MN Real & Imagined: panel Descriptors
Minnesota @ 150: Real & Imagined is a series conceived and implemented by the following partnership to commemorate Minnesota’s 150th anniversary of statehood: the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission, Citizens League, tpt-Twin Cities Public Television, and funding provided by the Bush Foundation.
All panels take place in the Big Top Chautauqua performance tent, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on dates listed below. Shows are free and seating is always available in the 900-person, air-conditioned theatre. They will be taped for broadcast later in September.
AUGUST 21 – Minnesota’s identity thru arts & culture
About the opening session on August 21: Divided into two segments, this panel is the opening session and introduction to the Minnesota @ 150: Real & Imagined--What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years initiative. It will be facilitated by Mary Lahammer, host and political reporter for Twin Cities Public Television. It is scheduled for Thursday, August 21, from 10 a.m. to 11:30
Conversation One: Sesquicentennial Director Jane Leonard will discuss the origin of the Minnesota, Real and Imagined: What Minnesotans Need to Know for the Next 50 Years initiative and how it’s given focus to a number of Sesquicentennial civic engagement efforts and those of partner organizations (Citizens League’s MAP 150 project, for example). Sesquicentennial Fellows will highlight findings from their statewide community conversations project that is informing the Minnesota, Real and Imagined series.
Conversation Two: [working title: “The State We’re In: Images and Identity, Then and Now”]. Mary Lahammer will talk with several historians, including Annette Atkins of St. John’s St. Benedict’s; Kate Roberts, developer of the Historical Society’s MN150 Exhibit; and Jeff Kolnick of Southwest State University, about how Minnesota and Minnesotans have changed since the state’s Centennial in 1958.
_____________________________________________
August 25 - About the Education panel: It is divided into two, 25 or so minute discussions about the prospect of Minnesota graduating too few two- and four year college graduates to sustain our economy and a discussion about the sorts of schools we need for the 21st century. This panel will take place on Monday, August 25, from 10 a.m. to 11:30.
Lori Sturdevant, editorial writer and columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, will be the discussion's moderator. Peter Hutchinson, President of the Bush Foundation, will open up our session with remarks about our current educational challenges and opportunities.
Conversation One: "Vanishing Grads and Minnesota’s Future" seeks to highlight the emerging "brain drain" of MN college grads; the implications of this phenomenon; and possible remedies to this situation. The panelists on this discussion are: John Wade, President of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce; Traci Parmenter, COO of Admission Possible; and Vinodh Kutty, head of the Citizens League Study Group on Immigration and Higher Education; and Cheryl Chatman, Executive Vice President, Concordia College-St. Paul (invited).
Conversation Two: “21st Century Schools: What’s Needed?” is envisioned as a broad-ranging conversation about the kinds of educational facilities, teacher preparation, and student assessment and curricula, and community and parental involvement needed for today and into the future. The panelists on the 21st Century Schools discussion are: Mitch Pearlstein, Ph.D, President and founder of the Center for the American Experiment; Angie Eilers, Ph.D, Research and Policy Director at Minnesota Growth and Justice; and Bill Green, Ph.D., Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools; and Joe Graba of Education:Evolving.
_______________________________________________
August 26 - About the Environment and Great Outdoors Panel: It is divided into an initial conversation (“Understanding and Protecting Our Legacy”) about the current status of Minnesota conservation planning and education, followed by a discussion with members of the Morris, Minnesota community involved in a wide array of sustainability practices and innovations. MPR and TPT host Cathy Wurzer will serve as host and moderator. The session will open up with a short musical presentation by folksinger and writer Charlie Maguire, known as the “Singing Park Ranger.” Through song and story, Charlie will remind us what we treasure—and what’s at stake—as we talk about conservation and environmental stewardship. This panel is scheduled for Tuesday, August 26, from 10 a.m. to 11:30.
Conversation One, Understanding and Protecting Our Legacy, will key off the recently released Statewide Comprehensive Conservation Report issued by the University of Minnesota and will also involve discussion of innovative K-12 and public education programs intended to educate and invest a new generation of Minnesotans in conservation and stewardship activities. Panelists include Deb Swackhamer, of the U of MN Institute on the Environment; Peggy Knapp, of the Hamline Center for Global Environmental Education; Amy Kay Kerber, a DNR educator; and John Hellend, primary research staff for the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Committee for over 35 years (invited).
Conversation Two, Going Green in Morris: Building Sustainable Communities, will feature activities in the Morris, Minnesota, community in west central MN that’s “deeply rooted in the tall prairie grass and connected to the blue prairie sky.” Working in partnership the University of Minnesota-Morris and the local community have received national recognition for its sustainable practices in alternative energy, “green building” and public education efforts. Panelists include David Fluegel, a community program specialist from the U of MN-Morris Center for Small Towns, Lowell Rasmussen, the Vice Chancellor of UMM; a student active in the university/community efforts.
_______________________________________________
August 27 - About the Health and Wellness panel: It is divided into three, 20-25 minute discussions about health care & prospects for reform, raising healthy kids, and the implications of an aging society. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 27.
Ken Stone, an anchor and reporter with Twin Cities Public Television’s Newsnight Minnesota program, will moderate this discussion.
Conversations One: tentatively called "Untangling the Health Care Knot: Prospects for Reform?" This discussion will seek to highlight changes and issues related to health care access and reform, as well as consideration of what values should inform new initiatives. The panelists on this discussion are: Mary Brainerd, President and CEO of Health Partners; Jim Fries, Principal, Mercer Health and Benefits; and Karen Gervais, Director of the Center for Health Care Ethics.
Conversation Two: Entitled "All Above Average? What Kids Need to Thrive,” will seek to highlight the ingredients for nurturing healthy, successful kids, from school to home to play, and some of the challenges and opportunities that the future will bring for our children and youth. The panelists on All Above Average are: State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Sanne Magnan (invited); Catherine Jordan, President and CEO of Achieve! Minneapolis; Marti Erickson, former Senior Fellow at the U of M Center for Early Education and Development; and Dr. Jonathan Larson of the Carver County Health Partnership, an effort aimed at making Carver County the “healthiest county in the country.”
Conversation Three: “Age Wave" is a discussion that will highlight the profound demographic shift that the state is undergoing and the changes we'll likely to see in community and family structure; in personal and public economies; in patterns of civic engagement; and in the emergence of new technologies designed to support to individual and community well-being. The panelists on this discussion are: Jan Hively, Ph.D., former Deputy Mayor of Minneapolis and founder and advisor to the Vital Aging Network; Jim Scheibel, former mayor of St. Paul and former director of the Corporation for National and Community Service; Kathy Bakkenist, COO and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Ecumen; and Sean Kershaw, Executive Director of the Citizens League.
_________________________________________
August 28 - About the Business & Innovation Panel: It is divided into three segments: a discussion called "Sustaining a Culture of Innovation in Minnesota;" a presentation by young inventors (who are also local high school students) from the Invention Crew, a National Science Foundation-funded innovation project developed in cooperation with the Science Museum of Minnesota; and a discussion about the changing face of business and entrepreneurship in the state. This panel is scheduled for Thursday, August 28, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Ken Stone, an anchor and reporter with Twin Cities Public Television’s Newsnight Minnesota program, will moderate this discussion. Tom Misa, Ph.D., of the U of M Babbage Institute, will be presenting a short session opener on on the little-known history of the early years in technology developments in Minnesota--and how we missed becoming a Silicon Valley.
Conversation One: “Sustaining a Culture of Innovation in Minnesota” will probe the degree to which Minnesota has historically--and presently--created incentives, structures, and policies that foster innovation and risk-taking. Panelists will also talk about some of the new initiatives aimed at better preparing youth for the jobs Minnesota will need to thrive in a global economy, now and into the future. The panelists in the Sustaining Innovation discussion are: Deb Hess, from the Minnesota Inventors Congress; Kate Rubin, from the Minnesota High Tech Association; and Dave Gundale, a Bush Foundation Fellow and St. Paul high school science teacher.
Conversation Two: Dave Gundale and Students: a presentation by young inventors (who are also local students) from the Invention Crew, a National Science Foundation-funded innovation project developed in cooperation with the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Conversation Three: “Taking Care of Business: View From Main Street” will be a conversation about the impact of immigrants and new Americans in our economies and on "main streets” and about efforts underway to revive and sustain Greater Minnesota communities. Conversationalist will be asked their thoughts about how well we’re doing –and what’s needed for the future – to sustain inventiveness and entrepreneurial across out State.
The panelists in the Taking Care of Business discussion are: Bruce Corrie, Dean of the College of Business and Organization Leadership at Concordia College-St. Paul and founder of Ethnic Trends; Mary Matthews, President of the North East MN Entrepreneurs Fund; and John Davis, Executive Director at the Lanesboro Cornucopia Art Center.
For more information on these and other Sesqui events at the State Fair, contact Jane Leonard at jane@mn150years.org or 651-303-5263 or the main office at 651-296-1870.