Ian Urbina, Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist and author of Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier, will deliver the Abel Lecture on April 26, 2022, at 7:00 PM, on the topic of “Migrants and Mercenaries on the Outlaw Ocean: A Discussion of EU Efforts to Build a Virtual Wall Across the Mediterranean.” The talk will be followed by a panel discussion and ample time for audience questions.

This presentation is sponsored by the Dr. Harold Abel Endowed Lecture Series in the Study of Dictatorship, Democracy and Genocide and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Central Michigan University. A registration link and other details will be available soon.

This presentation examines causes of the crisis, real as well as imagined, in the Horn of Africa. The region, which includes Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia, had been sizzling and continues to do so due to multitudes of problems: boundary conflict, ethnonationalist aspirations, Nile water politics, piracy, cold war, and post-cold war developments.

The region's strategic location along the Red Sea littoral and the Indian Ocean compounds its problem. Consequently, any difficulty in one of the countries in the region, besides engulfing the neighboring countries, often attracts the big powers. The latter: USA, France, Russia, China, Japan had already established their military and naval bases in Djibouti. As if this is not enough, Middle Eastern countries such as Quatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are clamoring to join the skirmish.

This public event will be streamed live via Webex. Registration is not required.

Award-winning children’s author Carole Lindstrom will discuss her career and her 2021 Caldecott Medal-winning book We Are Water Protectors. Lindstrom, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe, wrote the book in response to the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. She will talk about the book’s intent to be “an urgent rallying cry to safeguarding the Earth’s water from harm and corruption.”

Clarke Historical Library Speaker Series

Register for this online event

Jim Diana, retired director of the Michigan Sea Grant Program and a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, officially opens the Clarke Historical Library’s “Abundant Waters” exhibit with a discussion about the effectiveness of Great Lakes environmental regulations in protecting this incredible ecosystem.

Register for this online event

Abundant Waters: Our Relationship with Michigan’s Most Abundant Resource

Exhibit at the Clarke Historical Library, opening Feburary 2022

CMU International Film Festival, Opperman Auditorium, Park Library, 6:30 PM

Water Justice With Dr. Mona: The Frontlines of the Flint Water Crisis, the Effects of Mistrust in Government on Vaccine Hesitancy, and the Importance of Being Civically Engaged

RSVP today to join the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center for a cross-campus collaboration to bring CMU students the story of Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician, professor, and public health advocate whose research exposed the Flint water crisis.

Dr. Mona will join the CMU community on February 16th in Plachta Auditorium, Warriner Hall at 5:30 p.m. for a moderated conversation and Q&A to discuss water justice in Michigan, how mistrust in government has lead to vaccine hesitency, and the importance of being active members of your community.

All attendees will receive a FREE copy of Dr. Mona's best selling medical thriller, What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistence, and Hope in an American City, while supplies last.

This event is sponsored by Central Michigan University, the Office of Residence Life, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Eta Sigma Gamma Public Health Honorary, and Program Board. This event is supported by the Honors Program, the Sarah R. Opperman Leadership Institute, the College of Medicine, and Residence Housing Association.

All water is connected. Join us for an evening of dialogs giving thanks and celebrating water as well as a showing a series of short films amplifying the importance of water. Artists: Sharon Day, Ty Defoe, and Kate Freer share their dedication to the vital life force of water. Moderated by English faculty member Ari Berk.

We encourage you to register your attendance in advance. Live transcription will be available. This event is sponsored by the Olga J. and G. Roland Denison Visiting Professorship of Native American Studies and the Critical Engagements initiative.

Film showing and panel discussion with Cedric Taylor, Itzel Marquez, and Cathy Willermet

During Spring of 2020, the village of Sanford, Michigan was impacted by catastrophic flooding caused by two mid-Michigan dam failures.

In partnership with the Central Michigan University College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, “The Sanford Voices Project” documents the personal histories of those affected by the disaster, and how they are recovering from it. When disaster struck this village, the community’s strength and resilience demonstrated that Sanford is Strong.

Sanford Village President, Dolores Porte; homeowner Glenn Moots; and Connie Methner, business owner, will discuss the experiences they had during the flood and the recovery process. Join us in the CMU Park Library Auditorium at 7 p.m. on September 16th for an evening of conversations and an exclusive advance screening of "The Sanford Voices Project" film.

This in-person event will be following CMU's COVID and masking guidelines. Please refer to the CMU Health & Wellness page for more details.

A virtual exhibition of stories, art, and research about how big water events have impacted people in Michigan.

Opening September 2021: View the virtual exhibition

This exhibition is co-sponsored by Central Michigan University Libraries and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Libraries, and is made possible by a grant from the American Library Association.