WVC Speaks
Wenatchee Valley College's Lecture Series
WVC Speaks is Wenatchee Valley College’s monthly lecture series that celebrates our faculty and staff’s expertise on a range of topics relevant to life in North Central Washington. Our speakers are inspirational members of our faculty, staff, and community. WVC invites our community to come together to learn, engage with new perspectives, and connect.
These events are held in The Grove Recital Hall in the Music and Art Center on the Wenatchee campus.
2026-2027 Upcoming Lectures
6 Strings and Two Pens: A Poetry Reading Woven with Guitar Music
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026
Reception: 5 p.m.
Performance: 6 p.m.
A music performance and poetry reading featuring professors Derek Sheffield and Jack Johnson, and retired professor Michael Choman.
Ancient Philosophers: Socrates and Buddha
Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026
Reception: 5 p.m.
Lecture: 6 p.m.
Professor Saxon Spillman will discuss what it means to live a good life from an ancient perspective while donning a contemporary, cross-cultural lens. Though each thinker was separated from the other by significant time and space, their parallels as catalysts for historic change are undeniable, and their societal impacts are readily witnessed even today. Beyond mere historical curiosities, Spillman argues that, with a philosophical and cross-cultural approach, we can helpfully apply lessons from the past to address problems of the present.
"PUSHED"
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026
Reception: 5 p.m.
Lecture: 6 p.m.
Author and professor Ana Maria Spagna will present "Pushed." In her 2023 book, "Pushed: Miners, a Merchant, and (Maybe) a Massacre," Spagna explored the so-called Chelan Falls Massacre. In this presentation, Spagna will describe her research into the event including encounters with historians, archaeologists, Indigenous elders, and migrant workers. She will also explore the rich history of Chinese immigrants in North Central Washington and compare their experiences with contemporary immigrant communities. Spagna will also discuss the launch of her new book, “Coiled: Essays on Urgency and Kinship,” which will be released this fall by Bison Books.
Escaping the Rear Window: Voyeurism, Confinement, and Miss Torso
Thursday, Jan. 28, 2027
Reception: 5 p.m.
Presentation: 6 p.m.
This is a three-hour event
Professor S. Hart Johnson will provide a film viewing of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic "Rear Window" followed by a lecture that discusses Hitchcock's use of a constrained premise built around character L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) who, because of an injury, cannot leave his apartment, and therefore the audience cannot, either. The constraint contributes to the film's tension by limiting the audience's perspective and agency to Jefferies': the audience sees what he sees and cannot act when he cannot act.
From Orchard Worker to Honorary Doctorate: A First-Generation Graduate's Journey of Resilience, Leadership, and Service
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2027
Reception: 5 p.m.
Lecture: 6 p.m.
WVC Passport to College Navigator Kelenda Mendall will explore overcoming adversity, breaking generational barriers, finding purpose through service, and creating opportunities for others using personal storytelling and practical insights. Drawing from experiences supporting foster youth, students experiencing homelessness, survivors of domestic violence, and communities across the globe, Mendall will share lessons that inspire participants to embrace their potential and lead lives of impact. Audience members will leave with a renewed understanding of how resilience, education, and service can create meaningful change in both personal and professional life.
Linguistic Repression and Generational Language Loss: The Case of Spanish Heritage Language Learners
Thursday, March 4, 2027
Reception: 5 p.m.
Lecture: 6 p.m.
Professor René Baca will examine how linguistic repression contributes to generational language loss among heritage language learners, focusing on Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. Through historical and contemporary examples, Baca will explore how assimilation pressures, language stigma, and educational practices have discouraged the use and transmission of Spanish across generations. These factors often result in heritage speakers experiencing language attrition and a weakened connection to their cultural identity. By highlighting the experiences of Spanish heritage language learners, this presentation demonstrates how societal attitudes toward language influence linguistic maintenance and cultural continuity. Ultimately, the discussion will emphasize the importance of valuing multilingualism and preserving heritage languages in increasingly diverse communities.
Floods, Faults, Fire, and Time
Thursday, April 15, 2027
Reception: 5 p.m.
Lecture: 6 p.m.
In this highly visual presentation, Professor Gregory Stewart tells the story of some of the amazing local geology hidden all around us in plain sight.
2025-2026 Lectures
What Our Emissions Tell Us
Geography Professor Joan Qazi and Sustainable NCW's Executive Director Marlene Farrell addressed where the greenhouse gas emissions in Wenatchee and Chelan County are coming from and what we can do about it. Our Valley Our Future and Sustainable NCW conducted the first ever greenhouse gas inventory for the City of Wenatchee and Chelan County to measure local and imported emissions. In this talk, Qazi and Farrell explained the findings and let participants know about community projects and WVC’s efforts that could help address them.
Fish Wars: Tribal Rights and Resiliency in the Pacific Northwest
WVC Omak Professor Kestrel Smith addressed how in the 1960s and '70s, tribes throughout the Pacific Northwest launched protests and acts of civil disobedience to pressure the government to recognize their fishing rights. Now known as the “Fish Wars,” the lessons from these events remain relevant today. Encompassing tribal sovereignty, treaties, statehood, and the fish themselves, the Fish Wars are a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness. Understanding these events is a first, and essential, step in achieving social, cultural, and political justice.
Carrying Home: Immigration and Mexican Belonging in the Wenatchee Valley
El Corazón Director María Morales-Sánchez used storytelling to shed light on the complex and empowering stories of immigration from Mexico to the Wenatchee Valley. As an immigrant, the daughter of immigrants, and the great-granddaughter of “guest workers,” Morales-Sánchez reflects on what it means to inherit, carry, and share immigrant stories that center human dignity and challenge dehumanizing narratives—particularly those about immigrants from Mexico.
Modern Craftsmen: Women, Ceramics, and Community in the Pacific Northwest
In "Modern Craftsmen," Ceramics Professor Sarah Sprouse addressed a vital and often overlooked chapter of modern art history. Long marginalized within the canon of modernism, ceramics offered women a rare and powerful site of artistic freedom at a time when they were largely excluded from painting and sculpture. In the postwar era, women ceramicists reframed artistic practice as a form of knowledge production—shifting the conversation about art from object to process, from product to practice.
Founding the Hwarang: an Ancient History of Warriors, Artists and Disciples
WVC Enrollment Services staff member Ellie Camp took the audience on a deep dive into an elite group known as the Hwarang (花郞, 화랑), which was founded in the 6th century and tasked with bringing peace to the Buddhist kingdom of Silla ( 徐羅伐, 신라). Camp's lecture explored how the Hwarang exemplified masculinity in Silla, with a look at these youths’ lifestyles and education, as well as the changing ideals during this period and the Hwarang’s spread of Buddhism on the Korean peninsula.