Join the fun on Zoom each third Thursday, September through May (except December). Zoom link will be sent by our Class Correspondent Monta Lee Dakin before each Prairie Fire Chat. Didn’t get yours or can’t find it? Contact Monta Lee at mld780@aol.com. All times are Central Time Zone
4pm Chat opens
4 – 4:30pm Social time
4:30 – 5:20pm Moderated speaker presentation with discussion and Q&A
5:20 – 5:30pm Look ahead to next month’s get together
2025/26 Schedule:
- September 18
The Underground Railroad Nationally, in Illinois and in Galesburg
Speaker Owen Muelder ’63, director of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Abraham Lincoln and his Connections to Knox College
Speaker Doug Wilson, professor emeritus of English and co-director, Lincoln Studies Center
Moderator Jim Mott ’74
This season opening Chat is a double treat featuring both Owen Muelder and Doug Wilson in continuation of Muelder’s popular presentation during Homecoming 2024.
- October 16
Galloping Gourmet: The Buffalo Bill Nobody Knows!
Speaker Steve Friesen, retired director of the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave and author of Galloping Gourmet: Eating and Drinking with Buffalo Bill with Moderator Monta Lee Dakin ’74
A hard-riding hunter, frontier scout, and showman, Buffalo Bill was Nebraska’s most famous son and one of the best-known men in America. But a gourmet? An early multitasker when it came to dining, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was as comfortable eating at Delmonico’s in NYC as consuming wild game around a campfire. He dined with royalty and presidents as well as men like Thomas Edison, Oscar Wilde, and James McNeill Whistler. A food innovator, he opened the first Mexican restaurant east of the Mississippi, introduced popcorn to the European continent, and promoted American cocktails to England. These and other topics will be the subject of this lively presentation.
- November 20
Restoration and renewal – continuing Green Oaks traditions while building towards the future
Speaker Knox Professor Stuart Allison, Watson Bartlett Professor of Biology and Conservation; Chair of Mathematics; Director, Green Oaks Biological Field Station with Moderator Stan Jaworski ’74
Professor Allison will speak about the continuing program of prairie restoration and ecosystem management at Green Oaks and the construction of the new Knight Living and Learning Center and renovation of Schurr Hall. With these improvements, Green Oaks is well situated to be a center for learning about and engagement with nature at Knox College for many years to come.
- January 15, 2026
Othello and Its Relevance to Today
Speaker Fritz Nemetz ’74 with Moderator Annie Reinke ’74
This year’s celebrity driven Broadway revival of Shakespeare’s Othello commanded the highest ever ticket prices for a non-musical. The key themes of jealousy, deception, and racial prejudice dominate, but seen in today’s charged world, the intersection of politics, ambition, and disinformation resonate more loudly than ever. Why is Othello so easily manipulated? Why does Iago go to such extremes to poison the mind of the Moor of Venice? Join us to discuss this classic play and its many parallels to today’s world.
- February 19
Is the Government Trying to Stop Attorneys and University Law Clinics From Representing Unpopular, Disadvantaged Clients? An insider’s perspective.
Speaker Cindy Wilson ’82, Clinical Professor, Director, Center for Externships | Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law with Moderator Kent Sezer ’74.
Cynthia Wilson will discusses why university law clinics and law firms represent unpopular clients and whether the government’s attacks on law firms and universities are preventing attorneys and law students from seeking justice for the disadvantaged.
- March 19
Mapping Campus, Playing Games, Drawing Boundaries
Speaker Peter Bailley ’74 with Moderator Jim Mott ’74.
The very first map of the Knox campus, drawn by a student in 1876, reveals more about the college than a handful of brick buildings and lawn full of trees. Research into the map provides hints of gender and cultural hierarchies, some of which remained hot button issues a century later.
- April 16
From Card Catalogs to ChatGPT – How Research Has Evolved from 1974 to Today
Speaker Jim Mott ’74 with Moderator Mark Stefanik ’74
This session explores how research methods have evolved from 1974 when we were students at Knox to today, comparing card catalogs, microfiche, and manual searches with Google, online databases, and AI tools. We will reflect on what has been gained and lost, and how technology has transformed the way we seek and evaluate information. - May 21
Education in the Third Millenium
Speaker Mark Stefanik ’74 with Moderator Annie Rienke ’74
Our closing chat for the season will examine the process and purpose of public schooling over the past 2,000 years (spoiler alert: not much has changed). Can we survive business as usual? Participants will be invited to reflect on their own experience and imagine other ways of systemic learning.
Enjoy the chats? Send us your ideas for Season 2 of Prairie Fire Chats!
Prairie Fire Chats 