Seminar on Haiti by Auburn professor available on iTunes
Monday, February 1st, 2010
An Auburn University professor in the College of Agriculture who was on the ground during the massive earthquake that devastated Haiti and who provided medical care to many of the victims presented a seminar about his experience on Friday, Jan. 22. This seminar is available for viewing at AU iTunes. Dennis Shannon, professor of agronomy and soils, arrived in Haiti the day before the earthquake struck and was standing in his hotel lobby when the tremors began. Shannon, a U.S. Department of Agriculture economist and two University of Florida agronomists were in the country to work on a food security initiative for the U.S. Department of State. The details of his experience in Haiti, as well as his thoughts on what should be done in the immediate and long-term future to help the Haitian people recover, were included in his presentation. You can find Shannon's seminar by following these steps: Click this link, click on Distance Learning and Outreach Technology, select Presentations, select Faculty Presentations and there you will find Shannon's seminar. If you have questions, contact Leslie Keeler in Distance Learning at lak0007@auburn.edu.
This year’s Big Read book is Mark Twain’s "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment. Auburn University will host a public lecture by Alan Gribben, internationally known Mark Twain scholar, on Thursday, Feb. 11, at 3 p.m. in the Special Collections lecture room at the Ralph B. Draughon Library. Gribben's lecture will focus on "Ten Good Reasons to Read Tom Sawyer." Other events include a scavenger hunt and public Lunch and Learn discussions. To read more go to this 
Technology security expert Bruce Schneier will present a Littleton-Franklin Lecture, "Beyond Security Theater: Fighting Terrorism the Smart Way," at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, in the Sciences Center auditorium, College of Sciences and Mathematics. Dubbed "security guru" by The Economist, Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist and author. His bestseller, "Applied Cryptology," explains the science of secret codes and was described by Wired magazine as "the book the National Security Agency wanted never to be published." Schneier's other books include "Secrets and Lies," "Beyond Fear" and "Schneier on Security." For more information, contact Jim Bradley at 
The first spring meeting of the Philosophy Club's series "Philosophy at the Gnu's Room" will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at 5 p.m. The location will be the Gnu's Room cafe at the intersection of Gay Street and Samford Avenue. The topic of this meeting will be "The Problem of Evil." The meeting will start with short presentations by the panelists (students and faculty members from the Department of Philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts) and will continue and end with an open discussion. The event is free and open to the public. Before the meeting, the Philosophy Club will have a special bake sale outside of the Gnu's Room cafe.
The humanities in today’s world will be the topic of a panel discussion on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m. at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. “Beyond the Rhetoric of Crisis – Strategies for Future Success in the Humanities” will be presented by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. The presentation will feature Gregg Lambert, founding director of the Syracuse University Humanities Center, and Corri Zoli, a humanities research and grants consultant at Syracuse. It will address current challenges as well as changes in the historical humanities and the traditional disciplines. The panel discussion is open to the public and is the first in a series of presentations leading up to a campus- and community-wide focus on the arts and humanities in the fall of 2010. For more information contact Jay Lamar, director, Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities, at 
Brian Selmeski, a scholar at the Air Force Culture and Language Center at Air University Maxwell Air Force Base, will be giving a presentation, "Cross-Cultural Competence and U.S. Air Force Education," at the monthly meeting of the China India Interest Group at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, in 1103 Shelby Center for Engineering Technology. The Air Force Culture and Language Center is an interdisciplinary academic unit responsible for cross-cultural competency educational, training and research at Air University. This group prepares military and nonmilitary individuals and organizations for international exchanges and collaborations through negotiation, building relationships and communicating across cultural differences and tailoring these general knowledge and skills to particular geographical or regional contexts. 
Book artist Steve Miller will present "The Alabama-Cuba Connection: Collaboration in the Art of the Book" on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 4 p.m. at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. Miller teaches letterpress printing and hand papermaking at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Although, his primary focus is the teaching of traditional bookmaking, he is also the proprietor of Red Hydra Press. His current work revolves largely around ongoing collaborative book projects with Cuban print and papermakers. This lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Colleen Bourdeau at 
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Auburn University, OLLI at Auburn, will host a brown bag lunch meeting featuring Mary Carol Moran, who will discuss her new book, "Equivocal Blessing," on Tuesday, Jan. 26, from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the Lexington Hotel, 1577 S. College St. Moran is also a poet, an instructor for OLLI at Auburn and a certified yoga instructor and therapist. All interested people are invited to bring a lunch and attend the talk. For more information, contact Linda Shook, OLLI at Auburn coordinator, at 844-5100 or 
The Community Involvement Workshop Series has changed. On Thursday, Jan. 28, Sid James and Jeff McNeill will co-teach a two-hour course on fund raising and volunteer management. On Thursday, Feb. 4, Roberta Jackel and Shiela Eckman will co-teach a two-hour course on community organizing. Please register at this 
Wylin Wilson will present a talk titled "Christian Identity and Economic Justice in the Rural South" on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 3 p.m. in the Special Collections and Archives Department of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library as part of the Discover Auburn series. Wilson is a scholar-in-residence at Dunstans Episcopal Church at Auburn University. The lecture will focus on the gap in theological and ethical discourse regarding serious consideration of marginalized populations such as rural Southern, persistently impoverished African Americans in the Black Belt. Discover Auburn is a yearlong series that features programs on research, history and other topics of interest by Auburn faculty, staff and graduates. The series will continue on Feb. 18 with a talk by James Brown titled "Growing Vegetables Organically." This lecture is cosponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University Libraries and the Access and Community Initiatives, Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. For more information on the program and the series, contact the Center at 844-4946 or visit this 
Associate Dean Christa Slaton in the College of Liberal Arts will present "Building Scholarship from Outreach Efforts - Research and Teaching, Symbiotic Relationship" at the third session of the Engagement and Service Learning Colloquia on Tuesday, Jan. 19, from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in 2222 Student Center. Seating is limited; please RSVP via the 
The Student Government Association's annual Academic Integrity Week will take place Jan. 19-21 and will feature events to encourage academic integrity at Auburn University. The SGA will host Donald McCabe of Rutgers University as this year's guest speaker and it invites students and faculty to attend his presentation Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Student Center ballroom. The first 250 students entering the ballroom will receive coupons provided by local bookstores; all students who attend will have the opportunity to win door prizes from local businesses as well. Students can earn five spirit points each. A roundtable discussion with McCabe will take place at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 21 in 2222 Student Center.
The Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs is sponsoring Auburn University's first campus-based session of LeaderShape Auburn, an intensive, energizing and unique six-day educational experience designed to develop students' ability to lead with integrity and to have a positive impact on their surrounding community. Each session is comprised of approximately 60 students with a variety of experiences and backgrounds. Participants create a LeaderShape Vision which is a statement of purpose that describes a picture of where they want to be in the future. This vision can include personal change on many levels and can also encompass the aspirations and development of entire organizations and communities. After students return from LeaderShape, they are energized and empowered to make their vision a reality on campus and within the surrounding community. Faculty may nominate students until Friday, Jan. 15. Those selected will receive a personal e-mail inviting them to LeaderShape Auburn. Nominations may be sent to Danielle Smith at 
The Office of Sustainability and the College of Business MBA program are bringing renowned environmental advocate Woodrow Clark to Auburn this week. Clark was part of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shared the Nobel prize for their work on climate issues. He will be giving a talk on the "Third Industrial Revolution" on Tuesday, Jan. 12, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lowder Business Building. If you are interested in attending, contact Katie Brock at 
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Auburn University, or OLLI at Auburn, will host a meeting featuring Alabama author Kathryn Tucker Windham on Monday, Jan. 11, at 10 a.m. in the second floor ballroom at the Lexington Hotel, 1577 S. College St. The public is invited to attend the presentation by Windham. The meeting marks the beginning of the winter term 2010 for OLLI at Auburn, a non-credit, peer-led learning program. For more information, contact the OLLI office at 844-5100 or go to this 
Student Counseling Services, or SCS, is coordinating "Take a Break from the Books: Stress Reduction Day" on Dec. 9 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m on the first floor of the Raulph Brown Draughon Library. This event coincides with the first day of finals and SCS staff and volunteers will be available to provide stress management tips, wellness-promoting activities and informational resources for students, staff and members of the community. A chief aim of the program is to encourage healthy balance, self-care and appropriate breaks to combat the stress of finals.
The Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve welcomes the public to join them at a Holiday Wreath Workshop on Saturday, Dec.12, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Ginger Purvis and the preserve staff will help participants make fresh holiday wreaths using natural greenery, pine cones and berries. Children will be making a cotton angel ornament. The cost is $15 per wreath and registration is required. For more information, call 707-6512 or send an e-mail to 
Carnegie Foundation consulting scholar Amy Driscoll will speak on "Course Development, Design and Curriculum Revision for Service Learning" at the second session of the 
