ULA Lecture Series

University Library Association lectures are sponsored by the University Library Association (ULA) and the University Libraries. Members of the DU community, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, neighbors and friends, are welcome to attend at no charge.

September 14, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM MT

Alan Prendergast presents: Gangbusters One Man’s Battle Against Crime, Corruption, and the Klan

Anderson Academic Commons, Room 290

The astonishing true story of the life and times of Philip Van Cise, the Denver district attorney who battled the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, when the KKK was in the process of taking political control of Colorado.

RSVP

October 12, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM MT

Kerstin Haring, Ph.D presents: Artificial Intelligence

Anderson Academic Commons, 290

This presentation delves into the ways Robotics and Artificial Intelligence are revolutionizing healthcare, the challenges hindering their widespread adoption, and ultimately envisions a future with endless possibilities for these transformative technologies.

RSVP

November 9, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM MT

José Esquibel Director, Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention presents: Colorado's Opioid Crisis: State of the State Response Efforts   

Anderson Academic Commons, 290

In this presentation we will learn background on the opioid crisis, including information about fentanyl and its role in accelerating drug overdose deaths. We will review the most current national and state statistics and get an overview of the work Colorado is doing through the Consortium, the state legislature and other state partners.

RSVP

January 18, 2024 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM MT

Suisheng Zhao (赵穗生), presents: The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy

Anderson Academic Commons, 290

In this upcoming talk from the Lau China Institute, Professor Suisheng Zhao from the University of Denver will present his new book, The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy, which traces the dramatic shifts and the driving forces in China’s foreign policy since its founding in 1949, focusing on the key roles played by Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Xi Jinping.

Each of these transformational leaders reshaped foreign policy to better fit their visions for China. This presentation will focus on Xi Jinping’s power concentration and its implications for Chinese foreign policy.

RSVP

February 15, 2024 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM MT

Keith Miller, Ph.D presents: Pirates

Anderson Academic Commons, 290

Since 2006, faculty from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics have collaborated to offer dozens of experiential and offbeat courses to first year students.  One class analyzes pirates and uses their stories to identify the underlying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts behind them. In this lecture you’ll learn all about pirates and see how students are having fun while learning something new. 

RSVP

March 14, 2024 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM MT

Professor Susan Schulten presents: How Emma Willard Mapped the Past 

Anderson Academic Commons, 290

Emma Willard was among the nineteenth century’s most influential educators. She broke new ground in female education, shaped the advent of public schooling across the country, and was widely known for her innovative textbooks and atlases. Central to this success was her conviction that history and geography were not just interdependent subjects, but best learned visually. To that end, from the 1820 through the 1860s she produced a wide array of graphics that show us a mind reckoning with the very meaning of time and space through an era of unprecedented expansion, dislocation, and violence.

RSVP

April 11, 2024 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM MT

Cleo Parker Robinson

Anderson Academic Commons, 290

Cleo Parker Robinson, Founder and Artistic Director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, is a renowned choreographer, educator, and social activist.  Encountering multiple health challenges and the burden of racism during her childhood, she made dance her refuge. She received formal dance training at Colorado Women’s College under Rita Barger, a former dancer with George Balanchine. She continued her training with Alvin Ailey Dance and Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem. Influenced by dance legends Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham, mentored by the iconic Katherine Dunham, and Eleo Pomare, she established Cleo Parker Robinson Dance in 1970, encompassing not only an internationally renowned Ensemble, but also an Academy of Dance, an International Summer Dance Institute, a multi-faceted Arts In Education program, and a 240-seat theatre. The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble has toured throughout the United States and many other countries, earning global recognition from both audiences and critics.  Ms. Robinson has received numerous awards and honors as she teaches, choreographs, and utilizes the vehicle of dance to share her philosophy of "One Spirit, Many Voices" around the world.

RSVP