MARQUETTE—Northern Michigan University’s seventh annual UNITED conference will be held Sunday, Sept. 24, to Friday, Sept. 28. UNITED stands for Uniting Neighbors in the Experience of Diversity. This year’s featured presenters include a motivational speaker on achieving lifelong goals, the director of a documentary about three soldiers from the Upper Peninsula, an author who gives a performance based on his book about gay black men from the South, a Paralympian skier and mountain climber and an expert on medicinal herbs.

            Ramsey Jay Jr. will present “The Dream Project” at 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 24 in the Great Lakes Rooms in the University Center. His presentation will focus on motivating people to achieve their goals. Jay is an executive at Ares Management, a global investment management firm, and also presented at last year’s UNITED conference.

            Heather Courtney, a film director, will present her documentary, “Where Soldiers Come From” at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 24. Her film is about the military experience of three men from Upper Peninsula towns, one of whom was an NMU student.

            E. Patrick Johnson will perform “Pouring Tea: Gay Black Men of the South Tell Their Tales” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 24 in the Black Box Theater. His performance explores the experiences of homosexual black men living in the southern U.S. Johnson’s performance is based on his book of the same name.   

            Medal-winning Paralympian Chris Waddell will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26. He will also screen “One Revolution,” a documentary which displays Waddell’s attempt to become the first unassisted paraplegic to ascend Mt. Kilimanjaro. Waddell is a mountain climber and is the most decorated Paralympian male skier, having received 12 medals from four games.

            Dr. David Kiefer will present “The Lure and Lore of Chocolate and Other Great Plants,” an exploration of how culture impacts the use of herbal medicine, at 7 p.m., Thursday Sept. 27, in Reynolds Recital Hall. The presentation is a part of Marquette General Hospital’s Nutrition and Medicine Conference. Kiefer co-authored the National Geographic Guide to Medicinal Herbs.

            There are seven tracks in the conference: art, dance/music, diversity, film, food, research/scholarship and service. For the full schedule, visit www.nmu.edu/united.