Past Events

Wes Jackson, founder and director of The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, An Agriculture Where Prairie is the Measure. (1999)

Jonathan Chenette, Blanche Johnson Professor of Music, Grinnell College; and Paula Smith, professor of English, Grinnell College: Prairie, Pen and Piano: How the Land is Written and Sung. (1999)

Richard Manning, author: Learning to Live by Reading Prairie's Paradox. (2000)

Johnathan Buffalo, tribal historian of the Sac and Fox Tribe: Meskwaki History. (Part One of the Speaker Series: Ethnicity in Iowa.) (2000)

Dorothy Schweider, professor of history, Iowa State University: Land of Milk and Honey: Immigration to Iowa 1840 - 1920. (Part Two of the Speaker Series: Ethnicity in Iowa.) (2000)

Author Katharine Stall read from her novel-in-progress, Dr. Zen, and conducted a creative writing workshop with students in the Advanced Printmaking Class. (2000)

Bob Langnas, assistant professor of printmaking and painting, Culver-Stockton College, presented a slide-lecture, Pictures for Today: A Cross Section of Recent Work. (2000)

Ed Fallon, 1000 Friends of Iowa, Urban Sprawl in Iowa and its Effects on Farms and Downtowns. (2000)

Michael Carey, poet – farmer, Farragut, IA, and Carl Kurtz, photographer – farmer, St. Anthony, Iowa, The Art of Living With the Land. ( 2000)

Morgan Robertson. Alumni Scholar Program Lecture. No Net Loss of Capitalism: The Political Ecology of Ecological Restoration. (2001)

Jonathan Chenette: Rural Symphony: Music, Farming, and the Prairie. (2001)

Michael Duffy, professor, Department of Economics, Iowa State University: The Changing Structure of Agriculture in Iowa. (2002) Video 23

Gerald Wilhelm, vice-president for Environmental Services of Conservation Design Forum, Inc., Elmhurst, IL: Misperceiving our Native Ecosystem through the Lens of English. (2002) Video 25

Henry Wulff, president of the Railroad Passengers Association of Iowa: The Present Status & Future Possibilities of Passenger Rail Travel in Iowa. (2002) Video 27

Neil D. Hamilton, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and Director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University; chair, Iowa Food Policy Council: Putting a Face on Iowans' Food. (A segment of the Roots of Renewal Community Speaker Series) (2003) Video 32

Dr. Douglas Foley, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin: The Impact of the Casino on the Meskwakie Settlement. (A segment of the Roots of Renewal Community Speaker Series) (2003)

Dr. Joni Kinsey, Department of Art History, University of Iowa: Prairie Redux: Images of Renewal in the Midwest . (A segment of the Roots of Renewal Community Speaker Series) (2003) Video 37

Dr. Marty S. Knepper, English Department, Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa: Nostalgia vs. Realism: What Can We Learn from Images of Iowa in Popular Films? (A segment of the Roots of Renewal Community Speaker Series) (2003) Video 38

Anne Woodrick, Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology, University of Northern Iowa: Global Forces, Immigration and Living the American Dream in Iowa. (A segment of the Roots of Renewal Community Speaker Series) (2003) Video 39

Solveig Hanson '01 and Michael Nash, both of GROWN Locally: Growing Up By Staying Small: Human Scale Solutions for Local Food Distribution. (2004)

Robert Wolf, writer and publisher from Lansing, Iowa; and Tom Lacina, president of Wildwood Harvest, Inc., of Grinnell: The 9th Annual Local Foods Conference. Co-sponsored with Iowa Network for Community Agriculture (2004) Video 40

Rachel Melis, Grinnell '01, MFA U. Wisconsin- Madison '04. Alumni Scholar Program Lecture. Interseed: An Artist's Interactions with Prairies and Savannas. (2004)

Jo Ortel, associate professor of art history, Beloit College, Wisconsin: The Current and the Stream: Some Thoughts on Collaboration. Truman Lowe, professor of art history, University of Wisconsin - Madison: Artist Talk. (2004)

Harvest Lecture Series: Living with Topsoil
Mary Swander, Patrick Ireland, Thomas K. Dean, Steve Semken (2004)

Carl Kurtz, photographer – farmer, St. Anthony, Iowa, and Tom Rosburg, Department of Biology, Drake University, “Photographing Wildness in Your Own Backyard.” (2005)

Dr. Hal Chase, an historian at Des Moines Area Community College, "Outside In: African-Americans in Grinnell and in Iowa: 1838 - 2000." (2005)

Harvest Lecture Series: Prairie Weather
Scott Cawelti, Patrick Irelan, and Debra Marquart ( 2005)

Stephen Bloom, Professor of Journalism, University of Iowa, Postville, Iowa: A Clash of Cultures - Lessons Learned. (2005)

Dr. Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Shaping the New Biosociety: Life Science and Social Values in Africa. (2006)

Poweshiek Skipper Day. Jonathan Andelson, Professor and Directorof the Center for Prairie Studies, Professor Henry W. Parker, Discoverer of the Poweshiek Skipper; Sandy Moffett, Poweshiek County Supervisor, Remarks on the Poweshiek Skipper in Relation to Prairie Restoration in Poweshiek County;Harlan Ratcliff; Butterfly Scientist, Butterfly Magic and the Poweshiek Skipper. (June 24, 2006)

Regionalism: an Alternative to Economic Globalization. Jonathan Andelson, professor of anthropology at Grinnell College and director of the college's Center for Prairie Studies, "The Case for Regionalism."  Christine Taliga, director of the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development office, announced the publication of the IOWA RIVER CORRIDOR BOOK. Ken Meter, agricultural economist and president of Crossroads Resource Center, Minneapolis, "Finding Food in Farm Country: Local Food as Economic Development in Eastern Iowa." (February 6, 2007)

Dan O'Brien, nationally-known author, presented a public lecture, "Humans and Wild Things." (February 27, 2007)

Andy Kropa, artist, spoke about his exhibition of photographs, Little Allende, America. (September 11, 2007)

Martha Norbeck, Iowa green architect and ecovisionary, and Lawrence (Lonnie) Gamble, electrical engineer and green developer, gave a presentation, followed informal discussion: Green Building and Community Design: Two Agents of Social and Environmental Change. (November 14, 2007)

Lawrence Gamble, The Durable Alternative to New Coal Plants, (March 4, 2008)

Speaker Series: Spreading Sustainable Agriculture. Teva Dawson: Digging Deeper: A Food Self-sufficiency Program for Low-income Residents of Des Moines; Tim Wilson: Creating Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Chicago; Amy Broadmoore: What Can Government Do for Sustainable Agriculture? (Feb. 12, Feb. 28, and Apr. 15, 2008)

Thomas Dean, special assistant to the president at the University of Iowa, read from his book “Under a Midland Sky” (Ice Cube Press, 2008) and gave a talk: Giving Voice to a Quiet Place: Paul Gruchow, Prairie Prophet. (Jan. 29, 2009)

Wes Jackson, founder and president of the Land Institute, "Events Leading to a 50 Year Farm Bill," (April 2009)