Editor's Introduction
Our (Chemical) World, Our Juniata: 'The World of Things That Change'
Speaker: Ursula Williams
Occasion: Opening Convocation
Date: 29 August 2019
In her opening convocation address, Ursula Williams, assistant professor of chemistry, contemplates why she is a chemist. She notes that chemistry examines how matter changes. More importantly, though, studying chemistry provides insight into the human experience, including the roles played by bias and perspective.
Multiple Perspectives on Kimi Cunningham Grant’s Fallen Mountains
Speaker: Christopher Grant, James Lakso, Territa Poole, James Roney, and Kathryn Westcott
Occasion: Discussion of the Common Read
Date: 4 September 2019
A panel of distinguished scholars representing disciplinary perspectives including economics, ecology, psychology, and literature discuss the novel Fallen Mountains by Kimi Cunningham Grant. The novel served as Juniata College’s common read during the summer of 2019. The speakers consider the characters, decision making, and personality development, all in the context of the benefits and costs of the fracking boom in Pennsylvania.
Commercializing a Research Discovery: From the Bench to Business
Speaker: Regina Lamendella
Occasion: Bookend Seminar
Date: 11 December 2019
In this Bookend Seminar talk, Regina Lamendella, associate professor of biology and the George ’75 and Cynthia ’76 Valko professor of biological sciences, recounts the educational and intellectual journey leading to her current research on the microbiome and to the founding of two companies focused on the detection and diagnosis of prosthetic joint infections, inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s, Lyme disease, and more. Lamendella highlights the role of scientific skill and analysis but also the importance of curiosity, wonder, and student collaboration.
Every Wednesday
Speaker: Aaron Harris
Occasion: Keynote Address, Inside-Out
Date: 11 December 2019
Aaron Harris shares his perspectives as an inside student in the course “Imprisonment and the Realities of Reentry” taught at the State Correctional Institution Smithfield with students from inside and from Juniata. He emphasizes the validation, connections, and humanization he found through the course and encourages the Department of Corrections to replicate this model.
Hamilton Didn't Lead Me to Happiness; Happiness Led Me to Hamilton: Life Lessons on the Pursuit of Purpose
Speaker: Bryan Terrell Clark
Occasion: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Series for Inclusive Excellence
Date: 22 January 2020
In this talk delivered in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Bryan Terrell Clark shares personal stories and stories of family members whose life experiences helped teach him the value of high expectations, education, resilience, giving, and empowering. Clark, who uses exposure to the arts to empower young changemakers to dream big and discover the best version of themselves, challenges us to follow our passion, find our purpose, take responsibility for our own happiness, and be grateful.
Commensality: The Essential Concept of Food Studies
Speakers: James Tuten
Occasion: Bookend Seminar
Date: 12 February 2020
Food is important as fuel for our bodies, but to James Tuten, professor of history at Juniata College, it plays an especially important role in bringing people together. Meaningful relationships and social bonds develop in settings that range from coffee shops to Thanksgiving feasts, and such commensality should serve as an antidote to our culture of busyness and staring at our phones.
The Space in Between
Speaker: Rachel DesFosses
Occasion: Bailey Oratorical Contest
Date: 5 March 2020
The winner of Juniata College’s 2020 Bailey Oratorical, Rachel DesFosses shares her speech on the challenges of being multiracial in a society that emphasizes a single identity, as demonstrated by single-option ethnicity-selection choices on official forms. DesFosses encourages us to think of who we are and what we could become, not to be restricted by these preset expectations.
Also available to watch through Juniata College's YouTube.
The Lie I’m Telling Myself Today: Living a Lie in Pursuit of Happiness and Success
Speaker: James Tuten
Occasion: Liberal Arts Symposium
Date: 6 May 2020
Dr. James Tuten, professor of history at Juniata College and 2019 winner of the Beachley Award for Distinguished Teaching, confesses to students how he has used harmless lies to himself and others to motivate himself toward success. He also describes several kinds of harmful lies that one should not tell, including thinking “I am an imposter,” “I cannot do it,” “People are merely a means to an end,” and “I don’t have time to relax.” His astute and disarmingly honest advice, supported by the science of psychology (as revealed in expert notes by Dr. Mark McKellop, professor of psychology at Juniata College), is intended to help everyone meet the many challenges of everyday life.
Also available to watch through Juniata College's YouTube.
Not as Nice as the Quad but Better Than the Gym: The Class of 2020 Graduates over Zoom during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Speaker: Karan Nair
Occasion: 142nd Juniata College Commencement
Date: 16 May 2020
In his commencement address to the Juniata College graduates of 2020, class president Karan Nair pays homage to the growth, learning, and memories made over the previous four years. He also acknowledges some of the opportunities the COVID-19 pandemic stole from them during the Spring of 2020. Graduating from college, always an accomplishment, became more under these trying times, entitling each to proclaim, “We made it” with pride.