About the Workshop
Our workshop on Human Progress and Flourishing invites internationally-renowned scholars and speakers from across the country to present research and engage in discussion with the Fargo-Moorhead community. The series focuses on solutions and policies that contribute to opportunity, innovation, and individual and societal flourishing.
All are invited to attend these free presentations and participate in a lively discussion. Seminars will be held every other Friday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Central. Attendees are encouraged to join us in-person in the Beckwith Recital Hall or virtually on Zoom. Light food and refreshments will be provided after each seminar in the Challey School of Music Atrium.
Students of any major, undergraduate or graduate, can register for the 1-credit course BUSN 491/690. To join the class, email Tayt Rinehardt at tayt.rinehardt@ndsu.edu
*You do not need to enroll in the course or be a member of the NDSU community to attend the speaker presentations. Everyone is welcome.
Guests to campus are encouraged to park in the T2 lot, and can receive a parking validation code at our event check-in table. Please let us know if you need one.
Fall 2025 Speakers
Human Progress and Flourishing
September 12 | Marian Tupy
“Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing”
Marian L. Tupy is the founder and editor of HumanProgress.org, and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity.
He is the coauthor of the Simon Abundance Index, Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet (2022) and Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know: And Many Others You Will Find Interesting (2020).
His articles have been published in the Financial Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Newsweek, the U.K. Spectator, Foreign Policy, and various other outlets both in the United States and overseas. He has appeared on BBC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business, and other channels.
Tupy received his BA in international relations and classics from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and his PhD in international relations from the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom.
November 7 | Clay Routledge
“The Psychology of Progress and Flourishing”
Clay Routledge, PhD, is the Vice President of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab at the Archbridge Institute. He is also co-editor of Profectus, an online magazine dedicated to human progress and flourishing. As a leading expert in existential psychology, Clay’s work focuses on helping people reach their full potential and build meaningful lives.
Clay is a highly cited researcher who has published more than 100 scholarly papers, co-edited three academic books, authored three books, and received numerous awards for his research and mentorship. As a public intellectual, Clay has authored dozens of articles for popular outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Fortune, The Hill, and Harvard Business Review.
His work has been covered by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, CBS News, ABC News, BBC News, CNN, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Vox, National Geographic, HGTV, Men’s Health, Wired, Forbes, Oprah Daily, Shondaland, Discover Magazine, Reason Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on numerous television and radio programs and podcasts such as NBC Today, Hidden Brain, Science Friday, Cheddar News, and NPR Morning Edition. He has also appeared in a number of documentary programs including The Overview from NBC Peacock, The Benefits of Being Nostalgic from BBC Reel, Cursed Films from Shudder, and The Well from Big Think.
He is the author of the book, Past Forward: How Nostalgia Can Help You Live a More Meaningful Life (2023), and he wrote the TED-Ed documentary short film, Why do We Feel Nostalgia?
International Trade
October 10 | Michael Klein
“How International Trade Affects the Economy”
Michael W. Klein is the William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs at Tufts University. He served as the Chief Economist in the Office of International Affairs of the United States Department of the Treasury from 2010-2011. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the Founder and Executive Editor of EconoFact, a non-partisan website that provides economic analysis on timely policy issues (www.econofact.org). He has been a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, New York, San Francisco and Dallas. His research and teaching focus on international macroeconomics. He has published three books and over two dozen articles on topics such as exchange rate policy, international capital flows, the impact of trade on the U.S. labor market, and the determinants of foreign direct investment. His research has been supported by grants from the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He received a PhD in economics from Columbia University and a B.A. from Brandeis University.
October 17 | Kari Heerman
“Geopolitical Implications of Trade Policies”
Kari Heerman is a senior fellow and director of Trade and Economic Statecraft at the Brookings Institution. Previously, Dr. Heerman was acting chief economist in the Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of State. In that role she led the office’s team in its mission of providing advice and analysis on complex, emerging issues at the intersection of economics and foreign policy; offering tools to advance economic diplomacy; and serving as a liaison to technical experts in economics across academia, industry, partner governments, and other institutions. Prior to joining the State Department, Dr. Heerman was a deputy assistant United States trade representative in the Office of Trade Policy and Economics at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). She served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers focusing on international economic issues from 2021-2023.
Dr. Heerman began her federal government service as a research agricultural economist studying issues related to U.S. and international trade and agricultural policy at the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). She received her Ph.D. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota in 2013. Prior to pursuing a Ph.D., Kari worked on agricultural trade policy issues for the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council (IPC), the German Marshall Fund, and the Hewlett Foundation.
Artificial Intelligence
November 21 | Revana Sharfuddin
“Implications of Artificial Intelligence for the Labor Force” (Part of the AI Connect Event)
Revana Sharfuddin is a predoctoral researcher at the Labor Policy Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Her research centers on labor economics, the evolving nature of work, and the ways labor markets can adapt to foster growth and mobility for workers with diverse backgrounds and needs. She also studies labor market dynamics across different institutional contexts, particularly in developing countries, with a focus on the role of women in the workforce and the interplay between work and family life. Her writing has been published in The Hill, Dhaka Tribune, Reason, and other media outlets. She also writes for the Substack, Labor Market Matters. Before joining the Mercatus Center, Sharfuddin worked in various research support roles at institutions such as the Hoover Institution, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, and the Cato Institute. Sharfuddin holds a BA in Economics from George Mason University and a MA in Development Economics from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) in Germany.
December 5 | Jeremy Straub
"Regulation of Artificial Intelligence”
Jeremy Straub is a fellow at the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth and an associate professor of computer science at North Dakota State University. His research focuses on the intersections between technology and policy in both the artificial intelligence and cybersecurity areas. He is the lead inventor on two U.S. patents and has published over 50 journal articles and hundreds of conference papers. He is a member of multiple professional societies, including the American Society for Engineering Education and SPIE. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other sources. He is the associate director of the Institute for Cyber Security Education and Research.