Monday, October 19, 2020

9:30 – 10:30                                           HEALTH                                              on Zoom

Reimagining Hearing Aids by Providing a Gateway to Health and Wellness

Speaker: Dave Fabry, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, Starkey Hearing Technologies

During the past decade, hearing aids have evolved from stand-alone devices that provide audibility for speech and other sounds to connected ones that facilitate phone/media streaming via smart phone technology. Today, the use of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and embedded sensors promise to further continue the hearing aid’s evolution into devices that can provide a gateway to health and wellness. This session will address recent advances in technology that challenge assumptions and stigma associated with hearing loss.

11:00 – 12:00                                       SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY                               on Zoom

International Trade Policy

Speaker: Dr. King Banaian, Dean of the School of Public Affairs, Professor of Economics,
St. Cloud State University

Trade increases wealth overall but with uneven effects. Modern technology has made more and more parts of the world accessible at lower and lower costs. How has this affected political views of developed and underdeveloped nations? Banaian will explain the reasons for and justifications given for trade policies being followed by
nations seeking trade to increase their wealth.

12:00 noon                                      ANNOUNCEMENTS

1:15 – 2:15                                         WOMEN’S VOICES                                                   on Zoom

The United Methodist Church’s Struggle for Inclusivity

Speaker: Rev. Judith Zabel, Senior Minister, Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church is struggling for justice and inclusivity for gay and lesbian people as it determines ministry policies and practices for an extremely diverse church. Worldwide, the church ministers to people in 150 countries where cultural beliefs about homosexuality differ widely. Zabel will talk about the church’s historic struggle to allow gay and lesbian people to become ordained as ministers and to be married in the church. She will describe the work of Minnesota Methodists, an advocacy group formed to unite United Methodists in Minnesota who are committed to supporting an inclusive church.