2025 Programming
Thursday, October 23, 2025
Restoring Native Culture Through Virtual Reality
4:00 - 6:00 pm | Chester Fritz Library, Room 301 Learning Space
This class explores the powerful impact that culturally rooted games and digital projects can have on communities - socially, creatively, and economically. Participants will learn how modern 3D technologies are used in game development, with a focus on tools and techniques that support cultural storytelling and workforce development. Through short demos, attendees will gain hands-on insight into how object function in 3D space and within game engines. The class also includes a practical tutorial on using open-source AI tools to generate custom 3D objects from everyday photos taken with a cell phone. The hands on demonstration will have participants create a workable 3D model using free online resources. You will have the choice of creating a character or other object of your choice. Using images you take yourself, or AI generated images.
Cost: FREE - Open to all community members
Limited to 18 participants
Speaker Introduction:
Ariann Rousu, is a 3D Tech and Native Heritage Artist with over three years of experience in game design, specializing in character creation, digital environments, and animation using leading industry tools such as Maya, Marvelous Designer, and Unreal Engine. She brings a unique blend of cultural insight and technical skill to her work, crafting immersive digital experiences that honor Indigenous traditions while pushing creative boundaries.
An enrolled member of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation, Ariann grew up on the White Earth Reservation in Callaway, Minnesota. Her upbringing continues to shape her artistic vision, infusing her work with a deep respect for storytelling, movement, and cultural representation.
Ariann’s creative journey began in high school in Detroit Lakes, MN, where she first explored digital media. She pursued further education at Minnesota State campuses in Detroit Lakes, Moorhead, and Fergus Falls, earning certifications in Photography and Digital Imaging, along with Associate degrees in Liberal Arts and Fine Arts. She later graduated from the University of North Dakota with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2022.
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Introduction to Competitive Video Gaming at the High School and Collegiate Level
6:00 - 7:00 pm | Swanson Hall Basement, Room 15/15A
This class provides parents and community members with an inside look at the growing world of esports. We'll cover what esports is, how it compares to traditional athletics, and the key differences between high school and collegiate programs. Participants will also learn about the opportunities and benefits of being involved in esports, as well as gain insight into the day to day life of a college esports athlete. Whether you're new to gaming or simply curious about the field, this session will help you better understand how esports is shaping today's student experience.
Cost: FREE - Open to all community members
Instructor Backgrounds:
Ryan Kraus, serves as the Esports Head Coach at the University of North Dakota. His involvement in collegiate esports began in 2019 as a student competitor, and since then he has dedicated himself to building and advancing the collegiate esports community. Over the past four years, Ryan has helped UND’s esports program grow to more than 90 students and 13 competitive teams. His mission is to provide students with opportunities to compete and represent UND, while also developing lifelong skills that prepare them for the workforce and fostering lasting friendships along the way.
Kaleb Dschaak, is the CEO of Fenworks and member of the University of North Dakota's Board of Directors. A UND graduate, Kaleb played a key role in launching esports at UND and across North Dakota by establishing the state's first gaming lab. He has since become a leading figure in high school esports throughout the Great Plains and Upper Midwest, creating opportunities for students to compete in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota and most recently, Wisconsin. Through his work developing and expanding these programs, Kaleb has gained valuable insight into the many benefits esports provides for students, both in and out of the classroom.
Coming in 2026
The Role of AI in Health Care
Date and time TBA | Location TBA
The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform every aspect of our world is becoming increasingly evident, perhaps nowhere more so than health care. AI has the power to efficiently process data far beyond our own capacity, reducing the burden on health care providers and freeing up more time for patient engagement. The real power of AI to transform health care, however, may lie in the use of “supervised learning” to create deep learning models and neural networks that can find patterns that humans can’t see. Some of these patterns, derived from huge datasets, can detect diseases like cancer much earlier than is possible now, and can predict risk far better. This can potentially translate to thousands of lives saved.
But the promise of AI does not come without challenges, especially in health care. How much of what we hear is hype, how much is fear of change, and what are the real risks involved? Can AI that is developed in one part of the country be safely used in another with different patient populations? What can we do to prevent or remediate bias? Drawing on current, real-world examples in areas like patient diagnosis and treatment, mortality and disease progression prediction, and radiographic imaging, this presentation will provide answers to these questions and illustrate how AI is already being used to transform the health care sector.
FREE - Open to all community members
Instructor Backgrounds:
Richard Van Eck is the founding Dr. David and Lola Rognlie Monson Endowed Chair in Medical Education and Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS). His faculty development and research activities focus on evidence-based teaching, innovative teaching methods, games and learning, artificial intelligence, and telehealth. He provides support to the MD program on curriculum design, evaluation, micro-credentialing. Rick has a PhD in instructional design from the University of South Alabama, serves as the principal investigator (PI) on the American Medical Association’s Innovation grant (gamification for competency-based medical education) and previously served as the PI on the AMA Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium projects on interprofessional telemedicine simulation. A frequent keynote speaker, presenter, and author of research on serious games, Rick has edited two volumes on interdisciplinary approaches to serious games and presented at TEDx Manitoba and SXSW.