Honors College Events
Honors Google Calendar
2023 NAU Honors College Symposium
December 8, 2023; Honors College Classrooms
Join the NAU Honors College for poster and paper presentations on December 8, 2023. No online/remote sessions will be available. Session schedules will be available through a link posted HERE no later than December 4, 2023.
Are you a current Honors student looking to submit a paper or poster to present? Submit your proposals here!
Contact Sarah Friedmann for more information.
Past Events
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Fourth Annual Gumerman Lecture
Join Honors for the fourth Gumerman Professor in Honors Public Lecture, “Weaving a New Web: Lessons for Information Infrastructure from Indigenous Knowledge, Networks, and Action” with Dr. Morgan Vigil-Hayes, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Gumerman Professor in Honors, at 7pm on Wednesday, October 25. This event is free, will be held in the Cline Library Assembly Hall, and is open to the public.
In this talk, we will focus on key lessons from Indigenous Knowledge, computer networks, and computer-supported action to propose a new vision for information infrastructure. Specifically, we will consider how this vision can help humanity adapt resiliently to the big challenges of today and tomorrow, such as climate change, misinformation, and the role of artificial intelligence. The talk will end with actionable steps for implementing these lessons.
This event can be used by current NAU Honors College students as an Honors Exploration event.
2023 Honors Distinguished Speaker Series: The Future is Female
All Speaker Series events are free and open to the community
February 15, Rima Brusi
March 8, Distinguished Women in Leadership
March 29, Frances Haugen
2022 NAU Honors College Symposium
December 9, 2022; Honors College Classrooms
Join the NAU Honors College for poster and paper presentations on December 9, 2022 for our first in person Symposium event in almost three years! No online/remote sessions will be available. In person session schedules will be available through a link posted HERE on December 2, 2022.
Are you a current Honors student looking to submit a paper or poster to present? Submit your proposals here!
Contact Sarah Friedmann for more information.
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Third Annual Gumerman Lecture
Join Honors for the first Gumerman Professor in Honors Public Lecture, “Cryptocurrency and Web3: A Short Guide for the Perplexed” with Dr. Paul Flikkema, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Gumerman Professor in Honors, at 7pm on Wednesday, October 19. This event will be held in the Cline Library Assembly Hall.
Are cryptocurrencies a great innovation in technology and finance, or a scam? Crypto and Web3 have recently received a great deal of attention in the media. At the same time, cryptocurrency values have been on a dizzying roller coaster. This talk presents cryptocurrencies from historical, technological and economic perspectives, and seeks to shed light on this fascinating phenomenon.
This event can be used by current NAU Honors College students as an Honors Exploration event.
Honors College Spring 2022 Speaker Series
All Speaker Series events are in Cline Library Assembly Hall at 7pm
For a printable poster of the Honors College Spring 2022 Speaker Series, click here!
You and Your Data: Becoming a Digital Citizen
March 9, 2022
Panelists:
Dr. Bertrand Cambou, Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, NAU
Gregg Davis, CEO at Alagen, LLC
Dr. Paul Flikkema, Gumerman Professor of Honors and Professor of Electrical Engineering, NAU
Dr. Jiun-Yi Tsai, Assistant Professor of Communication, NAU
Michael Zimmer, Director of Information Technology, NAU
Dr. Paul Flikkema, Gumerman Professor of the NAU Honors College and Professor of Electrical Engineering, will use his account as a victim of identity theft to engage a panel of experts on data collection, theft, and security here on campus, in business, and in the media. Panelists include Dr. Bertrand Cambou, Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science at NAU; Gregg Davis, CEO at Alagen, LLC; Dr. Jiun-Yi Tsai, Assistant Professor of Communication at NAU; and Michael Zimmer, NAU Director of Information Technology. They will discuss topics ranging from what is being collected by whom, how that information is being used, how businesses and other organizations work on a daily basis to prevent and repair data breaches, and how in the longer term digital technology is redefining what it means to be a consumer and citizen.
Thirty Years of Entrepreneurship; or, How to Succeed While Failing Fast and Often
April 6, 2022
Dr. John Shufeldt, Founder/CEO, Tribal EM
Author of Entrepreneur Rx: The Physician’s Guide to Starting a Business
John Shufeldt is an emergency physician by avocation and entrepreneur at heart. He is an author, serial student, pilot and multidisciplinary entrepreneur, who has founded and operated several multi-million-dollar businesses. Throughout all of his endeavors, John has maintained a relentless drive to help people rescript their future and reach their full potential. John earned his Bachelor of Arts from Drake University and his MD from the University of Health Sciences and the Chicago Medical School. He then completed his Emergency Medicine residency at Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill., where he spent his final year as Chief Resident.
In 1993, when John noticed the ER was overcrowded with minor illnesses and injuries, he launched his first urgent care practice. The business saw explosive growth, expanding from one to 58 locations during his tenure. Author of Entrepreneur Rx and host of a podcast series by the same name, he will draw on his own story to present the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship.
Immigration at the Southern Border: Challenges, Obstacles and Optimism
April 20, 2022
Laura Tuell, Firmwide Pro Bono Partner, Jones Day®
A graduate of George Mason University and Georgetown Law, Laura Tuell currently serves as the Global Pro Bono Partner for Jones Day in Washington, DC. She has spent considerable time on the US-Mexico border for the last four years and will share her experiences providing free legal services to migrants. She has first-hand experience with the roll-out of the family separation policy, the Migrant Protection Protocols (aka Remain in Mexico), the implementation of Title 42, which closed the border to migrants due to COVID, and the current situation on the Border. Her work has focused on women, unaccompanied children, and families.
2021 Virtual NAU Honors College Symposium
Join the NAU Honors College for poster and paper presentations in an entirely virtual conference environment! Sessions will be available through a link posted HERE on December 3.
Are you a current Honors student looking to submit a paper or poster to present? Submit your proposals by November 26, 2021!
View the Fall 2021 Honors Symposium at the link posted here on December 2, 2021!
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Second Annual Gumerman Lecture
Join Honors for the first Gumerman Professor in Honors Public Lecture, “Robot Brains, Human Minds: A Short Tour of Learning and Thinking” with Dr. Paul Flikkema, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Gumerman Professor in Honors, at 7pm on Wednesday, October 20. This event will be held in the Cline Library Assembly Hall.
Robots and artificial intelligence are constantly in the news, and researchers are exploring how to help robots become smarter. This begs the question: How do we learn? In this talk, I will explore how humans, as individuals and societies, have learned to live healthy, productive and meaningful lives. I will also attempt to compare how we learn with how we endow robots with “intelligence”, and sketch the role of technology in the ways that we learn and how we train computers to be “smart.”
This event can be used by current NAU Honors College students as an Honors Exploration event.
2020 Virtual NAU Honors College Symposium
Join the NAU Honors College for poster and paper presentations in an entirely virtual conference environment! Sessions will be available through a link posted HERE.
Are you a current Honors student looking to submit a paper or poster to present?
View the Fall 2020 Honors Symposium!
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
First Annual Gumerman Lecture
Join Honors for the first Gumerman Professor in Honors Public Lecture, “Will Robots Ever (Really) Think?” with Dr. Paul Flikkema at 7pm on Wednesday, October 21. This event will be held entirely remotely on our NAU Honors College YouTube channel.
Our abilities as humans seem amazing to us, and we have always wondered how our brain gives us these abilities. The explosive growth of computing power in the last half century makes us ask: Will computers someday have something like `intelligence’, with the thinking power of a brain? This talk explores this question by discussing the state of the art of computing, the idea of artificial intelligence, successes and failures, and possible avenues for further development.
Questions can be submitted during the event for Dr. Flikkema to respond to. We look forward to you joining us!
This event can be used by current NAU Honors College students as an Honors Exploration event.