The following news was submitted to the CASE Dean’s Newsletter for May.

Between April 3 and May 15, the Weiner Professor for the Humanities and the Department of History and Political Science hosted a traveling exhibit on the D-Day Landings at Omaha Beach in the Curtis Laws Wilson Library. Based on Dr. John McManus’ book, The Dead and Those About to Die, the exhibition combined history, art, and technology to provide a visual representation of the courage and sacrifices made during the D-Day assault. Additional displays coordinated by the Missouri S&T Archives and the State Historical Society of Missouri provided visitors with information on local soldiers who served during the Second World War.  Students, faculty, staff, and community members had the opportunity to visit the exhibition, which included a short film, historically-accurate dioramas, World War II uniforms and artifacts, and original artwork. Dr. McManus also provided a tour of the exhibition for the Dean’s Leadership Council, gave a public lecture that combined his research and the display, and offered an open question and answer period for the public with colleague Dr. Chris Ketcherside.

Science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson visited Missouri S&T last month, thanks to the Weiner Endowment for the Humanities. He is the author of over 20 books, both fiction and nonfiction, exploring climate change, ecology, and alternative political systems. Until recently he was best known for his ‘Mars Trilogy,’ a landmark of hard science fiction—deeply researched, scientifically plausible, and politically intricate. His most recent novel, The Ministry for the Future, has been read and celebrated by climate activists, economists, UN officials, and Barak Obama, who cited it as one of his favorite books of 2020. Oxford University has created a Ministry for the Future on their campus, a think tank modeled on the book.

Robinson has been invited to speak at NASA, the European Space Agency, and the UN’s Conference of Parties and Summit of the Future. He has visited Antarctica as an NSF fellow. His books have won every award in the science fiction world and have been translated into 29 languages. In 2016 asteroid 72432 was named “Kimrobinson.”

On the weekend prior to Earth Day, Robinson enjoyed a bonfire with philosophy and environmental science majors at the Ozark Research Field Station. He also visited classes in Philosophy and English and met with faculty in the new Public Scholars Network on campus. His lecture at the Leach Theatre, “Imagining the Green Transition,” was free and open to the public.