everything Else by the provacative American artist Thomas Chung, Born in New Jersey and raised in Hong Kong and New York City, Thomas Chung received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a Master’s of Fine Arts Degree from Yale University. Having participated in numerous group and solo shows throughout the U.S., his multidisciplinary work has been written about in Art in America, The New Yorker, and Modern Painters Magazine. He currently teaches in the UAA Art Department. Note: the audio podcast that accompanies the event presentations, slide show and video, is also posted in iTunes.

This presentation accompanies the event called Artist Thomas Chung presents Art and Everything Else. It highlights the work of artists who have influenced Thomas Chung's work and is shown at the end of his event. At the event Thomas Chung discussed his life, art, expression and American life. Born in New Jersey and raised in Hong Kong and New York City, he received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a Master’s of Fine Arts Degree from Yale University. Having participated in numerous group and solo shows throughout the U.S., his multidisciplinary work has been written about in Art in America, The New Yorker, and Modern Painters Magazine. He currently teaches in the UAA Art Department. Note: the audio podcast that accompanies event presentations, slide show and video, is also posted in iTunes.

Towards the end of the event Artist Thomas Chung presents Art and Everything Else, Thomas Chung shared his video project for his Master's of Fine Arts. Thomas Chung was born in New Jersey and raised in Hong Kong and New York City, Thomas Chung received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a Master’s of Fine Arts Degree from Yale University. Having participated in numerous group and solo shows throughout the U.S., his multidisciplinary work has been written about in Art in America, The New Yorker, and Modern Painters Magazine. He currently teaches in the UAA Art Department. Note: the audio podcast that accompanies this video is also posted in iTunes.

Dr. Miklos Vassanyi presents The earliest Reports of Encounters with the Inuit in the Old Icelandic Sagas, Medieval Norwegian and North-European Chronicles and Greenland Deeds. Dr Miklos Vassanyi holds a PhD in Philosophy (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and a PhD in History (ELTE University of Budapest). He is Associate Professor at Karoli University Budapest, Department of General Humanities, currently working as a Fulbright Visiting Researcher at the University of Minnesota‒Twin Cities, Center for Austrian Studies. In Budapest, he teaches on the MA program of Karoli University in Religious Studies. His areas of research include Inuit history and Inuit religious phenomena with a concentration on shamanism. He coedited Indigenous Perspectives of North America (Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2014) and has published a number of articles on Native American anthropology. This event is conducted through the Fulbright Scholar Program’s Outreach Lecturing Fund (OLF). It sponsored with the UAA Alaska Native Studies Department. (Note: the presetnation is also posted in iTunes.)

This is Dr. Miklos Vassanyi’s presentation for the event The earliest Reports of Encounters with the Inuit in the Old Icelandic Sagas, Medieval Norwegian and North-European Chronicles and Greenland Deeds. Dr Miklos Vassanyi holds a PhD in Philosophy (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and a PhD in History (ELTE University of Budapest). He is Associate Professor at Karoli University Budapest, Department of General Humanities, currently working as a Fulbright Visiting Researcher at the University of Minnesota‒Twin Cities, Center for Austrian Studies. In Budapest, he teaches on the MA program of Karoli University in Religious Studies. His areas of research include Inuit history and Inuit religious phenomena with a concentration on shamanism. He coedited Indigenous Perspectives of North America (Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2014) and has published a number of articles on Native American anthropology. This event is conducted through the Fulbright Scholar Program’s Outreach Lecturing Fund (OLF). It sponsored with the UAA Alaska Native Studies Department. (Note: the audio podcast is also posted in iTunes.)

According to Alexis Shotwell, “The world is in a terrible mess. It is toxic, irradiated, and full of injustice. Aiming to stand aside from the mess can produce a seemingly satisfying self-righteousness in the scant moments we achieve it, but since it is ultimately impossible, individual purity will always disappoint. Might it be better to understand complexity and, indeed, our own complicity in much of what we think of as bad, as fundamental to our lives?” Everyone is encouraged to reflect on this provocative talk about how to engage in a more fulfilling future. “Exciting, original, and intellectually stimulating, Against Purity makes a clear and compelling argument for a politics of relationality that resists the demand for ‘purity’”. Lisa Guenther, author of Solitary Confinement: Social Death and Its Afterlives Alexis Shotwell is Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, and the Department of Philosophy, at Carleton University. She is the author of Knowing Otherwise: Race, Gender, and Implicit Understanding.

Max McGrath and Johnny Johnson of UAA IT Services discuss challenges facing UA systems regarding new technology and security systems. The commitment to having access to information and Academic Freedom and throughout the UA community, Internet Neutrality, clouds, networks and accessing personal data highlighted. Max McGrath is the top Security Analyst in Information Technology Services at UAA.

Jessica Pliley presents Sexual Surveillance: Sex Trafficking and the Growth of the FBI, 1910-1941 America’s first anti–sex trafficking law, the 1910 Mann Act, made it illegal to transport women over state lines for prostitution “or any other immoral purpose.” It was meant to protect women and girls from being seduced or sold into sexual slavery. However, in upholding the Mann Act, the FBI built its national power by expanding its legal authority to police Americans’ sexuality and by marginalizing the very women it was charged to protect. Jessica R. Pliley is an Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender History at Texas State University and holds a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. She is the author of Policing Sexuality: The Mann Act and the Making of the FBI and Global Anti-Vice Activism . This event is sponsored with Phi Alpha Theta, UAA History Dept., UAA Honors College and Cook Inlet Historical Society.

Tom Harman and Gail Johnston present ALEKS: Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces, a New Approach to Teaching and Learning Mathematics. ALEKS in the classroom and the development of a Math Emporium model represents an exciting new approach to teaching and learning mathematics. Professor Tom Harman and Gail Johnston discusse how ALEKS works as an adaptive program, its application at UAA Learning Commons and his educational findings. Tom Harman and Gail Johnston are Associate Professors of Math for College Preparatory & Developmental Studies at UAA.

Dr. Erin Hicks' research focuses on galaxy evolution and the role that supermassive black holes play in shaping galaxies into what we see today. Key to explaining the significance of supermassive black holes is understanding Active Galactic Nuclei, galaxies in which a black hole is actively consuming the surrounding gas and dust. Through studying these galaxies Dr. Hicks aims to solve the mystery of how the evolution of a black hole and its galaxy are intertwined. Dr. Erin Hicks is an assistant professor in the UAA Physics & Astronomy Department and Director of UAA Planetarium & Visualization Theater. The event is held in honor of Stephen Hawking's 75 birthday.

Dong Nguyen is the UAA Campus Bookstore special event assistant. Since November 2014, he has designed provocative posters that encompass literary, faculty, Alaska and global themes. How Dong approaches graphic design, content and promotion is the focus of this event. In addition, why many people collect and frame his posters explored. (Note: Increase sound level for the first 6 minutes. An interesting Q & A begins at 20:04)

Benjamin Madley is Associate Professor of History and Chair of American Indian Studies at UCLA. At thie event, he discusses his book, An American Genocide, The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873. And as an historian of genocide, he shares his extensive research into the relationship between Indigenous people and colonizers. An American Genocide: the United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873 is published by Yale University Press is highly acclaimed and has been reviewed in the New York Times, Newsweek and the Nation. Moderator for this event is Medeia Csoba DeHass, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at UAA. The event is sponsored with the UAA Alaska Native Studies Dept.

Guest speaker Erika Monahan is Assistant Professor of History at the University of New Mexico. At this event she discusses her book The Merchants of Siberia: Trade in Early Modern Eurasia, recently nominated for the 2016 Early Slavic Studies Association Book Prize Offered will be a fresh analysis of Siberian trade and the Russia state during the late sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. (Note, the audio recording that accompanies the talk is also posted in iTunes.) According to Donald Ostrowski (Muscovy and the Mongols), "Erika Monahan sets out nothing less than a revision of the way we imagine the Muscovite economy in the early modern era. With a deeply researched examination of trade and commerce across Eurasia, she challenges a number of ingrained assumptions about Russian trade policies as backwards, xenophobic, state-driven, and monopolistic”.

Guest speaker Erika Monahan is Assistant Professor of History at the University of New Mexico. At this event she discusses her book The Merchants of Siberia: Trade in Early Modern Eurasia, recently nominated for the 2016 Early Slavic Studies Association Book Prize Offered will be a fresh analysis of Siberian trade and the Russia state during the late sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. (Note, the slide show that accompanies the lecture is also posted in iTunes.) According to Donald Ostrowski (Muscovy and the Mongols), "Erika Monahan sets out nothing less than a revision of the way we imagine the Muscovite economy in the early modern era. With a deeply researched examination of trade and commerce across Eurasia, she challenges a number of ingrained assumptions about Russian trade policies as backwards, xenophobic, state-driven, and monopolistic”.

Joan Tovsen presents Calendars and Time in the Eyes of Science and History. Joan Tovsen received a BA Public Communications with a minor in Geology at UAA and has done graduate work in environmental northern studies at UAF. Her business ventures include owning of a map store, working in the travel industry, in education, and as a tutor with therapeutic essential oils. Joan's foundation in scientific inquiry enables her to explore Biblical research in methodical and logical ways. At this event on the summer solstice, she explains the different meanings of time, astrology/astronomy and calendars. Note, the presentation that accompanies this podcast is also posted on iTunes.

This is Joan Tovsen's presentation for her event, Calendars and Time in the Eyes of Science and History. Joan Tovsen received a BA Public Communications with a minor in Geology at UAA and has done graduate work in environmental northern studies at UAF. Her business ventures include owning of a map store, working in the travel industry, in education, and as a tutor with therapeutic essential oils. Joan's foundation in scientific inquiry enables her to explore Biblical research in methodical and logical ways. At this event on the summer solstice, she explains the different meanings of time, astrology/astronomy and calendars. Note, the audio podcast that accompanies this presenattion is also posted on iTunes.

The value of family and historic photographs as art collections and community reflections are themes addressed by guest speakers Samantha Hill and Carolyn Kozak. Dr. Gabrielle Barnett (Community Outreach, Anchorage Museum) introduces the event and Carolyn Kozak discusses photo observations before Samatha Hill's presentation featuring her and other social practice artists work and intervention is highlighted. (4:53) Samantha Hill is Rasmuson Artist in Residence at the Anchorage Museum. She is a transdisciplinary artist from Chicago, IL with an emphasis on archives, social projects & art facilitations. Samantha Hill is well known for The Kinship Project, which was created from a collection of 3000 + candid and professional family photographs, taken from 1867 to 2012, primarily of African Americans from across the country. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her BFA from Moore College of Art & Design. ( 17:07) Carolyn Kozak is currently Curator of Special Exhibits and Programs at The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. Passionate about the value of family albums and informal photography, she has offered public presentations on “The Art of the Photo Album.” In 2014, she curated City Limits, an Anchorage Centennial project. Her upcoming exhibition :100 Snapshots", opening November 13, explores compelling amateur photography from the museum archives and their ability to reveal who we are and how we relate to friends, family, and the larger world. (54:47)

Dr. Chris Kavelin shares stories about how the world’s most important modern medicines arose in the genius of Indigenous cultural wisdom. Dr. Chris Kavelin received his Ph.D in Law from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. His focus is the protection of indigenous medical knowledge and the spiritual aspects of health and medicine. This event is sponsored with Alaskan Plants as Food and Medicine Symposium 2015, ANTHC CHS Wellness Division, UAA College of Health, UAA Dept. of Health Sciences, UAA National Resource Center for Alaska Native Elders, UAA Alaska Native Studies

Recent decades have seen the exciting convergence of anti-authoritarian radicalism and broader-based movements in the U.S. and Canada.  Drawing on interviews with organizers across North America, this event will explore the meaning of “another politics”. Chris Dixon, originally from Anchorage, is a longtime community organizer, writer, and educator with a PhD from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He serves on the board of the Institute for Anarchist Studies and the advisory board for the activist journal Upping the Anti.  He currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded Algonquin Territory.  His new book is Another Politics: Talking Across Today's Transformative Movements and is published by University of California Press. Chris Dixon's presentation for this event is also posted in iTunes. Note, this event is held in honor of Anchorage icon Ruth Sheridan.

This presentation can accompany the audio podcast of the event Chris Dixon presents Another Politics, also posted in iTunes. Recent decades have seen the exciting convergence of anti-authoritarian radicalism and broader-based movements in the U.S. and Canada.  Drawing on interviews with organizers across North America, this event will explore the meaning of “another politics”. Chris Dixon, originally from Anchorage, is a longtime community organizer, writer, and educator with a PhD from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He serves on the board of the Institute for Anarchist Studies and the advisory board for the activist journal Upping the Anti.  He currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded Algonquin Territory.  His new book is Another Politics: Talking Across Today's Transformative Movements and is published by University of California Press.

Regina H. Macedo discusses her research concerning avian sexual selections, cooperative breeding and survival adaptation in the neo-tropics.  Communal breeding in tropical guira cuckoos and their social system will be highlighted. “ As neo-tropical regions are destroyed at an alarming rate, with an estimated 140 species of rainforest plants and animals going extinct every day, it is important to bring neo-tropical research to the fore now” Dr. Regina H. Macedo is on faculty at Department of Zoology at the University of  Brasilia, Brazil She is coeditor of the book Sexual Selection, Perspectives and Models from the Neotropoics, 2014, and is current President of the Animal Behavior Society. 

Dr. Suzanne Lorenz teaches in the Dept. of Physics & Astronomy at UAA. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University in Indiana where she completed her thesis on mapping dark matter with weak gravitational lensing and continued on as a visiting scholar with the VERITAS Collaboration (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) based on the Whipple Telescope. Her talk includes an understanding of the formation of the universe and the role of dark matter, gravitational waves and seasonal drifts in space. Her experience with research in dark matter is also explored. (Note: sounds gaps in the recording occur due to lack of microphone usage. However, the content of Dr. Suzane Lorenz' talk is accessible and, for this listener, fascinating.)

This is the PowerPoint that can accompany the podcast of Dr. Suzanne Lorenz' discussion about her research on mapping dark matter. Dr. Suzanne Lorenz teaches in the Dept. of Physics & Astronomy at UAA. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University in Indiana where she completed her thesis on mapping dark matter with weak gravitational lensing and continued on as a visiting scholar with the VERITAS Collaboration (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) based on the Whipple Telescope. Her talk includes an understanding of the formation of the universe and the role of dark matter, gravitational waves and seasonal drifts in space. Her experience with research in dark matter is also explored.

In 1998, Bill Oefelein was selected to join NASA's Astronaut Corps. He served as pilot for the STS-116 mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery from December 9 to 22, 2006. The mission for the seven-member crew involved the further construction of the International Space Station, 4 space walks, the delivery of a new crew member and two tons of equipment and supplies. After retiring in 2008, Bill returned to Alaska and started Adventure Write with his wife Colleen Shipmen. This is an extraordinary event with an extraordinary Alaskan.

David Krakauer is the director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and co-director of the Center for Complex Systems and Collective Computation at University of Wisconsin, Madison. He sums up his research by saying, "The big question that many are asking is what will evolutionary theory look like once it has become integrated with the sciences of adaptive information (information theory and computation), and of course, what will these sciences then look like?" He has worked collaboratively with several business partners, including Google, Boeing, Fidelity and Intel, on this question and more. At this fascinating event, David shares his views about life and answers questions. The event is sponsored with UAA Complex Systems Group.

Mark Bedau is internationally recognized as a leader in the development of socially and ethically responsible practices for creating life-like systems. He has been professor of philosophy and humanities at Reed College since 1991 and Editor-in-Chief of the Artificial Life journal since 2000. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley. (Note: in the beginning of his talk he refers to his presentation whichmay be difficult to follow. However, the event is well worth listening to for its development and focus onDr. "virtue".)

Guest speaker Yvette Johnson graduated from Northern Arizona University where she started The Booker Wright Project. In it, she researches the complicated life her grandfather lived in Greenwood, Miss., where he was a waiter in a "whites only" steakhouse as well as owner of a restaurant on the "black" side of town. Yvette Johnson is co-producer of "Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story" and the author of "Searching for Booker Wright." This event is sponsored with the UAA Sociology Department.

Brian Schmidt of the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics received the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for "the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae." At this very special event, Brian Schmidt will discuss his connections to Alaska, (being a graduate of Bartlett High School, Anchorage) why education is important and his fascinating research in astronomy. His most recent project is mapping the southern sky with the use of the Sky Mapper survey telescope situated in New South Wales, Australia.

Dr. Christopher Clark is director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He is an expert on the science of sound and the effects of noise on whales. What we can learn from whales about sound transference and its application to ocean movements, the arctic ecosystem, arctic navigation and resource extraction is explored. This event is sponsored with Alaska's Big Village Network.