Past Programs

Iran and Saudi Arabia Relations – Panel Discussion

Thursday, October 6, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Panelists

David Commins (moderator), Dickinson College
Marybeth Ulrich, U.S. Army War College
Ed Webb, Dickinson College

Marred diplomatic relations and religious differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia have flared up into proxy conflicts across the Middle East. Our panelists will discuss the factors and offer insight into what the future will hold for the Middle East.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life, the Departments of International Studies, Judaic Studies, Military Science and Political Science and the Security Studies Certificate Program. This event was initiated by the Clarke Forum’s Student Project Managers

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

David Commins is professor of history and the Benjamin Rush Distinguished Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences at Dickinson College. His publications include Islam in Saudi Arabia, The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia, The Gulf States: A Modern History, Islamic Reform: Politics and Social Change in Late Ottoman Syria, and Historical Dictionary of Syria. He earned his B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. from the University of Read more

Jennifer L. Lawless

American University

Women on the Run

Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

A widely held belief – often encouraged by politicians and political commentators – is that that the political landscape is more challenging for women. Lawless argues that, for the most part, it’s not. When women run for office, they have very similar experiences to men. The problem is that women don’t run in the first place.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Women’s and Gender Resource Center and co-sponsored by the Churchill Fund. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series and the stream on the 2016 Presidential Election.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Jennifer L. Lawless is professor of government at American University, where she is also the director of the Women & Politics Institute. She received her Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University in 2003 and her B.A. from Union College in 1997. Professor Lawless’ research, which has been supported by the National Science Foundation, focuses on representation, political ambition, and gender in the electoral process.

Lawless is the author of Becoming a Candidate: Political Ambition Read more

Lothar Probst

University of Bremen

The Populist Challenge: Germany and the United States before the Elections

Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 8 p.m.

In the run-up to this year’s elections, both the U.S. and Germany are confronted with the phenomenon of a populism that employs anti-establishment and anti-Muslim prejudices in order to maximize votes. This lecture will focus on the similarities and key differences between contemporary populism in Germany and the United States.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Max Kade Foundation and the Department of German. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s stream on the 2016 Presidential Election.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Lothar Probst is a German political scientist who recently retired from a professorship at the University of Bremen. At Bremen University he was the managing director of the Institute for Intercultural and International Studies and chair of the Department of Research in Elections, Political Parties and Participation at the Institute of Political Science. His central research and teaching interest lies in the area of party and election research. Beyond that he works on theories of democracy, political culture research and the development Read more

Sunny Jacobs and Peter Pringle

Exonerated Death Row Inmates

Innocent on Death Row: The Story of Sunny and Peter

Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Two former death row inmates will discuss how they work together promoting human rights and in opposition to injustice and the death penalty.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Penn State’s Dickinson Law and co-sponsored by the Division of Student Life, the Department of Sociology and the Program in Policy Studies. It was also initiated by the Clarke Forum Student Project Managers.

Biographies (provided by the speakers)

Sonia “Sunny”Jacobs was wrongfully tried, convicted and sentenced to death in Florida, USA in 1976. She spent five years under sentence of death in solitary confinement before her death sentence was overturned. Her practice of yoga and meditation sustained her through her ordeal. She then spent a further 12 years among the general prison population to whom she began to teach yoga. Her partner, Jesse Tafero, who was also wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death was executed on fourth of May 1990, two years before evidence of their innocence was made known. With the help of lawyers who worked for many years without Read more

BREXIT: Implications and Aftermath – Panel Discussion

Thursday, September 22, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Panelists

Mark Duckenfield, U.S. Army War College
Oya Dursun-Ozkanca, Elizabethtown College
Kristine Mitchell (moderator), Dickinson College
This panel of three experts will discuss Britain’s decision to exit the European Union, the forces that led up to it, the process by which the exit will happen, and its international implications.

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

Panelist Biographies (forthcoming)

Dr. Mark Duckenfield is chair of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the Army War College. He has written numerous academic articles on the European Union, British politics and international political economy. He is the author of the book Business and the Euro: Business Groups and the Politics of Economic and Monetary Union in Britain and Germany (Palgrave, 2006). He has also served as editor/general editor of the volumes The History of Financial Disasters, 1763-1995 (Pickering&Chatto, 2006); and Battles over Free Trade: Anglo-American Experiences with International Trade, 1776-2006 (Pickering&Chatto, 2008). Dr. Duckenfield has given invited lectures on topics ranging from European economic policy, the euro, and financial crisis in the United States, Europe and Asia. He has held teaching appointments at the Read more

Carmen-Francesca Banciu

Author

Mother’s Day: Song of a Sad Mother

Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

In this talk, German-Romanian author Carmen-Francesca Banciu will read from and speak about her novel, Mother’s Day: Song of a Sad Mother. Part “bildungsroman,” part autobiographical memoir, Mother’s Day explores mother-daughter relations under the communist dictatorship in Romania and sparks dynamic questions about Eastern Europe, work, the woman artist, and women’s relationships with one another.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Max Kade Foundation and the Department of German.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Carmen-Francesca Banciu was born in Lipova, Romania and studied Byzantine art and foreign trade in Bucharest. As a result of being awarded the International Short Story Award of the City of Arnsberg for the story “Das strahlende Ghetto” (“The Radiant Ghetto,” 1985), she was banned from publishing her work in Romania. In 1991 she accepted an invitation extended by the DAAD Berlin Artists-in-Residence program and came to Germany. Writer-in-Residence at Rutgers University from 2004-2005 and University of Bath in 2009, Banciu currently lives in Berlin and works as a freelance author and co-editor/deputy director of the transnational, interdisciplinary and Read more

Raj Patel

University of Texas, Austin and Rhodes University, South Africa

The World That Food Made

Thursday, September 8, 2016
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

We hear a great deal about the food system, about how it’s broken or – indeed – that it’s working exactly as it ought. But it’s not exactly clear what that system is. Once you learn to think systemically, it becomes clear that the most important things the food system has made are things you can’t eat.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Churchill Fund, First Year Seminars, the Center for Sustainability Education and the Departments of Environmental Studies, International Business & Management, Anthropology & Archaeology, Biology and the Program in Policy Studies. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Food and the Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Raj Patel is an award-winning writer, activist and academic. He is a research professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin and a senior research associate at the Unit for the Humanities at the university currently known as Rhodes Read more

Barry W. Lynn ’70 – “Constitution Day Address Lecturer”

Executive Director, Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Celebrating a Dead Letter or a Living Document?

Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Watch Live Stream

“Originalism” in Constitutional interpretation is often characterized as the only legitimate way to understand the Constitution. If that were true, the “Constitution” would be a dead letter by now, unable to protect the rights of Americans in rapidly changing times.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Penn State’s Dickinson Law and co-sponsored by the Churchill Fund. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Since 1992, the Rev. Barry W. Lynn has served as executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to the preservation of the Constitution’s religious liberty provisions.

In addition to his work as a long-time activist and lawyer in the civil liberties field, Lynn is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, offering him a unique perspective on church-state issues.

An accomplished speaker and lecturer, Lynn has appeared frequently on television and radio broadcasts to offer Read more

Frame by Frame – Film Showing

Monday, April 25, 2016
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

After decades of war and oppressive Taliban regime, four Afghan photojournalists face the realities of building a free press in a country left to stand on its own. Comments by Baktash Ahadi, associate producer and translator for Frame by Frame and Noorjahan Akbar ’14, women’s and human rights’ activist.

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

Frame by Frame Trailer

Biographies (provided by the speakers)

Noorjahan Akbar is an out-spoken women and human right’s advocate from Afghanistan. She has worked with several Afghan and global organizations focusing on women’s social and economic empowerment and ending gender-based violence. She has also led nation-wide campaigns and protests in defense of human rights and continues to write and advocate for equality. Noorjahan has been published on Al Jazeera, and New York Times among other outlets. In the summer of 2013, she published a collection of Afghan women’s writings in a book that was distributed in several provinces in Afghanistan. Currently, she runs a national blog with over 100 Afghan contributors who advocate for gender equality and social justice. Noorjahan is also a keynote speaker on issues relating Read more

Mitch Abrams

Founder and President, Learned Excellence for Athletes

The Myth of the Violent Athlete

Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Few things get more attention in the media than when an athlete transgresses. Psychologist Abrams will discuss the realities of violence in sports, the dynamics that may contribute to angry outbursts and athlete entitlement, and what to do to prevent and treat these dangerous behaviors.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by Student Senate, Psychology Club, Psi Chi, and the Wellness Center. This program was also initiated by the Clarke Forum’s student project managers.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Dr. Mitch Abrams earned his bachelor’s of science from Brooklyn College (Pre-Med & Psychology) and earned his master’s of science in applied psychology and his doctorate of psychology (Psy.D.) in clinical psychology from C.W. Post/Long Island University. He received specialized training in family violence, the treatment of trauma and anger management. His dissertation demonstrated the effectiveness of an anger management program for male athletes and he has been working with anger and violence (including dating/sexual violence prevention) with athletes since. His private practice has clinical, forensic and sport psychology services where Read more

Karen Nakamura

Haas Distinguished Chair of Disability Studies and professor of anthropology, University of California Berkeley

Disability Rights in Global Perspective

Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Grassroots disability movements such as mad pride and crip pride have pushed themselves to the forefront of conversations across the world about diversity and inclusion, but there has also been considerable setbacks in recent years. Nakamura discusses disability rights social movements and how they have fundamentally changed the social contract and fabric in various countries.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Office of Global Study and Engagement and the departments of East Asian studies and women’s, gender and sexuality studies. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Disability.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Karen Nakamura is the Haas Distinguished Chair of Disability Studies and professor of anthropology at the University of California Berkeley. Her first monograph was titled Deaf in Japan: Signing and the Politics of Identity (2006). Her next project resulted in two ethnographic films and a monograph titled, A Disability of the Soul: An Ethnography of Schizophrenia and Mental Illness in Contemporary Japan (2014). She is Read more

David Paternotte

Lecturer in Sociology at the Université libre de Bruxelles

From the Vatican to Madrid, Paris and Warsaw: “Gender Ideology” in Motion

Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

After decades of steady progress in terms of gender and sexual rights, several parts of Europe are facing new waves of resistance. These oppose the so-called ‘gender ideology,’ and unveil a crucial role of the Roman Catholic Church. This talk will give an overview of anti-gender movements in Europe.

The program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Women’s and Gender Resource Center and the Departments of Sociology and Italian Studies.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

David Paternotte is a lecturer in sociology at the Université libre de Bruxelles. After many years of research on same-sex marriage, his work concentrates the processes of Europeanisation, globalisation and NGOisation of LGBTQI activism. He has recently started a project on new forms of opposition to gender, feminist claims and LGBTQI rights, with a focus on the Catholic Church. In addition to articles in journals like the Canadian Journal of political science, social politics, sexualities, or social movement studies, he is the author of Revendiquer le “mariage Read more

More than a Game: Soccer and Social Justice in the Twenty-First Century

Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Panelists:

Amy Bass, professor of history, The College of New Rochelle
Joshua Nadel, associate professor of history, North Carolina Central University and author of Fútbol!: Why Soccer Matters in Latin America
Stephanie Yang, co-manager of Stars and Stripes FC on SB Nation
Shawn Stein (moderator), associate professor, Spanish and Portuguese, Dickinson College

This panel brings together experts in the culture and politics of soccer to discuss the state of the sport in the US and around the world. In what ways is the game plagued by racism, sexism, homophobia, economic injustice, or other inequalities? How might soccer be a tool for social, political, and cultural change? Join the conversation with these panelists as they share their work and take questions from the audience.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Critical Perspectives on Soccer and Social Justice Symposium.

This event is also the kick-off for the Central Pennsylvania Consortium Symposium “Critical Perspectives on Soccer and Social Justice Symposium” which will be held on Friday, April 8. For more on the symposium contact Professors Schweighofer (schweigk@dickinson.edu) or Stein (steins@dickinson.edu Read more

Breaking Issue – iPhone vs. the FBI: Government Surveillance in the Post-Snowden Era

Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Allison Great Hall, 7 p.m.

Panelists:

Amy Gaudion, Penn State Dickinson School of Law
John MacCormick, (panelist and moderator) Dickinson College
Tony Williams, Dickinson College

Should Apple help the FBI unlock the iPhone used by the shooter in the recent San Bernardino attack? These panelists will address this question and the significant security, legal, and technological issues it raises, particularly those connected to privacy and security.

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

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

Amy C. Gaudion is the director of Graduate & International Education and a visiting assistant professor of law at Penn State’s Dickinson Law. Her scholarly and teaching interests focus on national security law, homeland security law and civilian-military relations. Her recent works have appeared in the Penn State Journal for Law & International Affairs, The New York Times, The Daily Beast, and the Western State Law Review. Recent presentations have included The Constitutionality and Consequences of America’s Use of Drones and the NSA Spying Program (2014, Western State College of Law), Beyond Print: New Models for Scholarly Publishing in Law (2014, Annual Conference of the American Association Read more

Yair Teller

Chief Scientist and Founder, HomeBiogas

The Business of Peace through Green Energy: The HomeBiogas Story

Thursday, March 31, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Teller will discuss how he is using his company, HomeBiogas, as a mechanism for peace building, sustainable development, women’s empowerment, and improvement of the quality of health and life for citizens of developing countries.

Yair Teller is chief scientist and co-founder of the HomeBiogas Company based in Netanya, Israel. HomeBiogas produces a household renewable energy appliance that recycles kitchen waste into cooking gas and organic fertilizer. Profits from sales to suburban customers and a successful crowd-funding campaign are used to support donation of HomeBiogas units to economically disadvantaged Bedouin, Palestinian, and Ugandan families for alleviation of poverty. The work of HomeBiogas has been recognized by the UN and the Peres Center for Peace.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Student Senate, and co-sponsored by the departments of Judaic studies, Middle East studies and earth sciences, the Center for Sustainable Education, the Treehouse, J Street U, and the Geology Club.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Yair Teller is a visionary and entrepreneur committed to the cause of sustainability, and driven Read more

George Lipsitz

Professor of Black Studies and Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara

The Ferguson Conjuncture: Why the Humanities Matter Now

Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Live Stream Link

The killing of Michael Brown and the callous and cruel responses to it by legally constituted authorities have rightly been perceived as evidence of failures of the criminal justice system and the political system. In addition, the events, actions and ideas emerging from the crucible of conflict in Ferguson also reveal a betrayal of the promise of the humanities to teach discernment, judgment and empathy as tools for envisioning a common and creative human existence.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Division of Student Life, the Churchill Fund and the departments of American studies, sociology and history. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

George Lipsitz is professor of black studies and sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His publications include How Racism Takes Place, The Possessive Investment in Whiteness, A Life in the Struggle, Time Passages and The Fierce Urgency of Now Read more

Lance Wahlert

Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania

Disability Studies and Contemporary Bioethics for HIV-Positive Persons

Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

In this talk, Wahlert will discuss the prominence of HIV-positive persons in the history of medicine, paying special attention to their impact by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of women’s and gender studies, American studies, biology and the health studies certificate program. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Disability.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

An historian of medicine and literary/cinema/queer studies scholar by training, Dr. Lance Wahlert is assistant professor of medical ethics & health policy and director of the Master of Bioethics (MBE) program in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds affiliated standing-faculty appointments in Penn’s departments of: Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies; English; Cinema Studies; and, the History and Sociology of Science.

Dr. Wahlert’s scholarly interests include narrative medicine, clinical ethics, the history of LGBTQ medicine, disability theory, cinema studies, and Irish and Norwegian literature. Accordingly, he has held residential Read more

Dancing in Jaffa – Film Showing Followed by Comments and Dance Class by Pierre Dulaine

This film showing is part of the Movement Matters Film Series. It includes three documentaries that explore dance as a vehicle for social change and personal transformation.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Mathers Theatre, 7 p.m.

Pierre Dulaine, an internationally renowned ballroom dancer, takes his program, Dancing Classrooms, back to his city of birth, Jaffa. Pierre teaches Palestinian-Israeli and Jewish-Israeli children to dance and compete together. The film explores how the future might unfold if the art of movement and dance could triumph over the politics of history and geography. Comments by Dulaine. A dance class with Dulaine will follow.

This film showing is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issue and co-sponsored by the Department of Theatre & Dance and the Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life.

Dancing in Jaffa Trailer

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Pierre Dulaine was born in Jaffa, Palestine. His Irish Protestant father married his Palestinian Catholic mother while serving with the British army. Being Palestinian meant being uprooted and fleeing with his family in 1948 at the creation of the State of Israel when he was four – with nowhere else to go his family landed in Amman, Jordan and as a teenager Read more

Bassem Eid

Palestinian Human Rights Advocate and Political Commentator

Palestinians’ Internal Politics and Conflicts

Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Since 2007, Palestinians have become so divided that reconciliation is in the interest of neither Hamas nor Abbas. Eid will discuss the internal politics and significance of this divide.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Department of Judaic Studies, Middle East Studies and the Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Bassem Eid is former director of the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG). Born in Jerusalem, he spent the first 33 years of his life in the Shuafat Refugee Camp on the outskirts of the city. He became a prominent figure during the first Intifada, the Palestinian uprising, as senior field researcher for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. He publicly condemned the widespread killing of Palestinian collaborators, often for reasons unrelated to the Intifada. In 1995, following his report about the Palestinian Preventative Security Service, he came under attack by some Palestinian leaders for revealing human rights violations committed by the Palestinian Authority. He continued Read more

Shake the Dust – Film Showing

This film showing is part of the Movement Matters Film Series. It includes three documentaries that explore dance as a vehicle for social change and personal transformation.

Monday, March 7, 2016
Mathers Theatre, 7 p.m.

From executive producer and rapper Nasir “Nas” Jones and journalist-turned-filmmaker Adam Sjöberg, Shake the Dust chronicles the influence of breakdancing, exploring how it strikes a resonant chord in the slums, favelas and ghettos of the world. Patricia van Leeuwaard Moonsammy, professor of Africana studies, will offer comments following the film-showing.

This film showing is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issue and co-sponsored by the Department of Theatre & Dance and the Department of American Studies.