Convocations

Fall 2005 Schedule

Friday, August 26 - 1:00 PM - SUU Centrum
Welcome to Southern Utah University
President Steven Bennion
Southern Utah University President

President Bennion offers a special convocation to welcome this year’s new students. Dr. Bennion has served as President of SUU since 1997 and holds the rank of Professor in Political Science. President Bennion earned a B.A. from the University of Utah, an M.P.A. from Cornell University in New York, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He is the grandson of Milton Bennion who served at the first-ever president of SUU from 1897-1900 (then known as the Branch Normal School). During his tenure as President, Dr. Bennion has seen SUU recognized by Consumer’s Digest as one of the “Top Ten” universities in the nation and has orchestrated an increase in the scholarship endowment at SUU from a $3.5 million in 1998 to current levels in excess of $20 million.

You can see a copy of the President's Power Point Presentation here (opens in new window)

*This Convocation is required of UNIV1000 students and is not required of students in the 2010 sections of Convocations .

Tuesday, September 13 - 11:30 AM - SUU Centrum
S.T.A.R.S. (Succeed Through Action and Realization of Your Dreams)
Heather Whitestone McCallum
First woman with a disability to be crowned Miss America

Mrs. McCallum will speak to the students about overcoming obstacles to reach their goals. In spite of being deaf she is an accomplished speaker and dancer. On September 17, 1994 Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America. She was the first woman with a disability to be crowned in the pageant’s 75 year history. Heather’s S.T.A.R.S. program speaks of personal empowerment and overcoming obstacles. Heather’s presentation will clearly demonstrate that the biggest handicap in the world is negative thinking.

Sponsored by the Southern Utah University Student Association.

*This Convocation is required of UNIV1000 students

Tuesday, September 27 - 11:30 am - SUU Auditorium
Make it Happen! Life Lessons on Leadership and Wellness
Dr. Joe Quatrochi, Ph.D.
Professor of Human Performance, Sport, and Leisure Studies at the Metropolitan State College of Denver

Dr. Joe Quatrochi is an exercise scientist, award winning professor, and cancer survivor. He has served in numerous positions in state, regional and national professional organizations including the American College of Sports Medicine, WELCOA (Wellness Councils of America) and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

It is often said that the true test of a leader is how he/she acts “under fire.” What core principles must effective leaders espouse, regardless of their circumstances? Is self-responsibility one of them? Many “wellness” models focus on self-responsibility as the heart of disease prevention. In this presentation, the importance of self-responsibility will be discussed as it relates to leadership, wellness, disease prevention and existing health concerns ( treatment ). Come listen to a cancer survivor discuss how a self-examination (and Lance Armstrong's doctor) saved his life. Specifically, he'll detail how a lack of self-responsibility would have resulted in a very different treatment outcome. Learn lessons you'll use every day that will enable you to become an effective leader and help friends, family members and even yourself!

Sponsored by the College of Science and the College of Education

Tuesday, October 11 - 11:30 am - SUU Centrum
It’s Good to be Ugly!
Dr. Joe Martin
Founder of Real World University and NewTeacherSuccess.com

Dr. Joe Martin is an award-winning speaker, author, professor, and educational consultant. In spite of growing up in one of the toughest crime-ridden, drug-infested ghettos in Miami, Florida, Joe became the youngest professor ever hired to teach in the state of Florida at the age of 24. As an educator Joe has successfully worked with K-12 students, including alternative education students, juvenile delinquents, and other at-risk populations, reaching more than 45,000 students a year. In addition, he presents and conducts seminars for more than 15,000 teachers and administrators a year.

Dr. Martin’s presentation “It’s Good to be Ugly” teaches that if you want the success others have, you must be willing to pay the price they paid. This hilarious program is designed to help people determine if they have a C.U.T.E. or U.G.L.Y. attitude toward success. The answer can be shocking!

Sponsored by the School of Business and the Student Success Center and offered in cooperation with the Teaching ALL Conference

*This Convocation is required of UNIV1000 students

October 25 - 11:30 am - SUU Auditorium
Three Forces Leading to the Dream Machine
Dr. LaMont Johnson
Professor, Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno

Dr. LaMont Johnson received his Ph.D. in educational psychology from Brigham Young University in 1973. He has previously worked as a school psychologist in Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada. He was a professor at the University of North Dakota and Texas Tech University before accepting his present position as professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Johnson is considered a pioneer in promoting the use of technology in education, having founded Computers in the Schools, an international, quarterly, refereed journal and having been one of three principal founders of SITE (Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education), an international association of educators interested in the creation and dissemination of knowledge about the use of information technology in teacher education. He was awarded The Willis Award for “outstanding contributions in technology and teacher education” by this society in 2003. Dr. Johnson has authored or co-authored over 75 refereed articles and 11 books. He has made many professional presentations at national and international conferences.

Sponsored by the College of Education and the College of Computing, Integrated Engineering and Technology

Tuesday, November 1 - 11:30 am - SUU Centrum
East/West Synthesis: The Tao of Multi-Dimensional Consciousness
Chungliang Al Huang
Internationally renowned philosopher, dancer, Tai Ji master and President of the Living Tao Foundation, US; Director of International Lan Ting Institute: China, Europe, and USA

Chungliang Al Huang is the featured speaker for International Week at SUU. This year’s International Week features the Republic of China, which has awarded Chungliang Al Huang the Gold Medal of Education from the Ministry of Education (one of the nation’s highest honors). Chungliang Al Huang will share with participants his personal cross-cultural transformation and emphasize how an understanding of Eastern philosophy and Taoism can encourage a sense of balance and harmony in life’s many endeavors. He will show how a person can enhance and develop their multiple intelligences through inter-cultural exchange and pollination.

Chungliang Al Huang is a philosopher, master calligrapher, performing artist, teacher, and Tao Master who has founded the Living Tao Foundation and the international Lan Ting Institute. In his performing arts career, he has worked with Sammy Davis, Jr., Bruce Lee, and later as a soloist in his own theatre/dance company at Jacob’s Pillow and American Dance Festivals. He is a doctoral research scholar of the Academia Sinica, a fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science, and an assembly member of the Council for the Parliament of World Religions.

Throughout the years Chungliang has given presentations worldwide with many colleagues and collaborators that include world religions scholar Huston Smith, mythologist Joseph Campbell, philosopher Alan Watts, Laura Huxley (Mrs. Aldous), musicians Yehudi Menuhin, Lorin Hollander, David Darling, John Denver, and Joan Baez, as well as recent programs with Jane Goodall. As were his mentors, he is the author of several best-selling books, including the classic “Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain”, “Essential Tai Ji”, “Quantum Soup”, “Chinese Book of Animal Powers”; and co-author with Alan Watts of “Tao: The Watercourse Way”; and with Jerry Lynch of “Thinking Body, Dancing Mind”, “Mentoring: The Tao of Giving and Receiving Wisdom”, and “Working Out, Working Within”.

*This Convocation is required of UNIV1000 students

Sponsored by the College of Performing and Visual Arts, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Education and The Mesa, Springdale, Utah www.themesa.org

Tuesday, November 15 - 11:30 am - SUU Auditorium
Gorby: A Biography of Mikhail Gorbachev
Oleg Popov
Russian historian and biographer. Former Deputy Mayor of the city of Tomsk, Russia

Here is a link to Russian Recipes, including ones mentioned by Mr. Popov in his presentation.

Oleg Popov has many connections to Southern Utah University and will be warmly received on November 15 when he presents a Convocation outlining his many personal interviews with Mikhail Gorbachev. Mr. Popov is preparing an authorized biography of the former Soviet leader and has tremendous insights into the man that Time Magazine has dubbed as one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. This Convocation will provide the Southern Utah community a rare opportunity to learn the renowned historical figure who was front and center during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Oleg Vladimirovich Popov was born in 1957, near the Siberian city of Tomsk. He completed his doctorate in history at Tomsk State, one of the most prestigious universities in the U.S.S.R. He taught as a history professor at Tomsk Medical University, a post he enjoyed for ten years. In the late 1980s, he spearheaded the democratic movement in Siberia, uniting the political parties against the communist regime. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Popov embraced capitalism with a new business enterprise called the Siberian Trade Company. He has visited the United States more than 20 times. From 1996 until 2004, Popov served as Deputy Mayor for the city of Tomsk, and now occupies the post of Minister of Culture for the Siberian province of Tomsk. Author of the political treatise Power and the People, Popov has written more than 200 scholarly articles. He is he father of two daughters who currently reside in the United States.

Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985 until 1991. Additionally he served as Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1970-1990. He was the first ever elected Executive President of the Soviet Union. History will remember Mikhail Gorbachev as the leader whose attempts at widespread reforms of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union eventually led to the “August Coup” of 1991 when he was briefly overthrown by Soviet hardliners. Although the coup only lasted three days and Mr. Gorbachev was returned to power, it indicated that the Soviet Union would not be able to be sustained by a decentralized power structure. Mr. Gorbachev resigned as president on December 25, 1991.

Sponsored by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service, and SUU President Steven Bennion.

Tuesday, November 29 - 11:30 am - SUU Randall Theatre
Distinguished Faculty Lecture: Pueblo Indian Agriculture
Dr. James A. Vlasich
Professor of History at Southern Utah University

James A. Vlasich has taught at SUU since 1981. He holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics from Southern Illinois University and in southwest studies from Fort Lewis College. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Utah. Along the way he has worked in such diverse occupations as radio station manager, computer programmer, aerospace engineer and physics lab instructor. In 1986 he was named Professor of the Year and in 1998 he won the Distinguished Educator of the Year award at SUU. In 1990, his first book A Legend for the Legendary: The Origin of the Baseball Hall of Fame was published and he appeared on a special edition of the NBC Today show with Bryant Gumble for the 50th anniversary of the Baseball Hall of Fame in June 1989. The University of New Mexico Press published his second book, Pueblo Indian Agriculture in 2005 and he has published two articles on this subject with New Mexico Historical Review. He teaches History of the Southwest and American Indian History at SUU.

Pueblo culture has embraced agriculture as the mainstay of the economy just as it had been for their prehistoric Anasazi ancestors in the four corners region. Dr. Vlasich’s Convocations presentation will focus on four major events involving Pueblo agriculture that had dramatic impacts on Pueblo history, American government policy for all Native Americans, major water rights cases whose adjudication will determine priority for the entire American Southwest, and the demise of Pueblo farming in the late 20th century.

Sponsored by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences

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Last Update: Friday, July 13, 2007