Past Programs

Jane Mt. Pleasant

MtCornell University

The Paradox of Productivity: Lessons from an Indigenous Agriculture

Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Live Stream Link

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) agricultural systems in the 17th and 18th centuries were three to five times as productive as their European counterparts at the same time. This lecture provides insights into this ‘paradox of productivity.’

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and a Civic Learning and Engagement Initiative Grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and co-sponsored by the Churchill Fund and the departments of anthropology & archaeology, American studies, environmental studies, philosophy, history and the food studies program. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series and its semester theme, Indigeneity in the Americas.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

jane mt pleasantJane Mt. Pleasant, associate professor in the Horticulture Section of School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University, studies indigenous cropping systems and their productivity. Using her expertise in agricultural science, she examines agriculture from a multi-disciplinary perspective that includes history, archeology, paleobotany, and cultural/social anthropology. Although much of her work has focused on Haudenosaunee agriculture in the 16 through 18th centuries, more recently Read more

Daniel Ziblatt

Ziblatt poster FINALHarvard University

How Democracies Die

Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Is democracy in decline around the world? Is American democracy itself in trouble? Examining the history of democracy in the United States against a global backdrop of how democracies have died throughout history, Ziblatt comes to some surprising conclusions about the sources of vulnerability and strength in American democracy today. After Ziblatt’s presentation, Prof. David O’Connell will offer a brief scholarly counterargument that challenges certain aspects of Ziblatt’s book as they pertain to the American political system.  A book sale and signing will follow the program.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of political science and international studies, and the Churchill Fund. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

ziblattphotoDaniel Ziblatt is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University and a faculty associate at Harvard’s Minda De Gunzburg Center for European Studies. He researches and teaches in European politics, democratization, and historical political economy.

He is the author of three books, including two recent books, How Democracies Die (2018) (co-authored Read more

Dovie Thomason

Thomason PosterStoryteller and Activist

Residency: Monday, October 29 – Friday, November 2, 2017

How the Wild West was Spun

Thursday, November 1, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Thomason’s story begins in 1887, eleven years after the battle of the Little Big Horn, when Buffalo Bill Cody brought his premiere of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West to Europe, cementing Cody as one of the most famous people of his day. His show, which he called The Drama of Civilization, attracted millions and affected perceptions of history to the present day.

This residency is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and a Civic Learning and Engagement Initiative Grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and co-sponsored by the Churchill Fund and the departments of English, anthropology & archaeology, sociology, history, American studies, and theatre & dance.

Brighter Small Dovie PhotoBiography (provided by the speaker)

Dovie Thomason has been a storyteller and lecturer for over thirty years, sharing the importance of Indigenous narratives and arts to give voice to untold stories of Indigenous America. Her  ability to craft tales that not only enchant audiences––but also
raise provocative questions about Indigenous realities ––has long made her an inspiriting contributor to schools and organizations across Read more

Eboo Patel

Patel PosterInterfaith Youth Core (IFYC)

Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise

Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

America is the most religiously devout country in the Western world and the most religiously diverse nation on the planet. Will America’s identity as a Judeo-Christian nation shift as citizens of different backgrounds grow in numbers and influence? In what ways will minority religious communities themselves change as they take root in American soil? In addressing these questions, Eboo Patel will explore how America’s promise is the guarantee of equal rights and dignity for all, and how that promise is the foundation of America’s unrivaled strength as a nation. A book sale and signing will follow the program.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by The Marjorie M. and Irwin Nat Pincus Fund in Honor of their Daughters, The Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life, the Division of Student Life, the Center for Service, Spirituality & Social Justice, the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Inclusivity, the Departments of Judaic Studies and Religion, the First Year Seminar Program and the Churchill Fund. It is also part of the Clarke Read more

Congress to Campus

CongressCampus PosterMonday, October 15, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Panelists

Don Manzullo, (R-IL, 1993-2013) (Replacing Jim Kolbe, R-AZ)
Betsy Markey, (D-CO, 2009-2011)
David O’Connell (moderator), Dickinson College

Live Stream Link

A bipartisan pair of former members of Congress will look back on their own experiences in government and reflect on the challenges currently facing the United States of America. This discussion will be moderated by political scientist David O’Connell.

The event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the department of political science, the Churchill Fund, and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Inclusivity.

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

px Don Manzullo Official PortraitDon Manzullo recently retired as president & CEO, KEI, Korea Economic Institute of America. During his  20  years  of  service  representing  the  16th District  of  Illinois,   Manzullo was  a  leading  voice  in  shaping  congressional  economic  and  foreign  policy towards  the  Asia Pacific region.  He  started  his  career in the  House  of  Representatives  in  1993  on  the  Subcommittee  on  Asia  and  the  Pacific  of  the  House  Foreign  Affairs  Committee  and  ended  his  tenure in Congress serving as the Republican leader of this pivotal subcommittee from 2007 until 2013,  including  chairing  the  Asia  subcommittee  Read more

Sustainable Endowment?

Sustainable Endowmnt PosterThursday, October 11, 2018
Weiss Center for the Arts, Rubendall Recital Hall, 3 p.m. 

Panelists

Alice Handy, Investure
Sarah Kolansky, Graham Partners
Rob Symington, Dickinson Board of Trustees

What is the purpose of Dickinson’s endowment? How is it managed? Should Dickinson join a growing movement to invest our endowment in ways that align with community values regarding corporate behavior, social justice, environmental stewardship, climate change and other issues? What might be the implications for the performance of our endowment and the financial wellbeing of the college? Is it possible to have a sustainable endowment? Join us for a discussion about these issues.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the President’s Office, Dickinson Sustainable Investment Group, Board of Trustees, Office of Finance & Administration, and Center for Sustainability Education.

Biographies (provided by the speakers)

Alice HandyAlice Handy founded Investure in December 2003. Prior to founding Investure, Alice spent 29 years managing the endowment of the University of Virginia. She started as the first investment officer, later became treasurer, and finally president of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company.  Alice began her career as a bond portfolio manager and

Read more

Jacqueline Patterson

 Patterson poster finalNAACP

Environmental Racism in the Age of Climate Change

Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Live Stream Link

Environmental racism proliferates throughout the climate change continuum from who is most likely to be exposed to the co-pollutants from facilities that spew the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, to who is most likely to be displaced or even killed from climate change induced disasters. The depth of the systemic inequities require a transformative response to ensure that civil, human, and earth rights are upheld. A book sale and signing will follow the program.

The program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity, the Churchill Fund, the departments of American studies, sociology, Africana studies, the program in policy studies, the Women’s & Gender Resource Center, the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM), and the Center for Sustainability Education. This program was initiated by the Clarke Forum’s Student Project Managers and it is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.  

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Jacqui Vote Solar IJacqueline Patterson is the director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. Read more

Bob Weick

Marx in Soho PosterActor and Monologist, Featured as Karl Marx

Marx in Soho by Howard Zinn

Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

In Howard Zinn’s one-person play, Karl Marx, the revolutionary socialist, comes back to earth to clear his name. Performed by Bob Weick, Marx in Soho, is a freewheeling and entertaining show, and Weick delivers an impassioned performance that connects Marx to contemporary themes.

The presentation is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of history, sociology, economics, American studies and the First Year Seminar program.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

MARXPRBob Weick is the celebrated national touring actor of Howard Zinn’s Marx in Soho. A veteran stage actor in Philadelphia, he is a two-time Barrymore nominee with Iron Age Theatre (TERRA NOVA) and Theatre Horizon (CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION). Weick’s friendship and working relationship with the late Howard Zinn began in 2004 with the critically acclaimed sold out Philadelphia premiere of Marx in Soho. Weick has gone on to perform the piece over 300 times across the country from Maine to California.

Weick is a company member of Iron Age Theatre, where he collaborates with artistic director John Doyle Read more

Angela Belcher – “Joseph Priestley Award Recipient”

Belcher Poster FINALMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Joseph Priestley Award Celebration Lecture

Giving New Life to Materials for Energy, the Environment and Medicine

Thursday, September 27, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Live Stream Link

This talk will address the possibilities Engineering Biology provides for working with a larger toolkit of materials to tailor properties in devices for energy, environmental remediation, and cancer diagnostics and treatment.

The Joseph Priestley Award recipient is chosen by a different science department each year. The Department of Chemistry has selected this year’s recipient. The event is supported by the College’s Priestley Fund and is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of biology, chemistry, earth sciences, environmental studies, mathematics & computer science, psychology, and physics & astronomy and the Churchill Fund.  It is part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Biography

Belcher PhotoAngela Belcher is a biological and materials engineer with expertise in the fields of biomaterials, biomolecular materials, organic-inorganic interfaces and solid-state chemistry and devices. Her primary research focus is evolving new materials for energy, electronics, the environment, and medicine.

She received her B.S. in creative studies from The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Read more

Neal Katyal

Katyal Poster FinalGeorgetown Law

Talk is Trump and the Rule of Law

Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general of the United States, will be discussing the Supreme Court, President Trump, the Mueller investigation, and the rule of law in a wide ranging discussion.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Penn State’s Dickinson Law and co-sponsored by the Departments of Political Science and History.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Katyal Neal Firm Photo High ResolutionNeal Katyal is the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of Law at Georgetown University and a partner at Hogan Lovells. He previously served as acting solicitor general of the United States. He has argued 37 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, with 35 of them in the last 9 years. Most recently, Neal argued the “Travel ban” case on behalf of the State of Hawaii against President Trump in the Supreme Court of the United States. In the 2016-17 term alone, Neal argued 7 cases in 6 separate arguments at the Supreme Court, far more than any other advocate in the nation – nearly 10% of the docket. At the age of 48, he has Read more

The Fugitive Slave Law and the Crisis Over Immigration Policy: Assessing a Forgotten Legacy

 Fugitive Slave Law Panel FINALWinfield C. Cook Constitution Day Address

Monday, September 17, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Live Stream Link

Panelists:

Richard Blackett, Vanderbilt University
Andrew Delbanco, Columbia University
Judy Giesberg, Villanova University
Matthew Pinsker (moderator), Dickinson College

The controversial 1850 Fugitive Slave Law provoked a bitter national debate over open borders, due process, family separation, federal power and northern states’ rights. Our panelists will discuss those earlier controversies and assess how they might offer important insights or perspective for the current and increasingly intense debates over Trump Administration immigration policies. A book sale and signing will follow.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the House Divided Project and co-sponsored by the Departments of History and American Studies and the Program in Policy Studies.

Biographies (provided by the speakers)

richard blackettRichard Blackett is Andrew Jackson Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. He is the author, most recently, of The Captive’s Quest for Freedom: Fugitive Slaves, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law and the Politics of Freedom (2018) and Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Freedom (2013). He teaches courses on 19th century U.S. history and the history of the Caribbean. During Read more

Dan Longboat – Roronhiakewen (He Clears the Sky)

Longboat Poster FINALTrent University

Honoring Indigeneity: Indigenous Knowledge(s) and Indigenous Sovereignty

Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

For millennia Indigenous Nations have cared for and actively engaged with the landscape and through our respective cultures and unique ways of life have worked to create the bio-diverse richness of the Americas. Today, the Americas are confronted by a complexity of issues and problems that Indigenous Knowledge(s) can help to address. But we’ll need to start from the beginning, opening our minds to learning, understanding and honoring the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Churchill Fund and the departments of anthropology & archaeology, American studies, psychology, environmental studies, and earth sciences. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series and its semester theme, Indigeneity in the Americas.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

IMGDan Longboat – Roronhiakewen (He Clears the Sky) is a Turtle Clan member of the Mohawk Nation and a citizen of the Rotinonshón:ni (Haudenosaunee – People of the Longhouse), originally from Ohsweken – the Six Nations community on the Grand River. Longboat is an associate professor in the Read more

Rick Smolan ’72

Smolan Poster Flag

New York Times Best-Selling Author and National Geographic Photographer

The Good Fight: America’s Ongoing Struggle for Justice

Friday, April 27,  2018
Althouse Hall, Room 106, 4:30 p.m.

Smolan will share images and stories from his new book The Good Fight. The book captures the sporadically violent, often triumphant, always risky struggles of Americans who have experienced hatred, oppression or bigotry because of their gender, skin color, country of origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability or beliefs over the past 100 years. A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Rick SmolanRick Smolan, CEO of Against All Odds Productions is a New York Times best-selling author   with more than five million copies of his books in print.  A former Time, Life, and National Geographic photographer, Smolan is best known as the co-creator of the “Day in the Life” book series.  His global photography projects, which feature the work of hundreds of the worlds leading photographers and combine creative storytelling with state-of-the-art technology, are regularly featured on the covers of prestigious publications around the globe including Fortune, Time, and GEO. His latest book, Read more

Stephen Walt

Walt Final posterHarvard University

Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholars Program

Where is U.S. Foreign Policy Headed?

Thursday, April 26, 2018  (Rescheduled from March 22, 2018)
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Watch Live Stream

This lecture explores the future of U.S. foreign policy under President Trump. Walt argues that Trump, his bellicose tweets notwithstanding,  is gradually being captured, coopted, and constrained by the foreign policy establishment. Under Trump, therefore, U.S. foreign policy is likely to be an even more inept version of our recent follies.

The event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Phi Beta Kappa and co-sponsored by the Office of Academic Advising, Political Science and International Studies.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Stephen Walt photoStephen Walt is Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a former academic dean. He also taught at Princeton and the University of Chicago and has been a resident associate of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace and a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution. He is a contributing editor at Foreign Policy, co-chair of the editorial board of International Security, and co-editor of the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs book series. A fellow of the American Academy Read more

Dale Bredesen

Bredesen Poster FinalUCLA and Buck Institute

Reducing the Global Burden of Dementia: The First Alzheimer’s Survivors

Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Watch Live Stream

Bredesen describes his treatment for Alzheimer’s and pre-Alzheimer’s, along with associated challenges and implications. A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.

The program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Office of Senior Associate Provost; the Career Center; Pre-Health Society; Pre-Health Program; Division of Student Life;  the Wellness Center; Department of Biology; and the Program in Policy Studies. It was initiated by the Clarke Forum Student Project Managers.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Bredesen with Cells Behind HimDale E. Bredesen, M.D. received his undergraduate degree from Caltech and his medical degree from Duke.  He served as resident and chief resident in neurology at UCSF, then was postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Prof. Stanley Prusiner.  He was a faculty member at UCLA from 1989-1994, then was recruited by the Burnham Institute to direct the Program on Aging.  In 1998 he became the founding president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, and Adjunct Professor at UCSF; then in 2013 he returned to UCLA as Read more

Aloys Mahwa

 Mahwa PosterLiving Peace Institute  – Promundo

Masculine Identity and Sexual Gender Based Violence: The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Thursday, April 19, 2018
Althouse Hall, Room 106
Noon – 1 p.m. (Light lunch will be provided)
RSVP strongly encouraged, but not required to clarkeforum@dickinson.edu.

Sexual gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been described as the worst in the world.  Mahwa will discuss ProMundo and Living Peace Institute preventative approaches that engage men, working to eradicate the root causes of violence.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Aloys MahwaAloys Mahwa is Promundo’s Living Peace project director in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Using group therapy and group education techniques, the Living Peace initiative addresses the trauma associated with conflict and promotes equitable, nonviolent paths to healing for individuals, families, and communities.

Mahwa manages the scale-up of Living Peace in the North and South Kivu provinces of eastern DRC, playing a key role in coordinating stakeholder working sessions, developing the Living Peace Institute, documenting and building upon the program’s lessons learned and best practices, and supervising monitoring and evaluation of the initiative. Mahwa joined Promundo after five Read more

Reece Jones

Reece Jones PosterUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa

Violent Borders: The State vs. the Right to Move

Monday, April 16, 2018
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Over 40,000 people died trying to cross a border in the past decade around the world. Jones argues these deaths are part of a long history of states using movement restrictions to protect privileges and to contain the poor. A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Middle East Studies Program, the Departments of Sociology and International Studies and the Security Studies Certificate Program. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Citizen/Refugee.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Reece JonesReece Jones is professor of geography at the University of Hawaii and the author two books: Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move (Verso 2016) and Border Walls: Security and the War on Terror in the United States, India, and Israel (Zed Books 2012), four edited books, and over two dozen journal articles. His work has been published in the Guardian, the New York Times, and dozens of other media outlets around the world. He is currently working Read more

Nicole Guidotti-Hernández

Guidotti Hernandez PosterUniversity of Texas at Austin

Latinx: The Future is Now

Thursday, April 12, 2018
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

This lecture charts out the histories of how we went from using Mexican American and Puerto Rican to Chicano and Nuyorican and then to the latest iterations, Latina/o and now Latinx. While millennials are leading the charge with the Latinx conversation, Guidotti-Hernández argues their boomer intellectual forerunners are often outright resistant to the use of Latina/o let alone Latinx, indicating the futurist potential and political necessity of the term.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Departments of English,  American Studies, Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies, and the Women’s & Gender Resource Center. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Citizen/Refugee.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

J N e sessionNicole Guidotti-Hernández is associate professor of American Studies and Mexican American and Latina/o studies at UT Austin. She is an expert in Borderlands History after 1846, Transnational Feminist Methodologies, Latinx Studies, and Popular Culture and Immigration.

Her book titled Unspeakable Violence: Remapping U.S.  and  Mexican National Imaginaries, Duke University Press (2011) won the 2011-2012 MLA Prize in Chicana/o and Latina/o Read more

Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob – Bechtel Lecturer

Jacob Jacob Final PosterDickinson College

The Bechtel Lecture

(Dis)Owning God: Religious Identity and Violent Extremism in the African Sahel Region

Monday, April 9, 2018
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Religious identity, Jacob argues, has far greater normative influence on extremist recruitment and radicalization than religious beliefs and other appeals, but it has rarely been accounted for in counter-narrative campaigns and deradicalization programs in the West African Sahel region.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Bechtel Lectureship Fund.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Jacob Udo Udo Jacob jacobjJacob Udo-Udo Jacob is a visiting international scholar in the International Studies program of Dickinson College.  His teaching and research interest is located at the intersection between communications, conflicts and peace building with particular reference to the Lake Chad Basin, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Jacob visits Dickinson from the American University of Nigeria where he was chair of the Communications & Multimedia Design Program and interim dean in the School of Arts & Science. He has led the implementation of some very important donor-funded projects in support of peace building in North-East Nigeria and the Lake Chad region including a U.S. State Department-funded CVE project on peace journalism, Read more

Beyond Kinetics: Advancing Civil-Military Partnership in Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism

Extremism Poster FinalWednesday, April 4, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 6 p.m.

Panelists

Muhammad Umer Bashir, Pakistan Army
Shawn Diniz ’18, Dickinson College
Margee Ensign, Dickinson College
Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob, Dickinson College
Casey  Miner, United States Army
Yssouf Traore, Mali Army

ISIS and its affiliate organizations have recently suffered significant military losses in Syria, Iraq, North and West Africa as well as the broader Lake Chad Region. As important as these military achievements are, they signal neither the end of ISIS and its affiliates nor the defeat of their extremist ideologies. Instead, they usher in an increasingly diffuse and unpredictable phase in the global war on terror. This panel discussion explores how the United States, Pakistan, Mali and Nigeria have experienced and learned from the changing phases of extremism, focusing mainly on what has worked and what hasn’t.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues in collaboration with the Carlisle Scholars Program at the U.S. Army War College.

Biographies from our Panelists

Umer eBrigadier Muhammad Umer Bashir is an artillery officer in the Army of Pakistan. He has commanded at the Regiment and Brigade levels, and performed as an instructor at the Pakistan Read more