Katina Lillios is an archaeologist and is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Iowa. Katina has a PhD in Anthropology from Yale University and a BA in Archaeology and Art History from Boston University. She has taught at the University of Iowa since 2003. Katina is interested in the ways that people use their material world to create social identities and cultural differences. She has devoted her career to exploring this question for the peoples of the Neolithic through Bronze Age of the Iberian Peninsula (4000-1500 BCE), a period of profound social and climate changes. Through archaeological excavation and the study of artifacts, and often working in collaboration with interdisciplinary teams, her work has centered on understanding the ways that people of the past used things and monuments, such as heirlooms, sacred objects, and ancestral burials, to shape their futures. 

​Mr. Omar has a fascinating past as a refugee from Somalia, an activist for more inclusive politics, and now as Iowa Political Coordinator for a current presidential campaign. He looks forward to sharing his story, and will hold a discussion about U.S. Foreign Policy, its important ties to Iowa, and the important role foreign policy will continue to play in the upcoming elections.

As a great power on both the regional and global levels, China’s foreign policy has unique impact on Northeast Asian affairs. What is Beijing seeking through its policy toward Northeast Asian states? What does it mean for the Sino-U.S. relationship? This presentation will provide an overview of these issues and shed light on the interests and challenges of China’s foreign policy in East Asia Area.  

​Bo Xu is an associate professor of Northeast Asian Studies College, Jilin University, China. He studied as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Iowa Political Science Department from 2015-2017. His current research focuses on Russia’s foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region, the Sino-Russian relationship and international politics in Northeast Asia. He has authored or co-authored several books published in Chinese and many articles in such academic journals as The Pacific Review, Northeast Asia Forum and the Journal of Contemporary Asia-Pacific Studies. 

​Chloe Angyal is a journalist from Sydney, Australia, living in the Iowa City Area. She is currently a Contributing Editor at MarieClaire.com. Prior to January 2019, Angyal was the founding Deputy Opinion Editor at HuffPost.com. Before launching the Opinion section, she spent two years as HuffPosts’s Senior Front Page Editor. During her time working at HuffPost, Angyal covered a variety of topics, from politics to popular opinion to classical ballet, as well as working on the 2016 Olympic gymnastics coverage.

Brenda Longfellow is an associate professor and Head of the Art History division at the University of Iowa. She received her Ph.D. in classical art and archaeology from the University of Michigan, and her research is focused on the art and architecture of the ancient Roman Empire. She is the author of the book Roman Imperialism and Civic Patronage: Form, Meaning and Ideology in Monumental Fountain Complexes (Cambridge 2011) and co-editor of the book Roman Artists, Patrons, and Public Consumption: Familiar Works Reconsidered (Ann Arbor 2018).​

​She is a 2019 recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities summer stipend and was the 2013 Andrew Heiskell Post-Doctoral Rome Prize winner at the American Academy in Rome.  

​喻荣军, or Nick Yu, joins us this fall from the People’s Republic of China. His professional titles include: Artistic Director of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, Artistic Director of the Shanghai International Comedy Festival, and Co-director of the Shanghai Performing Arts Group.
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Yu has had over 60 of his original plays produced in China and abroad. He also works in film, TV, and radio. His writing has won him the Cao Yu Script Award and an Outstanding Social Achievement Awaird at the Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival.

Will is Co-Director of the Baker Teacher Leader Center in the UI College of Education with a particular focus on Global Community Education Initiatives, a new effort to internationalize in the College of Education. He was a classroom teacher of German in Iowa City, and in Wuppertal, Germany, prior to the College of Education at Iowa. He has presented on teacher education and professional development internationally and nationally. He is the co-author of three books with Rebecca Anthony on professional development and career advancement in both K12 and higher education. 

Chad Hart is an extension economist and associate professor of economics at Iowa State University. Chad is a native of southwest Missouri, growing up on a rural homestead near Stark City, Missouri. He received his Ph.D. in economics and statistics in 1999 from Iowa State University. His work has concentrated on crop marketing, crop insurance, international trade agreements, and bioenergy policy. Chad is also a partner in FarmRisk, an Iowa firm that develops revenue insurance products for agriculture. 
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Pol Herrmann is the Bob and Kay Smith Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Department of Management at the Ivy College of Business at Iowa State University ISU). Pol has a Civil Engineering Degree from the Polytechnic National School in Quito, Ecuador; a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from Southern Management University in Dallas, Texas; and a Ph.D. degree in Strategic Management and International Business from the University of Kansas. In 20 years at ISU, he has mainly taught International Management and Strategic Management of Innovation. His research focuses on strategic leadership and innovation.
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