For more than 30 years, Trinity University faculty members and alumni have shared their expertise with colleagues and community members through the Food For Thought Series. As a service to University supporters and the greater Trinity community, this year's Food for Thought Series features 10 free events on varying topics throughout the academic year. You and your guest are invited to attend these engaging live presentations and real-time discussions in a new, virtual format.

Once registered, you will receive a Zoom link to attend the virtual event(s) one week before each lecture.

Dr. KC Rondello '92
Just the Facts, Ma’am: How Epidemiologists Prevent Illness...
Tuesday, May 4, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Disaster epidemiologists are specialists in applying public health, social medicine, and community care to the prevention of, response to, and rehabilitation from disaster-caused health problems. Whether the threat is a novel pathogen, severe weather, tectonic event, act of terrorism, or technological crisis, the call is made to disaster epidemiologists. They strive to determine disease causation, identify highest risk individuals, determine how to control or eliminate the greatest threats, and ideally, prevent the disaster from recurring. Join us to explore the public health disease detectives’ crucial roles and how they prevent illness, ease suffering, and save lives.

Trinity Associate Professor Camille Reyes, Ph.D.; Andrea Acevedo '18
Spinning at the Border: Employee Activism/Representation in "Big PR"
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

What happens when the glossy sheen of advertising and public relations encounters less than shimmering realities? The Mexico/US border is one such site of contestation for the persuasion industries as they handle controversial client-work related to immigration. Learn how different agencies have responded to pressure by resigning from such work within their own ranks. Experience a virtual-reality representation of an immigration detention cell. Comments and questions will be welcomed in this thought-provoking event.

Past Events: 

Juan Sepúlveda, J.D.
“And the Winner is..." A Real-Time Conversation on Campaign 2020
Thursday, October 8, 2020 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

In the midst of unprecedented times, join Trinity University Political Science Professor Juan Sepúlveda, J.D., for “Campaign 2020 Conversation.” Explore the key races taking place nationally and in the six key battleground states of AZ, FL, MI, NC, PA, and WI. Is Texas turning blue? How will Trinity alumnus and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg ’99 fare with three proposed sales tax increases on the ballot for Pre-K 4 SA, workforce development, and VIA? Sepúlveda served as Texas State Director for the Obama campaign in 2008 and as the DNC Sr. Advisor for Hispanic Affairs for the Obama 2012 re-election campaign.

Carey Latimore, Ph.D.; Andrea VoCab Sanderson; JJ Lopez, KRTU General Manager
The Healing Role of Music During Difficult Times
Wednesday, October 21, 2020 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

During the pandemic, numerous e-mails have thanked KRTU for its nearly uninterrupted music programming. In difficult times, people overwhelmingly turn to local radio stations to enjoy quality music because music provides a respite from the unpredictable pandemic reality. Music inspires and moves a community toward positive cultural change. Music provides comfort and a sense of normalcy. Building on the history and role of Black music since the 1960s, "The Role of Music During Difficult Times" conversation brings together San Antonio community voices of Carey Latimore, Ph.D., Andrea VoCab Sanderson, and JJ Lopez, KRTU General Manager, to discuss this important, timely topic.

Gerard Beaudoin III '99, Ph.D.
Biomedical and Technological Advances to Combat Disease
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

Building on decades of incremental technological breakthroughs and as human trials are underway, we are hopefully only months out from worldwide vaccine administration. Part of the reason for multiple vaccine efforts is that different companies are using novel strategies for vaccine development. Discover the science and technologies (breakthroughs and setbacks) leading to this moment. You will leave with a more complete grasp of the way biomedical science is being done, and how these strategies are being used to address illnesses in addition to SARS-COV-2.

Diane Persellin, Ed.D.
From Bell Tower to Concert Hall: The Evolution of Handbells
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

They all played an important role in the evolution of modern-day handbells. In this presentation, enjoy an overview of the fascinating history of enormous tower bells including our Trinity tower bells, as well as much smaller handheld bells from across the globe. To conclude the presentation, the Trinity Handbell Ensemble will perform festive holiday music on over 200 bells.

Dr. Adam Bruggeman M'03
Moderator: Marc Strode M'98
The Hidden Costs of the Opioid Epidemic and Solutions to Fighting It
Thursday, January 14, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

There's a national crisis in opioid use. The deaths, costs, and subsequent lawsuits have become front-page articles for many publications and news outlets. What hasn't been covered is the long-term impact of opioid use on our society. The intersection of a coronavirus pandemic and the opioid epidemic has led to an unprecedented mental health crisis. This new crisis is leading to significant health care utilization and costs while also decreasing workforce productivity. Join speaker Dr. Adam Bruggeman M'03 and moderator Marc Strode M'98 as Food For Thought explores the opioid epidemic from the perspective of those living with chronic opioid dependence, the broader mental health crisis, and possible solutions to reduce healthcare costs.

Thomas Jenkins, Ph.D.; Anthony Tresca '21
Iliad, From Stage to Page
Wednesday, February 3, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Lisa Petersen and Denis O’Hare's stage version of Homer's Iliad seems a fool's errand: the distillation of a sprawling 24-book epic into a one-person show. It shouldn't work as theater, yet it does, as the authors find ingenious solutions for turning an expansive classical epic into an intense meditation on contemporary American society. With the aid of TU actor and political science major Anthony Tresca ’21, Professor Jenkins explores how Homer's myth makes a spectacular leap from stage to page, and how the idea of “translation” encompasses more than just language—it includes gesture, sight, and even thought.

Kelly Lyons, Ph.D.
Visionaries of American Conservation and America's Land Ethic Today
Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

The United States has historically been a worldwide leader in the development of conservation and wildlife management strategies. We have learned from historical precedent that, in the absence of extraordinary leadership, success in the preservation and conservation of wild land and wildlife only occurs either under duress or where ethical perspectives coalesce. Thus, the ultimate question we face is whether we can unify these perspectives and elevate the value of other species, biodiversity, and ecosystems before irreparable scarcity and damage occurs. In this discussion, Professor Kelly Lyons, Ph.D., will briefly present the history of preservation and conservation in the US since the Louisiana Purchase. Further, Lyons will share her perspective that there is more about the environment that unites us than divides us. She will also discuss some of the great possibilities ahead in the realm of environmental innovation, sustainability, and ecosystem conservation.

Artist Kathy Sosa; University of Texas at San Antonio Professor Emerita Ellen Riojas Clark; Trinity Professor Norma Elia Cantú, Ph.D.
Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

Trinity University Press has published Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico to celebrate the women soldaderas, saints, and subversives of early Texas and Mexico. Join three of the book's contributors—Norma Elia Cantú, the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University, artist and illustrator Kathy Sosa, and Ellen Riojas Clark, professor emeritus and cofounder of the bicultural-bilingual studies department at the University of Texas at San Antonio—to celebrate eighteen women who revolutionized their worlds. From soldaderas of the Mexican Revolution to iconic godmothers⁠ to artists and activists, these women are vital to the collective history of Texas and Mexico.