Programs

The Making of Minneapolis with Dr. Michael Lansing

Tuesdays, March 31, April 7 & 14, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Author and professor Michael Lansing of Augsburg University will guide us through the history of Minneapolis from its pre-founding through the 21st century. We will encounter a city that was both made by the surrounding northern Great Plains and that in turn transformed them, in economic life, culture, and politics.

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

Latin America: From the Maya to Maduro with Dr. Chad McCutchen

Tuesdays, March 31, April 7 & 21*, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

*Note: no class on Tuesday April 14

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Coming soon!

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

How To Think About Language with Michael Getty

Wednesdays, April 1, 8 & 15, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: What goes into language—from its formal rules to its everyday uses? Instructor Michael Getty will explore this question by delving into the essentials of descriptive linguistics (vs. prescriptive 'grammar'), how to characterize speech sounds, how languages are learned, how to classify them, how they vary and change over time, and ways to think about poetry and song.

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

The Science of Winter Sports: From Olympic Competition to Everyday Contexts with Dr. Brett Bruininks

Wednesdays, April 1*, 8 & 15, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

*Note: Instructor will be teaching online for the April 1 session. In-person attendees can still attend in person in the OEC auditorium, or chose to join online.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Want to move like an Olympian? The three-part online lecture series will explore the biomechanical and mental demands of several Olympic events and how we can use those demands to improve our lives as we age. Each lecture, students will examine what movements are necessary to be successful in various Olympic sports and what athletes do to optimize their performance. Bonus: the series will give you easy exercises to do at home (inspired by our Olympic athletes) to improve your daily life.

Instructor Bio:

Dr. Brett D. Bruininks is the Associate Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame (1996) and a Masters (2005) and Doctoral Degree in Kinesiology (2009) from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Prior to coming to the University of St. Thomas, Dr. Bruininks spent two years at Minnesota State University-Mankato in the Department of Athletics and four years as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Program in Exercise Science and Laboratory for Human Performance at Concordia College (Moorhead, MN).

Dr. Bruininks is the co-author of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2 and BOT-3; Pearson Publishing) and the Bruininks Motor Ability Test (BMAT; Pearson Publishing) that assess motor deficits in young and aging populations. He works closely with allied health professionals, particularly Occupational and Physical Therapists, Physical Therapists, and Medical Professionals on issues related to motor development and planning in youth and adults. He has presented nationally and internationally on using standardized tests to assess motor function in children and adults with special needs. His current research explores the influence of specialized multi-component resistance training on fall prevention in older adults. In addition, he has also done work in musculoskeletal adaptations to high intensity sports participation and the potential physical effects of sport specialization on youth development.

Dr. Bruininks played Division I ice hockey at the University of Notre Dame and played 2 years in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Philadelphia Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers) and in the International Hockey League (IHL) with the Indianapolis Ice (Chicago Blackhawks). Before coming to St. Thomas in 2015, Dr. Bruininks also coached at both the Division I and III levels, serving as an assistant with the Minnesota State University-Mankato Mavericks (WCHA) Women's Hockey Team and head coach with Concordia College Cobbers (MIAC). He was named the MIAC Coach of the Year in 2011-2012. In his spare time, Dr. Bruininks enjoys training for competitive triathlons, and completed his first Ironman® Triathlon in 2017.

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

The American Revolutionary War with Dr. David Williard

Thursdays, April 2, 9 & 16, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Coming soon!

Instructor Bio:

David Williard, associate professor of history at St. Thomas, joins the Selim Center as its Faculty Director, after a decade of teaching courses for lifelong learning students. David's passion for intergenerational learning has led him to work with the Selim Center community in courses on American legal history, World War II (taught jointly with Prof. Zsolt Nagy), Reconstruction and its legacies, and the "long" history of emancipation in the United States. With Prof. Todd Lawrence (English) and Shanea Turner-Smith (UST '12), he has served as faculty co-director of the We March for Justice intergenerational study trip on the Black Freedom Struggle and American democracy. For David, teaching and traveling with Selim Center lifelong learners means working with the most curious and motivated members of the St. Thomas community - both in teaching his areas of scholarly interest and in learning from their perspectives and experiences.

David originally hails from Virginia, where he grew up in Richmond and completed his AB at the College of William and Mary. Prior to arriving at the University of St. Thomas, he completed his PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When not teaching and researching American 19th century history, David enjoys biking Central Minnesota's regional trails, spending time in the kitchen with an overly ambitious recipe, or taking in a performance at the Minnesota Orchestra.

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

The Politics of Music with Dr. Sarah Schmalenberger

Thursdays, April 2, 9 & 16, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Coming soon!

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

AI: Artificiality and Intelligence with Dr. Peter Distelzweig [Part of the Selim Center's "Good Society" series]

Tuesdays, April 14, 28 & May 5*, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

*Note: There is no class on Tuesday, April 21

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Over three sessions, we will encounter the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and its logics, consider its applications and ethics, and come to understand exactly what this emergent technology might mean for our immediate present and longterm future. The first two sessions in this series will be in the traditional Selim Center instructional format, with the final session dedicated to dialogue and guided discussion

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

Asmat Art and the Purpose of Curation with Gretchen Burau, Director of the American Museum of Asmat Art

Tuesday April 21, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is a single-session lecture event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Coming soon!

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

Immigration and US Law with Virgil Wiebe

Wednesdays, April 22, 29 & May 6, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Coming soon!

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

Cathedrals of Learning: Math and Society with Dr. Alex Barrios [Part of the Selim Center's "Tools for Discovery" series]

Wednesdays, April 22, 29 & May 6, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: If the word "mathematics" brings to mind the memorization of rote formulas and tables that have always existed and never changed, this series will change your perspective! Instructor Alex Barrios will teach us that math is an idea that evolves and develops--conceived by one generation, extended by the next, and sometimes completed centuries later. In this lecture series, we will trace the moments that reoriented mathematical thought, from the foundational revolution of the early twentieth century to questions occupying researchers today, and we use concrete examples to show how ideas mature over time.

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

Echoes of the Revolution: Hemispheric, Indigenous, and Commemorative with Dr. Kari Zimmerman, Dr. Jennifer McCutchen, and Dr. David Williard

Thursdays, April 23, 30 & May 7, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Coming soon!

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

The Trees Around Us with Maria Dahmus, UST Director of Sustainablity Initiatives

Thursday April 30, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is single-session lecture event. Due to the outdoor tour portion of this program, this is an in-person only event.

Program Description: As the temperatures warm and the days lengthen in late April, Maria Dahmus, Director of Sustainability at St. Thomas, and her student leaders will take us on a guided tour of the campus environs and nearby neighborhood to showcase the stunning variety of native trees in the northern Mississippi River valley and explain their function in the watershed's biome. This session will be a hybrid, beginning in OEC Auditorium and then dividing into smaller groups to move through campus and adjacent areas at a gentle pace.

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

The American Revolution and the Fate of the World with Dr. Richard Bell

Tuesday April 28, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is single-session lecture event. Registration for this event includes light breakfast refreshments and an opportunity for book signing. This event will take place in the Iverson Center for Faith.

Program Description: Coming soon!

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our Epayment Site

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form