The D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership sponsors a series of lectures by internationally, nationally, and locally known speakers on a variety of topics related to ethics and leadership.
The lectures are intended to be both informative and inspiring and to address ethical issues in a variety of settings, including business, health care, science, religion, politics, and technology.
Lecture series events are open to the public and all are welcome. No ticket is necessary. All lecture series events take place in person and many are streamed live to Facebook.
Upcoming Events
Join or Die
Wednesday, Aug. 21, 5 p.m.
The Rivoli Theatre and Pizzeria, La Crosse
Join or Die is a film about why you should join a club—and why the fate of America depends on it. Follow the story of America's civic unraveling through the journey of Robert Putnam, whose legendary Bowling Alone research into American community decline may hold the answers to our democracy's present crisis.
This is a partnership with La Crosse Area Community Foundation.
Constitution Day Conversation
"Straight Talk about the Wisconsin Election Process"
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 7 p.m.
Viterbo University Nola Starling Recital Hall
Join Meagan Wolf, administrator of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission, and John Smalley, former executive editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, for a conversational review of the key elements in the Wisconsin elections process, including dialogue regarding the practices and safeguards of some of the key points in question.
This Constitution Day event is jointly sponsored by The D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership and LeaderEthics. It is open to the public and all are welcome.
Sarah Smarsh, Author
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m.
Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Sarah Smarsh will share the lessons she learned about resilience, hard work, and education from experiences growing up as "a poor child in a rich country founded on the promise of equality."
This lecture is a partnership with the Common Read series which introduces new V-Hawks to intellectual life at Viterbo University.
Janice Gerlach, Love and Logic Educator
"Building Better Relationships using Love and Logic Principles"
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m.
Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall
Janice Gerlach is a daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, retired counselor, and educator of Love and Logic principles, a research-driven, whole-child philosophy founded in 1977. She provides practical tools and techniques that help adults achieve respectful, healthy relationships with their children. Her passion lives in the area of parent education.
David Tillman, Health Innovator
"When Answers Meet Questions: Elevating Health Care and Academia through Community Insight"
The Jack Schwem Memorial Lecture in Healthcare Ethics
Thursday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m.
Viterbo University Nola Starling Recital Hall
David Tillman, a leader in health innovation, will explore the practical and ethical imperative of integrating community wisdom into public health initiatives and higher education. With over a decade of experience in utilizing participatory methodologies, Tillman has guided communities across the nation in blending professional and academic expertise with lived experience and moral wisdom to tackle pressing public health challenges, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the overdose crisis.
This lecture is a collaboration with Gundersen Health System, Mayo Clinic Health System, and the Seven Rivers Research Symposium.
Lerone A. Martin
Centennial Chair, Director, Professor
Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University
Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, 7 p.m.
Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Lerone A. Martin is the centennial chair and director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. The mission of the institute is to publish the definitive 14-volume edition of The Papers of Martin Luther King Jr., a comprehensive collection of King’s most significant correspondence, sermons, speeches, published writings, and unpublished manuscripts. Attendees will learn firsthand the importance of the papers in addition to other resources such as access to thousands of documents, photographs, and publications about the modern African-American freedom struggles.
This lecture is part of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration. Read more about Martin here.
Peter Feigl, Holocaust Survivor
Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 7 p.m.
Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
In summer 1942, the Vichy government, in collaboration with the Nazis, began rounding up Jews and deporting them to German concentration camps in Poland. Unbeknownst to Feigl who was in a Quaker summer camp, his parents were arrested and deported to Auschwitz where they were killed within a month of their arrival. With help, Fiegl was eventually given false identity papers and sent as a boarding student to a high school in Figeac, France. After escaping arrest in May 1944 when Germans raided Figeac, Feigl escaped to neutral Switzerland over barbed wire fences with the help of the Jewish underground.
This lecture is part of the Teaching the Holocaust Educators’ Workshop. Read more about Feigl here.
Jessica Finlay, Professor
"Third places’ since COVID-19: Are we losing essential sites of community, connection, and care?"
Thursday, April 3, 2025, 7 p.m.
Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Jessica Finlay is a health geographer and environmental gerontologist who uses mixed methods to investigate how built, social, and natural environments affect health, well-being, and quality of life. In particular, she focuses on aging in place and cognitive health disparities among underrepresented and underserved older adults. Finlay also investigates impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on neighborhood environments and health among aging Americans.