ºÚÉçÇø

Tuesday May 12, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is single-session lecture event. This event will take place in the OEC Auditorium.

Program Description: This session, organized to bring context to the American-Iranian conflict of 2026, begins by examining the unique contribution Shiism has made to Iranian public life since the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979. ºÚÉçÇø Ahmadi will then explore the academic consensus on the revolution's successes and failures, as well as the complex relationship between Iran, its Middle Eastern neighbors, and the United States, with particular emphasis on the 21^st century.

Instructor Bio: Shaherzad Ahmadi, Associate ºÚÉçÇø of History at St. Thomas, received her BA from the University of California, Davis, studied at Dehkhoda Institute in Tehran, and earned her PhD in History from the University of Texas at Austin. She is an expert on the Iran-Iraq borderland, which is the subject of her book, Bordering on War, published in 2024.

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our

Tuesday May 5, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is a single-session lecture event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Grief typically appears as an individual, emotional response to loss or disappointment—but understanding grief's role in our personal lives, relationships, and communities involves much more than feelings of isolation. ºÚÉçÇø Lundquist will explore how we can understand grief in broader context and learn how processes can generate meaning in life, in family dynamics, and in social institutions.

Instructor Bio: Bio coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

AI: Artificiality and Intelligence with Dr. Peter Distelzweig [Part of the Selim Center's "Good Society" series]

Tuesdays, April 14, 28 & May 5*, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

*Note: There is no class on Tuesday, April 21

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Join Dr. Peter Distelzweig (PhD History and Philosophy of Science) for an informative and thought-provoking introduction to the history, nature, and culture-shaping power of Artificial Intelligence. This three-part series is designed to help you think intelligently about Artificial Intelligence and its technological applications. We trace historical developments that led to the current AI explosion, examine important implications of how these new AI technologies are created, and reflect on their potential to contribute to or undermine human flourishing.

Instructor Bio: Dr. Peter Distelzweig is associate professor of philosophy at the ºÚÉçÇø where he teaches “The History and Foundations of Artificial Intelligence” for the Masters in AI Leadership. He also teaches courses in logic, philosophy of science, and history and philosophy of medicine. He earned a BA in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, an MS in physics from Eastern Michigan University, and PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the faculty St. Thomas faculty in 2014.

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

Immigration and US Law with Virgil Wiebe

Wednesdays, April 22, 29 & May 6, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Operation Metro Surge has brought the world’s attention to Minnesota. This series will address the basics of how the immigration system works (and sometimes doesn’t), who was breaking the law during Metro Surge, and a discussion of just what “sanctuary” means.

Instructor Bio: ºÚÉçÇø Virgil Wiebe has been at the ºÚÉçÇø since 2002 and has been engaged in immigration issues since the late 1980s. He was one of the architects of the Interprofessional Center at UST, a clinical program that trains budding lawyers, therapists and case managers. For decades he and the students he trained served asylum seekers and other immigrants seeking refuge. In recent years, he has shifted focus to naturalization. Operation Metro Surge has required the immigration clinic to pivot again to protect refugees and other targeted groups from lawless attacks.

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

Cathedrals of Learning: Math and Society with Dr. Alex Barrios [Part of the Selim Center's "Tools for Discovery" series]

Wednesdays, April 22, 29 & May 6, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: If the word "mathematics" brings to mind the memorization of rote formulas and tables that have always existed and never changed, this series will change your perspective! Instructor Alex Barrios will teach us that math is an idea that evolves and develops--conceived by one generation, extended by the next, and sometimes completed centuries later. In this lecture series, we will trace the moments that reoriented mathematical thought, from the foundational revolution of the early twentieth century to questions occupying researchers today, and we use concrete examples to show how ideas mature over time.

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

Echoes of the Revolution: Hemispheric, Indigenous, and Commemorative with Dr. Kari Zimmerman, Dr. Jennifer McCutchen, and Dr. David Williard

Thursdays, April 23, 30 & May 7, 1:00-2:45 p.m.

This is a three-week lecture series event. This is available in-person and as an online live-broadcast event via Zoom (No recordings will be available.) In person program will take place on UST campus in the OEC auditorium. Please select in-person or online option when registering.

Program Description: Part of our America at 250 series. This series looks at the Revolution of 1775-83 from beyond its temporal and spatial borders. Three historians from the ºÚÉçÇø will offer insights on how the revolution that produced the United States extended throughout the western hemisphere. The American Revolution created the geopolitical and ideological basis for Haitian and Latin American national independence, radically altered life for Indigenous peoples in eastern North America, and developed into a source of competing commemorative traditions that both shaped and reflect American society’s deepest questions from the early nineteenth century to the present 250^the Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

The Ecosystem Around Us with Maria Dahmus & Rachel Schauer

Thursday April 30, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is single-session lecture event. Due to the outdoor tour portion of this program, this is an in-person only event.

Program Description: As the temperatures warm and the days lengthen in late April, Maria Dahmus, Director of the Office of Sustainability Initiatives (OSI) at St. Thomas, Rachel Schauer, OSI Program Manager, and their Student Sustainability Leaders will guide us through an exploration of the campus ecosystem and the nearby Mississippi River, reflecting on the ecological, ºÚÉçÇø, and personal significance of the area and the watershed. During a guided walk across campus to the Mississippi River, attendees will observe firsthand the interconnected systems that shape our environment, including the rich diversity of native trees and birds and their dynamic relationship with the river. This session will be a hybrid, beginning in OEC Auditorium and then dividing into smaller groups to move through campus and adjacent areas at a gentle pace.

Instructor Bio:

Maria Dahmus is the co‑founder and director of the Sustainable Communities Partnership and the Office of Sustainability Initiatives at the ºÚÉçÇø. She develops interdisciplinary initiatives that explore interconnections of human and ecological well‑being through collaborative, inquiry‑based learning on campus and in the ºÚÉçÇø. She earned her Ph.D. in Environment and Resources at the University of Wisconsin and has taught a variety of courses in environmental studies. She studies social dimensions of sustainability, including coalition‑building among “unlikely partners” and the social drivers of nutrient fluxes in urban ecosystems. Through campus–ºÚÉçÇø partnerships, she helps cultivate a culture of sustainability and bring ºÚÉçÇø‑identified sustainability goals to life through experiential projects with students, local partners, and artists.

Rachel Schauer is the program manager in the Office of Sustainability Initiatives at the ºÚÉçÇø. In her role, Rachel supports the University's sustainability commitments, from collaborating with units across campus to achieve sustainability goals to gathering data for sustainability assessments. Rachel also leads the Student Sustainability Leadership Program and enjoys working with students to prepare them to be sustainability leaders now and after graduation. She has a Bachelor of Arts from St. Catherine University in Environmental Studies (completed through the ACTC program at the ºÚÉçÇø).

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form

The American Revolution and the Fate of the World with Dr. Richard Bell

Tuesday April 28, 10:00-11:45 a.m.

This is single-session lecture event. Registration for this event includes light breakfast refreshments and an opportunity for book signing. This event will take place in the Iverson Center for Faith.

Program Description: This program is the special keynote presentation from our America at 250 series. ºÚÉçÇø Bell from the University of Maryland will be speaking on the topic of his new book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, recently published with Penguin Press. Copies of the book will be available at this special session for purchase and signing by the author. Light refreshments of pastries and coffee are included with your registration fee.

Instructor Bio: Coming soon!

To register on-line with a credit card on our secure page, please visit our

To pay by mail, using check or cash, please use this printable registration form: Printable Registration Form