The community-wide NEA Big Read Lakeshore led by Hope College and focusing on the post-apocalyptic novel “Station Eleven” will open with a TED-talk-styled celebration on Tuesday, Oct. 30, and continue through Thursday, Nov. 15, with more than 25 events for people of all ages.

Jon McCourt, who has been a peace activist in Derry, Northern Ireland, for more than 30 years, will present “The Force of Argument is Greater Than the Argument of Force: How 40 Years of Conflict and Community Reconciliation Work in Northern Ireland Influenced Government” on Monday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. at Hope College in room 102 of VanderWerf Hall.

The role of both students and journalists in political change in South Africa will be the focus of two addresses at Hope College on Monday, Oct. 15, starting at 4 p.m. by experts from the nation who are also husband and wife.

The Department of Chemistry at Hope College has a long history of pioneering teaching at the undergraduate level, excellence that has been incorporated into a national coalition of colleges and universities sharing a major, first-of-its-kind grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand LibreTexts, a free online textbook network that is estimated to have already saved students more than $30 million.

The Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, who was secretary general of the Reformed Church in America for 17 years, will deliver the address “Future Faith: Ten Challenges Reshaping Christianity in the 21st Century” on Thursday Oct. 11, at 3 p.m. at Hope College in the Fried-Hemenway Auditorium of the Martha Miller Center for Global Communication.

Linguist Kenneth Olson will present the address “Translating the Bible: Challenges, Controversies and Cultural Renewal” on Thursday, Oct. 18, at 6:30 p.m. at Hope College in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall.

Emeritus professor Dr. James Dyke van Putten Jr., who as a longtime member of the physics faculty helped launch Hope’s engineering program, died on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. He was 84.

Award-winning author John Fea of the Messiah College history faculty will present the address “The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump” on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. at Hope College in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall.

The project started in 2000 as a relatively modest effort to publish an annotated translation of the early Dutch-language minutes of the Classis of Holland. It has resulted in a 2,150-page, three-volume collection with full commentary that not only shares what was chronicled — often by the hand of Holland’s founder, the Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte — but includes historical context and background on the issues and people involved.

The Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series of Hope College will feature 2008 Hope graduate Matthew Baker with Linda Nemec Foster, Anne-Marie Oomen and Meridith Ridl on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. in the John and Dede Howard Recital Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts for the 13th Annual Tom Andrews Memorial Reading.

A new grant from the Department of Energy is enabling Dr. Stephen Remillard of the Hope College physics faculty to explore how microplasmas function — understanding that is meant to improve their value in applications ranging from the design of small radio components, to plasma display panels, to surgery.

Dr. Jonathan Hagood, who was associate dean for teaching and learning and served in a variety of roles at Hope College, died unexpectedly on Tuesday, Sept. 18. He was 43.

Hope College will celebrate its new Boerigter Center for Calling and Career with a ribbon cutting on Friday, Sept. 28, at 1:30 p.m. at the front patio of the DeWitt Center, with an open house following immediately.

Statistics research projects conducted by two teams of Hope College students have earned first and third place in a national competition.

Historian Dr. Allen C. Guelzo of Gettysburg College will present “Little Note nor Long Remember: Why Do We Remember the Gettysburg Address?” on Friday, Sept. 14, at 1 p.m. at Hope College in the Maas Center auditorium.

Dr. Katharine Polasek of the Hope College engineering faculty has received a major grant from the National Science Foundation for her continuing research into developing a non-invasive way to help amputees who are experiencing pain in limbs they no longer have.