Author Archives: alexmenke

In 2011, Kara Walker gave a presentation about her work for The Menil Collection. Walker received her MFA in painting and printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. Kara Walker is an accredited artist known for her politically satirical work regarding race and gender. In her presentation, Kara shows her large-scale paper silhouettes ofContinue reading “Event 8: Kara Walker”

In 2005, David Foster Wallace gave a speech titled “This Is Water” to the graduating class of Kenyon College. Wallace was an American author and English professor with numerous accredited novels and short stories. To introduce the speech, Wallace states that he is not trying to simply give advice to the students, but attempting toContinue reading “Event 7: This Is Water”

On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s University Honors Program hosted a Zoom discussion with practicing artist Benjamin Lowder. Lowder attended SIUC for a year before transferring to the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana to finish his schooling. While at SIU, Lowder was heavily impacted by the philosophies of Buckminster Fuller—an AmericanContinue reading “Event 6: Benjamin Lowder”

On Tuesday, October 27th, 2020, Southern Illinois University Carbondale Alumni Kris Rey was the star guest of a Zoom discussion regarding her experience as a professional in the film industry. Rey graduated from the Cinema and Photography department at SIUC in 2003. In fact, Rey’s senior thesis film was the first case of digital videoContinue reading “Event 5: Kris Rey”

On October 13, 2020, Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Morris Library hosted an event with Michele Leigh and Lora Mjolsness, two specialists of Russian animation. The pair of women have collaborated on a book focusing on the careers of female Russian animators, a demographic that is typically overlooked and ignored by critics and scholars. The bookContinue reading “Event 4: She Animates”

On Tuesday, October 6, 2020, the College of Mass Communications and Media Arts hosted Keith Knight, the writer of Hulu Original “Woke.” Keith Knight is an awarded cartoonist, writer, and musician working in the creative industry for twenty-eight years. For most of his career, Knight has been working as a cartoonist publishing various comics suchContinue reading “Event 3: Woke”

On September 25, 2020, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute of Southern Illinois University Carbondale hosted Mayor Pete Buttigieg for a discussion with Director John Shaw about Pete’s career in politics. Buttigieg is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who served in Afghanistan and ran for presidential nominee in the 2020 election campaign. Buttigieg didContinue reading “Event 2: Paul Simon Public Policy Institute”

On August 25, 2020, the Southern Illinois University system held a Zoom conference titled “Higher Education—A Conversation of Understanding.” The conference consisted of a panel of “experts” from both the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses coming together to discuss their own experiences with racism and how to better the experience of nonwhite students as a system.Continue reading “Event 1: A Conversation of Understanding”