In the ensuing weeks after the I-35W bridge collapse, public talk has turned to questions of appropriate responses, whether legislative, engineering, and/or community-driven.

The College of Design is co-sponsoring a series of public lectures that extend the conversation further, into a series of considerations and reflections about the ongoing nature and role of the Mississippi river, the new I-35W bridge, and the community in which these two critical systems intersect.

Lectures will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, on the dates listed below. All lectures will be held in 100 Rapson Hall.

October 2
Judith Martin, Urban Studies Program, University of Minnesota, "City Bridges – Imagined and Real"
Mona Smith, media artist, "Dakota Speak of Rivers"

October 9
R.T. Rybak, Mayor, City of Minneapolis, "Rebuilding Common Ground"

• Download Rybak lecture podcast (.mp3; 13Mb)

October 16
Paul Labovitz, Superintendent, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, "The Mississippi River as a (National) Park"

• Download Labovitz lecture podcast (.mp3; 13.6Mb)

October 23
Chris Paola, Earth Science Geology/Geophysics, National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics, University of Minnesota

• Download Paola lecture podcast (.mp3; 13.9Mb)

October 30
Hokan Miller, Upper River Services, "Between Prairie and Sea: The Mississippi River as a Continental Transportation System"

• Download Miller lecture podcast (.mp3; 15Mb)

November 6
John Adams, Associate Dean, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota, "A Vital Cog in the Regional Network: the New Bridge as a Transportation Link"

November 13
Tom Fisher, Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota, "The Design of a New Bridge"

• Download Tom Fisher lecture podcast (.mp3; 16.5Mb)

November 20
Lance Neckar, Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, "Integrated Design: Sustainable Community"

• Download Lance Neckar lecture podcast (.mp3; 14.2Mb)

For more information, see the project's Web site or the University News Service media release.