Pre-session

Benjamin Franklin: Scientist, Diplomat, Author—and Role Model?

In January 2022, the United States will mark the 316th birthday of one of its most productive and versatile citizens, Benjamin Franklin. It’s a perfect time to revisit the man once called a “harmonious human multitude”. If there were a Triple Crown for lifetime achievement, Franklin would have earned two or even three. One of the leading founders of the United States, he left his mark on the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution—all after he turned 70. Before becoming this political force, he was America’s greatest printer, author, scientist, and inventor. In his spare time, he served as the country’s first postmaster general, created political cartoons and witty aphorisms, and founded or co-founded the first public lending library, a volunteer fire department, the American Philosophical Society, and the institution that would become the University of Pennsylvania.

In this lecture, we will survey these achievements, as well as Franklin’s fascinating rise from “poverty and obscurity” (as he put it in his autobiography) to world renown, and we will consider some of the lessons we can apply to our own efforts to improve ourselves and our world.

Instructor: Mark Canada, BA’89

Mark Canada is executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, interim deputy chancellor, and professor of English at IU Kokomo.

As a scholar of American literature, he has written numerous articles for Journalism History, Southern Cultures, The Conversation, and other outlets. His seven books include the new Audible Original Ben Franklin's Lessons in Life, Edgar Allan Poe: Master of Horror, Thomas Wolfe Remembered, and Literature and Journalism in Antebellum America. As a university administrator at IU Kokomo, he leads the KEY, an initiative that provides all IU Kokomo students with opportunities to learn through internships, retreats, research, community projects, and educational trips to Chicago, New York, Yellowstone National Park, Disney World, Silicon Valley, and other destinations.

Expanding the Kinsey Institute Legacy: 75 years of Exploring Sexuality, Relationships, and Well-Being

Justin Garcia will take us through a brief history of IU’s renowned Kinsey Institute, the world’s premier research center on sexuality and relationships. Established in 1947 by IU zoology professor, Alfred C. Kinsey, the Institute’s mission is to foster and promote a greater understanding of human sexuality and relationships through research, outreach, education, and historical preservation.

Today’s Kinsey Institute boasts an expansive interdisciplinary research and education program, while being home to multiple scientific research laboratories. The Institute is also home to the largest research library and special collections dedicated to sexuality, containing case histories, fine art, photography, artifacts, film, books, and archival collections.

Spanning more than 500,000 items and 2,000 years of human history, the Institute’s research program and unique collections owe their origins to Kinsey's 1938 Indiana University course on marriage and family. For 75 years, the Kinsey Institute has enjoyed international recognition for exploring critical issues from monogamy to sexting and more.

We invite you to join us in celebrating this landmark and paving the path forward together for greater understanding and acceptance of human intimacy and diversity.

Instructor: Justin Garcia

Justin R. Garcia is executive director of The Kinsey Institute and the Ruth N. Halls professor of gender studies at IU Bloomington. He is also co-chair of the Human Sexuality and Health Scholarly Concentration with the IU School of Medicine. Garcia holds a master’s of science in biomedical anthropology and a doctorate in evolutionary biology from Binghamton University. His research focuses on people’s romantic and sexual lives throughout the life course, especially on integrative biopsychosocial models of variation in courtship, intimacy, and sexual behavior. He has co-authored more than 100 academic articles and book chapters and is co-author of Evolution and Human Sexual Behavior (Harvard University Press) and co-editor of Evolution’s Empress: Darwinian Perspectives on the Nature of Women (Oxford University Press). An award-winning researcher and educator, Garcia has lent his expertise to a variety of industry partners, serving as a scientific consultant to K-Y Brand, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and others, and as an expert witness for the U.S. Department of Defense. Since 2010, he has been a scientific advisor to the world’s largest relationship company, Match. His next book is titled The Intimate Animal.

Choose from two sessions

In the Wake of #MeToo: Understanding and Responding to Gender (In)Equity and Sexual Misconduct in Business

Studies show that companies with greater gender equity and more inclusive environments lead to better organizational performance. Far too few business organizations achieve gender parity, let alone equity, and it is to their detriment. Gender inequitable practices and conditions limit effectiveness, drive down productivity, and cost the world trillions of dollars. Yet the challenges to achieving gender equity are numerous. The majority of college-educated adults throughout the past 40 years have been women; however, business schools still enroll a minority of female students. The gender imbalance only grows as women enter and advance in the workforce, such that women are vastly underrepresented at the highest levels of organizational leadership.

Several years ago, the social media movement marked by #MeToo exposed high-profile celebrities’ and executives’ sexual misconducts. The ensuing attention brought by the #MeToo movement revealed that incidences of gender inequity, especially experiences of sexual misconduct and assault, are widespread at all levels of the organizational hierarchy and industries. Experiences of discrimination and harassment have long-lasting impacts on the health, income, and employment success of the subjects. More recently, the pandemic and its related economic and care crises have further exposed and exacerbated gender inequities.

This session will address some of the antecedents of, and legal/ethical responsibilities of managers for, gender (in)equity and sexual misconduct in business organizations, as well as describe an innovative partnership at IU that seeks to advance gender equity in business and to promote safe and just working environments.

Instructor: Jamie Darin Prenkert

Jamie Darin Prenkert is the executive associate dean of faculty and research and the Charles M. Hewitt professor at IU Bloomington’s Kelley School of Business, as well as the president of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. He previously served as associate vice provost for faculty and academic affairs on the Bloomington campus. Prior to that, he served three years as the chair of the Department of Business Law and Ethics at the Kelley School, as well as two years as associate dean of academics.

His research focuses on issues of employment discrimination and the human rights obligations of transnational corporations. His research has garnered school, regional, and national awards. Prenkert is the lead co-author of a prominent business textbook, Business Law: The Global, Ethical, and Digital Environment, which is currently in its 18th edition. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses, both in residence and online, focusing on the legal environment of business, employment law, law for entrepreneurs, business and human rights, and critical thinking and leadership. Prior to joining the Kelley School faculty, Prenkert was a senior trial attorney for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He also practiced with the law firm of Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP). He earned a doctor of laws, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School and a bachelor of arts, summa cum laude with honors, in political science from Anderson University.

Securing Critical Infrastructure Against Cyber Attacks

Cybersecurity literacy is increasingly vital to business executives and leaders across industries, sectors, and nations. Cyber attackers—ranging from hacktivists to organized crime networks to nation-states—are targeting vulnerable networks and are frequently successful in crashing systems as well as stealing funds and valuable intellectual property. Cybersecurity is increasingly central to economic competitiveness and national security. Increasingly, critical infrastructure providers—hospitals, water utilities, and natural pipeline providers— have been in the crosshairs during the ongoing ransomware epidemic.

This session will explore both past and current efforts at safeguarding “critical infrastructure,” along with exploring related issues such as the legal and ethical issues raised by ransomware payments, and how IU is helping to secure vulnerable infrastructure in Indiana, nationally, and globally.

Instructor: Scott Shackleford

Scott J. Shackelford serves on the faculty of Indiana University where he is the Cybersecurity Program chair along with the executive director of the Ostrom Workshop. He is also an affiliated scholar at both the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society, as well as a senior fellow at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, and a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. Shackelford has written more than 100 articles, book chapters, essays, and op-eds for diverse publications. Similarly, his research has been covered by an array of outlets, including Politico, NPR, CNN, Forbes, Time, The Washington Post, and the LA Times. He is also the author of The Internet of Things: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2020), Governing New Frontiers in the Information Age: Toward Cyber Peace (Cambridge University Press, 2020), and Managing Cyber Attacks in International Law, Business, and Relations: In Search of Cyber Peace (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Both Shackelford’s academic work and teaching have been recognized with numerous awards, including a Harvard University research fellowship, a Stanford University Hoover Institution national fellowship, a Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study distinguished fellowship, the 2014 Indiana University Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, and the 2015 Elinor Ostrom Award.

Choose from two sessions

The Importance of Sleep in Health

The aim of this talk is to introduce the following topics: the importance of a good night’s sleep and what you can do to get it; when to seek help for a possible sleep disorder; a brief look at some common sleep disorders and simple tools to help self-treat sleep disorders; and safety in the setting of sleep disorders.

There will be time at the end of the session for a brief Q&A.

Instructor: Shalini Manchanda

Shalini Manchanda, professor of clinical medicine at the IU School of Medicine, practices at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. She treats sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, insomnia, and parasomnias. Her area of research is hypoglossal nerve stimulation for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.

Saving the World, One Constitution at a Time!

Poverty, civil conflict, corruption, environmental destruction, executive abuse, bigotry, and hatred—what do all of these things have in common? Very often, they are the product of a constitution that is poorly designed for the country it serves.

Constitutions should be designed to empower citizens to deal with their problems and move toward their goals. To create such a constitution, designers must make profound choices about a wide range of topics, including:

• The types of executive, legislative, and judicial powers they want and need
• The individual and group rights they will protect
• The electoral systems they will use
• The role of the military
• The role of federalism
• How to protect the equality of all citizens
• How to deal with emergencies

Choosing the right governance system is an exercise in cultural and political understanding as well as legal expertise. This practice is called “constitutional design,” and the Center for Constitutional Democracy at IU is a leader in this emerging field.

This seminar will introduce this exciting new discipline and the CCD’s work in developing it. Our goal is to gather this knowledge and deploy it in countries around the world, then return to the academy to reflect on our experiences and deepen our understanding.

Instructors: Susan Williams and David Williams

Susan H. Williams

Susan Williams received her bachelor’s in philosophy from Harvard College and her doctor of laws from Harvard Law School. She clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was then serving on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. After teaching at Cornell Law School, she joined the faculty at the Maurer School of Law in 1992. She is the author of Truth, Autonomy, and Speech: Feminist Theory and the First Amendment (NYU Press 2004). She is also the editor of two books on constitutional design: Constitutionalism and Social Difference in Pan Asia (Cambridge University Press 2013) and Constituting Equality: Gender Equality and Comparative Constitutional Law (Cambridge University Press, 2009) (paperback edition 2011). She has written numerous articles and book chapters on constitutional law, constitutional design, and feminist theory.

Williams is actively engaged in advising constitutional reformers in several countries. She works with women’s organizations in Burma and has, in the past, advised ethnic organizations in that country and the Law Reform Commission of Liberia. She has worked with civil society groups in Libya to provide capacity building for leaders and to educate the public about constitutional drafting. She is currently working with the Constitutional Court in Jordan to strengthen the rule of law in their country.

At the IU Law School, Williams teaches courses on the First Amendment, feminist jurisprudence, and constitutional design. She has worked to develop the constitutional design curriculum, including courses on the processes of constitution-making, and on the relationship between the constitution and the economy. She also directs the PhD program in law and democracy, which offers a unique, interdisciplinary opportunity for students to study constitutional design. She is the recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Research Award and the Tracy M. Sonneborn Award at IU.

David Williams

David C. Williams graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School after earning the Sarah Sears Prize for being first in his class. Williams then clerked for Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and taught at Cornell Law School before relocating to Indiana University in 1991.

The School of Law named him the John S. Hastings Professor of Law, and the university named him its Distinguished Faculty Research Lecturer in 2003. Williams has twice won the Wallace Teaching Award, as well as the Fromm Public Interest Faculty Award. He has taught at the University of Paris and lectured around the world. He was a member of the faculty of law at the University of Cambridge and a fellow at Cambridge’s Wolfson College. He was also a fellow at the European University Institute in Fiesole.

Williams has written widely on constitutional design, Native American law, the constitutional treatment of difference, and the relationship between constitutionalism and political violence. He is the author of The Mythic Meanings of the Second Amendment: Taming Political Violence in a Constitutional Republic (Yale University Press, 2003). He is also co-editor and primary author of Designing Federalism in Burma (UNLD Press 2005), which is widely read in the Burma democracy movement.

As executive director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy, Williams consults with a number of reform movements abroad. He advises many elements of the Burma democracy movement on the constitutional future of that country. He is a consultant to the government of Liberia on its constitutional revision process and has helped to write Liberia’s law reform and anti-corruption statutes. He is also the primary author of the first treatise on the meaning of the Liberian constitution. He has also advised reformers in Libya, Yemen, Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, Jordan, South Sudan, Ukraine, Ireland, and other countries.

Dinner

A Conversation with Straight No Chaser

Join founding members of IU’s very own Straight No Chaser for a conversation. These members—past and present—will share how they got their start during their Singing Hoosier and IU days, the role the IU Alumni Association played in their beginnings, their experiences as a professional group, and what they are doing now.

Straight No Chaser

If the phrase “male a cappella group” conjures up an image of students in blue blazers, ties, and khakis singing traditional college songs on ivy-covered campuses—think again. Straight No Chaser is neither strait-laced nor straight-faced, but neither are they vaudeville-style kitsch. They have emerged as a phenomenon with a massive fanbase and a long list of accomplishments, including two RIAA Gold Certified albums, more than 1.5 million concert tickets sold, one billion—and counting—streams on Pandora, and over two million albums sold worldwide. Straight No Chaser is the real deal, the captivating sound of nine unadulterated human voices coming together to make extraordinary music that is moving people in a fundamental sense—and with a sense of humor.

Choose from two sessions

The Bonding of the CIA

My talk is part of my current project, ‘Darkness Visible’: A Cultural History of the CIA. I will consider three CIA officers whose lives become inextricably linked to, and were influenced by, fiction. The first is Allen Dulles, the celebrated director of the CIA in the 1950s and early 1960s. The second is James Jesus Angleton, the infamous and quite possibly deranged director of counter-intelligence operations in the CIA. Finally, Cord Meyer, a high-ranking CIA officer whose life has come to be seen as a case study in tragedy.

They all used fiction as a way to understand their personal and professional lives—and artists returned the favor by using these CIA officers as subjects in their novels, movies, and photographs. Just as science fiction has influenced our visions of the future, the arts have created worlds of spy craft that real-life spies strive to emulate. And much to their respective horrors, Dulles, Angleton, and Meyer found themselves helplessly bonded by these fictions.

Instructor: Jonathan Nashel

Jonathan Nashel is a professor of history at IU South Bend. He teaches 20^th-century American history, U.S. foreign policy, and film and photographic history. His writings include Edward Lansdale's Cold War (2005) and articles on the Vietnam War and the CIA. His current project, ‘Darkness Visible’: A Cultural History of the CIA, is a monograph-length work that examines how and why the CIA was ever-present in the lives of both presidents and ordinary citizens since its formation in 1947. It contrasts the agency’s staid, bureaucratic history with a multitude of imagined and fantastic narratives that dominate our understanding of the agency.

Beyond a Seat at the Table: Embracing a Real Commitment to Social Justice and Advocacy

It is often said that to achieve equity, marginalized individuals must have "a seat at the table.” While those who advocate for the extra seats may do so with the best of intentions—particularly for Black and Brown people—the injustices that permeate this country point to larger structural issues within the table itself. To that end, Howell will discuss the importance of moving beyond the seats and examining the table, the broken system that makes it impossible for Black and Brown people to be on the receiving end of equitable and just practices. During this session, Howell will also discuss specific implications for IU alumni as it relates to intentionally supporting equity in various spaces.

Instructor: Gloria Howell, PhD’19

Gloria Howell currently serves as director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center and the faculty coordinator for the introductory research course for first-year students in the Hudson and Holland Scholars Program at Indiana University Bloomington.

Howell’s research focuses on the experiences of Black students in higher education, with special emphasis on identity development and affirmation, curriculum development, and connections between culture and creativity in classroom discourse. Howell is very active in the Bloomington community, serving as president of the Kappa Tau Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., vice chair of the City of Bloomington MLK Birthday Celebration Commission, and secretary of the Monroe County Branch of the NAACP. She also serves as a member of the Black Alumni Advisory Council at the University of Mississippi, where she earned her bachelor of arts in broadcast journalism and a master of arts in higher education/student personnel. Howell is also a proud IU alum, having earned her doctorate in higher education and student affairs in 2019.

Choose from two sessions

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Envisioning a Better Science through Inclusive Education

There is much talk today about "DEI" (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in academia and in society more generally. This class will provide an overview of these terms and their relevance for scientists and science educators. I will share findings demonstrating the role of social biases in how we think about and do science and describe some empirically supported interventions that can reduce the influence of such biases. My aim is to share ideas that will help us envision better science through inclusive education.

Instructor: Leslie Ashburn-Nardo

Leslie Ashburn-Nardo is a professor of psychology, founding director of the IUPUI Applied Social and Organizational Psychology doctoral program, and director of the IUPUI Industrial/Organizational Psychology master’s program. Her work focuses on documenting racial and gender disparities in academia, health care, and other organizations; as well as individual and organizational strategies to reduce prejudice and foster inclusivity. Ashburn-Nardo's research has been funded by a variety of sources, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She is a fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, the Midwestern Psychological Association, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology; and she is a faculty associate in IUPUI’s STEM Education Innovation & Research Institute. During the 2021–22 academic year, Ashburn-Nardo is serving as the diversity and inclusion faculty fellow in IUPUI’s Office of Academic Affairs, where she is applying her research to issues of recruitment, advancement, and retention of marginalized faculty.

From Advanced Driver Assistance Systems to Autonomous Vehicles: Increasing Safety, Reduced Traffic Congestion, More Free Time, a Vision of “Mobility for All”

Disruptive digital technologies are profoundly changing how people live, work, and travel. Autonomous vehicle technologies will similarly drive vast changes in mobility of people, goods, and in-service deliveries. Particularly, autonomous vehicle technologies, aided by electric drive and digital tools, can enable demand responsive transportation that is agile— fast, flexible, responsive, and resilient. Huge productivity gains and societal benefits will occur if implementation is done strategically.

Conversely, poor implementation can lead to confusion, hesitation, and wasted resources. As autonomous vehicles are deployed, there will be broad societal and infrastructural implications. Engineering an optimal autonomous mobility system requires deliberate interdisciplinary research and development efforts—analyzing needs and requirements before designing and deploying solutions.

The Transportation and Autonomous Systems Institute located on the IUPUI campus has been conducting interdisciplinary autonomous vehicle technologies related research and testing for more than 16 years. This class will explore TASI’s research and how it relates to the autonomous vehicle revolution, what the barriers to autonomous vehicle implementation are, and how the vision of “mobility for all” can be realized.

Instructor: Clayton Nicholas

Clayton Nicholas is an industry research development specialist at IUPUI. He received a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering technology from Purdue University at Indianapolis in 1980. The industry research development specialist role develops and implements strategies that help foster and support research between campus faculty, industry, and government partners.

He has more than thirty years of experience in industry sectors—from telecommunications to the automotive industry. During that time, he has held positions in engineering and leadership ranging from product design, operations, plant management, product-line leadership, and advanced engineering. While at Delphi Electronics (now Aptiv), he led a global team with a product portfolio of advance driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicle system components.

Nicholas has received four patents and is a member of various organizations including the Society of Automotive Engineers. He currently serves as the associate director and co-founder of the Transportation Autonomous and Systems Institute at IUPUI. TASI is a university-industry consortium with the mission to reduce fatal crashes via ADAS and autonomous vehicle systems. He is also the director of the newly minted Initiative for Electrified and Autonomous Mobility-University Center. The IEAM-UC is funded by the Economic Development Administration and the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI. The mission of IEAM-UC is to help advance Indiana’s competitiveness in economic development by focusing on the equitable deployment of electrified and autonomous transportation systems.

Brunch

Making Your Own Luck and Leading in a Time of Change

Based off his new book, Making Your Own Luck, former IU Athletics director Fred Glass recounts how a self-described "knucklehead" learned to recognize and seize opportunities—thus making his own luck through life.

Growing up in a skid row bar, having an alcoholic father, struggling with anxiety and self-doubt, and making his share of stupid mistakes, Glass had much to contend with in early life. However, supported by socially enlightened parents, a Jesuit education, and his soulmate, Barbara, his odyssey has led him to serve a mayor, a governor, a senator, and even a president.

With great humor and insightful reflection, Glass details how he helped keep the Colts in Indianapolis—he spearheaded a massive convention center expansion, the building of Lucas Oil Stadium, and even helped attract the Super Bowl to his hometown. Any of these accomplishments individually would be more than enough to call Glass's career a resounding success, but they were only the beginning. In the latest stage of his journey, Glass led the rebuilding of the athletic program of his beloved alma mater, Indiana University.

Instructor: Fred Glass, BA’81, JD’84