August
*Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling (501) 683-5239.
“A Pearl for Kizzy: A World War II Novel,” Ed Bethune
Monday, August 22, 2016 at 12:00 Noon (Sturgis Hall) *Book Signing to Follow
– Ed Bethune is an author and a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas. In his new book, A Pearl for Kizzy: A World War II Novel, Bethune tells the story of Kizzy, a spirited child that lives with her family on a one-room houseboat in Big Pearl, Arkansas. At the onset of World War II, Kizzy befriends a young boy, who is a refugee from Nazi Germany, and a cultured young woman who encourages her to read Jane Austen’s books. In A Pearl for Kizzy, Bethune relates Kizzy’s struggle to today’s culture war and examines love, pride, compassion, courage, hope, morality, and duty.
“From the Killing Fields to the White House: The American Dream in First Person,” Ambassador Sichan Siv
Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– Sichan Siv is the international bestselling author of Golden Bones: An Extraordinary Journey from Hell in Cambodia to a New Life in America. In Golden Bones, Siv tells his own story of fleeing Cambodia after being captured and forced to perform slave labor by Khmer Rouge officials. In 1976, he escaped the killing fields in Cambodia and resettled as a refugee in Connecticut. He went on to work as Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush in the White House and at the State Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed him as an ambassador to the United Nations, where he served until 2006, and represented the United States at the 60th anniversary of the United Nations.
Summit on Inclusion and Diversity with Start Here Little Rock
Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– Start Here Little Rock is launching a program to increase engagement of women and minorities in Little Rock in the entrepreneurial process and to increase access to entrepreneurial information, resources, and training. This one-day workshop will feature a variety of entrepreneurial and small business support organizations and will focus on educating attendees about the services they provide. Participants will learn how to connect to and best leverage these resources. During the second half of the program, attendees will hear local success stories from women and minority entrepreneurs across a wide range of industries and backgrounds. For more information, visit www.startherelr.org
Meredith Walker, executive director and co-creator of Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls
Monday, August 29, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– Meredith Walker is the executive director and co-creator of Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Smart Girls is a groundbreaking way to use the internet to inspire, encourage, and celebrate the lives of young women. The former head of the talent department at Saturday Night Live, Walker now devotes all of her time to Smart Girls by leading workshops, service days, and Smart Girls volunteer teams. Smart Girls helps young people cultivate their authentic selves and emphasizes intelligence and imagination over “fitting in.”
September
*Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling (501) 683-5239.
Monty Python’s Spamalot, a panel with The Rep
Thursday, September 1, 2016 at 12:00 Noon (Sturgis Hall) *In partnership with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre
– Monty Python’s Spamalot blends the most quotable parts of the cult comedy classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail with the satire of the entertainment industry. Obstacles such as witches, wizards, killer bunny rabbits with big pointy teeth, and the French are just a few of the things Arthur and his brave knights must vanquish on their eternal quest to find the Holy Grail, and along the way, proving that you should always look on the bright side of life. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical, Spamalot opens at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre on September 2.
Mel Coleman, President of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 at 12:00 Noon (Sturgis Hall)
– Mel Coleman is the CEO of North Arkansas Electric Cooperative and the president of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) board of directors. NRECA is the largest trade association based in Washington, D.C., serving the nation’s more than 900 electric cooperatives. Coleman has served in numerous national, state, and local leadership roles in his career. North Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, which is based in Salem, Arkansas, is part of the 17-member Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, the Little Rock-based cooperative that provides electricity to nearly 500,000 homes, farms, and businesses in Arkansas and surrounding states.
Little Rock Paper Airplane Championship to benefit the Lymphomaniac Society
Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– The Lymphomaniac Society is proud to host the Little Rock Paper Airplane Championship on Saturday, September 10. This fun event for children and adults will benefit the Lymphomaniac Society, which provides respite trips for cancer survivors and their caregiver upon completion of treatment. Participants will compete in distance and airtime events in categories from Family (6 and under) to Adult Professional. There will be a variety of food trucks on site. For registration and sponsorship opportunities, visit http://www.lrpaperairplane.com
Jeremy Richman, founder of the Avielle Foundation
Monday, September 12, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– Jeremy Richman is the founder of the Avielle Foundation and the father of Avielle Richman, who was one of the children murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy. Dr. Richman has extensive research experience that spans the range from neuroscience and neuropsychopharmacology, to cardiovascular biology, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, immunology and inflammation, and kidney disease. The Avielle Foundation was founded to prevent violence and build compassion through neuroscience research, community engagement, and education.
Dana Suskind, director and principal investigator of Thirty Million Words
Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 12:00 Noon (Sturgis Hall)
– Dana Suskind is professor of surgery at the University of Chicago, director of the pediatric cochlear implant program, and founder and director of the Thirty Million Words initiative at the University of Chicago Medical School. Based on scientific research that shows the critical importance of early language exposure on the developing child, Thirty Million Words helps parents enhance their home language environment in order to optimize their child’s brain development and therefore, his or her ability to learn.
“Can the Gift of a Cow Really Change a Life?,” with Alex Winter-Nelson and Peter Goldsmith
Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– Alex Winter-Nelson and Peter Goldsmith are both professors in the College of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne. Winter-Nelson and Goldsmith will present their findings of an ongoing study with Heifer International that focuses on the gift of dairy cows, draft cattle, and meat goats to farmers in Zambia’s Copperbelt region. The researches will unpack data from the first 18 months of the five-year study that examines how the livestock gifts, along with training in animal management, might change diets, the purchase of non-food items, and how farmers perceive their own economic status. Over a longer time frame, they also examine evidence of changes in women’s empowerment and decision-making in the households that received animals.
Kevin Merida, editor-in-chief for ESPN’s “The Undefeated”
Tuesday or Wednesday, September 20 or 21, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– Kevin Merida is the editor-in-chief for “The Undefeated,” ESPN’s new website that provides in-depth reporting, commentary, and insight on race and culture through the lens of sports with innovative storytelling, original reporting, and provocative commentary. Merida is the former managing editor for news at the Washington Post and is the author of two previous books, Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas and Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs.
Elaine Kamarck, “Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again”
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)*Book Signing to Follow
– Elaine Kamarck is an author and the director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution. In her new book, Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again, Kamarck surveys recent presidential failures to understand why Americans have lost faith in their leaders. She argues that presidents today spend too much time talking and not enough time governing. As a Harvard academic and former White House insider, Kamarck explains the difficulties of governing in our modern political landscape, and offers examples and recommendations of how our next president can not only recreate faith in leadership but also run a competent, successful administration.
*Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling (501) 683-5239.
*If you are unable to attend a public program in person, you can watch most programs live online here.
Responses