Join The Harkin Institute on Thursday, April 12, at 7 p.m. to hear a panel of national security experts discuss how to keep America safe from the top global security threats of the day.

The discussion will address existing global security threats to the United States, both at home and abroad, and what is being done to keep the country safe.

The Sussman Lecture Series is dedicated to the study of issues that define our public life and to engaging students and citizens in constructive dialogue regarding these issues.

Established by Richard Sussman, AS’51, in memory of his late wife Lila, the Sussman Lecture Series takes place twice a year and invites notable public figures to discuss topical current events.

Tickets are required and seating is limited. Register now.

— Emily Schettler, The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement

Drake’s College of Business and Public Administration graduate programs presents the 101 Speaker Series: Healthcare Today.

This session, focused on healthcare, will take place Wednesday, March 14. Doors open at 11:45 a.m. and the program begins at 12 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions on a wide range of topics. Lunch is provided for the first 50 people who register. Registration is required. The series is open to the public and parking is provided free of charge. Bring your business card to be entered into a door prize drawing.

The 101 Speaker Series is designed to engage the audience through interaction with our local panel of experts. Panel experts include:

Nataliya Boychenko
AVP, Employee Benefits, Shareholder, Holmes Murphy & Associates

Scott Sundstrom
Vice President, Government Relations, Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield

Jami Little

Program Integrity Specialist, Iowa Medicaid Enterprise

Dianna Gray, College of Business & Public Administration

On Wednesday, March 7, from 3 to 5 p.m., organizations from on and off campus will host interactive and informational booths related to sexual and reproductive health in Upper Olmsted. Organizations are encouraged to focus on being approachable, non-judgmental, and fun. This year, Primary Health Care will be offering free and confidential STD and STI testing during the event in nearby private space—no appointment is necessary.

Tess Cody, Violence Prevention & Programming

The Drake University Science Colloquium Series presents, “Protein-Protein Interactions in the Cytoskeleton of Ciliated Protozoan Tetrahymena thermophile,” by senior Noah Skantz and Jerry Honts, associate professor of biology, on Friday, March 9. The event will take place from 12 to 12:50 p.m. in Harvey Ingham Hall, Room 134.

Sharyn O’Connor, College of Arts & Sciences

Mark Harris, senior lecturer in science and religion at the University of Edinburgh, will present the next lecture in The Comparison Project’s series on miracles on Thursday, March 8, at 7 p.m. in Sussman Theater.

Harris’s lecture will discuss conventional assumptions in theological and philosophical discussions of miracles that science can be adequately dealt with simply by invoking ‘the laws of nature’, such that a miracle transgresses these laws. He will talk about the shortcomings of these assumptions, arguing that there is a need to address wider underpinning concepts in the philosophy of science, including naturalism, the uniformity of nature, and the unity of science. Harris will suggest new ways forward for thinking about miracles by bringing in insights from debates in geology.

Harris studied geology at Cambridge University before moving into mainstream physics in Oxford, first in a postdoc at the University of Oxford, then in a staff position at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. For about 10 years, Harris established his interests in the physics of magnetic materials. After exploring a calling to ordination in the Church of England, Harris read theology at Oxford in the early 2000s, and moved into parish ministry and university chaplaincy. In 2012, he constructed the University of Edinburgh’s new master’s program in science and religion and has been a director of the program ever since. Harris’s teaching and research focuses on the relationship between Christian theology and the physical sciences. He is especially interested in the impact of science on modern views of the Bible, especially in thinking on miracles and divine action. Harris is in the process of working on a book project on naturalism, and the ways that historical debates on naturalism in geology provide a new way of looking at miracles.

Monique Rodriguez, College of Arts & Sciences

Today, March 6, the East Asian Film Series will show its second film: Shin Godzilla (Japan, 2016). The film will begin at 6 p.m. in Harvey Ingham Hall, Room 134. It is about a giant monster who destroys Tokyo as the government struggles to respond. The film is co-sponsored by the East Asian Studies Minor and the Department of Political Science. Students from the class government and politics of Japan will lead a discussion following the film. Contact Professor Mary M. McCarthy for information about this film or others in the series.

Mary M. McCarthy, Department of Political Science

The Community Outreach Student Senate Committee is hosting a panel on International Women’s Day, March 8, at 7 p.m. in Parents Hall South in the Olmsted Center. The panel will feature powerful women in the Des Moines community. Please come out and show your support.

Avery Malinski

The Drake Choir and Chamber Choir will perform today, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium. The concert, on the eve of the choirs’ tour of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, will feature music by contemporary American, Korean, and Lithuanian composers, as well as works by Rheinberger, Handel, and Finzi. There is no admission charge.

— Aimee Beckmann-Collier, College of Arts & Sciences