WVC Speaks lecture series to return later this month

WENATCHEE — Wenatchee Valley College will bring back its WVC Speaks lecture series in 2026, reviving a campus program that highlights faculty and staff expertise on topics relevant to North Central Washington.

The free public lectures will be held at the college’s Music and Art Center Grove Recital Hall on the Wenatchee campus and will also be livestreamed. Each event will include a question-and-answer session.

The series will open Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. with a presentation titled “What Our Emissions Tell Us” by WVC professor Joan Qazi and Marlene Farrell, executive director of Sustainable NCW. The lecture will examine sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Wenatchee and Chelan County and discuss findings from the first greenhouse gas inventory conducted for the city and county by Our Valley Our Future and Sustainable NCW.

Additional lectures are scheduled throughout the spring.

Dr. Kestrel Smith, program chair of the American Indian Indigenous Studies program at WVC Omak, will present “Fish Wars: Tribal Rights and Resiliency in the Pacific Northwest” on Feb. 19.

On March 12, Dr. María I. Morales-Sánchez, director of WVC’s El Corazón Center for Teaching and Learning, will deliver a lecture titled “Carrying Home: Cycles of Arrival, Immigration, and Mexican Belonging in the Wenatchee Valley.”

Art instructor Sarah Sprouse will present “Modern Craftsmen: Women, Ceramics, and Community in the Pacific Northwest” on April 23. The series will conclude May 21 with “Founding the Hwarang: An Ancient History of Warriors, Artists, and Disciples” by Ellie Camp, a WVC customer service specialist.

WVC Speaks began in 2015 and was held annually through 2019. The series was originally offered in the afternoons and focused on bringing together faculty, staff and students to share perspectives across disciplines. College officials said the revived program is intended to build on that foundation while welcoming broader community participation.

“As our community’s college, we are excited to share the breadth of knowledge we have here amongst our faculty and staff,” said WVC President Dr. Faimous Harrison. “Bringing back WVC Speaks is an important opportunity for us to welcome our community onto our campus to learn, grow, and connect. We invite you to join us!”