Speakers at the Center
Deepen Your Learning
Join us at the Wassmuth Center each month for an inspiring and thought-provoking speaker series that shines a light on critical human rights issues impacting both our local community and global society. Each session features dynamic speakers—authors, scholars, journalists, and other community leaders—who will share powerful stories, insights, and actionable ideas to foster awareness, understanding, and meaningful change. Whether you’re passionate about human rights, eager to engage with diverse perspectives, or looking to deepen your impact, these events provide an opportunity to learn, reflect, and connect with others committed to building a more just and inclusive world.
2025 Speakers
Saturday, February 1 at 7pm: Ousmane Kabré
February’s session features Ousmane Kabré, sharing his journey as a global advocate for social equity and economic empowerment. Drawing from his experiences growing up in Burkina Faso and his work fostering entrepreneurial opportunities across Africa and beyond, Kabré will explore the intersections of human rights, innovation, and community development. Attendees will gain insights into the power of resilience, the importance of education, and the transformative potential of grassroots initiatives in addressing systemic injustice and fostering inclusive growth. This engaging talk will inspire action and reflection on creating a more just and equitable world.
Thursday, January 2 at 12pm and 6:30pm: Heath Druzin, “The Rise of Christian Nationalism and Idaho as a Laboratory for Extremism”
Opening the series in January, we welcomed Heath Druzin for a powerful discussion on extremism and its impact on our lives and politics. Druzin is the host and creator of Extremely American, a sound-rich podcast series that looks at the intersection of extremism and politics. In the first season, he took listeners inside the militia movement, from weapons training to the campaign trail. The second season is an on-the-ground look at Christian nationalism. Heath has covered extremism since 2018, first as a reporter with the public radio project Guns & America. He has reported for outlets such as NPR, BBC and the Daily Beast. Previously he spent more than six years as a war correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan for Stars and Stripes.
Druzin’s talk explored how Christian nationalists have quietly been building influence for years. Their radical ideas include stripping women of the right to vote, criminalizing the LGBTQ community, and relegating non-Christians (or those deemed not Christian enough) to second-class status. In the coming Trump administration, Christian nationalists and their allies will have the ear of the most powerful political leader in the world. To know how we got here, you have to look at Idaho. Because there lies an unlikely power center for the movement – the liberal college town of Moscow. That’s where Doug Wilson has created a kind of Christian industrial complex of churches, fundamentalist schools, media and entertainment that has rippled across the nation. It’s just the latest in a series of movements that have found Idaho to be fertile ground for extremism.
Thank you to George Prentice and Sasa Woodruff from Boise State Public Radio for moderating these discussions.
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These events are free and open to the public. Registration is required.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
-NELSON MANDELA, HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER