Community Engagement

The UNC Charlotte IDEAS Center will hold its third annual BioEnergy Symposium on Tuesday, April 9, in the Barnhardt Student Activity Center Salons.
This year, the symposium will focus on anaerobic technologies, considered a source of renewable energy as anaerobic digestion can produce a biogas. Mel Kurtz, president of quasar energy group, one of the nation’s industry leaders in creating affordable renewable energy by providing businesses with sustainable waste management strategies, will be the featured speaker during the opening session.

April is North Carolina Science Festival time, and UNC Charlotte will hold a series of public lectures entitled “Research Journeys” to educate and inform the community about a variety of science topics.
Sean Caroll from the California Insitute of Technology (Caltech) will be the featured guest lecturer for the series. He will present “The Particle at the End of the Universe” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 10, in EPIC, Room G256.

Diversity trainer Lee Mun Wah will present “Changing Our Heads, Hearts and Hands – From the Inside Out,” an interactive multicultural learning program designed for faculty, staff and the community from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, March 20, in the Student Union.  Registration is required.
This half-day training is free for faculty and staff and $30 for public/community members. A continental breakfast during check-in is included.

International expert Russ Breault will deliver the multimedia presentation “Shroud Encounter” at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12, in the Student Union Movie Theater.
President and founder of the Shroud of Turin Education Project Inc., Breault has participated in nearly every international research symposium since the first Shroud of Turin Research Project conference in 1981. He attended both public exhibitions in Turin, Italy, in 1998 and 2000.

The Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) is revamping its Safe Zone Program, comprised of training related to LGBTQ programming.
Starting this semester, the Safe Zone training will be a four-hour offering, instead of an entire workday. The updated training program will focus on the basics of the LGBT community and the active engagement that allies offer as program participants. Safe Zone training is open to all members of the campus community and will be offered at least twice a semester.

Joyce Dalsheim will discuss her groundbreaking study of Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip and the resulting book about her enthographic work at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12, at UNC Charlotte Center City, as part of the 2012-13 Personally Speaking lecture series.

Daniel Grano and Margaret Quinlan, faculty members in the Department of Communication Studies, along with graduate student Elliot Hamer, will present “Did Race and Money Matter? Discrimination in the N.C. Eugenics Program” at 8 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the YWCA Central Carolinas, 3420 Park Rd.

UNC Charlotte will commemorate the life, work and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with a three-day celebration that includes a keynote address by award-winning writer Omar Tyree, a day of service and a film screening.
The 2013 celebration theme is “A Dream Attained, Deferred or Abandoned? An Examination of the 50 Years Since the March on Washington.” Tyree will speak about this topic at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 22, in the Cone University Center, McKnight Hall.

UNC Charlotte’s Center for the Study of the New South on will host “Without Sanctuary: A Conference on Lynching and the American South” Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 11-13. This event is in conjunction with the Levine Museum of the New South and its exhibit of photographs, postcards and narrative that explores one of the most horrific chapters of history.