BHSU College of Liberal Arts Announces September Guest Speakers

The Black Hills State University College of Liberal Arts has announced its guest speaker schedule for September. All sessions will be free and open to the public. The first four speakers of the month are sponsored by the BHSU Department of Political Science and the Chiesman Committee.  

On Thursday, Sept. 7 at 2 p.m., South Dakota State Senator Lee Schoenbeck will be on campus to answer the question, “What’s it Really Like to Be a Legislator?” He will touch on the duties of a representative, how representation has changed in the era of social media, and the idea of representatives legislating in accordance with the preferences of their constituents. His talk will be located in Jonas 305. 

On Thursday, Sept. 14, BHSU will host two speakers from Ashland University as part of their Civics Day Celebration. Dr. Jason Stevens will speak at 2 p.m. on the power of words in documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Jonas 305. At 7:30 p.m., Dr. Cara Rogers Stevens will deliver a keynote on “Thomas Jefferson and the Fight Against Slavery” in the Joy Center. Both Civics Day speakers are co-hosted by the Office of the President. 

Celebrity Historian Raffi Andonian will speak on Friday, Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. on “Creating Space for Contested Histories.” His lecture will explore contested narratives throughout history, including historical sites, monuments, and even the U.S. Constitution. This session will be held in Jonas 304. 

The month’s speaker series will wrap up at 3 p.m. on Sept. 22 with Dr. Meredith Broussard, sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts. Her session will dive into the technologies, applications, and ethics of artificial intelligence. Her talk will be hosted in Jonas 305. 

For more information about these speakers and other upcoming events, visit BHSU.edu/Events.