To Win or To Play By the Rules: Essay Finalists to Debate Which is More Important
Cultural Center Announces 28th Annual Great American Think-Off Finalists
The New York Mills Regional Cultural Center announces four finalists from the essay contest portion of the Great American Think-Off. These four essayists each win $500 and a weekend trip to New York Mills, MN in June to participate in the live philosophical debate.
During the debate, the finalists argue their side of the question, “Which is more important: to win or to play by the rules?” Two finalists will assert that winning is more important, while the other two finalists will argue that playing by the rules is more important.
The debate among the four armchair philosophers is on Saturday, June 12, 2021. The finalists will be available to meet the public at the Great American Think-Off Kick-Off event the evening of Friday, June 11 at the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center during a Philosophers & Artists Reception. In addition to honoring the Think-Off finalists, the reception will also feature regional visual artists on display in the Gallery’s “Happiness Project” exhibit. The reception is preceded by a Historical Walking Tour of downtown New York Mills, hosted by the Otter Tail County Historical Society.
The four finalists are (in alphabetical order): AJ Gil of Atlanta, GA; Angela Stehr of St. Paul, MN; Bill Sutherland of Eden Prairie, MN; and Daniel Tschida of Minneapolis, MN. Gil and Stehr will argue that it is more important to win, while Sutherland and Tschida will argue that it is more important to play by the rules.
AJ Gil is a writer from Gainesville, Florida currently living in Atlanta, GA. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida and the Villanova University School of Law. He writes about politics, sports, and comedy and spends his remaining time trying to entertain his wife and cat.
Angie Stehr is an administrative assistant at the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics at the University of Minnesota. She holds M.A.’s in Classics from the University of Cincinnati and in Museum Studies from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. She thinks of herself as a Think-Off “groupie” and has only missed one Think-Off since 2008. She likes women’s hockey, Goldie Gopher, going to concerts, knitting, reading, and gardening. Her garden has a continuously increasing focus on pollinators and she has taken to nurturing caterpillars from eggs to butterflies in the summer. She lives in St. Paul with her husband Mark.
Bill Sutherland has been in the consulting engineering business for some 40 years, including the founding of MinnTech Engineering Consulting Engineers in 1984. A native Minneapolitan, Bill graduated from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology, now known as the College of Science and Engineering, and holds a degree in Electrical Engineering. Bill earned his Professional Engineer license for Minnesota in 1978. Bill and wife Pam have two grown daughters, and make their home in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He is enjoying his (almost) retirement by spending time with his family, and outdoors at their retreat in Grand Marais, Minnesota.
Daniel Tschida has lived in south Minneapolis for the past 25 years with his wife (Karen Janisch) and two teenage daughters (Audrey & Elizabeth). For the past seventeen years, Tschida has been teaching social studies at Columbia Heights High School. Prior to that, Dan was a lawyer at a large Minneapolis law firm for 6-7 years. After law school, he clerked for a justice on the Idaho Supreme Court, a judge in Hennepin County, and a Magistrate Judge in U.S. District Court. Dan has a BA in history from Northwestern University in Illinois, a law degree from the University of Minnesota, and an education degree from the University of St. Thomas.
The public is invited to attend the live debate in New York Mills, MN on Saturday, June 12, 2021 @ 7pm, to witness these four armchair philosophers engage in lively civil discourse. Tickets to attend the live debate are just $12 in advance, or $15 at the door; students just $5. All audience members get to vote in the contest to decide who will hold the title of America’s Greatest Thinker for 2021.
COVID safety guidelines will be followed at all Think-Off events, including masks, distancing, and limited attendance. If you are not well, please do not attend.
For more information or to buy tickets please call the Cultural Center at (218) 385-3339, visit the Center’s website at kulcher.org, or get tickets at thinkoff2021.bpt.me/.
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About the Great American Think-Off:
Now in its 28th year, The Great American Think-Off is an exhibition of civil disagreement between powerful ideas being explored by everyday people. Designed to bring philosophy down from the ivory towers of academia and make it accessible for all, the contest has received national acclaim including coverage by C-SPAN, the New York Times, and The Today Show.
The Cultural Center, located in the rural farm and manufacturing town of New York Mills, Minnesota, sponsors this annual philosophy contest and encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to participate. The Cultural Center is a rural hub for creativity, community vitality, and lifelong learning in the arts. Since our incorporation in 1990, we have been passionate about connecting people to artists and rich cultural experiences in rural Minnesota, celebrating the local and being a window to the world.
To get a better sense of the Think-Off, find details, historical information, and a list of the past 27 years of questions and winners on the event website: www.think-off.org.
