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BHSU Geek Speak discusses environmental consciousness in the Age of Accelerations
28 February 2018
Technology, globalization, and global warming—these three main, driving accelerations in the world today will guide the discussion on environmental consciousness at this week’s Black Hills State University’s Geek Speak. In her interactive lecture, Dr. Jami Stone, associate professor of mathematics education at BHSU, will apply New York Times syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman’s theories of acceleration as presented in his most recent book, Thank You for Being Late, an Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations. This speak, “Trash Has Two Parents: The Person Who Threw It and the Person Who Walked by…,” will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 1 in Jonas 110. All Geek Speaks are free and open to the public. Stone will discuss how these three accelerations intersect with our personal, day to day choices in Spearfish, such as picking up someone else’s trash in Spearfish Dog Park or petitioning for recycling to become a city-wide service. Stone will encourage attendees to rid themselves of the excuse “Well, no one else does it” and to promote sustainability even more in our community. “Spearfish is such a beautiful area—sometimes it’s hard to acknowledge the impact our waste has when we can’t see the impact right in front of us,” Stone comments. “I really want to express the importance of being critically conscious of the environment and making the world a better place.” Attendees are encouraged to bring their smart phones to connect to “Poll Everywhere” to interact with questions in this Speak. If you don’t have a smart phone, Stone will provide other avenues to join the polls. The Geek Speak lecture series, sponsored by the BHSU Honors program, features academic discussion and topics not normally discussed in the traditional classroom. The goal of the weekly lectures is to expose students to diversity within the disciplines. Some Geek Speaks are also presented at the Jacket Zone store located on Main Street in downtown Spearfish.
March 15: Guest Lecture from Dr. Jama Khainzan, Presidential Fellow of BHSU
March 22: “The Geometry of Redistricting,” by Daniel Swenson, associate professor of mathematics
April 5: “Sustainability, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Making the Connection” by Petrika Peters, sustainability coordinator for BHSU
April 12: "Rebel Girl: Celebrating a Century of Exchange Between American Popular Music and Feminism” by Dan May, professor of mathematics, and Dr. Laura Colmenero-Chilberg, professor of sociology
April 19: "Artificial vs. Human Intelligence: The Coming Conflict Over the Definition of Rationality” by Max Marc, associate professor of management
April 26: “From Bach to Braindrill: Exploring the similarities between Metal and Classical music and fandom” by David Berberick, professor of music
TBA: University Honors Capstone Defenses
To read short descriptions of each lecture topic, visit www.BHSU.edu/Honors For more information, contact Dr. Courtney Huse Wika, director of the University Honors Program and assistant professor of English, at 605-642-6918 or email Courtney.HuseWika@BHSU.edu