The Christensen Symposium
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton: “Interfaith Friendships: How Difference Can Bring Us Together”
September 21, 2017
Elected as the ELCA’s fourth presiding bishop at the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton earned a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School and a Bachelor of Music Education from the College of Wooster. Eaton also represents the ELCA in a wide range of ecumenical and interfaith settings. She serves on the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA Governing Board and Development Committee, Religions for Peace USA Council of Presidents, and Lutheran World Federation Council. At gatherings, Bishop Eaton often shares her four emphases for the ELCA: We are church; We are Lutheran; We are church together; We are church for the sake of the world. These four emphases are fundamental to identifying who the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is.
Center for Wellness and Counseling Convocation
Roxanne Pritchard
October 7, 2017
J. Roxanne Prichard, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Neuroscience, 2004) is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of St. Thomas, where she also serves as Scientific Director of the Center for College Sleep. An award-winning researcher, speaker, and author, Dr. Prichard has spent the last ten years studying how college students sleep. She has designed popular courses on sleep and dreaming, led workshops for college health professionals on sleep, has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on sleep, and has presented numerous papers at national and international professional meetings. Her TEDx talk “Addressing our Children’s Sleep Debt” was featured in the lecture series: Transforming Education. Her research has been summarized in a variety of national media outlets including Time, US News and World Report, PBS News Hour, Huffington Post, ABC News, and USA Today, among others.
Humanities and Fine Arts Convocation
The Rose Ensemble with Piffaro: “Welcome the People: The Musical Legacy of the Reformation”
November 2, 2017
Founded in 1996 by Artistic Director Jordan Sramek, The Rose Ensemble has achieved an international reputation as a premiere American early music ensemble. Each performance illuminates centuries of rarely heard repertoire, bringing to modern audiences research from the world’s manuscript libraries and fresh perspectives on history, culture, politics, and spirituality from around the globe. With ten critically acclaimed recordings and a diverse selection of concert programs, the group has thrilled audiences across the United States and Europe with a repertoire spanning 1,000 years and over 25 languages.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation
Roxanne Manning
January 15, 2018
Roxy Manning, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and Center for Nonviolent Communication certified trainer, is also a member of the Implementation Council for the Center for Nonviolent Communication. She has served as lead trainer for several of BayNVC’s yearlong programs and is co-founder and trainer for the past 11 years at the Nonviolent Leadership for Social Justice Retreat. Manning has been using NVC in her psychotherapy practice since 2003 and has been formally teaching NVC since 2005. Manning also works as a psychologist with the city and county of San Francisco’s Disability Evaluation and Consultation Unit serving the homeless and disenfranchised mentally ill population. In addition to supporting clinicians and others seeking to improve their ability to serve individuals from diverse backgrounds, Manning has worked directly with programs and people advancing individual and social change nationally and internationally. Manning has combined her life experience as an Afro-Caribbean immigrant with her extensive academic and professional training into a passion for supporting both larger social change and individual healing and growth.
Batalden Seminar in Applied Ethics
Julian Agyeman: “Just Sustainabilities in Policy, Planning, and Practice”
February 8, 2018
Julian Agyeman, Ph.D. FRSA FRGS is a Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, USA. He is the originator of the concept of “just sustainabilities,” the full integration of social justice and sustainability, defined as “the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems.”
Koryne Horbal Lecture
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project: Juana Paola Peralta and Mik Kinkead
March 22, 2018
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence. SRLP is a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social and economic justice. Therefore, it seeks to increase the political voice and visibility of low-income people and people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming. SRLP works to improve access to respectful and affirming social, health, and legal services for our communities. SRLP believes that in order to create meaningful political participation and leadership, there must be access to basic means of survival and safety from violence.
The General Leif J. Sverdrup Visiting Scientist Program
Vicki Grassian: “What is in the Air We Breathe?”
April 18, 2018
Vicki H. Grassian is currently a Distinguished Professor at the University of California San Diego with appointments in the Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Nanoengineering and Scripps Institution of Oceanography and she holds the Distinguished Chair of Physical Chemistry within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She is also the co-Director of the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment a multi-institutional NSF-Chemical Center of Innovation and the Executive Associate Dean for the Division of Physical Sciences. Prior to her appointments at the University of California San Diego she was a professor at the University of Iowa for 25 years. Professor Grassian has mentored hundreds of students in her laboratory including over twenty-five students who have received their PhDs under her guidance.