Teaching artist Brian Sostek ’90 delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, April 26 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address, “Fear, Failure, and Catastrophe: How To Talk with Strangers,” pulled from his experience as a writer, choreographer, director, performer, and teacher who brings the best practices of his performing arts career to bear on academic research, writing, and interpersonal communication.

Currently, Sostek works with undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota through faculty members in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, the School of Nursing, the School of Medicine, the University Honors Program, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, among many other departments, schools, and programs. In every context, Sostek teaches his students how to talk with strangers.

In 2023, Sostek was recognized by the University of Minnesota for Outstanding Faculty Contribution to Honors Education, and was nominated for the John Song Distinguished Mentoring Award for exceptional contributions to the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. With his wife and co-creator Megan McClellan, he has received numerous accolades for their work on stage, the coolest of which — according to Sostek — might be the one and only Ivey Award for playwright and choreographer for their two-person show Trick Boxing. Sostek graduated from Carleton in 1990 with a BA in English.

Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations