ICS 30-Year Anniversary Preliminary Program

Theme: Data Centers, Community, and Sustainability in Northwest Ohio

8:30 AM Coffee and Breakfast

9:00 – 9:30AM | Opening & Anniversary Welcome

Location: Multipurpose Room (228 BTSU, BGSU)

Moderator: Valeria Grinberg Pla (ICS, Director)

Welcome Remarks: President Rodney Rogers (BGSU)

ICS 30th Anniversary Recognition: Dean Ellen Schendel (College of Arts & Sciences, BGSU)

9:30 – 10:45 AM | A Podium Discussion with Photographer Stephen Voss – Living with Data Centers 

This event, featuring photographer Stephen Voss, provides a collaborative forum for scholars, students, artists, and locals to examine the intersections of AI and digital infrastructure, energy sustainability, and public health. Discussions will specifically address the role of AI and the localized effects of data centers in Northwest Ohio. 

Location: Multipurpose Room (228 BTSU, BGSU)

Moderator: Clayton Rosati (School of Media and Communication, BGSU) 

Panelists: 

Andrew Kear (School of Earth, Environment and Society, BGSU)

Ellie Brock (Center for Regional Development, BGSU),

Environmental Action Group (Student Organization, BGSU)

Wayne Wilson (Navajo Baha'i Community Educator)

11 AM – 11:50 AM | From Classroom to Workplace: Media, AI, Equity, and Labor

This panel, organized by Class Con, examines the evolving role of media and artificial intelligence in both educational and workplace contexts, with particular attention to creativity, equity, and labor. Bringing together perspectives on music and media centered pedagogy, classroom AI use, and regional workforce transformation, the panel explores how emerging tools can deepen learning, lower barriers to participation, and redistribute creative agency while also raising concerns about authorship, assessment, deskilling, and job security. These presenters situate debates within creative, economic and labor realities. Together, the presentations invite a candid discussion of hope, hesitation, and responsibility as educators and workers navigate AI’s expanding presence.

Location: Mylander Room (207 BTSU, BGSU)

Moderator: Clayton Rosati (School of Media and Communication, BGSU)

Panelists:

Kristine Ketel (Relational AI Strategist & Cultural Technologist)

John M. Mora King (American Cultural Studies, BGSU)

Jon-Jama Scott (American Cultural Studies, BGSU)

1:15 – 2:15 PM | AI Data Centers and Sustainability: Balancing Innovation, Environment, and Society

Location: Mylander Room (207 BTSU, BGSU)

The rapid expansion of data centers and AI related technology is creating significant social, environmental, and ecological challenges. While state and federal policies expedite data center development, local governments are the primary area of resistance, as public opinion grows increasingly critical. This panel will examine issues such as intensive water use, high energy demands, land use, and resulting pollution. It will also address social concerns, including zoning conflicts, declining property values, rising utility costs, generous tax incentives, inadequate long-term job creation, and limited public input in siting decisions. Ultimately, the panel asks: how sustainable are data centers, and what are their impacts on society, the environment, and the economy?

Moderator: Andrew Kear (Associate Professor, Public Administration, Public Policy)

Panelists:

Enrique Gómezdelcampo (School of Earth, Environment and Society, BGSU)

Timothy Pape (School of Earth, Environment and Society, BGSU)

Kefa Otiso (School of Earth, Environment and Society, BGSU)

Andrew Kear (Political Science / School of Earth, Environment and Society, BGSU)

2:30 – 3:20 PM |  Who Owns Creativity in the Age of AI? 

Join members of the Art Community, ranging from Film, Theatre, Creative Writing, Music, and Graphic Design for a wide-ranging conversation that explores the complexity of AI in the Arts, its possibilities and downfalls. Panelists will share brief individual remarks before a broader panel discussion followed by audience Q&A.

Location: Mylander Room (207 BTSU, BGSU) 

Co-Moderators:

Jonathan Chambers (Theatre & Film, BGSU) and Amanda McGuire Rzicznek (English, BGSU)

Panelists:

Stephen Crompton (Dept. of Theatre & Film, BGSU)

Baxter Chambers (Dept. of Theatre & Film, BGSU)

Amorak Huey (Creative Writing, BGSU)

Per F. Broman (College of Musical Arts, BGSU)

Lori Young (School of Art, BGSU)

3:30 – 4:30 PM |Making the Invisible Visible: A Photovoice and Poetic Inquiry Project on Data Centers in Northwest Ohio

As data centers expand across Northwest Ohio, their presence often remains unseen yet deeply consequential. This project invites graduate student co-researchers to explore how these infrastructures are imagined, anticipated, and experienced within everyday community life before they are even built. Using photovoice and poetic inquiry, participants document and reflect on the visible and invisible traces of data infrastructure across local spaces, transforming observation into visual and narrative insight.

Join us for light refreshments and an opportunity to walk through a curated photo exhibit, engage with the images, and reflect on the stories they tell. The event will then transition into a panel conversation where student researchers share their insights and invite the community into a dialogue on visibility, place, environment, and the social meaning of emerging technologies.

Location: School of Media and Communication (Kuhlin Center, BGSU)

Organizers: Divya S. (School of Media and Communication) and Sandra Falkner (School of Media and Communication), in collaboration with the Graduate Student Senate.

5:00 - 6:00 PM | AI and Public Health: From Policy to Practical Applications

This panel provides an overview of the major AI policy and implementation issues facing public health leaders in Ohio. Learn how Ohio Health Commissioners and Epidemiologists are thoughtfully and ethically harnessing AI tools to help protect their communities from health hazards. Expert panelists will discuss potential uses of AI in their field and explore how AI use policy helps ensure these innovative tools strengthen, rather than replace the human aspects of public health practice. 

Pizza and light refreshments will be served.

Location: CHH 100 (College of Health and Human Services, BGSU)

Moderator: Phil Welch (Department of Public & Allied Health, College of Health and Human Services, BGSU)

Panelists:

Jared Warner, MEM, RS, Highland County Health Commissioner and Chair of AOHC AI Work Group

Tyler Briggs, MPH, Assistant Director of Health Promotion and Prevention, Wood County Health Department

Rachel Aeschliman, Wood County Deputy Health Commission (TBC)

6:30 - 8:30 PM | Community Town Hall 

Learn more about Hyperscale Data Centers and their environmental and public health impacts on communities. Topics include zoning and planning, site selection, moratoriums, utility infrastructure demands and costs, farmland and wildlife habitat loss, property values, and broader quality-of-life concerns. Join local leaders, experts, and community members in an open discussion about the future of data centers in Northwest Ohio. Come share your views!

Doors open at 6 PM

Location: Veterans Building (520 Conneaut Avenue, BG)

Welcome: Valeria Grinberg Pla (Director, Institute for the Study of Culture & Society) 

Moderators: TBD 

Kyle A. Rogers (Ohio Township Association, Executive Director)

Tammy K. Clark (Industrial Hygiene/ Occupational & Environmental Health and Safety Specialist)

Kristen Meghan Kelly (Sr. Industrial Hygienist/Public Health Specialist)

Chelsea Ziss (Mayor of Maumee, Ohio)

9:00 PM | Closing Session: ICS at 30 — Looking Ahead

Location: Arlyn’s Good Beer (520 Hankey Ave, BG)

Come chat and network in an informal setting.