In a familiar style that mimics a popular streaming lecture series, PilotTalks showcases the stories of our phenomenal faculty, staff and alumni in a different light and context outside of their day-to-day work. For the 2022-23 academic year, the PilotTalks storytellers will focus on the theme of what gives them hope.
First-Year & Sophomore Family Weekend 2023 storytellers are listed below:
Kali Abel, PHD Environmental Studies; Kali’s talk will be a collection of stories—of drying coffee beans, of salsa dancing at midnight, of people who collaborate with narco-traffickers, and of battles against a rising sea. They are reminders of just how much richness there is in our global family, and just how much potential we have in our response to a changing climate.
Anna Myers, PHD - Assistant Professor, School of Education; Anna will discuss her journey to UP, the dyslexia initiatives she is spearheading, and how the program will ensure UP’s teacher candidates are well-versed in the science of reading.
Randy Hetherington, EDD - Associate Professor, School of Education; In his talk, Randy will explore the why behind hope—why, when facing adversity, the human spirit will arise, endure, and overcome. But more importantly, he will discuss, through the lens of education, why we must know the “why” before we can truly know what we are hoping for. To know where to move a mountain, you must first understand why it needs to move.
Fr. Patrick Hannon, CSC - Holy Cross Priest and English Instructor; In his talk, Hope is a Thing with Feathers, Fr. Pat reflects on—by way of a story and through the lens of Holy Cross spirituality—what it means to be a person with hope to bring to the world; how the seeds of hope are always planted in the soil of redemptive suffering.
PilotTalks premiered at Junior & Senior Family Weekend 2022 with these guest storytellers. Click on each link to watch their story:
Eric Anctil, PHD: Professor of Media and Technology