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Audience – Readers

Category: Audience – Readers

Campus Conversations Series

Practical Politics: Real Talk, Real Strategies

Wednesday, Jan. 22 | 12-1 p.m.
Warch 226 – Mead Witter

This event features Dr. Timothy Shaffer, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse and Director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware. 

“Practical Politics: Real Talk, Real Strategies” invites students, faculty, and staff to explore the power of dialogue in driving change. Through interactive discussions, gain practical tools for navigating tough conversations, fostering civil discourse, and building strategies to make your voice matter in politics and beyond.

The Campus Conversations series brings together leading constitutional and legal scholars, along with civil discourse experts, to explore critical issues at the intersection of law, governance, and society. It aligns with Lawrence University’s mission by fostering engaged learning, cultivating sound judgment, and promoting respect for diverse perspectives in a transformative liberal arts environment.

Lunch will be available! Please RSVP by Jan. 20.

Facilities Project Updates

  • Mudd Library: Work will be ongoing through summer
  • Campus: Annual maintenance power outage, July 14
  • Chapel Façade: Renovation to begin summer 2025 TBD
  • Brokaw/Colman/West Campus parking lot: resurfaced summer 2025 TBD
  • Quads 3-4-5, Wilson House, Big Exec: Fire system upgrades summer 2025 TBD

Watch for updates weekly; TBD dates will be filled in as learned. Please note that dates are subject to change due to weather or supply chain issues. Please be safe when in these areas!

Safety Planning Workshop for 2SLGBTQIA+ students

We are hosting a Safety Planning Workshop geared toward 2SLGBTQIA+ students that is open to all students. We will meet Thursday, Jan. 16 from 4-6 p.m. in the Diversity & Intercultural Center.

Our friends at Diverse + Resilient will be sharing their wisdom on how marginalized people can live with safety in mind. The presentation will help you understand what safety Planning is and what strategies you can use to recognize and prepare for difficult or dangerous situations. You will also be able to work through some practice scenarios to use the tools you learned.

Safety Planning is important for all of us in marginalized communities, especially at a time when those who don’t believe in our rights are empowered.

If you plan on attending this event, please RSVP via the link below.

Blu’s Food Pantry Form and Donation Reminder

The Blu’s Food Pantry Winter Term Request Form is now open for pantry orders to be placed! The pantry provides food, hygiene products, and basic school supplies for students with need. Students can submit one order per week using this Microsoft Form.

If you are interested in donating to Blu’s Food Pantry, please place non-perishable donations in the boxes located around campus. Boxes are located in Warch, Memorial, Steitz, and the Con lobby. If you have any questions or notice a donation box needs to be emptied, please contact diversitycenter@lawrence.edu.

Practical Politics: Real Talk, Real Strategies

Wednesday, Jan. 22
Faculty & Staff Lunch | Noon | Warch 226 – Mead Witter
Student Dinner | 5:30 p.m. | Warch 325 – Pusey

The Campus Conversations series continues with Dr. Timothy Shaffer, PhD. Dr. Shaffer is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse at the University of Delaware, focusing on civic engagement, deliberative democracy, and transformative educational practices globally.

“Practical Politics: Real Talk, Real Strategies” invites students, faculty, and staff to explore the power of dialogue in driving change. Through interactive discussions, you will gain practical tools for navigating tough conversations, fostering civil discourse, and building strategies to make your voice matter in politics and beyond.

All faculty and staff are invited to a lunch event at noon in Mead Witter. All students are invited to a dinner event at 5:30 PM in the Pusey Room. RSVP in advance.

Lawrence Dance Series presents Elise Knudson + rebeca medina

Saturday, Jan. 18

Open Community Workshop in Contact Improvisation

12-2 p.m. | Warch 225 – Esch Hurvis

Elise Knudson and rebeca medina will join to share their body-mind practices of listening to the pull of the earth and to each other. This class will start with a detailed warm-up of the spine and will move into exploring states of touch and movement. This will develop into a dance where the focus will be on discovering new challenges in the specific excavation of pouring weight. 

No registration is required. Some understanding or knowledge of Contact Improvisation appreciated/expected. 

Email Margaret Paek with questions (margaret.s.paek@lawrence.edu).

U.F.O., an Improvisational Performance

7 p.m. | Warch 225 – Esch Hurvis

U.F.O. (Uncharted Forms of the Occasion) is an improvisational performance practice bringing together musicians and movers to spontaneously compose for an audience. Inspired by a lineage of improvisational group performance formats such as Hyperlocal MKE and Lower Left’s Available Space in San Diego, U.F.O. is a site for artists to gather and create—relying on their years of individual improvisational research and practices to support this delightful and sometimes precarious community endeavor.

This iteration of U.F.O. is directed by special Dance Series artists Elise Knudson + rebeca medina and collaboratively and improvisationally created and performed by Elise Knudson, rebeca medina, Greg Riss, Jean Carlo Ureña Gonzalez, Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, Margaret Sunghe Paek, Matt Turner, Mauriah Donegan Kraker, and Tim Albright. 

Main Hall Forum: Patricia Smith’s “Unshuttered”

Thursday, January 16 | 4:30-6 p.m.
Main 201

Our winter term Convocation speaker Patricia Smith has taken inspiration from her collection of 19th-century portraits of Black Americans in her book Unshuttered. Her work has been described as “an act of revivification, providing voice for those who might have otherwise been erased from history.” All are welcome—let’s discuss!

Povolny Lecture Series

Continuity or Change: US Foreign Policy in a Trump Administration

Tuesday, January 14 | 4:30-6 p.m.
Warch 204 – Cinema

This lecture is open to all on campus.

Speakers:

  • Ameya Balsekar (Moderator)
  • Jason Brozek (Environment)
  • Merton Finkler (Economics & Trade)
  • Louise Raw (London Center, UK & US)
  • Arnold Shober (Domestic Politics)
  • Claudena Skran (Migration)