Animal Aristocrats: Social Class and the Buenos Aires Zoo

Ashley Kerr (Global Studies)

In the early twentieth century, the Buenos Aires Zoo was the most visited zoo in the world. In addition to teaching Argentines about animals, the zoo and its representations contributed to social debates. With respect to labor and class, Argentine authors developed the image of an aristocratic zoo populated by animals living in luxury and contrasted with “proletariat” animals like horses and donkeys. Although this image was consistent across genres and political ideologies, it (and the physical zoo itself) were put to very different uses by diverse social groups. Some supported emerging labor movements, while others engaged the same tropes to defend the status quo. This talk traces those projects and asks if there can be interspecies solidarity when it comes to workers’ rights.

Ashley Kerr is an associate professor in the University of Idaho’s School of Global Studies. She received her PhD in Spanish from the University of Virginia. Her first book, Sex, Skulls, and Citizens: Gender and Racial Science in Argentina (1860-1910), was named the 2020 Best Book by the Nineteenth Century Studies section of the Latin American Studies Association. Her second book, which will be published in 2025, analyzes how the Buenos Aires Zoo and its animals were used to shape Argentine society at the turn of the century.

Reconceiving Silence: Contemporary Composing for Silent Film

Dylan Champagne (Music)

Music has accompanied film since the beginning, but with the advent of “talkies,” music’s role began to take a different shape. What does it mean to compose live music for silent era films, but from a modern vantage situated within the context of nearly a century’s worth of film music evolution? Dylan will discuss his process and thoughts about writing music for the four silent films he has scored and share some insights about the particular challenges and rewards of this art form.

Dylan Champagne is a composer, performer, audio engineer, educator, and post-production professional. His music ranges from avant-garde to accessible, from chamber music to prog-punk, and is heavily informed by the 15+ years he spent involved in the underground San Francisco Bay Area music scene. He has been an active member of the Immersion Composition Society since 2001 and has written for film, silent film, chamber groups / mixed ensembles, British brass band, wind ensemble, orchestra, rock trio & quartet, and electronics. Champagne’s music has been performed by numerous groups and performers including The Cory Band, The Berkeley Ensemble, The Torch Quartet, and duality. Champagne is a lecturer of music composition and DAW at the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho.

Spin: How the World (and Almost Everything in It) Turns

Bill Gruber, English, Emory University (emeritus)

Everywhere, things spin—wheels turn, motors hum, tornadoes roar. This book explains the history and basic physics of spinning objects, from yo-yos, drills, propellers, and washing machines, to ballet dancers, dust devils, and bacteria.

The book gives instructive, entertaining accounts of everyday sights: Does a curve ball really curve? Why do figure skaters tuck in their arms? Can you make a disposable pen fly? How does a falling cat always land on its feet? Answers to these questions (and many others) tell the amazing story of things that spin.

Bill Gruber is an emeritus professor of English at Emory University. The author of numerous academic books and articles, he lives in Moscow, Idaho.

Sustaining American Alliances in the 21st Century (Borah Symposium)

Christopher Darnton (U.S. Naval Postgraduate College)

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Relational Research and Indigenous Futures: Adventures in Changing the Conditions of Higher Education

Philip Stevens (American Indian Studies) Vanessa Anthony-Stevens (Education, Health and Human Sciences)

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Climate-Smart Agriculture and Marketing

Sanford Eigenbrode (Agricultural and Life Sciences) Erin Brooks (Agricultural and Life Sciences)

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Architecture and/in Wilderness: Fire Lookouts in Idaho

Andrea Dutto (Architecture)

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The Hows, Whys, and Why Nots of Developing Educational Video Games on Campus

Terry Soule (Computer Science) Barrie Robison (Biological Sciences)

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Artificial Intelligence Literacy and the Ethics of Inquiry

Bert Baumgaertner (Politics and Philosophy) Casey Johnson (Politics and Philosophy)

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Maintaining a Sustainable Wardrobe

Chelsey Byrd Lewallen (Family and Consumer Sciences)

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Playful Math

Rob Ely (Mathematics)

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Making Sense of the 2024 Election Results: What Happened and Why?

Rebecca Scofield (History) Pavielle Haines (Politics & Philosophy) Markie McBrayer (Politics & Philosophy) Michael Overton (Politics & Philosophy)

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JournalMap: Using AI to Map the Where of Science

Jason Karl (Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Science) Jeremy Kenyon (Library)

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