The Schurz Library Speaker series provides speakers of intellectual interest to the university and the community on topics related to the campus theme. All Schurz Library Speaker events are free and open to the public.

2007-2008

October 9, 2007: The Power of One: How You Can Embrace and Communicate the Environmental Ethic. Herman Miller's Director of Environmental Affairs, Safety and Sustainability, Paul Murray, says many of the company's most significant green initiatives have come from employees "who knew we could do better." Due to countless individual insights and efforts, Herman Miller today stands as a noteworthy example of how good business and environmental stewardship go hand-in-hand. [Podcast]

2006-2007

March 26, 2007: One Book, One Campus speaker event. Dr. Neil Ernst and Dr. Peggy Philp, two of doctors who cared for Lia Lee, the child at the center of this year's One Book, One Campus title, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, discuss the book and their experiences caring for Lia.

October 24, 2006: Writing Through the Looking Glass: Conflicting Representations of Hmong Refugees in the United State featuring University of Notre Dame professor, John Duffy. [Presentation Slide]

2005-2006

March 14, 2006: Body Politics: Gender and Identity in Israel. Dr. Rebecca Torstrick, Director of Women's Studies and Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, discussed gender and identity politics and how women present themselves throughout Israel. Dr. Torstrick spoke of how women’s dress leads to their being "tagged" or "judged." For more information, please visit Dr. Torstrick's web site at: http://mypage.iusb.edu/~rtorstri/.

October 19, 2005: "Mutable Bodies and Philip K. Dick." A presentation by Philip K. Dick scholar Dr. N. Katherine Hayles on the 2005-2006 One Book, One Campus title, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick.

2004-2005

October 19, 2004: The Embedded Reporter featuring South Bend Tribune reporter, Fred Dodd.

March 15, 2005: War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. A presentation and book signing by Chris Hedges, author of the IU South Bend One Book, One Campus selection.

2003-2004

October 3, 2003: The Patriot Act and the Challenge to Academic Freedom. A day-long forum with presentations by Doug Archer, reference and peace studies librarian, University of Notre Dame, Nancy Kranich, senior research fellow at the Free Expression Policy Project, and Clifford Ong, director of Homeland Security for the Indiana Counter-Terrorism and Security Council.

Panel discussions by Mark Bruhn, Chief Information Technology security and policy officer, and associate director, Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, Indiana University, Lou Malcolmb, head of government information, Library, IU Bloomington, and IU South Bend faculty and staff: Louise Collins, associate professor and chair, Philosophy, Rosanne Cordell, head of reference services, Martin Gersey, director Safety and Security, Jerry Hinnefeld, professor, Physics, Jonathan Nashel, associate professor, History, and Julie Williams, director, International Student Services.

March 16, 2004: Identity by the Chopsticks-Fork Principle, A presentation and book signing by author by Cathy Bao Bean.

2002-2003

October 14, 2002: Meeting the Maasai: Cultural Understanding through Art and Artifacts, a joint project of the Schurz Library and the School of Education, with presentations by Helen Ruchti, donor of the Maasai artifacts, Marsha Heck, Assistant Professor, School of Education, IU South Bend, and Kwadwo Okrah, Director of the Center for Global Education, IU South Bend.

April 1, 2003:. The Amish in Northern Indiana: Continuity and Change by Steven M. Nolt, Assistant Professor of History at Goshen College.

2001-2002

October 18, 2001: For your Amusement and Instruction: Children's Literature in the Lilly Library Collections by Elizabeth Johnson, Associate Librarian and Head of Technical Services, Lilly Library, IU Bloomington.

February 19, 2002: What Exactly is a Hoosier? by Patrick J. Furlong, Professor of History, IU South Bend, and author of Indiana: an Illustrated History.

2000-2001

September 14, 2000, James Whitcomb Riley: A Life. A presentation and book signing by author Elizabeth Van Allen. Co-sponsored by the IU Press.

October 11, 2000, Haves and Have Nots in the Information Age by William Wresch, author of Disconnected: Haves and Have Nots in the Information Age, and Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

March 1, 2001: Going About Your Business: Accessing Information on the Internet: a workshop for the Michiana business community by Linda Fisher, Associate Librarian and Head of Government Publications, IU South Bend.

March 27, 2001: Perspectives: A Forty-year Retrospective of Adult Literacy by Anabel P. Newman, Professor Emeritus, School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington.

April 17, 2001: Memories from a Life in Public Service by Otis R. "Doc" Bowen, former Governor of Indiana and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

1999-2000

March 2, 2000: Going About Your Business: Accessing Information on the Internet: a workshop for the Michiana business community by Linda Fisher, Associate Librarian and Head of Government Publications, IU South Bend.

March 9, 2000: The Survival of Tradition: an Introduction to American Indian Literatures by A. LaVonne Brown Ruoff, interim director of the D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian history at the Newberry Library in Chicago.

May 24, 2000: Setting Minds on Fire: Libraries, Museums and Other Incendiary Cultural Institutions by David Carr, Associate Professor, School of Information, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

June 2, 2000: International Librarianship: a Panel Discussion with Marie-Helene Rivron, Engineering Librarian, University of Toulon and Fulbright Scholar, Sally Jo Milne, Reference Librarian, Goshen College, and Feng Shan, Assistant Librarian, IU South Bend.

1998-1999 The Year of the Library:

September 11, 1998: Your Teaching, Your Research, and the Meaning of Copyright and Fair Use by Kenneth Crews, Director of the IU Copyright Management Center, IUPUI.

October 15, 1998: How Did Michelangelo Learn to Read and Write? School Books of the Renaissance by Paul Gehl, Custodian of the John M. Wing Foundation on the History of Printing at the Newberry Library in Chicago.

October 23, 1998: Gilding for Manuscript Pages (or How to Prepare for any Crisis You Might Meet in the 12th Century) by Karen Ackoff, Assistant Professor, School of the Arts, IU South Bend.

November 17, 1998: Explorations and Destinations: a Celebration of Libraries and Publishing at Indiana University co-sponsored by the IU Press.

February 25, 1999: Going about Your Business - Using Government Information on the Internet by Beth Schuck, Visiting Assistant Librarian, IU South Bend.

March 30, 1999: Government Information, the Government Printing Office, and Electronic Information by U.S. Congressman Tim Roemer.

April 11, 1999: The Internet and Society by John Perry Barlow, Co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Co-sponsored by the South Bend Tribune and the IU South Bend Chancellor's Office.

June 4, 1999: Navigating toward the New Millennium: Libraries in Transition: a Panel Discussion with moderator, John N. Berry, Editor-in-Chief, Library Journal, and Suzanne Thorin, University Dean of Indiana University Libraries, Jennifer Younger, Director of Libraries, University of Notre Dame, and Thomas Kirk, Director of Libraries, Earlham College

1997-1998

November 6, 1997: Political Re-Education: German POWs in the United States by James Ruchti, retired diplomat in the U.S. Department of State.

April 19, 1998: A Celebration of Quilts and Quiltmakers: Honoring the Quiltmaker and Her Art Form as We Approach the New Millennium by Rebecca Harrar, a Shipshewana retailer featuring antique and locally made quilts and a frequent lecturer about Amish quilts from an historical and social perspective.