Understanding our differences and using them to unite rather than divide will be the focus of Nebraska Wesleyan University鈥檚 annual Visions and Ventures Symposium.
Scheduled for September 24-25, the event will center on the theme, 鈥淟et鈥檚 Listen: Conversations to Bring Us Together.鈥
The Visions and Ventures Symposium begins on Tuesday, September 24 with the nationally-acclaimed Defamation Experience. This two-hour activity starts with a riveting courtroom drama that explores the highly-charged issues of race, class, religion, gender and the law with a twist: the audience is the jury.
Lectures will be held on Wednesday, September 25 and will include John Hibbing, Foundation Regents University Professor of Political Science and Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who will discuss, 鈥淟iberals and Conservatives: Why We Can鈥檛 All Just Get Along.鈥 Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson will participate in a moderated discussion. Mckesson has focused primarily on issues of innovation, equity and justice, has been a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter Movement, and has worked extensively to connect individuals with knowledge and tools, and provide citizens and policy makers with commonsense policies to ensure equity. Irshad Manji, a renowned author, educator and advocate of a reformist interpretation of Islam, will conclude the symposium with her lecture, 鈥淒iversity for Prosperity.鈥 She is the founder of The Moral Courage Project, an initiative to help young people speak truth to power within their own communities.
All events will be held in O鈥橠onnell Auditorium, located in the Rogers Center for Fine Arts at 50thStreet and Huntington Ave. The symposium is free and open to the public.
The following is a schedule of events:
Tuesday, September 24 鈥7-9 p.m., The Defamation Experience, an interactive diversity opportunity. A courtroom drama will be staged to explore highly charged issues of race, class, religion and gender and the audience will serve as the jury. A facilitated discussion will follow.
Wednesday, September 25
10 a.m. 鈥 John Hibbing, Foundation Regents University Professor of Political Science and Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, author of Predisposed: Liberals, Conservatives, and the Biology of Political Differences.He has received nine National Science Foundation Grants, and has been named a Guggenheim Fellow, a NATO Fellow in Science, a Senior Fulbright Fellow, and a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
1 p.m. 鈥 A conversation with DeRay Mckesson. Mckesson is the author of On The Other Side of Freedom, host of the critically-acclaimed Pod Save The People, and was named one of the 鈥淲orld鈥檚 Greatest Leaders鈥 by Fortune Magazineand 鈥30 Most Influential People on the Internet鈥 by Time Magazine.
4 p.m. 鈥 Irshad Manji, Founder of The Moral Courage Project, author of Don鈥檛 Label Me: An Incredible Conversation for Divided Times. She has been recognized with Oprah Winfrey鈥檚 Chutzpah Award for 鈥渁udacity, nerve, boldness and conviction鈥 and has received the Simon Wiesenthal Award for Valor.