Thurs, Oct 30 @ 1:30pm: 2025 Women’s and Gender Studies Annual Lecture: “Setting the Record Straight on Campus Sexual Violence”
Dr. Nicole Bedera is a sociologist and a nationally recognized expert on sexual violence and gender inequality. In her academic work, she studies how our social structures contribute to survivors’ trauma and make sexual violence likely to occur. Dr. Bedera will be speaking on her book, On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence, which was published in 2024 (University of California Press). She puts her research into practice as an Affiliated Educator at the Center for Institutional Courage and as a co-founder of Beyond Compliance Consulting. (Gaughan Multicultural Center, Rm 212)
Fri, Oct 31 @ 12:30pm: IGNITE featuring Lisa Osborne
Producer Lisa Osborne (@julipeno) specializes in immersive and experimental storytelling and art. As the head of Black Public Media’s emerging media programs (or BPMplus), Osborne has built an international roster of filmmakers, artists, and technologists who create innovative work using film and immersive technologies. Examining the historical record is a frequent throughline in her work, reflecting an early-career focus on journalism after graduating from Northwestern University. Osborne has worked for adidas, American Film Institute, Turner Network Television, and Sundance Film Festival. She was an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an immersive juror for Tribeca Film Festival. She is currently obsessed with converting her lawn into a garden. (Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts)
Tues, Nov 4 @ 5pm: CAS Inquire: “The Political Psychology of Uncertainty: Implications for Decision Making and Democracy”
Dr. Ingrid Haas (Political Science) will explore how uncertainty shapes the way we think, feel, and make decisions—especially in political contexts. It highlights how uncertainty can either open our minds or close them off, with important consequences for democratic values like tolerance, compromise, and support for democratic norms. (Gaughan Multicultural Center, Rm 202)
Wed, Nov 5 @ 11:45am: “Rescue or Ruin: Orphan Life during the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust”
This lecture presented by Andrea Wagh, PhD Student of Department of History, showcases her ongoing dissertation research, which is an examination on how orphanages were used to either rescue victims of genocide or perpetrate genocidal policies against them. Through a comparative study of the Armenian genocide (1915 - 1918) and the Holocaust (1933 - 1945), her research explores how orphanages were manipulated in each case. By understanding the role these institutions played, we can better understand how children are uniquely targeted in mass violence and how orphanages have served as spaces for both good and evil. (Gaughan Multicultural Center, Rm 202)
Wed, Nov 5 @ 3:30pm: The Robert Knoll Lecture Series presents Zack Turpin, “‘The Cushions of the Presidency are Nothing but Filth and Blood’: Walt Whitman on American Dictatorship”
Frequently called the “poet of democracy,” Whitman was banned in his day, and he remains provocative and challenging now. How did a man-loving man, disabled in his final decades and never affluent, come to be widely regarded as the national poet? And how and why did he become an inspiration for democratic movements worldwide? Can he speak to our current political problems (in case you’re curious, he hated tariffs with a passion)? The third in the series, these talks will occur on the 30th anniversary of the Walt Whitman Archive and its 25 year of operation at UNL. Through talks by three prominent Americanists — all with expertise in 19th century American literature, Whitman and digital humanities — we have an opportunity to see how literary studies can speak to cultural change, identity and the possibility of renewal. (Bailey Library, 228 Andrews Hall)
Fri, Nov 7 @ 12:30pm: IGNITE featuring Trent Claus
Trent Claus is an award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor with Lola VFX. He has worked on over 130 feature films, including 20 Academy Award nominees for Best Visual Effects (4 winners), 13 nominees for Best Picture (1 winner), and with a cumulative worldwide box-office of over 47 billion dollars. Trent is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Visual Effects Society (VES). In 2012, he was awarded the VES Award for Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture for his groundbreaking work on “Captain America: The First Avenger”. In 2020 he was nominated for Outstanding Compositing once again for “Captain Marvel”.
Trent was heavily involved with the first era of Marvel Studios films, having contributed to 19 of the 22 films leading up to Avengers: Endgame. Notably he was a VFX Supervisor on “Avengers: Endgame”, “Captain Marvel”, “Captain America: Civil War”, “Avengers: Infinity War”, and others. More recently, he has been working with Lucasfilm on shows such as “Ahsoka”, “The Mandalorian”, “Obi-Wan Kenobi”,and “The Book of Boba Fett”, as well as continuing to work with Marvel on such projects as “Black Widow”, “WandaVision”, and “Deadpool / Wolverine”. (Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts)