Convocations

Fall 2007 Schedule

Tuesday, September 4 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Music in the Movies
Lydia Paweski
Film and Recording Artist

Lydia Paweski's career in music began as a singer for independent and avant-garde musical artists. She has had albums released both as a front person in her own bands and as a back-up singer for other artists. Lydia has performed live doing everything from punk rock to fronting the renowned ABBA tribute band Bjorn Baby Bjorn. Her talent, friendship with, and commitment to independent musicians has found her touring places like Japan and multiple European nations, including a special trip to Croatia. As a compliment to her musical career she took a position with Walt Disney Productions where she became their Music Production Coordinator and joined the team that puts music into the movies. Her film credits include Ratatouille, Cars, Meet the Robinsons, The Incredibles, Chicken Little and other Disney/Pixar/Buena Vista Worldwide productions. In this presentation Lydia will discuss the process, both artistic and practical, by which music is incorporated into the movies. It is a process that is not only interesting, but surprising! She will also focus on other non-traditional jobs in the music industry.

Lydia Paweski will have CDs available for sale at her Convocation. Lydia and her record label will donate 100% of the CD sales* (not just proceeds) to the Southern Utah University Service & Learning Center.

Visit the Disney Pictures website

Learn about avant-garde music on Wikipedia

*Excluding Disney Soundtrack CDs which are on a different label

Tuesday, September 18 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
The Self Under Siege: Coping with Shame, Guilt and Humiliation
Dr. Jeff Elison, PhD
SUU Distinguished Faculty Lecture

Dr. Elison completed his doctorate from University of Northern Colorado and did a NIMH postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Denver. He joined SUU in August, 2005 as a member of the psychology department. His research interests focus on motivation and emotion, in particular self-conscious emotions such as shame, guilt, embarrassment, and humiliation. Jeff developed the Compass of Shame Scale (CoSS) to assess the use of shame management scripts. The CoSS has been translated into Spanish, Hungarian, and Taiwanese, as well as extended with an adaptive scale, a violence scale, a reduced language version for adolescents and adults with limited reading skills, and a version to allow teachers to rate students. The CoSS has been used to explore relations among the four poles of the Compass of Shame and self-esteem, depression, anxiety, hostility, anger, and psychopathy.

Dr. Elison’s presentation will ground the academic perspective on these self-conscious emotions by tying them to everyday examples. Universal styles of coping will be identified and illustrated with clips from recent movies. The paths from self-conscious emotions to coping to problematic outcomes will be discussed. As a special case, the link between humiliation and violent revenge will be illustrated with examples from recent school shootings. Finally, recommendations relevant to parents, teachers, and students on how to practice and teach effective coping will be presented.

Download a more detailed bio for Dr. Elison here

Download a presentation abstract here

Tuesday, October 2 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Storytelling: A Playful Way to Enhance Children's Literacy
Dr. Marilyn Izzard, PhD
Storyteller and Education Specialist and Consultant

Dr. Marilyn Izzard received a bachelor's of art, master's and a Ph.D. degree in Early Childhood from the University of SC. She has worked as an early childhood consultant for the State Dept. of Education in South Carolina, Director of the Child and Family Education Program and the Child Development Center for Benedict College.

She was the Lead Teacher for USC - Booker T. Washington Child Development Center and Clinical Professor for USC Columbia Teacher Education Program. Dr. Izzard presently serves as the Director of University of South Carolina Upstate Teacher Education program on the Sumter campus. She is the past president of South Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children (SCAEYC). She has served on the Sumter County First Steps and Success by Six Boards.

She has had varied experiences as a community storyteller. She has presented at international, national and local conferences throughout the United States. Dr. Izzard delivers presentations that are informative, upbeat and humorous. She has been honored as teacher of the year at Benedict College and USC Upstate. Presently she serves as NAME (National Association for Multicultural Education) board member and organizer for South Carolina.

Download a more detailed bio for Dr. Izzard

Dr. Izzard’s presentation is offered in cooperation with the Teaching ALL Conference.

Tuesday, October 9 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
No One Makes It Alone
Judge Andrew Valdez
Third District Juvenile Court Justice and Author

Judge Andrew A. Valdez was appointed to the Third District Juvenile Court in June of 1993 by Gov. Michael O. Leavitt. He graduated from the University of Utah College of Law in 1977. A native of Utah, Judge Valdez is a graduate from the University of Utah College of Law. Prior to his appointment to the bench, in 1993, Valdez was a commissioned captain in the U.S. Army J.A.G. Corps, and a trial counsel with the Legal Defenders Association Felony and Homicide Division. He has served as chair of the statewide Youth Parole Authority, and has served on the Utah Sentencing Commission, Board of Trustees for Primary Children's Medical Center, Juvenile Justice Task Force, Board of Juvenile Court Judges, and the Judicial Council. He is currently a member of the National Youth Gang Center and was honored in 2003 with the Martin Luther King Civil Rights Award by the N.A.A.C.P. In 2005, Judge Valdez was awarded the Footprinter's Association Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award, the Utah Children Child Advocate of the Year Award, and the Utah State Bar Judge of the Year Award.

Andrew Valdez is committed to helping troubled young people and has developed a court-based mentoring program, partnering with community educational schools. His nonfiction book, No One Makes It Alone, is a true story based on his own life. The book is a poignant story of how a boy grows into manhood - and great accomplishment - with the help and love of an older, unrelated man. But it is also a reminder to each of us of where we came from and who helped us along the way. No matter who we are, what color our skin, what side of the tracks we call home or what our country of origin is, there are far more similarities than differences between us.

Judge Valdez is donating his time and the proceeds of his book sales at Convocations to the Southern Utah University Service & Learning Center, which is co-sponsoring this Convocation.

Go here for more information about Judge Valdez his book No One Makes It Alone

Map of Iraq Tuesday, October 16 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Iraq: The Unintended Consequences of War
Donna Lee Bowen, PhD; Byron Daynes, PhD; Darren Hawkins, PhD; Wade Jacoby, PhD; Gary C. Bryner, PhD, JD
Professors

In January of 2003, prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, six professors from Brigham Young University added their voices to a chorus of academicians around the nation who warned about potential unintended consequences of a preemptive war in Iraq. However, in the aftermath of 9/11 and the political climate leading up to the war, their warnings often went unnoticed; even after the Deseret News published a joint letter to the editor from the professors outlining their concerns. Because of their disquiet about invading Iraq, these professors were, at the time of their letter, accused of being unpatriotic or politically motivated. Their pre-war warnings are now heralded as insightful and remarkably accurate. Earlier this year the Deseret News reflected back on the professors published warnings and said, "...their expert predictions about the aftermath of an American invasion of Iraq now appear downright prophetic."

SUU is pleased to welcome five of these professors to campus to speak about Iraq and the war. Professor Bowen will focus on the big picture of Middle East. Professors Bryner and Danynes will speak take up the US Government point of view. Professors Hawkins and Jacoby will talk about international repercussions of the war. SUU would also like to acknowledge the cooperation of Professor Eric Hyer, PhD, the sixth author, who will not be able to join us because of commitments in Washington DC.

Read the above mentioned Deseret News Article here

Listen to or download a podcast of the 2007 Kennedy Center Lecture series presentation "The Future of Iraq" featuring Dr. Bowen and Dr. Hyer

Tuesday, October 23 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
International Week Address
Elvia Alvarado
Honduran Human Rights Activist and Peasant Leader

Elvia Alvarado is a peasant leader in Honduras, the poorest country in Central America. For 30 years Ms. Alvarado has been at the forefront of human rights and land reform struggles. She is a passionate voice on the effects of economic globalization, particularly on women and children. Ms. Alvarado will be building her entire U.S. speaking tour around her visit to Southern Utah University.

In her best selling book, Don¹t Be Afraid Gringo and the PBS documentary "Elvia and the Fight for Land and Liberty,” Alvarado tells her story. Trained by the Catholic Church to organize women’s groups to combat malnutrition, she began to question why peasants were malnourished. Her growing political awareness, travels by foot over the back roads of Honduras, and conversations with people from all over the country gave her insights into the internal workings of Honduran society and the courage to work to improve the lives of the country's most impoverished citizens. Alvarado has led dangerous land recovery actions in an effort to enforce national agrarian reform laws. As a result of her activities, she has been harassed, jailed and tortured at the hands of the Honduran military.

A powerful and inspiring speaker, she is currently the head of International Relations for the Union of Rural Workers. Elvia continues to work for justice for the poor of rural Honduras.

Learn more about Honduras

Read news about Honduras in the New York Times

Tuesday, October 30 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
George Washington
As portrayed by Carl Closs
Educator, Business Executive and Historian

Carl Closs is an educator and business executive who has dedicated his retirement since 1997 toward helping people discover the real George Washington. When you attend Carl's highly entertaining presentation, you'll realize his portrayal goes a lot deeper than simply dressing in a buff and blue uniform. Carl has spent countless hours poring through the General's original writings. This allows him to communicate little known, instructive facts about our first President.

While Carl now appears before groups located from coast to coast, he grew up and still resides in Southeastern Pennsylvania, an area that brims with a rich Revolutionary War heritage from the birthplace of our nation at Independence Hall to the windswept hills of Valley Forge. Carl taught school in Australia, Vietnam and the United States before he entered the commercial sector. He spent 25 years in corporate management in the fields of book publishing, corporate training and management consulting.

Carl utilizes his experiences as a soldier, educator, business executive and Washingtonian scholar to skillfully draw strong parallels between the way Washington responded to difficult challenges and situations all of us face today at home, on the job, in society or in the classroom.

Photo courtesy Pau Hana Productions

Review the history of President Washington on Wikipedia

Overview of President Washington at History.org

Tuesday, November 13 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
What a Choice!
As performed by Isabelle Kessler and Loren Kahn
Loren Kahn Puppet & Object Theatre

The Loren Kahn Puppet & Object Theatre from Albuquerque, NM performs throughout the U.S. and internationally. Their mission is to create and perform professional puppet and object theatre. They aim to foster appreciation and respect for arts and culture, to provide the social experience of being an audience, to inspire both enjoyment and critical thinking, and to give people a positive theatre experience.

Object Theatre uses symbolic objects as characters, creating a bridge between puppetry, theatre and visual art. Developed in Europe in the 1980s, Object Theatre is now performed internationally for all ages. Close to surrealism, Object Theatre shows inspire a wide rage of interpretations of philosophical questions.

Download more detailed information here

See video clips (and more) of Loren Kahn object theatre here

Tuesday, November 27 - 11:30 AM - SUU Auditorium
Border Angels and Border Realities: The Truth About the US/Mexico Border
Enrique Morones
Founder of Border Angels

In the debate about guest workers and border fences, we often forget the human side of the story. Enrique Morones is determined to help us all remember. He is the founder of Border Angels, a humanitarian organization which provides support and relief to migrant workers on the US-Mexican border. He wants Americans to know the truth about the people behind the immigration policy debates.

Enrique Morones was born in San Diego to Luis Morones and Laura Careaga. They instilled in him a deep love for Mexico and a passion for social justice and a deep spiritual faith. He lives by the scritpture, "When I was hungry did you give me to eat, when I was thirty did you give me to drink" Matthew 25:35. On March 20th 1998, Enrique was the first person to apply and be granted dual nationality with Mexico in a beautiful ceremony in Mexico City's National Palace.

Enrique has been featured on NBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, BBC, NPR, HBO, the Today Show, Univision's Don Francisco Presenta, Televisa Nacional, Rocio en Telemundo and countless other international media around the world. He is recognized as one of the 100 most influential Latinos in the USA by Hispanic Business Magazine and his recognitions include the Frontline Human Rights international award recipient for his lifelong commitment to human rights causes.

Download a more detailed bio for Mr. Morones

Border Angels website