The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is filled with brilliant teachers, scholars, and creatives. Our goal is to provide an accessible forum for sharing bold, challenging, and even radical ideas. Scholars from across the college will do one talk each month on topics ranging from connecting through music to the politics of consumer culture. Each talk will be streamed live from Fort Howard Hall of the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts and will include a short presentation followed by a Q and A with Dean Chuck Rybak. Online viewers will be able to submit questions as well.
The Spring 2021 No Reservations Schedule
Understanding Your Anger
Feb 10th, 6:30: Dr. Ryan Martin (Psychology, CAHSS)
Like any emotion, our anger exists for good reason. When we are willing to take an honest look and dig deep into our frustration, we can learn a lot about ourselves and the situations we find ourselves in.
Ryan Martin is a psychologist, anger researcher, and author of the book, Why We Get Mad: How to Use Your Anger for Positive Change. He is the Associate Dean for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
The Rise and Fall of the Human Capital Myth
March 23rd, 6:30: Dr. Jon Shelton (Democracy and Justice Studies, History)
This talk will help explain our current political divisions by examining how Americans’ conception of opportunity has changed over time. Shelton argues that American policymakers in the recent past have asked public education to do too much, and we have to ensure that every American, no matter their level of education, has a guarantee of economic security.
Jon Shelton is associate professor and chair of Democracy and Justice Studies. He is the author of the prize-winning book Teacher Strike! Public Education and the Making of a New American Political Order and a recent postdoctoral fellow of the National Academy of Education.
The Next Best Thing: Connecting Through Music in Spite of Everything
April 15th, 6:30: Dr. Michelle McQuade Dewhirst (Music)
The pandemic has forced musicians to rethink the ways in which they relate to their audiences and to each other. In this talk, I’ll discuss pieces I’ve written in the past year for musicians who are finding new ways to connect in a time of crisis.
Michelle McQuade Dewhirst is a composer, horn player, and Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Politics and Mass Consumer Culture: Lessons from the 1920s
May 4th, 6:30: Dr. Kimberley Reilly (Democracy and Justice Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies)
Historians have long debated the effect of mass consumer culture on Americans’ political engagement in the 1920s. How should we understand the decline of political participation in the jazz age? And what lessons does the 1920s hold for our own time?
Dr. Kimberley Reilly is an associate professor of Democracy & Justice Studies and History, and co-chair of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program.