I'm A Husker &

Since its inception 151 years ago as the Palladian Debate Society, the Cornhusker Speech & Debate team has grown into a nationally recognized program that regularly produces Big Ten and national champions.

Dr. Aaron Duncan is the director for Cornhusker Speech & Debate and has been with the team since 2005. When he first came to UNL, he was familiar with the group’s impressive history and their famous former teammates like speechwriter Ted Sorensen.

Aaron and his fellow coaches develop students from a variety of majors for speech and debate competitions. Students competing in speech perform prepared pieces ranging from persuasive and informative speeches to poetry performance. They may also compete in extemporaneous or impromptu speeches where they are given anywhere from two to 30 minutes to draft a speech based on a current event or quotation. Or, students may compete in the debate round, where they research a specific topic for the entire speech season and go head-to-head against other teams.

“We've debated agricultural policy alternative fuels, immigration policy, diplomacy with China,” Aaron said. “All sorts of different topics.”

This April, Aaron and the Cornhusker Speech & Debate team will host the best of the best speech and debate students from across the country at the annual National Speech Tournament. While the Huskers are excited to share their campus with their competitors, they also look forward to defending their status as one of the nation’s top teams. But while the awards and accolades are rewarding, Aaron loves speech and debate for more than just that.

“Teaching students that mindset of resiliency — to be process-focused, to do great research, to think critically and to strive for constant improvement, is really the outcome that we're seeking as an educational activity,” Aaron said. “And then most of all, we also just want it to be fun.”

Though James’s academic background is in English and poetry, he recently started pursuing a new passion: comic book writing.

As he put pen to paper toward his newest poems, the doodles that he made in the margins of his notes started to become key elements of his writing. His love for poetry bled into a new art medium of pencil-drawn comics and illustrations.

"All forms of art are interconnected, so whether you are writing or drawing or painting or sculpting or filmmaking," James said. "At the heart of it is this strive to create something in the world that wasn't there before."

James's comic book adventures started as scratches and doodles, but now they've become an art of their own. The project, titled "From the Neck Up," was recently featured at the Sheldon Museum of Art in the "Person of Interest" symposium.

The comics give a personal look at James's perspective as he transitioned genders. They capture raw feelings and real moments, all because James was using the artistic medium to decompress. He channeled the stress and anxiety he felt at the time into his work and found a space that allowed him to be honest and vulnerable.

James hopes to one day be able to publish "From the Neck Up," but he's not in any hurry. He's happy with what he's created and the community he's found. He doesn't need a published book to make this memory meaningful — because he's already found it.

"If this is something I enjoy, even if it never sees the light of day, even if I don't get great at it — it's still something that is meaningful to me, and it's something that's helping me have new thoughts and work through old thoughts," James said. "And I just decided to let that be enough."

As people retreated home to practice social distancing early last spring, their newfound free time led to a bevy of creative projects and pursuits. Some tried baking bread for the first time. Others picked up a new craft like crocheting or knitting. And a few folks, like Michael Farrell, created something that would immortalize the unique moment in time.

Using a glass plate camera, Michael collected the portraits and perspectives of friends old and new. All the photos were taken in Michael's backyard, where he created an outdoor photo studio that would allow the photos to be taken safely with social distancing.

After posting on Facebook inviting his friends and followers to partake in the series, he was shocked to see portrait requests flow in from more than 90 different individuals. Some were complete strangers he had never met before and others were longtime friends and colleagues — including a handful from Michael's time at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

His work, now known as the Pandemic Portrait Project, is being turned into a book. Each portrait is paired with a written perspective from the photo subject about COVID-19 — with some quotes as lighthearted as noting how long it had been since the author's last haircut, to deeper revelations over the sadness of being unable to see at-risk family members.

"You're listening to this stuff like this and you're thinking, 'This is this is pretty rough stuff,'" Michael said. "People's motivations to be a part of this were all very individual and unique — and that's kind of what makes it interesting."

For more than 10 years, University of Nebraska–Lincoln professor Jesse Fleming has been teaching others about mindfulness. Jesse describes mindfulness as a practice, an awareness and a state of being that allows people to learn about themselves and the world. Along with providing the benefits of a deeper understanding of oneself and the world, mindfulness and meditation can also have an effect on health, according to Jesse. Clinical proof shows that the practice of meditation can help with stress reduction, anxiety and more. At the new Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, Jesse uses his expertise in the field of mindfulness to aid in his exploration of the constantly-developing world of media creation. He runs the Perceptual Technologies Lab, where he researches and creates immersive perceptual experiences centered on mindfulness. And when he's not stretching his strengths in the lab identifying new technologies, Jesse can be found teaching others about the practice of mindfulness. Every Monday he hosts the Mindfulness Meditation Drop-In Series. The series gives students, faculty and staff the opportunity to learn and practice mindfulness with Jesse and others in an accepting group environment. "I feel very...touched and open to everyone who comes through the door for these sessions," Jesse said, "Because I know that is says, 'we're all going through stuff, we're all looking for a release, and we're willing to give something a try.'"

Martha has a deep passion for soil, a resource that most of us take for granted. Her interest was shaped through growing up in Ethiopia where agriculture is the backbone of the country. As a young woman, she knew that if the opportunity arose, she would give back to agriculture in any way possible. After moving to the states as a teenager and gaining several degrees, she started working at Nebraska as a researcher and professor of soil science in 2000. She teaches an entry-level soil resources course and upper-level nutrient management course. Martha says she's "in the business of capacity building," showing students how important studying soil can be. She loves seeing the growth in students as they gain an appreciation and understanding of soil as a natural resource. A few years ago, she traveled to Ethiopia with an interdisciplinary group to collect information from food insecure regions, and the group received additional funding to involve undergraduate students for a study abroad program. Being able to see first-hand what these regions look like was a valuable learning tool for the students. Outside of the classroom, Martha researches how cattle grazing strategies influence soil and enjoys spending time with her three children.