Critical Engagements sponsors, co-sponsors, and publicizes a wide range of events on and off the CMU campus throughout the year. Please click on event titles for full details.
March 21, 2026, 7:00 p.m., at the Broadway Theatre, Mount Pleasant.
Free and open to the public.
The film will be followed by a panel and audience discussion featuring CMU faculty members.
Explore the role that board and video games have played throughout history, revealing the immense impact they have had on Life from the ancient past to modernity. Come learn about and experience the amazing new games created by students from Museum Studies and the Center for Learning through Games & Simulations!
In a world where we can message anyone instantly, why do so many people still struggle to feel truly connected? Many of us crave deeper connection but aren’t always sure how to build it. Communication research shows that small, everyday interaction habits can play a powerful role in strengthening relationships and increasing our happiness.
Communication faculty member Dr. Kirsten Weber will present “Ten Steps to Creating Connections and Decreasing Loneliness,” a talk focused on practical, actionable strategies for fostering stronger relationships. The presentation highlights simple communication practices people can use in daily life to create more meaningful connections, reduce feelings of isolation, and improve their well-being.
Time: April 8, 2026, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Place: French Auditorium
Dr. Weber’s presentation will begin at 7:00 p.m. The Creating Connections Fair, featuring tables, posters, and information from student offices and volunteer organizations from across our campus and community, will begin at 6:00 p.m. and continue after the talk.
Come and join us to play games from all over the world !
Tuesday, April 14, 5–7 p.m.
Pearce 303 and 304
Many colleges and universities continue to experience high turnover, prolonged vacancies, and questions about how to engage employees. Dr. McClure explores the roots of higher education’s workplace problems, connecting his personal experiences to the latest research on burnout, disengagement, and demoralization. Higher education is in a crisis of burnout and disengagement. Many institutions are struggling with high turnover, low morale, and outdated policies that leave employees feeling undervalued. But it doesn’t have to be this way. McClure didn’t set out to become a national voice on higher education workplaces—but his own experience with burnout led him to take a closer look. The presentation introduces Dr. McClure’s model of organizational care and provides multiple concrete strategies leaders can pursue to better support the wellbeing of staff and faculty.
The event will take place on Friday, March 20, 2026, from 1- 2:15 p.m. in the CMU Park Library Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium.
A live stream option is available for those unable to attend in person.
March 4, 6:00 p.m., at the Park Library Auditorium
The film will be followed by a panel and audience discussion featuring CMU faculty members.
Kara Agby, Detroit Lions Director of Partnership Marketing and Naming Rights, will speak to students, faculty and staff at 5 p.m. on Feb. 25 in the Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium. Kara, a 2018 Integrative Public Relations alumna, was honored on the Forbes “30 Under 30: Sports” list in 2025 for her outstanding leadership and work ethic. She will discuss the challenges faced in competitive fields and offer practical strategies for building confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging.
Supported by the College of the Arts and Media (CAM) Wellness, Engagement and Belonging (WEB) student engagement grant, the event is free and open to the public.
Central Michigan University and the Department of Military Science & Leadership proudly present the Annual Nolde Lecture Series.
The Nolde Lecture Series honors COL William Nolde, a former Central Michigan University cadre member and the last American casualty of the Vietnam War. Established in his memory, the series encourages reflection and dialogue on leadership, service, sacrifice, and the enduring human dimensions of military service.
This year’s lecture will feature the award-winning documentary No Greater Love, with special guest speakers COL Edward Bankston and SGM Daniel Byerly, two of the soldiers featured in the film. No Greater Love explores a combat deployment through the eyes of an Army chaplain as he and his men serve in one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan and the challenges they face as they struggle to reintegrate into life back home.
Event Details
What: Nolde Lecture Series
When: January 29 at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Broadway Theatre, Downtown Mount Pleasant
The Central Michigan University community is invited to attend.
For a link to the movie trailer and a more in-depth synopsis please go to https://nogreaterlovemovie.com/
January 24, 2026, 7:00 p.m., at the Broadway Theatre, Mount Pleasant.
Free and open to the public.
The film will be followed by a panel and audience discussion featuring CMU faculty members.
November 21, 2025, 6:00 p.m., at the Broadway Theatre, Mount Pleasant.
Free and open to the public.
The film will be followed by a panel and audience discussion featuring CMU faculty members.
Fight loneliness. Build connections. Pitch your solution. Join the Spark Challenge!
90 seconds One Pitch. Big Impact. Got a side hustle, startup, or sketch on a napkin? Take it to the stage. 90 seconds is all you need to spark something big. Register for the Spark Challenge. Food and Prizes included!
Impact Path = Every superhero solves a problem. Take on the challenge of addressing loneliness on campus.
Venture Path = Dreaming of your own startup? Put your vision together and take the first step toward entrepreneurship!
CMU students from ALL disciplines are welcome to participate.
All students participating must submit an entry form by 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, November 6. If collaborating as a team, each team member must fill out a registration form.
We invite you and your student organization to a special conversation with Dr. Denise Williams Mallett, vice chair of the CMU Board of Trustees, and author of The Village Effect: Leadership, Faith, and the Power of Community.
Mount Pleasant – Park Library, Baber Room
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
7:00PM
This event will feature an author reflection, selected reading from The Village Effect, and a fireside chat with CMU President Neil MacKinnon. A proud CMU trustee, thought leader, and educator, Dr. Mallett will share her personal and professional journey, from navigating leadership transitions to building a meaningful legacy rooted in faith.
This event is free and has limited seating, and each attendee is required to complete a registration form. Reserve your seat today and be part of the conversation shaping the next generation of purpose-driven leadership.
RSVP by September 12, 2025 for the Mount Pleasant event
Let’s come together to honor the power of the village — past, present, and future.
September 13, 2025, 6:00 p.m., at the Broadway Theatre, Mount Pleasant.
Free and open to the public.
The film will be followed by a panel and audience discussion featuring CMU faculty members.
Have you ever felt alone in a crowded room, or longed for a friend who really understands you? To be human is to struggle with the balance of friendship, loneliness, and the pursuit of happiness. Many are surprised to learn that in a hyper-connected world, loneliness has been deemed a public health epidemic. This talk will explore the science behind these topics, including your current levels of loneliness and social support as well as the importance of finding reciprocal friendships through leisure social structures.
Dr. Shay Dawson, CMU professor in Recreation, Parks & Leisure Services Administration, is a nationally recognized researcher and award-winning teacher with expertise in disability studies, therapeutic interventions, and the science of happiness, among other fields. At CMU he created and regularly teaches RPL 101, “The Pursuit of Happiness.” In 2024 he was named MASU Distinguished Professor of the Year, a statewide award conferred by the Michigan Association of State Universities.
November 11, 2024, 6:00 p.m., at the Opperman Auditorium, Park Library, Central Michigan University. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring CMU faculty members Christi Brookes, Matt Katz, Heather Kendrick, and Gregory Smith.
March 15, 2024, 6:00 p.m., at the Broadway Theatre, Mount Pleasant
Ian Urbina, Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist and author of Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier, will deliver the Abel Lecture on April 26, 2022, at 7:00 PM, on the topic of “Migrants and Mercenaries on the Outlaw Ocean: A Discussion of EU Efforts to Build a Virtual Wall Across the Mediterranean.” The talk will be followed by a panel discussion and ample time for audience questions.
This presentation is sponsored by the Dr. Harold Abel Endowed Lecture Series in the Study of Dictatorship, Democracy and Genocide and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Central Michigan University. A registration link and other details will be available soon.
This presentation examines causes of the crisis, real as well as imagined, in the Horn of Africa. The region, which includes Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia, had been sizzling and continues to do so due to multitudes of problems: boundary conflict, ethnonationalist aspirations, Nile water politics, piracy, cold war, and post-cold war developments.
The region's strategic location along the Red Sea littoral and the Indian Ocean compounds its problem. Consequently, any difficulty in one of the countries in the region, besides engulfing the neighboring countries, often attracts the big powers. The latter: USA, France, Russia, China, Japan had already established their military and naval bases in Djibouti. As if this is not enough, Middle Eastern countries such as Quatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are clamoring to join the skirmish.
This public event will be streamed live via Webex. Registration is not required.
Gifts For The River Film Festival seeks to celebrate our relationship with the land and waterways that sustain us. To celebrate the artists and filmmakers who are in intentional relationship with the natural world and utilize their medium to create awareness about the issues that threaten Mother Earth as well as celebrate the ongoing resilience of Turtle Island and the peoples who care for it.
Submissions are open through March 16, 2022. Applicants will be notified about participation in the in-person and virtual festival by March 18, 2022.
The Festival will take place in personal at Central Michigan University as well as virtually. Please stay tuned for a full schedule of screenings, panel discussions, and events.
Award-winning children’s author Carole Lindstrom will discuss her career and her 2021 Caldecott Medal-winning book We Are Water Protectors. Lindstrom, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe, wrote the book in response to the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. She will talk about the book’s intent to be “an urgent rallying cry to safeguarding the Earth’s water from harm and corruption.”
Gifts for the River, featuring Ty Defoe and Kate Freer. Film screenings and discussions planned for March 25 and 26, location TBD.
Jim Diana, retired director of the Michigan Sea Grant Program and a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, officially opens the Clarke Historical Library’s “Abundant Waters” exhibit with a discussion about the effectiveness of Great Lakes environmental regulations in protecting this incredible ecosystem.
Exhibit at the Clarke Historical Library, opening Feburary 2022
CMU International Film Festival, Opperman Auditorium, Park Library, 6:30 PM
RSVP today to join the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center for a cross-campus collaboration to bring CMU students the story of Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician, professor, and public health advocate whose research exposed the Flint water crisis.
Dr. Mona will join the CMU community on February 16th in Plachta Auditorium, Warriner Hall at 5:30 p.m. for a moderated conversation and Q&A to discuss water justice in Michigan, how mistrust in government has lead to vaccine hesitency, and the importance of being active members of your community.
All attendees will receive a FREE copy of Dr. Mona's best selling medical thriller, What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistence, and Hope in an American City, while supplies last.
This event is sponsored by Central Michigan University, the Office of Residence Life, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Eta Sigma Gamma Public Health Honorary, and Program Board. This event is supported by the Honors Program, the Sarah R. Opperman Leadership Institute, the College of Medicine, and Residence Housing Association.
All water is connected. Join us for an evening of dialogs giving thanks and celebrating water as well as a showing a series of short films amplifying the importance of water. Artists: Sharon Day, Ty Defoe, and Kate Freer share their dedication to the vital life force of water. Moderated by English faculty member Ari Berk.
We encourage you to register your attendance in advance. Live transcription will be available. This event is sponsored by the Olga J. and G. Roland Denison Visiting Professorship of Native American Studies and the Critical Engagements initiative.
The CE theme for 2025–2026 is “Bowling Alone: Finding Community in an Age of Isolation.”
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Critical Engagements is a collaborative project housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences that makes the academic mission of Central Michigan University concrete by highlighting how our students, faculty, and community are tackling the world’s most pressing and difficult questions. → More details
