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Conversations at BSC-Thoreau's Walden

Presented by Bismarck State College at Bismarck State College's Sidney J. Lee Auditorium

January 22, 2012

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Bismarck State College is pleased to present for the fourth year this series of conversations to enrich the community's understanding of our common humanity. Each conversation begins with a presentation by Clay Jenkinson, and includes discussion between Jenkinson and BSC President Larry C. Skogen. Questions from the audience complete the conversation.



The January 22 topic is "Thoreau's Walden: One Man's Effort to "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." This conversation will be a Walden primer: why Thoreau wrote it, who is its natural audience, what questions he was trying to wrestle with in the book, and how the book has been used by successive generations of Americans. Clay Jenkinson and Larry Skogen will focus on two chapters: "Economy," and "Reading," and how the concepts articulated have shaped their own lives and could shape future lives.



Larry C. Skogen is BSC's sixth CEO. Retired from a career in the U.S. Air Force, Skogen has been a high school teacher and college faculty member in a variety of military and civilian institutions, including the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is author of works about federal Indian policies and the history of the American West. Skogen has a doctorate in history from Arizona State University, Tempe; MA in history from the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg; and BS in secondary education from Dickinson State University. A native of Hettinger, he is married to Alison, a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.



Clay Jenkinson is a humanities scholar, author and social commentator, a Jefferson scholar, a Lewis and Clark scholar, and a student of the future of rural America. Jenkinson is one of the nation's leading interpreters of Thomas Jefferson. He has lectured about and portrayed Jefferson in forty-nine states over a period of 17 years, as well as served as consultant and principal on-air "talking head," in Ken Bums' Thomas Jefferson film. Jenkinson also hosts the nationally syndicated weekly radio program "The Thomas Jefferson Hour" which has been on NPR stations since 1999.



Jenkinson directs the Dakota Institute of Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation, which intends to foster a statewide "conversation," using a humanities-based approach to addressing current events and what the future holds. Book publishing, documentary-making, and symposiums are among the numerous projects coordinated by the Dakota Institute with Clay Jenkinson at its helm. Through the Dakota Institute, Jenkinson recently has added documentary film maker to his list of accomplishments with the award winning documentary on former North Dakota Governor Art Link "When The Landscape is Quiet Again." Jenkinson has written "millions of words on Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, John Donne, the Great Plains, and especially North Dakota." Most recently, Jenkinson released a second edition of "The Character of Meriwether Lewis."



He writes a weekly column for the Bismarck Tribune, serves as Bismarck State College's Distinguished Humanities Scholar and as the chief consultant for Dickinson State University's Theodore Roosevelt Center. With his return to his home state of North Dakota in 2006, Clay divides his time between performing, lecturing, researching, writing, and film making to further the humanities both in his home state and across the country.



The event is free to the entire community. For more information, call BSC Continuing Education, Training and Innovation at 701.224.5600 or visit www.bsctalk.com.