Hello, Wisconsin! Stories of the Wisconsin Idea is a profile series that highlights the remarkable ways Wisconsin Idea Seminar alumni, collaborators, and others are animated by the Wisconsin Idea on and off campus.
Hello, Wisconsin! Stories of the Wisconsin Idea
Freshwater Scientist Makes Waves in Green Bay
Sarah Bartlett, Water Resources Specialist at NEW Water — a water resource utility serving Northeast Wisconsin that cleans 38 million gallons of clean water per day — is collaborating with the Wisconsin Idea Seminar to …
December 9, 2019
Fish Expert Keeps us ‘Current’ on Great Lakes Issues
Titus Seilheimer, Fisheries Specialist at the Wisconsin Sea Grant, is collaborating with the Wisconsin Idea Seminar to bring the 2020 Bay Tour to Two Rivers, Wisconsin, where participants will learn about commercial fishing operations. Seilheimer …
December 4, 2019
Emboldening the Wisconsin Idea through Education
Lyn Macgregor, associate director of the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, is a community sociologist. She participated in the 2017 River Tour and collaborated with the 2019 River Tour. Macgregor received her B.A. …
November 6, 2019
Celebrating Rural Wisconsin Life through Food
Luke Zahm, owner and chef of Driftless Cafe and television host of Wisconsin Foodie, welcomed 2019 Wisconsin Idea Seminar participants to his restaurant last May. A UW-Madison ‘03 grad and La Farge local, Luke was …
October 21, 2019
Milwaukeeist Adam Carr creates past and present stories of his city
Adam Carr, a self-described Milwaukeeist, works at the intersection of community and communication. Carr joined hands with the Wisconsin Idea Seminar team to craft a special tour of Milwaukee’s Fond du Lac Avenue. Adam shares …
April 17, 2019
“Agvocate” Integrates the Wisconsin Idea into Her Farm and Career
Rosy-Lane Holsteins owner and partner Daphne Holterman will welcome the Wisconsin Idea Seminar in May and give a tour of their 900-cow operation. In advance of our visit–and in between a number of international speaking …
April 15, 2019
Materializing the Wisconsin Idea with Papermaking
What initially drew you to papermaking? I was introduced to the fine craft of hand papermaking during my MA degree at the University of Iowa, studying Textile Design. Tim Barrett (who was awarded a …
April 8, 2019
Wisconsin Idea Sowed in Agriculture
What was it like growing up on your family’s farm, Mystic Valley Dairy? I feel so blessed to have grown up on my family’s dairy farm right outside Sauk City, about 20 miles north of …
April 1, 2019
New Communications Intern Brings Passion for Outdoors and Writing to the WIS
What drew you to apply to intern for the Wisconsin Idea Seminar? Who wouldn’t want to work for an immersive tour that shows off the cultural, educational, industrial, social, and political realities of Wisconsin? …
February 20, 2019
Wisconsin Idea Seeded in Service
Public service has long been one of UW-Madison’s premier traditions and missions, and continues today, with the guiding principle of the Wisconsin Idea. The Wisconsin Idea inspires members of the campus community to improve people’s …
April 25, 2018
Including Everyone in the Wisconsin Idea
Katherine Charek Briggs currently serves as the Assistant Director for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s LGBT Campus Center, which provides education, outreach, advocacy, and resources for student communities and their allies to improve campus climate and …
April 6, 2018
Acknowledging Wisconsin’s Native Histories
Some may not know that the University of Wisconsin-Madison sits on native Ho-Chunk land. The Ho-Chunk Nation is one of 11 federally recognized American Indian Nations in the state of Wisconsin. For millennia the area …
March 21, 2018
The Wisconsin Idea – Music to Our Ears
Only in the Humanities building can one wander down a hallway and be treated with delight to the sounds of voice and instruments as students practice for upcoming performances. Down one of these hallways you …
February 16, 2018
Uniting Milwaukee’s Latino Community
Al Castro is a passionate social worker who brings humor and empathy to his work as the Health Research Program Director for the United Community Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Thousands of individuals benefit from the …
December 12, 2017
The Science Behind the Graduate School
The office shelves of the Dean of the Graduate School are filled with books about molecular immunology and cytokines—no surprise, perhaps, because Dean William Karpus is a professor of pathology and microbiology-immunology from Northwestern University. …
December 11, 2017
Harvesting Ideas and Fruit with Amaya Atucha
In a lab filled with test tubes and microscopes the last thing one may expect to see are grape seeds and cranberry vines. However, this is necessary as Amaya Atucha and her team are studying …
November 30, 2017
A Community Leader Inspired by the World
From Europe to South America, Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings has traveled the world, but still calls the state of Wisconsin home. Originally from Odanah, Jennings graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013 with a Bachelor of …
November 20, 2017
Weaving in the Local with Marianne Fairbanks
Walking into the classroom and studio spaces in the School of Human Ecology is enough to excite and stimulate the mind with a dynamic spectrum of colors, cloth, fabrics, and patterns. It is no wonder …
October 20, 2017
How Mid-Century Radio Inspires Stories of the Wisconsin Idea
Wisconsin native and son of Norwegian immigrants, William Evjue, founder of the Capital Times, delivered his famous weekly radio address, “Hello, Wisconsin,” broadcasted every Sunday across the state, throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Evjue would …
October 19, 2017- More Hello, Wisconsin! Profiles posts
Wisconsin native and son of Norwegian immigrants, William Evjue, founder of the Capital Times, delivered his famous weekly radio address, “Hello, Wisconsin,” broadcasted every Sunday across the state, throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Evjue would discuss the “political, social, and economic programs facing the citizens of Wisconsin,” covering topics like state industries, highway debt, war profits to Wisconsin, and hundreds more. Through his radio addresses, Evjue, a champion of the Wisconsin Idea, connected his Wisconsin listening public to a diversity of perspectives on news that mattered to them.
It is in that same spirit of public service and the desire to understand the realities of Wisconsin that the Wisconsin Idea Seminar bus leaves Madison on a winding five-day journey through the state to meet farmers, business owners, environmental stewards, health practitioners, artists, teachers, and many others who generously share the stories of successes and challenges in their communities. Like the “Hello, Wisconsin” broadcasts, the Seminar creates spaces where ideas come together, assumptions are challenged, and where participants learn from and are inspired by the people and places of Wisconsin.
“Hello, Wisconsin” has also inspired the Wisconsin Idea Seminar team to share celebrate and acknowledge the remarkable ways that the Wisconsin Idea animates the work of people across the state and the world.
Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of the Capital Times and long-time underwriter of the Wisconsin Idea Seminar since 1985.