Saturday U Teams Up With University of Wyoming Family Weekend September 19

Members of the University of Wyoming and Laramie communities have the opportunity to go back to school for one night -- without the worries of tests or homework -- during a special Saturday U, the university’s free one-day college education program.

Four UW professors will lecture Friday, Sept. 19, from 6-8 p.m. in the UW College of Business auditorium (Room 127). The program is free and open to the public. Saturday U partners with the UW Cowboy Parents Family Weekend events. This is the first time Saturday U has been offered on the UW campus.

Paul Flesher, UW Department of Religious Studies professor, will give opening remarks during the local program; refreshments will be served following the three lectures. Participants may attend one, two or all three lectures.

Listed below are program topic descriptions and UW representatives who will lecture:

6:00 p.m. -- “What's next after Obamacare? The future of health care in Wyoming,” Mary Burman, UW School of Nursing dean and professor. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased the number of Wyoming residents paying for health care. Will this result in better primary health care for Wyoming citizens and in a healthier population? What about the goal of reducing health care costs?

6:40 p.m. -- “Commercial Aspects of Religious Pilgrimage,” John Mittelstaedt, UW College of Business interim dean and professor. Mittelstaedt says pilgrimages are big business, with 8.4 million people visiting Mecca in 2005, spending more than $8 billion. He adds that business is booming.

7:20 p.m. -- “Moving Science: Choreographing the ‘dances’ of bees on flowers,” Michael Dillon, UW Department of Zoology and Physiology assistant professor, and Rachael Shaw, UW Department of Theatre and Dance lecturer. What happens when a bee scientist and a dancer get together? Something amazing, especially when the dancer also is a professional choreographer and movement analyst.