BSC's Bringing Humanities To Life Humanities Symposium

Humanities Mixtape: Rewinding the 1980s

October 22–24, 2025 Bismarck State College

Hosted by Bismarck State College, Humanities Mixtape: Rewinding the 1980s explores one of the most transformative decades in American culture. Through film, discussion, and scholarship, this three-day symposium examines how the 1980s shaped our collective understanding of media, politics, language, and art.

Humanities North Dakota is proud to sponsor the presentation “Maya Angelou: The Power of Words in My Life,” performed by Becky Stone.

Agenda

(Agenda subject to change)

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

5:30 pm – Registration Opens

7:00 pm – Opening Remarks and Welcome

7:15 pm – Screening: Beetlejuice (1988)

Thursday, October 23, 2025

7:30 am – Check-in, Onsite Registration, Breakfast

8:30 am – Welcome and Day 1 Opening Remarks

9:00 am – Dan Gladden (Tentative) and Brad Balukjian

10:00 am – The Farmer’s Lawyer – Sarah Vogel

10:45 am – Break 11:00 am – Gordon Kahl Panel (Title TBD)

12:00 pm – Lunch (for paid participants)

1:00 pm – Dave Thompson, Prairie Public

1:30 pm – Dave Thompson and Lisa Napoli

1:45 pm – 1980: The Dawn of the 24 Hour News Cycle – Lisa Napoli

2:30 pm – Break

2:45 pm – TBD

3:30 pm – They Say to Never Meet Your Heroes; Are They Right? – Brad Balukjian, Islephile LLC

4:30 pm – Close, Day 1

5:30 pm – Evening Social

6:30 pm – Introductory Remarks

6:45 pm – Screening: The Terminator (1984)

8:30 pm – Panel Discussion: The Terminator and the 1980s

Friday, October 24, 2025

7:30 am – Breakfast

8:30 am – Welcome and Day 2 Opening Remarks

8:45 am – Usman Malik (Virtual) and Josh Kern

9:30 am – Gag Me with a Spoon: The Linguistic Legacy of Valley Girls – Kevin Moberg, Bismarck State College

10:00 am – Break

10:15 am – Revisiting the 1980s: Nostalgia, Place, and Cultural Memory (Virtual) – Melissa Vosen Callens, North Dakota State University

11:00 am – Postapocalyptic Aesthetics: 1980s Pop Culture Takes on the Cold War – Holly McBee, Bismarck State College

11:30 am – “Shall we play a game?” Expressions of Cyberculture in the 1980s (and ‘90s) and How They Align with Our Lives Now – Adam Tyma (Virtual)

12:00 pm – Lunch (for paid participants)

1:00 pm – Maya Angelou: The Power of Words in My Life – Becky Stone, sponsored by Humanities North Dakota

2:00 pm – My Unplugged Eighties – Deb Marquart, author of The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere

3:00 pm – The Future Has Been Cancelled – Chuck Klosterman

4:30 pm – Closing

BSC Olli Members can register for a discounted rate here: https://bismarckstate.edu/community/humanities/humanitiessymposium/