Hoag, Mountain Top and Cottrell speakers kick off in April

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) Dahlonega Campus will host renowned speakers in April in celebration of the annual Hoag Lecture Series, Mountain Top Lecture Series and Cottrell Speaker Series.

This marks the 20th Annual Hoag Lecture Series, which will feature Winona LaDuke, a rural development economist and author working on issues of sustainable development, renewable energy and food systems. LaDuke's work is primarily in the areas of indigenous economics and food and energy policy. She lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota and is a two-time vice presidential candidate with Ralph Nader for the Green Party.

"Attendees will learn more about current environmental issues in the United States and their impact on indigenous populations," said Dr. Lauren Johnson, assistant professor and coordinator of diversity and recruitment initiatives at UNG. "In addition, our speaker will address the significance of environmental activism in today's society. LaDuke is executive director of Honor the Earth and has been an active part of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests."

The event will take place in the Hoag Auditorium on April 5 from 6 to 7 p.m. All UNG students, faculty and staff are invited to attend, and the event is also open to the public.

UNG's partnership with Mountain Top Lecture Series will feature Pastor Phillip Gulley as its spring 2017 lecturer. Gulley's three lectures are free to all UNG students, staff and faculty, but registration is required. The events are also open to the public.

Gulley is a Quaker pastor, writer and speaker from Danville, Indiana. He has written 21 books, including the Harmony series, recounting life in the eccentric Quaker community of Harmony, Indiana, and the best-selling Porch Talk essay series. His lectures will focus on the topic "Unlearning God."

"The earliest things we learn about God are often the most deeply rooted. As we mature, we discover those first beliefs are unhelpful and must be unlearned. This is both frightening and exhilarating, providing us the opportunity to consider God, ourselves and others in a new light," Gulley said.

The first lecture will be held on April 7 at 7 p.m. The second and third lectures will be held on April 8 at 9 and 10:30 a.m. All three events will be in the Hoag Auditorium.

The Cottrell Speaker Series will welcome Phil Sutton, chief administrative officer for Kubota, to UNG's Gainesville Campus on April 12. Sutton's presentation will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in the Martha T. Nesbitt Building, room 3110.

The Cottrell Speaker Series, hosted by the Mike Cottrell College of Business, is an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and members of the regional business community to interact with and meet business executives who are seen as leaders in their respective fields. Sutton will talk about the development of his career with Kubota, an international tractor and heavy equipment manufacturer based in Japan.

Mountain Top Lectures is an organization that has presented lectures on theology, spirituality and science to the north Georgia community since 2010. In that time, they have hosted some of the most prominent authors, academics and theologians to address these issues.

The Hoag Lecture Series is named for former university President Merritt Eldred Hoag, who led then-North Georgia College from 1949 to 1970, and supported by funds from the Hoag family. The series aims to reflect Hoag's education philosophy that higher education should educate students beyond the traditional classroom environment, and enable them to develop intellectual fullness by encouraging learning in a variety of disciplines.