More than 140 programs and presentations exploring the theme "Think Globally, Act Locally: Guiding Our Changing World" will be offered during Coastal Carolina University's fifth Celebration of Inquiry on Feb. 14 to 16. All events are free and open to the public.

The university-wide academic conference features two days during which classes are redirected to specifically planned events and discussions as diverse as a survey of sharks to understanding Arabic culture. Many of the programs are hosted and planned by students with faculty direction.

Poet Natasha Trethewey, an associate professor of creative writing at Emory University, is the keynote speaker. She is the author of "Native Guard" and two collections of poetry, "Domestic Work" and "Bellocq's Ophelia." The keynote address is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Wheelwright Auditorium. The event is free, but tickets are required and are available at the Wheelwright Box Office, 349-2502. Trethewey will also participate in a question-and-answer "Poetry Session" on Thursday, Feb. 15 in Wall Auditorium from 10 to 11:15 a.m.

Other speakers include Doug Kirks, director of public relations for the Fair Trade Organization Ten Thousand Villages, and Maria del Carmen González, coordinator of International Education Programs for the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in New York.

Kirks' session provides participants with the opportunity to interact with Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit Fair Trade organization that provides a fair income for more than 100 artisan groups in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The other plenary speaker, González, has designed, developed and implemented collaborative educational partnerships and publications with national and international governments, cultural institutions and educational institutions.

Examples of some of the presentations:

* April Showers Bring More than flowers: Developing a Stormwater Management Plan for CC. Under the direction of professor Susan Libes, Coastal students Anne-Marie D'Onofrio and Christine Lynn will present a stormwater management plan they devised for the university. The plan will be presented on Friday, Feb. 16 at 9:30 a.m. in Wall 229.

* Pieced Together: Quilting in the 21st Century - a modern day quilting bee with the history of quilting, contemporary applications and the global practice of creating comfort quilts to share. * Horry County Then and Now: Comparisons Based on Pre-Civil War Census Data and the 2000 Census.

For a complete schedule of Celebration of Inquiry events, visit http://www.coastal.edu/inquiry/2007/schedules.html. This conference is sponsored by CCU's Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts' "The Words to Say It" visiting writers series, Burroughs Foundation, Inc. and Coastal's Office of Student Activities and Leadership.