Fall 2017 Speaker Series announced

The Illinois State University Speaker Series returns this fall with diverse topics ranging from health and aging to water sanitation. Speakers will include an expert on Title IX and sports sociology, and a coordinator of the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, Belgium.

The Illinois State University Speaker Series seeks to bring innovative and enlightening speakers to the campus with the aim of providing the community with a platform to foster dialogue, cultivate enriching ideas, and continue an appreciation of learning as an active and lifelong process. All talks are free and open to the public.

The series kicks off on Thursday, September 21, when Robin E. Mockenhaupt, the Nolte Scholar in Health Education, presents“Making the Healthy Choice the Normal Choice”  at 5 p.m., in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center.

In her role as chief of staff of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Mockenhaupt provides leadership to the chief executive, senior management team, staff, and board of trustees, and is responsible for foundation-level, cross-functional teams and operations. She joined the Foundation in 1999 and has worked in program, program management, and administration. From 2003 to 2005, Mockenhaupt was deputy group director for the Health Group and also served as its interim director in 2004. As a senior program officer, from 1999 to 2003, she worked in the areas of health behavior, obesity, and chronic disease management.

Interactive discussion on the business of financial planning

Edward W. Gjertsen II, vice president of Mack Investment Securities, Inc., will present “The Business of Financial Planning: Past, Present, and Future” at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, September 27, in the Caterpillar Auditorium of the State Farm Hall of Business. His talk discusses the opportunities and challenges that face the financial planning profession and is part of the Financial Planning Speaker Series hosted by the Institute for Financial Planning and Analysis, and the Department of Finance, Insurance and Law.

As a certified financial planner, Gjertsen has served the financial planning needs of clients for over 20 years. He specializes in retirement planning, portfolio management, and estate planning with a keen focus on clients becoming financially organized.

Gjertsen served as past chairman of the Financial Planning Association’s National Board of Directors, a professional non-profit with over 24,000 members. He is one of the co-founders of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) National Diversity Initiative and is past president and chairman of the Financial Planning Association of Illinois, the nation’s largest chapter. He is also a recipient of the FPA of Illinois 2008 Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award.

Author to speak on globalization and sustainability

Family and Consumer Sciences will present Kelsey Timmerman, who explores globalization and the everyday items people often take for granted. Timmerman will discuss “Common Threads: A Global Search for Community” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 27, in room 138 of Schroeder Hall. This talk is co-sponsored by the Fell Trust, College of Applied Science and Technology, and department of agriculture.

Timmerman is the New York Times bestselling author of WHERE AM I WEARING? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes and WHERE AM I EATING? An Adventure Through the Global Food Economy. Similar to the topics of his books, Timmerman’s talk will focus on the realities of the global food and clothing industry that supports an ‘all-American’ way of life.

 

Water and sanitation to be topic of talk

Inga Winkler, lecturer at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, will present “Water and Sanitation in the 21st Century: A Human Rights Perspective on Domestic and International Challenges” at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 28, in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center.

Winkler will shift the focus of water challenges by addressing some of the issues that are usually neglected: the sanitation crisis and the lack of access to water and sanitation not only abroad, but in marginalized communities in the United States. The United Nations officially recognized the human rights to water and sanitation in 2010, and this talk will explore what the human rights framework can offer to address the existing challenges.

Cultivating healthy campus and community partnerships

As part of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning’s event Creating Healthy Campus-Community Partnerships, Barbara Jacoby will present “Developing and Sustaining Campus-Community Partnerships for Service-Learning” at 8:45 a.m. Friday, October 13, in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center. This keynote lecture is sponsored by the Harold K. Sage Foundation, Illinois State University Foundation Fund, and Alice and Fannie Fell Trust.

Jacoby is a faculty associate for the Leadership and Community Service-Learning at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union-Center for Campus Life at the University of Maryland. In this role she facilitates initiatives involving academic partnerships, service-learning, and civic engagement. Jacoby launched community service-learning at the University of Maryland in 1992.

Speaker covers Title IX and women in sports

The social and political implications of Title IX will be the focus of the Esther Larson McGinnis Scholar Lecture on Wednesday, October 25. There will be a reception open to the public beginning at 6:30 p.m. and at 7 p.m., Mary Jo Kane will present “The Impact, Challenges and Opportunities Surrounding Title IX 45-years After Passage” at 7 p.m. in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center. Kane is a professor and director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.

Kane is an internationally recognized scholar who has published extensively on media representations of women’s sports. As one of the nation’s leading experts in Title IX, Kane has appeared on the Today Show and her research has been cited by the New York Times, USA Today, and the Washington Post. In 2016, she was named one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators by the Institute for International Sport.

Art and judicial reform after French Revolution to be discussed

Vanessa Paumen, of the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, Belgium, will present “The Art of Law: Intersections of the Legal System and Art in the Low Countries (1450 -1475)” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 26, in the University Galleries.

Before the French Revolution, northern European courtrooms often featured violent, bloody art works. The Last Judgement was a popular theme, but other biblical and historical events (especially those that featured torture or physical punishments) were also common. These images were meant to function as prophylaxes against lawlessness. Forced to face a judge seated in front of images of torture and death, the criminal was meant to contemplate their own fate should their behavior not change.

Paumen’s talk, The Art of Law: Intersections of the Legal System and Art in the Low Countries (1450 -1475), at 6 p.m. at University Galleries, will examine how this tradition developed during the Ancien Régime (1450-1475) and how this practice changed following the radical judicial reforms following the French Revolution.

For full biographies and more information, go to the Illinois State University Speaker Series.