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Brad Balukjian, PhD
They Say to Never Meet Your Heroes; Are They Right?
Dr. Brad Balukjian chose two professions that are remarkably alike: journalist and scientist. He is a research associate and entomologist at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and a freelance journalist and book author whose work has been published in National Geographic, The Athletic, Rolling Stone, and many others. His book The Wax Pack was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.
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Holly McBee, PhD, Bismarck State College
Postapocalyptic Aesthetics: 1980s Pop Culture Take on the Cold War
Dr. Holly McBee earned her Ph.D. in English literature from Purdue University in 2007. She taught English at Dickinson State University from 2008-23. Since 2023, she has been an assistant dean for Humanities, Arts, and Sciences at Bismarck State College. She enjoys working at BSC and likes spending time with friends and watching movies. |
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Kevin Moberg, Bismarck State College
Gag Me with a Spoon: The Linguistic Legacy of Valley Girls
Kevin Moberg serves as Bismarck State College’s Dean of Institutional Effectiveness. Prior to coming to BSC, he was an English professor and taught courses in literature, writing, and linguistics, including modern English grammar and the structure and history of the English language. His interest in sociolinguistics and his first-hand experience with the 1980s sparked his curiosity about the influence of that decade on contemporary English. He hopes his presentation will be, like, totally rad but will not, in fact, gag you with a spoon. |
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Lisa Napoli
1980: The Dawn of the 24 Hour News Cycle
Lisa Napoli has worked as a reporter and columnist for The NY Times, MSNBC, and public radio's Marketplace. She's the author of four books and is also a ghostwriter and editor for hire. She's about to finish her Master's Degree in Biography and Memoir at CUNY Graduate Center in New York. www.lisanapoli.com
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David Peterson
Born in Minot, ND; Graduated from HS at Carpio, ND in 1960 Married Diane Oakes from Pembina, ND in 1968 and have two married daughters and several grandchildren US Army & National Guard 1960-1968 BSBA University of ND 1966 Juris Doctor with Distinction University of ND 1968 Law Clerk ND Supreme Court 1968-1969 Special Asst Attorney General for ND 1969-1971 Asst Executive Director and Legal Counsel for ND Constitutional Convention 1971-1972 Asst United States Attorney District of ND 1972-1976, and 1995-2008 Private Law Practice 1976-1995, and 2008-2018 State Bar Association President 1985 & 1986 State Trial Lawyers Association President 1980 & 1981 Member of various civic, church and professional organizations |
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Becky Stone
Maya Angelou: The Power of Words in My Life
Becky Stone was been a Chautauqua scholar since 2003. She has presented The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Maya Angelou, Josephine Baker, and Stagecoach Mary Fields. Stone holds a degree from Vassar College in theatre and a masters in elementary educational counseling from Villanova University. Chautauqua scholars research their characters for at least a year before 'premiering' them. Reading and research is ongoing. Ms. Stone was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She has lived just outside of Asheville in Western North Carolina since 1978. She is a storyteller and actor. Stone has presented her Chautauqua characters in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, Nebraska, and Arizona. This is her first presentation in North Dakota in person. |
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Dave Thompson
Dave Thompson was Prairie Public news director and morning news anchor (1981-present). Dave is a Bismarck native, a graduate of St. Mary's Central High School. He has his degree from the University of North Dakota. |
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Adam Tyma, PhD
“Shall we play a game?” Expressions of Cyberculture in the 1980s (and ‘90s) and How They Align with Our Lives Now
Adam Tyma (Phd, 2008, North Dakota State University) is a Professor of Critical Media Studies in the School of Communication at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His areas of research include everything from popular culture to media literacy to pedagogy. When not teaching or writing, Dr. Tyma is furthering his own research by being part of the worlds he studies - participating in renaissance faires, binging movie and TV series, trying to get to as many concerts as possible, attending fan-cons, training for powerlifting competitions, fermenting and, most recently, curling. |
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Sarah Vogel
Lessons from the Farm Crisis of the 1980s
Sarah Vogel is an attorney and former politician whose career has focused on family farmers and ranchers. Vogel was the first woman in U. S. history to be elected as a state commissioner of agriculture. She served two terms as North Dakota’s Commissioner of Agriculture (1989 to 1997). In 2006, the American Agriculture Law Association awarded her its Distinguished Service Award for contributions to the field of agriculture law. The paperback copy of her book, The Farmer’s Lawyer: The North Dakota Nine And The Fight To Save The Family Farm, has a foreword by Willie Nelson. The Farmer’s Lawyer has been praised by John Grisham and many others. Vogel is now working on her next book, which will be about the massive Keepseagle v. USDA lawsuit in which a class of Native American ranchers sued USDA for race discrimination in the extension of agriculture credit and achieved an almost $1 billion settlement after many years of difficult litigation. |
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Melissa Vosen Callens
Revisiting the 1980s: Nostalgia, Place, and Cultural Memory
Melissa Vosen Callens is a proud baby of the 80s and currently a professor of practice in communication at North Dakota State University, Fargo, USA. Her areas of research and teaching interest include popular culture and online education. Her first book, Ode to X: Institutional Cynicism in 1980s Film and Stranger Things, was published by the University Press of Mississippi in 2021. Her second book Good Old-Fashioned Values: Gender and Family in Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show (with Olivia Vogt) was published in 2024 by McFarland Publishing Company. |
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Bob Wefald
Bob Wefald is a retired North Dakota State District Court Judge who also served as Attorney General for one term from 1981 through 1984. He is a retired Captain in the Navy Reserve who served one tour off the coast of Vietnam in 1966 as a gunnery officer on a guided missile destroyer. He is a 1964 graduate of the University of North Dakota and a 1970 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. His wife Susan Wefald served for sixteen years as a member of the Public Service Commission. |