Public Affairs, 11:00 AM

“The U.S. and China: Is a Cold War Necessary?” David Skidmore, Professor of Political Science at Drake University, will speak on US-Chinese relations. David Skidmore received his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University and taught at Hamilton College and the University of Notre Dame before arriving at Drake in 1989. During the 1996-97 academic year, he taught at the Johns Hopkins-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China. He also served as a Fulbright Scholar based at the University of Hong Kong in 2010-2011. Skidmore served as Director of the Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship (2002-2017) and the Nelson Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs (2012-2017), both at Drake University.  He is past Director of the Drake Curriculum and First Year Seminar programs. His research and teaching interests lie in the areas of international political economy, American foreign policy and international relations theory.

Luncheon, 12:00 PM

Antiques & Treasures, 1:00 PM

A dilapidated building at 2513 Woodland Ave. sat vacant for numerous years. The City of Des Moines put it up for auction in 2023. Four bidders gave a presentation to the City detailing what their visions were for this building. Because of the building’s state of disrepair, none of the bidders were allowed to enter the structure. Steve Wilke-Shapiro, who is an Architecture, won the bid. Come listen to Steve’s presentation on how he brought this uninhabitable building back to life. He tells the history of how this was once a grocery store in the 1920’s and then a barber’s shop for  in the 1960’s for black patrons. With months of Steve’s hard work, this structure is now a beautiful office space for his business, Sequel Architecture + Interiors located at  2513 Woodland Ave, Des Moines, IA