Recession or Depression? What’s Next for the Economy

A Panel Discussion

Thursday, October 22
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:30 p.m.

In late 2008, many analysts referred to the downturn of the U.S. economy as the worst crisis since the Great Depression. A panel of experts affiliated with Dickinson College will assess the rationale and effectiveness of government policies implemented over the past year as a response to the downturn and will speculate about the future prospects for the U.S. economy.

Information about the Panelists
Chris Rugaber ’90 is ... Read more...

Living with the Wall

Panel Discussion on the



Twentieth Anniversary of the



Fall of the Berlin Wall

Wednesday, October 21
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

For close to thirty years a wall separated East from West Berlin. Members of Dickinson College and the broader community who experienced life in Berlin during this time will discuss how the period’s experiences affected their personal and professional lives.

Panelists
Bernard Griffard, professor of strategic logistics, Ce ... Read more...

Myra Donnelley

Representative of Brave New Films

Subaltern-ate Media: Brave New Films’ ‘trickle up theory’ of Mass-roots Communications

Friday, October 16
The Weiss Center, Rubendall Recital Hall, 11:30 a.m.

The Clarke Forum and the Literature/Film Association are sponsoring a presentation by Myra Donnelley of Brave New Films. Brave New Films is perhaps best known for “Walmart,” which played on campus a couple of years ago; they have also produced “Sick for Profit” and “Move On: the Movie.” Their most recent film, “Rethink Afghanistan,” just opened in New York.

Brave New Films has pioneered video activism in all manner of venues on the internet as well as in movie theaters. As The Nation reports, the organization “has created a quick-strike capability that challenges corporate media with the truth and empowers poli ... Read more...

Elizabeth Loftus – “Joseph Priestley Award”

Distinguished Professor,



University of California, Irvine

What’s the Matter with Memory?

Thursday, October 15
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Sponsored by the Department of Psychology.

People have been led to remember non-existent events from the recent past as well as non-existent events from their childhood. They can be led to falsely believe that they had experiences that would have been highly traumatic had they actually happened. False beliefs have consequences for people, affecting later thoughts, intentions, ... Read more...

Thomas Hull ’68

Metzger-Conway Fellow


Warburg Professor International Relations


Simmons College

Pflaum Lecture

Confronting Africa’s Anguish

Wednesday, October 14
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.
(Part of The Clarke Forum’s “Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty” series)

Co-sponsored by the Department of History and Betty R. ’58 and Dan Churchill.

Africa has been afflicted with brutal, prolonged conflicts that capture our attention, but almost incomprehensibly resist negotiated resolutions. Examini ... Read more...

Carl Colby

Film Producer and Director

The Colby Project

Friday, October 9
Stern Center, Great Room, 3:30 p.m.

Carl Colby, P’11, an Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker, will discuss his soon-to-be-released feature-length documentary film on his late father, William E. Colby, a lifelong CIA officer and former director of the CIA. The film uncovers the truths behind the myths of the life of an American spy and the consequences of leading such a secret life on his nation and his family.

Topical Background
Read more...

Peter Anderson, Esq. ’73

Metzger-Conway Fellow



Treasurer of ServeHAITI

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Haiti

(Part of The Clarke Forum’s series on “Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty”)
Thursday, October 8
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

The discussion will focus on the cultural and economic challenges to providing healthcare to poor Haitians in the rural and mountainous region of Grand Bois. In particular, the talk will address the subtle causes of infant mortality and specific issues regarding women’s ... Read more...

Brenda Dixon Gottschild

Cultural Historian, Actress, and Dancer

The (Black) Dancing Body as a Measure of Culture

Thursday, October 1
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Through dance demonstrations and visual images, Dixon Gottschild examines the pervasive Africanist presence in American culture and the sociopolitical implications of its invisibility. With dance as the focus and race the parameter, she reveals Africanisms in modern and postmodern dance and American ballet.

A book signing will follow the presentation.

Topical Background
Read more...

Bob Weick

Actor and Monologuist

Howard Zinn’s “Marx in Soho”

Tuesday, September 29
The Depot, 7:00 p.m.

Returning to earth for one hour to clear his name, Karl Marx launches into a passionate, funny and moving defense of his life and political ideas in Howard Zinn’s brilliant, timely play, Marx in Soho. The play is an excellent introduction to Marx’s life, his passion for radical change, his analysis of society, and its relevance to current events, trends, and developments.

Topical Background
Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in Trie ... Read more...

Nina Davenport

Documentary Film Director

Operation Filmmaker

Wednesday, September 16 – Film Showing – Operation Filmmaker
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 17 - Discussion with film director, Nina Davenport
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Do-gooder intentions go disastrously wrong when Hollywood gives a young Iraqi film student the chance of a lifetime. Operation Filmmaker tells the fascinating and riveting story of this student’s odyssey in the West, which has uncanny parallels to America’s recent ... Read more...

Dr. David Nash

Founding Dean of the Jefferson School of Population Health,


Thomas Jefferson University

Real Reform — Real Leadership

Thursday, September 10 – (Part of The Clarke Forum’s series on Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty)
The Depot, 7:00 p.m.

The United States needs real leadership to tackle the health care system’s core problems: its cost, its poor quality, its limited scope, along with pernicious incentives that pervade the entire system. Dr. Nash will provide a leadership roadmap to confront these issues.

Topical Background
Healthcare reform has recently become a h ... Read more...

Elaine Brown

Executive Director of the Michael Lewis Legal Defense Committee and


former leader of the Black Panther Party

The Condemnation of Little B–New Age Racism in America

Wednesday, September 9
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

In 1997, Michael “Little B” Lewis, a 13 year-old black adolescent, was sentenced to life imprisonment following his adult conviction for a murder Brown says he did not commit. What is the nexus between this tragedy and the relentless ramifications of slavery for black people in America, duplicitously entrenched now as a national policy of “Ne ... Read more...

Eric Lott

Professor of English, University of Virginia

When Bob Dylan Came Knocking

Friday, September 4
Stern Center, Great Room, 4:30 p.m.
Bob Dylan popularized Eric Lott’s book by putting its title on his 2001 album “Love and Theft.” Dylan’s “lift” of the title reflected Lott’s view that appropriations are fundamental to popular culture and that artistic creativity has an important bearing on education and identity formation.

Following Professor Lott’s talk, there will be a barbecue and concerts by Structure of Feeling and Black Landlord, named the “be ... Read more...

Dr. Michael Walzer

Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton


University and Author

Just and Unjust Wars

Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.

What are the underlying principles that distinguish just from unjust wars? In particular, how do the principles of proportionality and responsibility apply to situations of asymmetric warfare, such as the recent violence in the Gaza Strip?

Topical Background
Just War Theory has two dimensions: jus ad bellum and jus in bellum. The former refers to the justification for war w ... Read more...

Violence in Gaza: A Panel Discussion

Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Depot – 7:00 p.m.

Panelists:
David Commins, Benjamin Rush distinguished chair in liberal arts and sciences and professor of history at Dickinson College
Itzchak Weismann, visiting assistant professor of history at Dickinson on leave from the University of Haifa in Israel
Sherifa D. Zuhur, research professor of Islamic and Regional Studies, U. S. Army War College
Moderated by Ed Webb, assistant professor of political science and international studies at Dickinson

Ted Sorensen

Former Special Counsel & Advisor to President John F. Kennedy

From the Edge of History

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.
Booksigning to follow

In January 1953, freshman Senator John F. Kennedy hired 24-year-old Ted Sorensen as his number two legislative assistant. Over the next 11 years he became known as Kennedy’s “intellectual blood-bank” and “top policy aide.” He will talk on a variety of subjects including the McCarthy era, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War and the period following the assassination of JFK.

Mr. Soren ... Read more...

Pete Myers

Founder, CEO and Chief Scientist of Environmental Health Sciences

Toxins: Toys to Toothpaste

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.

Revolutionary advances in the environmental health sciences have discovered that low exposure to materials found in many of today’s consumer products – materials once thought safe – in fact have adverse consequences on human health.

Topical Background
From toys to raincoats to perfumes, toxins in today’s American household are found in unexpected places. These harmful substances migrate from homes to hospitals where they ... Read more...

Euthanasia: Whose Right to Die is It?

Monday, April 13, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.

“Continuing the Conversation” will be held
immediately following the presentation, Stern 102.

Dr. Greg Lewis, Carlisle physician
Carol Poenisch, daughter Dr. Kevorkian’s 19th patient
Linda Smith, hospice nurse
Jim Hoefler, Dickinson professor of political science and policy studies

A panel discussion reflecting diverse perspectives, viewpoints, and experiences regarding physician-assisted suicide.

This program was created ... Read more...

Kevin Bales

Author and President of Free the Slaves

The End of Slavery

Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.

The world’s leading expert on contemporary slavery will share his vision on how to end slavery in our time. Co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science.

Topical Background
According to human rights organizations, scholars, government agencies and journalists, slavery exists in virtually every country of the world and in almost every U.S. state. A growing antislavery movement has been hard at work documenting and exposing this troubling discovery. ... Read more...

Nadine Strossen

Former President of the American Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008)

Morgan Lecture

Challenges to Civil Liberties

Thursday, April 2, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.

An interactive and informal conversation with the former ACLU president concerning current and future threats and challenges to civil liberties.

Co-sponsored by Department of Sociology, Department of Political Science, Office of Dean of Students, Women’s Center and Career Center.

Topical Background
In reaction to the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration enacted a series ... Read more...

Alicia Partnoy

Author and Human Rights Activist from Argentina

Writing and the Disappeared of Latin America

Monday, March 30, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.

A survivor’s perspective on the role of the writer in the struggle against feminicide and the “disappearing” of political dissidents in Latin America.

Co-sponsored by Latin American Studies, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, and First-Year Seminars.

Topical Background
After Perón’s death in 1974, the Argentinean government was left in the hands of his widow, Isabel Martínez de Perón, who empo ... Read more...

Loretta Ross

Founding Member and National Coordinator of SisterSong

Is Choice a Human Right? Reproductive Justice in the U.S.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.
Co-sponsored by the Department of American Studies.

Topical Background
Some consider a safe and healthy birth a human right. In the U.S., however, it is not a right that is fully protected for all women, especially women of color. African American women die during childbirth three to four times more often than white women.

SisterSong Women& ... Read more...

Derek Hathaway

Recently Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Harsco


Corporation

Rush Award

Leading With Integrity

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m

Topical Background
According to a recent Gallup Poll, 80% of Americans believe that the moral values of our country are getting worse. Scandals and corruption in government, healthcare, law and many other sectors of our society appear to have eroded public confidence both in public and private institutions. Government scandals from both sides of the aisle have scorch ... Read more...

Philip Wilcox

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Two States or One?

Thursday, March 19, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.

Why has the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians been so intractable, and will President Obama’s policy succeed in bringing about real peace?

Co-sponsored by Betty R. ’58, and Dan Churchill.

About the Speaker
Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. is president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, a Washington D.C.-based foundation devoted to fostering peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Wilcox retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in September 199 ... Read more...

America’s Role and Image in the World (Part 2)

Panel Discussion

How Green are Human Rights? An International Perspective

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium – 7:00 p.m.

A panel of experts from Dickinson’s partner universities abroad will discuss how different cultures assess the positive and negative interactions between human rights and environmental sustainability.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Global Education and the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education.

America’s Role and Image in the World (Part 1)

Joe Szabo, author, publisher and lecturer

Uncle Sam Lampooned

Monday, March 16, 2009
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium – 7:00 p.m.

How America is perceived around the world through cartoons and illustrations by world-famous artists and cartoonists and through interviews conducted in over sixty countries.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Global Education and the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education.

Topical Background
The use of cartoons in political satire is quite common. In the United States, political cartoons can be traced to the revolutionary period when Ben Franklin’s famous cartoon “Join or Die” was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette.

Criticism of the United States is often manifested in cartoons published on web sites and in newspapers. Some of these cartoons depict the United States as a menace or bull ... Read more...

Chuck Cosson ’88

Senior Policy Counsel, Microsoft, Author, and Metzger-Conway Fellow

Free the Internet?

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Governments around the world are pressuring internet-related companies to comply with local laws that arguably conflict with internationally recognized human rights of freedom of expression and privacy. How should companies like Microsoft respond

Topical Background
In the early 1960s, the United States government wanted to create a network that would allow officials to exchange classified scientific and military ... Read more...

Mark Myers

Former Director, U.S. Geological Survey

Science for a Crowded Planet

Thursday, February 26
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Although most people throughout human history have regarded earth’s basic resources as inexhaustible, in today’s crowded world we must act together to mitigate and adapt to the risks generated by a rapidly changing world.

Topical Background
The Earth’s resources are immense, but not unlimited. For instance, nearly half of the world’s original forest cover has been lost, and each year another 16 million hectares are cut or burned. Water is an ... Read more...

What’s Wrong with Public Service? A Challenge for Higher Education

All-Day Conference Co-Sponsored by the University of Maine and Dickinson College

Monday, February 23, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room
Sessions begin at 8:30 a.m.

In the context of recent proposals to create a public service academy, what are the advantages and disadvantages of a public service career and the role higher education plays in preparing students for the challenges of such a commitment?

Conference Schedule
Public Service Conference Schedule

Co-sponsored by Betty R. ’58, and Daniel Churchill.

Thomas Palley and George Selgin

Thomas Palley, economist, author, and founder of Economics for


Democratic and Open Societies;


George Selgin, BB&T Professor of Economics, West Virginia University

The Financial Meltdown

Thursday, February 19, 2009
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium – 7:00 p.m.

What policies are necessary to deal with the near-collapse of the United States financial system and prevent similar crises in the future?
Co-sponsored by Department of Economics, Policy Studies and Department of American Studies.

Topical Background
In ... Read more...

Michael Scheuer

Bestselling Author and Former Head of the CIA’s bin Laden Unit

Marching Toward Hell

Thursday, February 12, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.
“Continuing the Conversation” immediately following the presentation, Stern 102

What policies should the Obama administration pursue with regard to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Iran in the ongoing war against terrorism?

Topical Background
On September 20, 2001, President Bush officially launched the controversial “Global War on Terrorism”. “Our war on ... Read more...

Ruthann Russo '80

Author, Ph.D., JD, MPH, RHIT and Metzger-Conway Fellow

7 Steps to Your Best Possible Healthcare

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.
Book signing to follow.

President Obama has reviewed Dr. Russo’s book and provided supportive testimony for her work regarding how Americans can be proactive in their healthcare planning for themselves and their loved ones.

The U.S. healthcare system is complex and challenging, but positive ... Read more...

Dan Fishback

New York Theater Artist

You Never Get to Make Out

Thursday, February 5, 2009
Mathers Theatre – 7:00 p.m.

Dan Fishback is queer and Jewish and can’t tell the difference between the two. In his new talk, “You Never Get To Make Out,” the performance artist wonders why life in the shadow of death and destruction is so genuinely hilarious. Through a combination of humorous anecdotes and serious intellectual analysis, Fishback paints a portrait of post-Holocaust, post-80s-AIDS anxiety in an age of irony and detachment. Based largely on his new play, “You Will Experience Sile ... Read more...

Generation Next and the 2008 Election

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium – 7:30 p.m.

Jeff Milstein, senior broadcast producer
Scott Keeter, director of Survey Research at Pew Research Center
Adora Mora, documentary participant
Moderated by Judy Woodruff, award-winning PBS journalist

What role did young Americans play in electing the first African-American president in the historic 2008 election?

Co-sponsored by the Office of Dean of Students, and Vice-President for Enrollment and College Relations.

View the PBS Read more...

Anthony Bonanno '68

LL.M., Partner London Office Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Metzger-Conway


Fellow

Human Rights: An Analysis of Saudi Arabia and the Impact of Islam

Monday, November 24, 2008
Stern Center, Great Room – 7:00 p.m.

Using Saudi Arabia as a case study, this talk will explore human rights in the Middle East from the perspective of the Muslim world and Sharia law. Particular attention will be paid to capital punishment, sexism, homophobia, immigration, divorce and inheritance.

Topical Background
Saudi Arabia is ruled by the Saudi royal family within a framework that is base ... Read more...

Election 2008: The Press and the Profundity of Race