Programming
The Center’s experiential programming remains focused around three strategic themes: Liberal arts and leadership, the role of business in society, and meaningful work. These themes, which strategically intersect each other across all Center programming, help educate students, academia, and business industry professionals on the larger context surrounding today’s social challenges. Learning about the historical, social, and economic conditions that motivated - and continue to perpetuate - today’s social issues help individuals develop critical thinking skills, self-awareness, empathy, and a deeper understanding of humanity. Socrates once said, “true wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” Our hope is that Center programming has a long-lasting impact on attendees by helping to develop their curiosity, a desire to lead, and a holistic understanding of humanity.
Kate Barr (2024). Barr is the former President and CEO of Propel Nonprofits and current Senior Advisor for the Minnesota CDFI Coalition. Barr has served, and continues to serve, the Minnesota community with her extraordinary tenacity, authenticity, and incredible sense of commitment and responsibility. For over 25 years, Barr’s principled leadership as the President and CEO of Propel Nonprofits - a Minneapolis-based nonprofit whose mission is to increase the impact and effectiveness of nonprofits through guidance, expertise, and resources - has helped change the conversation around nonprofit finance. Her work as a leader, innovator, integrator, and educator has helped make sure hundreds of nonprofits are financially able to fulfill their missions and subsequently have a significant, long-lasting positive impact on the communities they serve. Watch this video to learn more about Kate's extraordinary principled leadership and her service to the common good.
George Lee (2023). Lee's genuine care for people is at the core of his character. Poverty alleviation, vocational skills development, promotion of sustainable industry, elimination of discrimination, urban waste management, hazardous waste reduction, and climate change mitigation are just a few of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals achieved here in Twin Cities as a result of Lee's unwavering dedication to create social enterprises focused on BOTH providing comprehensive job training for individuals facing barriers to employment AND responsible electronicwaste recycling. Watch this video to learn more about George's profound impact as a leader and his service to the common good.
Erica Neubert Campbell (2022). Campbell is the epitome of a principled leader: Empathic, authentic, and driven to serve others. Her commitment to purposefully and positively impacting the Twin Cities community through her leadership at the Pinky Swear Foundation is inspiring. Listen to this podcast and watch this video to learn more about Erica and her incredible passion and service to the common good.
Galon Miller (2021). Miller is the CEO of Cyber Intelligence Cyber Security, LLC; founder and executive director of Cyber Warrior Foundation, Inc.; consultant for Project Got Your Back; & partner with Eagle Group of Minnesota Veterans. He continues serving our nation and community by helping veterans obtain meaningful employment and access to necessary services upon reentry to civilian life. Listen to this podcast and watch this video to learn more about Miller's passionate commitment to veterans and his service to the common good.
Caroline Njau (2021). Accepting the award on behalf of Minnesota Frontline Healthcare Workers was Caroline Njau. As Senior Vice President Patient Care Services & Chief Nursing Officer at Children's Minnesota, Njau proudly accepted this award on behalf of thousands of healthcare workers who gave their time and talents while risking their own wellbeing to to help our communities through the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen to this podcast and watch this video to learn more about the Minnesota Frontline Healthcare Workers and their extraordinary service to the common good.
Omar Williams (2021). As chair of the 3M Employee Resource Network: Black Leadership Advancement Coalition (3M BLAC) and 3M Area Business Leader for Precision Grinding & Finishing, US & Canada, Williams' amplifies black excellence and social justice and racial equity for African Americans and other underrepresented groups within the company Listen to this podcast and watch this video to learn more about Williams' service to an equitable and just common good.
April 29, 2025: Upcoming in-person event: Beauty and Work. Join a panel of students, alums and employers who will discuss the reality of and opportunities for beauty and work integration.
April 9, 2025: Upcoming webinar co-sponsored with J.Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies: Moral Realism and Relativism in Higher Education.
December 2024: Executive MBA class viewed A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater to discuss play themes in connection to degree learnings.
October 2024: Center co-hosted panel discussion with REPOWERED to highlight businesses best practices for sustainability and human-centered management.
September 2024: Afterclass Literary Event.
June 2024: Skeleton Crew Afterclass Guthrie Theater Event.
February 2024: Minneapolis Institute of Art Afterclass Event.
December 2023: Opus College of Business Joy at Work Event at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
December 2023: Executive MBA class to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater and discuss play themes in connection to degree learnings.
February 2023: Blues for an Alabama Sky Guthrie Theater Event.
December 2022: Executive MBA class to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater and discuss play themes in connection to degree learnings.
May 2022: A Raisin in the Sun Guthrie Theater Event.
December 2020: A Christmas Carol virtual event.
The Center's podcast, Work in Progress with Christopher Wong Michaelson, discusses every working person’s work in progress, namely, our quest to be fully human in a working world that all too often makes us feel like machines, in which we often don’t even have time to think, and that, in the words of Studs Terkel, too often feels like “a Monday through Friday sort of dying.” Listen below:
Episode 26: Fantasy Football and the Good Life, featuring Coach Glenn Caruso.Is fantasy football part of the good life, is it just a colossal waste of time – or worse?This podcast is ordinarily about work, but this episode is about play, and whether any redeeming consequences come from the work that a $30 billion industry of analysts, podcasters, pundits, gamers, and other fantasy nerds put into it. To put that question to the test, in Fall 2024, 11 honors students at the University of St. Thomas and Professor Christopher Wong Michaelson formed a fantasy football league for a class called “Fantasy Football and the Good Life.” While playing fantasy football against each other, they also discussed ethical questions in fantasy sports: from fairness to conflicts of interest, racism to sexism in sports, collusion and punishment, and more. For the final class assignment, students had to select and debate five propositions examined over the semester. The propositions concern the following topics: success, punishment, fair play, luck, and gambling. Who won and who lost each debate doesn’t matter any more than who won and lost on the fantasy football field. To judge the arguments, student judges were joined by one celebrity guest judge: University of St. Thomas Head Football Coach and multiple coach of the year award-winner, Glenn Caruso. (February 2025).
Episode 25: 2023 Melrose Twin Cities Principled Leadership Awardee: George Lee.(July 2024).
Episode 24: Is Your Work Worth It a Three-Part Series, Part Three: A conversation with Chad Sokol. Sokol has held some of the best executive positions we can imagine, as the head buyer of wine, beer, and now candy at Costco, the U.S.-based warehouse club retail chain. But on his career journey, he has also operated a drill press machine and herded carts in the parking lot. Did I mention he also performs music and is a published poet? Listen on for his take on what makes his work worth it. (April 2024).
Episode 23: Is Your Work Worth It a Three-Part Series, Part Two: A conversation with Kristine Enea, J.D. Enea has had many careers: in law, big tech, writing a book, politics, and real estate, among others. Now 58 years old, she is a student again, preparing for her next career: as a medical doctor. Listen on for her take on what makes her work worth it. (April 2024).
Episode 22: Is Your Work Worth It a Three-Part Series, Part One: A conversation with Dennis Curley. Dennis Curley has sung “Sweet Caroline” at least 1,000 times. That helps to explain why he says, “You can’t base your perception of who you are on what you do.” Listen to what makes Dennis’ work as a music performer worth it. (February 2024).
Episode 21: In Search of Careers for the Common Good a Part Four Series, Part Four: A conversation with John Sullivan who recently retired from a long and distinguished career as a corporate lawyer but who remains active in volunteer engagement with organizations such as the Minneapolis Foundation and the Matthew Shepard Foundation. (February 2024).
Episode 20:In Search of Careers for the Common Good a Four-Part Series, Part Three: A conversation with Lindsey Hickey, CEO of Simek’s, who shares her story about thriving in the chaos of balancing a family while leading a second-generation family business in her search for a career for the common good. (February 2024).
Episode 19: In Search of Careers for the Common Good a Four-Part Series, Part Two: A conversation with recent University of St. Thomas graduate, Katrina Anderson, an park ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains, who shares her story about changing her major, her expectations and her zip code in her search for a career for the common good. (February 2024).
Episode 18: In Search of Careers for the Common Good a Four-Part Series, Part One: A conversation with recent University of St. Thomas graduate, Cesar Osvaldo Mendez Portillo, a self-described “banker by accident” who shares his story about the importance of building relationships in his search for a career for the common good. (February 2024).
Episode 17: A conversation with the 2022 Principled Leadership Research Fellows about apple commodity markets, K-Pop's cultural influence on business, and building trust in the workplace. (February 2024).
Episode 16: A conversation about business, family and the business of family (March 2023).
Episode 15: A Raisin in the Sun Panel Discussion at the Guthrie Theater (February 2023).
Episode 14: 2022 Melrose Twin Cities Principled Leadership Awardee: Erica Neubert Campbell. (February 2023).
Episode 13: Klara and the Sun: A conversation about the nature of intelligence and the costs (and benefits) of progress. (September 2022).
Episode 12: What have we learned about business and ethics from the pandemic discussion series: Part three. (July 2022).
Episode 11: What have we learned about business and ethics from the pandemic discussion series: Part two. (July 2022).
Episode 10: What have we learned about business and ethics from the pandemic discussion series: Part one. (July 2022).
Episode 9: What is the purpose of work? A discussion with Hubert Joly, former Best Buy CEO & author of The Heart of Business (June 2022).
Episode 8: 2021 Melrose Twin Cities Principled Leadership Awardees (January 2022).
Episode 7: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A conversation about finding redemption at work and in life with Guthrie Theater Artistic Director, Joe Haj, and playwright Lavina Jadhwani (November 2021).
Episode 6: Twenty years after 9/11 Part Three: A conversation with Jackie Zins & Stacy Pervall, former representatives of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (September 2021).
Episode 5: Twenty years after 9/11 Part Two: A conversation with Fred Price, managing director at Piper Sandler (September 2021).
Episode 4: Twenty years after 9/11 Part One: A conversation about meaningful work with Jen Tosti-Kharas (September 2021).
Episode 3: Who is Capitalism? A conversation about Homeland Elegies with Ayad Akhtar and Azish Filabi (August, 2021).
Episode 2: What is the Dilemma in the Social Dilemma? A conversation about Netflix's Popular Documentary with Shuili Du and Lisa Abendroth (June, 2021).
Episode 1: All About AI Ethics: A conversation about Ian McEwen’s Machines Like Me with Tae Wan Kim (April, 2021).
Episode one. Meaningful Work Foundations: What is Meaningful Work?
Please view the recorded webinar HERE as it was originally held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. CT
Join two pioneers in meaningful work research, philosopher Joanne Ciulla of Rutgers University and organizational psychologist Michael Pratt of Boston College, for the first session in the Meaningful Work Foundations series, co-hosted by Christopher Wong Michaelson of the University of St. Thomas and Evgenia Lysova of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Co-sponsored by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
