Randy Rasmussen Memorial Lecture Series

Events

Occult Adventures in the Chester Fritz and the Digital Press @UND

January 26th, 2023 at 4:30pm in room 406 at the Chester Fritz Library or Zoom Webinar

 

Chester Fritz Library will host Brian Urlacher, chair of Political Science at UND, for a reading and discussion of his new book, The Library of Chester Fritz, which recasts the career of CFL's namesake as a globetrotting dark adventurer. We will be joined by William Caraher from the Digital Press at the University of North Dakota - which published The Library of Chester Fritz - and Patrick Henry from the Department of English for a panel discussion of their plans to advance scholarly and literary publishing at UND in a changing publishing landscape.

This is the first of lectures and presentations honoring the life and legacy of Randy Rasmussen, a beloved and longtime staff member at CFL - and a scholar of horror movies. Food and refreshments will be served.

Understanding Science Fiction

April 13th, 2023 at 4:30pm in room 406 at the Chester Fritz Library or Zoom Webinar

 

Join the Chester Fritz Library in welcoming author and editor Eric Carl Link, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. In this illustrated talk, “Understanding Science Fiction,” Link will introduce audiences to the field of science fiction film and literature.  During this talk, he will answer the question what is science fiction? and talk about the language of science fiction, including such concepts as alloplastic and autoplastic societies, alterity, the novum, distance markers, and cybernetics.  He will discuss the impact of contemporary techno-philosophical ideas such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the technological singularity hypothesis on modern science fiction, and give a tour through many of the most common science fiction plot structures, from the alien contact story to the alternative history to the dying-earth scenario.

This lecture requires no specialized knowledge of literary theory: it is intended for broad academic audiences. 

About the Randy Rasmussen Memorial Lecture Series

Librarians at the Chester Fritz Library, with the endorsement of the Provost, Eric Link, created the Randy Rasmussen Memorial Lecture Series to honor the memory of a beloved member of the Chester Fritz Library staff, the University, and the Grand Forks community, Randy Rasmussen.

Invitations will be extended to speakers with themes that resonate with Randy Rasmussen’s interests, such as film and the moving image, fine arts, science fiction and fantasy, fan/popular culture, military history, meteorology, libraries and institutions of memory, and publishing. Speakers will not be limited to the humanities or solely these topics.

The members of the lecture series committee will strive to plan no fewer than two events in a year, one in the Fall and Spring of each academic year. Although in-person events are preferred, speakers may be invited to present virtually when a particular topic resonates with Randy Rasmussen’s interests, strengths in the Chester Fritz Library’s collection, or an aspect of regional history.

Whenever possible, with the consent of the lecturer, lectures will be recorded and added to the UND Scholarly Commons. In keeping with Randy’s spirit, events will be designed to appeal to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. Everyone will be welcome.