Claim OwnershipSpeaking of Simpson
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A podcast of the people and events that make Simpson College one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation.
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Speaking of Simpson devotes this week's episode to a remembrance of Jay Byers, who died on April 17. Acting President Terry Handley, who helped engineer the hiring of Jay as president just two years ago, and longtime Professor Mark Green share their stories of Jay that date to his days as a student at Simpson in the 1990s. Also, host Brian Steffen wraps up this episode with an important announcement.
Jack Simons is an academic counselor in Simpson's TRIO program, and he's been a leader in the conversations on campus about healthy mobile phone usage by undergraduate students. It's a continuation of his previous work on helping Des Moines high school students find a better balance of using mobile tech in their lives. Jack's on the podcast this week to talk about how he hopes Simpson can help students better manage their screen time.
One in four college undergraduate women report being victims of sexual assault during their time in higher education, and most experts believe the numbers of full reports are much lower than what's happening on campus. Emily Burns and Olivia Erickson, two members of Simpson's Sexual Assault Response Advocates (SARA) program, come on the podcast this week to discuss how this student-led program provides help and support for students who've had unwelcome sexual experiences. This episode helps kick off April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month at Simpson and around the nation.
Simpson has long been dedicated to teaching its students the value of a diverse, equitable and inclusive world. Still, that orientation has been attacked both in Washington, D.C. and at the Statehouse in Des Moines. Indeed, Iowa now says it will withhold Iowa Tuition Grant funding from any private college with a DEI office. (Simpson no longer has such an office.) This week on the podcast, Professor Mark Freyberg in sociology and criminal justice talks about why Simpson teaches DEI and why our students will be ill-equipped to work in a diverse world without that education. Please note that this episode expresses the views only of the host and guest, and it does not necessarily reflect that of Simpson College.
Simpson faculty member Matt Garrett has a new book out, Living in the Middle: Reflection Thinking in Sport, about the challenges likely to be faced by students pursuing careers in sport management, marketing and media. Matt stops by the podcast this week to talk about why he wrote the book and the lessons he hopes his students and readers take from it.
Volleyball is one of America's fastest-growing sports, and Simpson's taking advantage of that fact in building its long-standing women's program and the new men's program. This week on the podcast, new Volleyball Director Dani Kohut Lynch, who also is head coach of the women, and new men's Coach Ike Papes talk about joining the Storm and looking for ways to help the programs stand out in the American Rivers Conference.
Spencer Waugh has led some of Simpson's most high-profile programs, including Speech & Debate and Exploratory Studies. Now he's tasked with taking over Simpson Online, the undergraduate, graduate, and certificate program aimed at non-traditional learners. Spencer stops by the podcast this week to talk about the program and his ideas for growing it in the years to come.
Mike Espy, former congressman from Mississippi and secretary of agriculture during the 1990s in the Clinton administration, came to Simpson last week to accept the Carver Medal, named for Simpson College's most famous alumnus. George Washington Carver attended Simpson in 1890 and went on to become one of the world's foremost agricultural scientists. The Carver Medal recognizes a Black American who has made a significant contribution to public service in the United States. Espy is the first Black American to serve as secretary of agriculture.
Jake Brend is less than two years away from earning his Simpson College degree, but he's already been named Iowa's Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Jake's on the podcast this week to talk about how he came to love sports communication, and how he took advantage of opportunities on and off campus to make his dreams reality.
Collaborating with the metro Des Moines buisness community, and Simpson's making its commitment to doing so with its new program in Workforce Partnerships. Director Jennifer Chittenden comes on the podcast this week to talk about how she's working in the metro to help build the Simpson brand and connect its academic programs with the needs of metro businesses, non-profits, and more.
As NASA looks to return to the Moon and then go on to Mars, the study of space biology has become an ever-more-important endeavor. Simpson biology professor Aswati Subramanian and her students are playing a role in those studies. Subramanian is on the podcast this week with two of her students, Layna Depping and Sam Derning, to talk about their work, which has won a $30,000 seed grant from NASA. The episode is a co-production with Iowa Public Radio News. Our thanks to Ben Kieffer, host of the IPR News program River to River, and producer Samantha McIntosh for their help.
This week’s episode is a co-production with Iowa Down Ballot, the Substack feed and podcast that brings together some of Iowa’s best political analysts to offer insights and perspectives earned through years of covering and analyzing Iowa politics. Working through Simpson’s Culver Center for Public Policy and its director Seth Andersen, Iowa Down Ballot last week helped put together a panel of some of Iowa’s top political journalists — plus Simpson Political Science Professor Kedron Bardwell — to talk about what the next four years will look like in national and state politics. The panel is moderated by Dave Busiek, now-retired news director at KCCI TV 8 news in Des Moines who now puts out Dave Busiek on Media, also on Substack.
We're transitioning between fall and winter sports seasons at Simpson, so Athletic Director Marty Bell stops by the podcast this week to talk about the progress he's seen across the board during his tenure leading the college's athletic programs.
The 2024 elections are in the rear-view mirror, and Simpson political scientists Adrienne Gathman and Kedron Bardwell are on the podcast this week to dissect the results. They not only make sense of Donald Trump's return to the presidency, but also the struggles of the Iowa Democratic Party and how Democrats might mount a comeback in the next two years.
John Cardamone is the director of international education and study abroad at Simpson College, where he's rebuilding Simpson's once-leading international programs back to where they were before COVID-19. On this week's episode, John talks about his background in international education, Simpson's upcoming May Term study-abroad opportunities, and how he's working to expand the destinations and affordability of study abroad for Simpson students.
The new vice president for student development at Simpson College, Matt Hansen, is retaining his existing title as dean of students and is on the front line of helping make a vibrant experience for students outside the classroom. On this episode of the podcast, Matt talks about his career journey to Simpson, his program's recent Iowa Safe Schools Award, and how Simpson is helping its students be engaged in the 2024 elections.
A funny thing happened to English professor CoryAnne Harrigan on her way to the start of the Fall 2024 term: Just a week before class began, she was asked to take over as academic dean of Simpson College on an interim basis. Two months later, Harrigan says that, while she wasn't looking for the job, she's been learning on the fly and becoming comfortable with leading the academic program. On this episode of Speaking of Simpson, Harrigan talks about her journey to Simspon, the roles she's played on campus, and the wholly unexpected offer to become academic dean.
Jay Byers is now officially Simpson College's 25th president after his inauguration this past Friday as part of Homecoming weekend. Terry Handley, chairman of the Simpson Board of Trustees, presided at the ceremony, with a wide array of speakers representing Simpson's faculty, students, alumni, the Indianola community, and the broader world of Iowa higher education. Inaugurations are one of the most special events colleges hold, and this week's episode captures the excitement on campus as Byers digs into his presidency.
Commencement is just around the corner at Simpson, unleashing hundreds of new graduates on the world. For this final episode of Season 5 of Speaking of Simpson, Director of Career Services Kelsey Bolton shares where those graduates are likely to turn up in the months ahead. The college's First Destinations Report shows that 94% of Simpson grads either land employment or graduate-school admissions — and an amazing 78% of them will stay in Iowa to help make the Hawkeye State a more educated and professional place to live.
The new commissioner of the American Rivers Conference, Marie Stroman, is on the podcast this week to talk about the Division III sports league of which Simpson is a member. Known since 1922 as the Iowa Conference, the ARC rebranded in 2018 with the addition of Nebraska Wesleyan as its eighth member institution. Stroman talks this week about her work bringing Simpson together with its conference peers and the challenges in running a Division III league in an age of Division I giantism.
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