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Kick the Sugar Craving
Join health coach Jennifer Sprague to learn about sugar cravings, what sugar does to the body, and why it's so hard to cut sugar out of your diet. She provides tips for getting unstuck when it comes to sugar.
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Exploring the Mind | Adversity Resilience and the Developing Brain
Join Dr. Christopher Monk, Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience & CHGD Research Professor at the University of Michigan, as he characterizes the developmental risks of childhood adversity and discusses the social and biological mechanisms that may explain the striking degree of resilience found in the adolescent brain.
Childhood adversity, such as growing up in poverty or experiencing parental neglect, is associated with a host of negative outcomes, including depression and low educational attainment. Although it is understood that these types of adversity alter the brain and increase the risk for problems, it is not known what forms of adversity are most pernicious and how they affect the brain. In the presentation, Dr. Monk describes a study comprised predominantly of adolescents from low-income backgrounds who have been followed since birth. Using brain imaging methods, Dr. Monk shows how two specific and chronic forms of adversity, violence exposure and social deprivation, impact brain development in different ways. At the same time, the adolescents show a striking degree of resilience, despite the challenging circumstances.
Dr. Monk is a Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry. He is also a Research Professor in the Survey Research Center at ISR and the Center for Human Growth and Development. Dr. Monk received his PhD in Child Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience from the University of Minnesota. He then went on to the NIMH Intramural Research Program where he was a postdoc and later a fellow. His research program involves two active and related lines of research. In the first line, he is examining how poverty-related stressors and the developmental timing of those stressors impact brain development, stress hormone regulation and anxiety as well as depression symptoms during adolescence. For the second line of research, he is investigating how effective treatments for anxiety (cognitive behavioral therapy or medication) alter brain function and how these brain alterations relate to clinical outcome in children and adolescents.
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A2CAF 2019 - Author Spotlight: Lucy Knisley
A2CAF Special Guest Lucy Knisley (Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos) discusses her career in comics with Gina Gagliano (Random House Graphic).
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Michigan in the Trade War: International Trade and Our Vulnerability to Recent Trade Policies
As U.S. states go, Michigan is relatively more involved with international trade than are most states. This talk discusses Michigan’s role in U.S. trade, with a focus on President Trump’s trade initiatives, particularly trade with China, Korea, and North America.
The presentation informs, in particular, the role of recent trade policies in shaping Michigan’s international trade flows in specific industries, including the steel, aluminum, and automotive sectors. Learn about Michigan’s role in US international trade, the efficacy of recent international trade initiatives, and how they affect important sectors of the Michigan economy.
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Author Event | Elizabeth George
Best-selling mystery author Elizabeth George discusses her newest book in the Lynley series, The Punishment She Deserves. Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley are forced to confront the past as they try to solve a crime that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of a quiet, historic medieval town in England. George's novel is a page-turner and a deeply complex story about the lies we tell, the lies we believe, and the redemption we need.
Elizabeth George is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty psychological suspense novels, four young adult novels, one book of nonfiction, and two short-story collections. Her work has been honored with the Anthony and Agatha awards, two Edgar nominations, and both France’s and Germany’s first prize for crime fiction, as well as several other prestigious prizes.
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The Iditarod Sled Dog Race Experience
Kim Darst from Husky Haven Sled Dogs shares her experience competing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska. Husky Haven Sled Dogs was established in 1999 with two Samoyeds and a dream to run the Iditarod. In 2009 that dream came true, and they were the first team from New Jersey to qualify, enter, and run the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Learn about what it takes to train for the Iditarod!
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Author Event | Llama Destroys the World
Meet Llama, the next great picture-book megastar, who has most definitely driven a bus and who loves tacos way more than you.
He also loves cake, and that’s where our story begins.
On Monday, Llama discovers a pile of cake, which he promptly eats.
On Tuesday, Llama squeezes into his dancing pants, which he promptly rips.
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Shockwaves from Stonewall: Gay Liberation in Michigan
In the first few years following the Stonewall Uprising in New York, Michigan experienced a surge in gay liberation activism, what today might fall under the umbrella of the LGBT movement. Historian Tim Retzloff explores the multiple queer organizations that sprang up in Metro Detroit and elsewhere in the early 1970s and key events from that time that sent political and social shockwaves through the state still felt today.
Tim Retzloff teaches history and LGBTQ studies at Michigan State University. He earned a B.A. in history from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in history in from Yale University. His scholarship has appeared in the anthology Creating a Place for Ourselves, the journal GLQ, and the collection Making Suburbia. He is finishing his first book, Metro Gay, about gay and lesbian life and politics in Metro Detroit from 1945 to 1985.
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A2CAF 2019 - Kids' Comics Awards
Which comic in 2018 had the most epic adventure? Which comic had the best friends? Kids voted in these and other categories, including their favorite characters and graphic novels! Help us celebrate the seventh annual Kids’ Comics Awards! With puppets, cartoonists, and lots of laughs!
This event was part of A2CAF 2019, an annual all-ages Comic Arts Festival!