Fall 2008: Alaska Week at UAA

UAA hosts its first-ever Alaska Week in conjunction with the Alaska Historical Society annual conference. Join us on campus for fun and educational events all week. From volleyball showdowns to exciting exhibit openings to movie premieres, you don't want to miss the action on the UAA campus!

Click here for the Alaska Week schedule of events.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Torrent Shipwreck: Searching for Alaska's Underwater History
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 7-9 p.m.
Assembly Chambers, Loussac Library (free)
In 1868 a wooden sailing ship carrying 125 U.S. Army soldiers hit a reef and sank in the lower Cook Inlet. Nearly 140 years later, a dedicated team of technical scuba divers found the Torrent's final resting place. What they discovered on the sea floor will amaze you. The premiere will be followed by a Q&A by the director, Steve Lloyd and his crew.

"Statewide Showdown": UAA vs. UAF women's volleyball game
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 7-9 p.m.
Wells Fargo Sports Complex
UAA Anchorage campus
($6-8 general admission, UAA students get in free with valid ID).

Friday, October 17, 2008

The below events are part of the Alaska Historical Society annual conference but are open to the general public.

Giinaquq Like A Face -- Alaska Historical Society annual conference keynote address by Dr. Sven Haakanson, Jr.
Friday, Oct. 17, 11-11:45 a.m.
Lucy Cuddy Center
UAA Anchorage campus (free event)
Dr. Sven Haakanson, Jr. is the Executive Director of the Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository in Kodiak, AK. He will discuss his exciting work on the exhibition Giinaquq: Like A Face, featuring a collection of 19th century Alutiiq Masks collected from Kodiak by the French in 1872. In 2007, Dr. Haakanson was a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship ("Genius Grant").

Alaska Historical Society annual conference luncheon presentation with Dermot Cole
Friday, Oct. 17, 12-1:15 p.m.
Lucy Cuddy Center
UAA Anchorage Campus ($15)
Award winning journalist Dermot Cole talks about the people, places, and events that form his latest book: NORTH TO THE FUTURE: The Alaska Statehood Story, 1959-2009.

A Tribute to Alaska's 59ers: Alaska's Seekers, Leaders and Dreamers featuring Alaska's 2006-2008 Writer Laureate John Straley
Friday, Oct. 17, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Lucy Cuddy Center
UAA Anchorage campus ($45)
Join the Alaska Historical Society as they recognize some of those intrepid individuals and true Alaska visionaries at their annual banquet. Special guest John Straley will present The Gray Area: Liars, Storytellers, and Private Detectives.

October 16-18, 2008

Alaska Historical Society Annual Conference
All are welcome to the three-day Alaska Historical Society Conference titled Alaska Visionaries: Seekers, Leaders and Dreamers. The conference, October 16-18, invites conference-goers to enjoy panel discussions, presentations and events where invited guests from around the state will recall the fight for statehood, discuss issues facing Alaska today and provide perspective for the next 50 years. See www.alaskahistoricalsociety.org for more information or to register.

October 18, 2008 (Alaska Day)

Alaska 2058: The Next 50 Years
2-5 p.m., UAA Rasmuson Hall, Room 117
UAF Butrovich, Room 109 (Videoconference)
UAS Egan Lecture Hall, Room 112 (Videoconference)
A panel of experts in various subjects will engage in a conversation about the future of our state. Based in Anchorage at the UAA Campus, the panel discussion will be videoconferenced to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Southeast where audiences will be able to ask questions and discuss their own visions for the next 50 years. Panelists include Anchorage School District Superintendent Carol Comeau, APRN reporter Steve Heimel, UAF Interim Chancellor Brian Rogers, Dr. Sven Haakanson Jr. and more.

Alaska Day Lecture
7 p.m., Wendy Williamson Auditorium, UAA Campus
The UAA Polaris Lecture Series presents its annual Alaska Day lecture featuring special guests Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, and a performance by the Alaska Native Heritage Center Dancers. This event is particularly significant during this year of statehood celebrations. Sen. Stevens and Sen. Inouye will recount their roles in the struggle for statehood and the road thereafter for the last two states to enter the Union, both in 1959.

For more information on these and other statehood-related activities, visit www.alaskahistoricalsociety.org or www.uaa.alaska.edu/advancement/alaska50th.