Community Calendar

Step back in time with History Hour at The Barker Mansion.

Deputy Executive Director, Kristie Erickson, and Curator of Copshaholm, Amber Gabel, will present the history of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works of South Bend. In 1857, James Oliver invented the chilled plow, revolutionizing agriculture. His son, J. D., made the company a global name, and the Oliver plow became the best-selling plow in the world. Erickson and Gabel will discuss the plow works as well as the history of the Oliver family, their continuing legacy, and their home in South Bend, called Copshaholm.

Guest Speakers:
Kristie Erickson, Deputy Executive Director

Kristie Erickson is the Deputy Executive Director at The History Museum and has been with the museum for 18 years. Born in South Bend, Kristie attended Purdue University as well as Yale University and worked as Curator of Copshaholm before becoming Deputy Director in 2018. Though today she has much broader responsibilities, her history with Copshaholm and the Oliver family means they hold a special place in her heart.

Amber Gabel, Curator of Copshaholm

Amber Gabel is the Curator of Copshaholm at The History Museum. She is an Ohio native who moved to South Bend three years ago when she accepted a position at the Museum. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Master’s in Library & Information Science from Kent State University. She previously worked as a tour guide and librarian at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums in Fremont, Ohio. Taking care of a historic home is challenging and a big responsibility, but she enjoys knowing she is helping preserve it for future generations.

Conplus Meeting invites researchers, engineers, scholars, and professionals from around the world to participate in the International Conference on Sensors and Sensing Technology (ICSST2026), to be held in Florence, Italy from June 15-17, 2026.

The conference will include keynote lectures and plenary sessions, technical talks, poster presentations, and industry exhibits, offering a comprehensive overview of recent developments in sensor science and technology.

ICSST 2026 provides a platform for the exchange of ideas and collaboration across disciplines. Topics will cover a broad range of applications including MEMS/NEMS, biosensors, smart materials, signal processing, IoT systems, robotics, and sensing technologies for healthcare, environment, and industry.

This event brings together academic and industry experts committed to advancing sensor technologies and their integration into modern systems. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with leading researchers, share findings, and explore emerging trends.

We look forward to welcoming you to ICSST2026 in Florence for meaningful discussions and knowledge sharing.

Best regards,
Harshitha | Program Coordinator
ICSST2026

Restoring a mansion of this scale takes more than craftsmanship—it takes investigation, patience, and precision.

Step beyond the surface and into the real work of restoration during this special Mansion After Hours experience—an interactive, behind-the-scenes conversation led by Chris Grohs, of Terrawood Designs, the skilled craftsman behind much of the mansion’s restoration.

This Q&A-style tour begins with your questions and continues throughout the experience, inviting you to take a closer look and engage directly with the craftsmanship, challenges, and discoveries uncovered over five years of hands-on work.

Come curious—this is your chance to experience preservation in action.

Please note: Program length may vary slightly depending on guest count and other event factors. All programs begin promptly at the scheduled start time. Guests may arrive up to 15 minutes prior to the program; earlier entry cannot always be accommodated.

This plenary session of NATSA (North American Taiwan Studies Association) Annual Conference features the screening of two documentaries, Children in the Heaven and The Elephants Have Walked to Taipei, and a discussion with the directors of the films, Mayaw Biho and Salone Ishahavut. This session engages with the concept of Indigenous visual sovereignty through a conversation with the directors on documentary films as a medium for telling stories on Indigenous peoples’ own terms. Children in the Heaven depicts repeated forced evictions faced by the Pangcah Sanying community, an urban Indigenous settlement in Taipei, throughout the 1990s. The Elephants Have Walked to Taipei documents a 265-kilometer march in 2013 along the east coast from Taitung to Taipei to protest against a resort development on Pangcah people’s ancestral lands, known as Fudafudak. The post-screening conversation invites the directors to reflect on their filmmaking practices, including their motivations, narrative choices, and structural obstacles of making Indigenous voices heard. Decades on, the discussion also asks what these films still mean today, and how they resonate across Indigenous and transnational contexts.

Speakers: Mayaw Biho, Salone Ishahavut

[Timetable]

Introduction- 5 min

Film screening- 30 min

Brief talk by Mayaw and Salone- 40 min

Q&A- 15 min

Come listen to various topics related to Indiana farming and agriculture. New speaker each time!

Step back in time with History Hour at The Barker Mansion.

Independence Day at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago was remembered as “the greatest Fourth of July celebration in the nation’s history.” A record crowd filled Jackson Park to hear patriotic speeches and music, honor two Liberty Bells, see the Declaration of Independence, and watch a parade of nations march down the Midway Plaisance. At night, the Ferris Wheel was set on fire and an astounding fireworks show decorated the skies above the White City.

Speaker, Scott Cummings, is an independent researcher who publishes worldsfairchicago1893.com, an educational website devoted to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. When not exploring the White City, he has served on the Board of Directors of the International Wizard of Oz Club and as editor-in-chief of its journal. He writes articles and presents talks on a wide range of topics, including obscure theater shows, author L. Frank Baum, and the history of the Chicago fairgrounds.

Museums have a history spanning over 250 years and come in a variety of subjects, found all around the world. But how did they originate, and what purpose do they serve? Introduction to Local Museology explores museums as cultural institutions and discusses their significance for both culture and individuals.

In this course, students will have the opportunity to visit four local museums: IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Monroe County History Center, WonderLab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology, and IU's Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art. At each museum, participants will (1) explore what each has to offer and (2) engage in conversations with leading local museum professionals to gain a deeper understanding of how museums operate.

Along with these museum visits, the course will be facilitated by local artist and retired IU Bloomington faculty member, Frank Lewis, who taught courses in museum management with the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Frank will lead the first and last class meetings at the Ivy Tech Bloomington Main Campus, with visits in between for behind-the-scenes tours of local museums and discussions about the dynamic pasts, presents, and futures of these institutions.

NOTE: Participants will be responsible for their own transportation and parking for our museum trips on July 22, July 29, August 5, and August 12, but will not be required to pay any admission fees for our visits.

Museums have a history spanning over 250 years and come in a variety of subjects, found all around the world. But how did they originate, and what purpose do they serve? Introduction to Local Museology explores museums as cultural institutions and discusses their significance for both culture and individuals.

In this course, students will have the opportunity to visit four local museums: IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Monroe County History Center, WonderLab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology, and IU's Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art. At each museum, participants will (1) explore what each has to offer and (2) engage in conversations with leading local museum professionals to gain a deeper understanding of how museums operate.

Along with these museum visits, the course will be facilitated by local artist and retired IU Bloomington faculty member, Frank Lewis, who taught courses in museum management with the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Frank will lead the first and last class meetings at the Ivy Tech Bloomington Main Campus, with visits in between for behind-the-scenes tours of local museums and discussions about the dynamic pasts, presents, and futures of these institutions.

NOTE: Participants will be responsible for their own transportation and parking for our museum trips on July 22, July 29, August 5, and August 12, but will not be required to pay any admission fees for our visits.

Come listen to various topics related to Indiana farming and agriculture. New speaker each time!

Museums have a history spanning over 250 years and come in a variety of subjects, found all around the world. But how did they originate, and what purpose do they serve? Introduction to Local Museology explores museums as cultural institutions and discusses their significance for both culture and individuals.

In this course, students will have the opportunity to visit four local museums: IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Monroe County History Center, WonderLab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology, and IU's Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art. At each museum, participants will (1) explore what each has to offer and (2) engage in conversations with leading local museum professionals to gain a deeper understanding of how museums operate.

Along with these museum visits, the course will be facilitated by local artist and retired IU Bloomington faculty member, Frank Lewis, who taught courses in museum management with the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Frank will lead the first and last class meetings at the Ivy Tech Bloomington Main Campus, with visits in between for behind-the-scenes tours of local museums and discussions about the dynamic pasts, presents, and futures of these institutions.

NOTE: Participants will be responsible for their own transportation and parking for our museum trips on July 22, July 29, August 5, and August 12, but will not be required to pay any admission fees for our visits.