Past Programs

Saturday, April 30, 2022

5:30 – 7 p.m.
Ejecta Projects, 136 W. High Street

Failings

A public reception to celebrate the current exhibit at the Ejecta Gallery, with some of the artists in attendance. Brief remarks by Rebecca Fox,’22 and exhibit curators Shannon Egan and Anthony Cervino.

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

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Poster for Erec Smith EventAnita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

 

Antiracism and Its Discontents: The Pros and Cons of Antiracist Activism in America

Erec Smith,  Associate Professor of Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania

In this talk, Smith will reflect on two major concerns regarding the state of education as it pertains to classical liberalism and the well-being of students of color in educational spaces. Smith considers these concerns relatively new and attributable to the influence of anti-racist activism and pedagogy. Although antiracism, as a general concept, is hard to refute, its implementation has manifested in divisive and regressive ways antithetical to classical liberal values like free speech, individual sovereignty, and even equality. Whether called Critical Race Theory, Critical Social Justice, or Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, the problem with antiracism stems from a difference of methodology that has produced calls for the banning of particular anti-racist practices and books, the demonization of concepts once considered virtuous, and the essentializing of race within various institutions. Smith will argue that there is, indeed, a problem with antiracist activism and pedagogy, but that we need more generative ways of addressing the issue that maintains the integrity of American education, fosters the well-being of students, and actually improves Read more

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Poster for Emily Newberry's EventAnita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

 

Healing and Wholeness in Coming Out

Emily Newberry ’66- Writer, Performance Poet and Speaker

Coming out as a person whose gender identity does not conform to society’s expectations can be traumatic. In this presentation, Emily Newberry explores how she was affected by trauma growing up, and how she found a path to healing and becoming whole. Her path has included being an activist for trans rights, fighting to end trans discrimination, and leading conversations about how to be a part of positive change.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Office of LGBTQ Services and the Women’s & Gender Resource Center.

Topic overview written by Marina Stylianou ’24

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Headshot of Emily NewberryEmily Newberry was born a transgender girl in the midst of World War II and grew up in conservative upstate New York fearful of even acknowledging this truth to herself. She experienced intersectional forms of discrimination and emotional and physical abuse as a child and youth and survived a suicide attempt.

She reacted to this by becoming a fighter for justice, beginning by attending the March on Washington in 1963, and then Read more

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

On Failure - event posterVirtual Presentation in Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

 

On Failure: A Contemporary Reflection on the Heart of Creativity

Ana Merino, University of Iowa

Enjoy a literary reflection on the different ways the notion of failure has been a creative space. Merino will examine the life of Miguel de Cervantes and his universal character, Don Quixote, then move to the twentieth century, the tragedy of exile in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and the fragility of poets confronting pain and fear in challenging times.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Failure.

Topic overview written by Logan Cort ’22

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Ana Merino headshotAna Merino is an award-winning writer and a professor of Spanish creative writing and cultural studies at the University of Iowa, where she founded the Spanish MFA. She has written extensive criticism on comics and graphic novels. She has authored two academic books: El cómic hispánico and Diez ensayos para pensar el cómic and a monograph on Chris Ware. Merino has curated five comic book exhibitions and edited several volumes on the topic. She was a member of the ICAF Read more

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Poster for the Business of Food WasteStern Center, Great Room
Noon – 1 p.m.

The Business of Food Waste:  Climate Mitigation through Organics Recycling

Panelists

Peter Ettinger, Chief Strategy Officer, Bioenergy Devco
Matt Steiman, Energy Projects Manager, Dickinson College Farm
Marcus Key (moderator), Professor of Earth Sciences, Dickinson College

Despite all efforts to minimize waste in food production, some amount of food waste is inevitable.  When that happens, the best solution for the planet is to recycle these residues through composting and organics recycling systems.  New laws in neighboring states require large commercial generators of food waste to recycle their materials – this creates an exciting business opportunity.   Bioenergy Devco (BDC) is a developer of large commercial anaerobic digester and compost systems with extensive experience in Europe, focused on food waste.  Their most recent US project at the Baltimore Food Hub in Jessup MD will process 110,000 tons of food waste per year into renewable natural gas and a nutrient-rich soil amendment while employing at least 30 people.  BDC recently acquired $100 million in working capital to continue accelerating waste to energy projects in the US.  This discussion will delve into the environmental and business aspects of food waste digestion for climate change Read more

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Poster for Respiratory Health DisparitiesAllison Great Hall, 7 p.m.

Respiratory Health Disparities: Asthma as a Case Study

Juan Carlos Celedón P’19, P’22, Niels K. Jerne Professor of Pediatrics; Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Human Genetics; and Division Chief of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh

Respiratory health disparities are significant differences in respiratory health that are closely linked to racial ancestry, social, economic, and/or environmental differences. In the United States, racial/ethnic minorities bear a disproportionate burden of respiratory diseases such as asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, occupational lung diseases, COVID-19, and tuberculosis. Disparities in respiratory health are largely explained by unequal exposure to environmental risk factors such as tobacco use, air pollution, occupational hazards, and infectious agents. Such environmental injustice is ultimately due to structural and social determinants of health that must be addressed to achieve health equity. This lecture will first provide an overview of known and potential risk factors for asthma, focusing on psychosocial stressors such as exposure to violence and violence-related distress and their impact on biology through epigenetics and regulation of gene expression. This will be followed by a review of the need for a multipronged approach to eliminate respiratory health disparities and achieve health equity.

This program Read more

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 – (Joseph Priestley Award Celebration Lecture)

Poster to advertise Priestley Lecture with Luis von AhnAnita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 5 p.m.

 

Joseph Priestley Award Celebration Lecture

How Duolingo Uses AI to Assess, Engage and Teach Better

Luis von Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo

Duolingo is the most popular way to learn languages in the world. With over half a billion exercises completed every day, we have the largest dataset of people learning languages ever amassed. In this talk, I will describe all the different ways in which we use AI to improve how well we teach and how to keep our learners engaged.

The Joseph Priestley Award recipient is chosen by a different science department each year. The Department of Mathematics & Computer Science have 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.

Topic overview written by Logan Cort ’22

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Headshot of Luis von AhnLuis von Ahn is an entrepreneur and former computer science professor at Read more

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium – 7 p.m.

Poster for Critical Race Theory eventWho’s Afraid of Critical Race Theory?
A Panel Discussion Exploring CRT’s Centrality in the Current Culture Wars

Panelists

Scott Hancock, Gettysburg College
Katie Oliviero, Dickinson College
Kevin Wagner, Carlisle Area School District

In 2021 nine states passed anti-CRT legislation. In most cases, these new laws severely restrict what public schools can teach regarding systemic racism. Our panelists will provide context for understanding what CRT is, what the motivations are behind anti-CRT legislation, and what teaching about race and racism is like in area schools.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Center for Spiritualty & Social Justice and the departments of educational studies, sociology, American studies, and Africana studies.

Biographies (provided by the speakers)

Scott Hancock HeadshotScott Hancock is an associate professor of history and Africana Studies at Gettysburg College. After spending 14 years working with teenagers in crisis, he switched careers and received a Ph.D. in early American history in 1999. This combination of careers fueled his desire to understand and tell the stories of people whom society and history typically discounts as troublesome or unimportant. He’s focused mainly on African American experiences from the mid-1600s Read more

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

War Peace Justice Event Poster**Due to a temporary change in COVID-19 protocols at Dickinson College, this event will be livestreamed only. Questions can be posed using the Live Chat feature on YouTube livestream. Please join the event using this link:

 

Part of the J. Sherwood McGinnis Jr. War, Peace, and Justice Symposium

Transforming Conflict: Rethinking War, Peace, and Justice

Danielle Conway, Penn State Dickinson Law

James Dubik (moderator), Institute for the Study of War

Margee Ensign, American University of Nigeria (former president of Dickinson College)

Andrew Wolff, Dickinson College

This panel discussion will address three essential questions: What is the nature and purpose of war? What is peace? And what is justice? This program is the prelude event to the J. Sherwood McGinnis Jr. War, Peace, and Justice Symposium scheduled for Fall 2022. The symposium will explore the complex interrelationships between war, peace, and justice. Of central concern is the question, “What outcomes do you, the American people, expect from the expenditure of national blood and treasure during conflict?”

The J. Sherwood McGinnis Jr. War, Peace, and Justice Symposium is being developed in partnership with the Association of the U.S. Army, the Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce, the Cumberland County Read more

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Poster for Sahar Aziz's Program - The Racial MuslimAnita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

 

Wesley Lecture

The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom

Sahar Aziz, Professor of Law, Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar, and Middle East and Legal Studies Scholar at Rutgers University Law School

Why does a country with religious liberty enmeshed in its legal and social structures produce such overt prejudice and discrimination against Muslims? Sahar Aziz’s groundbreaking book, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom, demonstrates how race and religion intersect to create what she calls the Racial Muslim. Comparing discrimination against immigrant Muslims with the prejudicial treatment of Jews, Catholics, Mormons, and African American Muslims during the twentieth century, Aziz explores the gap between America’s aspiration for and fulfillment of religious freedom. With America’s demographics rapidly changing from a majority white Protestant nation to a multiracial, multireligious society, this book is an indispensable read for understanding how our past continues to shape our present—to the detriment of our nation’s future.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Center for Spirituality & Social Justice and co-sponsored by the Asbell Center for Jewish Life, the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity, Dickinson Christian Fellowship, and Read more

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 – Constitution Day Program

Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

 

Winfield C. Cook Constitution Day Program

Democracy Stress Test: Analysis of Attempts to Overturn the 2020 Election Results

Mary McCord, Keep Our Republic

David Thornburgh, Committee of Seventy

Jonathan Winer, Keep Our Republic

Although Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election by 306 to 232 votes in the Electoral College (and by 7 million in the popular vote), Donald Trump refused to acknowledge the result and instead led an unprecedented onslaught of legal challenges in state and federal courts with an array of claims of voter fraud and conspiracy. When the court challenges failed, President Trump continued to seek ways to overturn the election results. These efforts culminated in the assault on Congress on January 6th, one of the most serious threats ever to our democracy. Our democracy prevailed, but weaknesses were exposed. In this program our panelists will discuss some of these weaknesses and how we might address them moving forward.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Law & Policy Program.

The initial impetus for this evening’s program was offered by Keep Our Republic, a non-profit organization whose mission Read more

Thursday, February 17, 2022 (rescheduled from 10/28/21)

Virtual Presentation via Zoom in Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS), 7 p.m.

 

Vice Patrol: Revisiting the Policing of Gay Life Before Stonewall

Anna Lvovsky, Assistant Professor of Law at Harvard Law School

In the mid-twentieth century, gay life flourished in American cities even as the state repression of queer communities reached its peak. This lecture examines the tactics used to criminalize and suppress gay life from the 1930s through the 1960s, and the often-surprising debates those campaigns inspired in court—debates over not just the law’s treatment of queer people, but also the limits of ethical policing, the authority of experts, and the nature of sexual difference itself.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Office of LGBTQ Services, the Women’s & Gender Resource Center, the Department of American Studies and the Law & Policy Program.

Topical overview written by Marina Stylianou ’24

Biography

Levovsky headshotAnna Lvovsky is an assistant professor of law at Harvard Law School, where her scholarship focuses on the legal and cultural dimensions of policing, judicial uses of professional knowledge, and the regulation of gender and sexuality. Her first book, Vice Patrol: Cops, Courts, and the Struggle Over Urban Read more

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Crisis Over Ukraine PosterAnita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS), 7 p.m.

 

Breaking Issue

Crisis Over Ukraine: Causes and Consequences

Dickinson Faculty Panel

Russell Bova, professor of political science & international studies
Elena Duzs, associate professor of Russian
Karl Qualls, professor of history
Andrew Wolff, associate professor of political science and international studies,

Our faculty panelists will offer insights and expertise to help understand the situation in Ukraine beyond today’s headlines. They will discuss the historical, political, and social contexts that underlie current realities in both Ukraine and Russia.

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

Topic overview written by Xenia Makosky ’24

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

Russ Bova headshotRussell Bova is the J. William Stuart & Helen D. Stuart ’32 Chair in International Studies and a professor of political science at Dickinson College. He received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his M.A. & Ph.D. from Indiana University. His publications on Russian politics and issues of democratization have appeared in journals such as World Politics, Soviet Studies, and Journal of Democracy and in numerous edited volumes. He is the editor of a book entitled Russia and Western Civilization: Cultural and Historical Encounters (ME Sharpe) Read more

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Poster for Boys, Biceps and Body ImageVirtual Presentation in Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS), 7 p.m.

 

Keynote for Love Your Body Week

Boys, Biceps, and Body Image

Jason Nagata, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco

Eating disorders are under-recognized and under-researched in boys and men. In this presentation, Nagata will review state-of-the-art research on gender differences in the presentation of eating disorders in adolescents and young adults. In particular, he will highlight characteristics of muscle-enhancing behaviors and disordered eating behaviors in adolescent boys and young men. He will present two case examples, discuss the epidemiology of muscle-enhancing and disordered eating behaviors in the U.S., identify medical complications of eating disorders in boys and men, discuss current treatment guidelines, and identify future areas of research.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Women’s & Gender Resource Center and the departments of psychology and women’s, gender & sexuality studies. It is also part of Dickinson’s Love Your Body Week programming.

Topic overview written by Marina Stylianou ’24

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Jason Nagata HeadshotJason Nagata, MD, MSc, is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, specializing in adolescent eating disorders. Read more

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Presidential Dialogues Poster scaledAnita Tuvin Schlecther Auditorium (ATS), 7 p.m.

Presidential Dialogues: Lessons in Leadership

John E. Jones III ’77 P’11, interim president, Dickinson College

William G. Durden ’71,  president emeritus, Dickinson College

Dickinson produces leaders who impact their communities and effect positive change. Each one of those leaders has a story to tell and valuable lessons to share. This semester, interim President John E. Jones III ’77, P’11, is kicking off Presidential Dialogues, a discussion series that will highlight and share these distinctive stories and lessons from Dickinsonians at various stages in their career journeys. During each dialogue, President Jones will interview  an alumni leader to learn about their journey, their experiences, and how Dickinson has shaped their lives.

During this dialogue, Interim President Jones will converse with President Emeritus William G. Durden ’71, focusing on the power of leadership to transform organizations and shape the future.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Office of the President. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Biographies

John Jones headshotJohn E. Jones III ’77 P’11 became interim president of Dickinson on July 1. He is slated to Read more

Monday, November 8, 2021

Galasso Poster scaledVirtual Presentation in Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Translation (in) Visible

Regina Galasso, associate professor in the Spanish & Portuguese Studies Program and director of the Translation Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Galasso discusses language and translation in our lives with a focus on examples from intersections of English and Spanish in the United States. She proposes that an increased presence of translation not only offers language access to certain audiences but also give access to language to others.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of Spanish & Portuguese studies, Italian & Italian studies, French & Francophone studies, East Asian studies and German.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

ReginaGalasso scaledRegina Galasso (B.A. Rutgers University; M.A. Middlebury College; Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University) is currently associate professor in the Spanish and Portuguese Studies Program and director of the Translation Center of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research and teaching interests include 20th- and 21st-century Iberian literatures, literature of the city, and translation. She is the author of Translating New York: The City’s Languages in Iberian Literatures (Liverpool UP, 2018) and recipient of the 2017 Northeast Modern Language Association Book Award. She Read more

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS), 7 p.m.

Rule Final Poster scaledSeeking Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Elizabeth Rule, assistant professor of critical race, gender, and culture studies, American University

As we near Native American History Month, join Rule (Chickasaw Nation) for a discussion about contemporary Native American politics and pressing issues. In this talk, Rule will discuss the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women issue, legislation to empower and protect Native women, and what you can do to be an ally in the fight against gender-based violence.

A healing Jingle Dance will follow the presentation.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Women’s & Gender Resource Center and the Community Studies Center.

Topic overview written by Xenia Makosky ’24

Biography

Copy of headshotDr. Elizabeth Rule (Chickasaw Nation) is assistant professor of critical race, gender, and culture studies at American University. Rule’s research on Indigenous issues has been featured in the Washington Post, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, The Atlantic, Newsy, and NPR. She is also a published author, releasing articles in American Quarterly and the American Indian Culture and Research Journal. Rule has two forthcoming monographs. The first, Reproducing Resistance: Gendered Read more

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS), 7 p.m.

Bigham poster scaledRadically Reimagining Admissions for Racial Equity

Marie Bigham, founder and executive director of ACCEPT (Admissions Community Cultivating
Equity & Peace Today)

Bigham, founder of ACCEPT & co-host of Hack the Gates (a research-to-practice partnership), will discuss grassroots efforts to rethink and redesign the path to postsecondary education. Bigham will also explore how the pandemic changed (or didn’t change) college admissions.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Office of Admissions. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Topic overview written by Amanda Sowah ’22

Biography

headshot scaledMarie Bigham is the founder and executive director of ACCEPT (Admissions Community Cultivating Equity & Peace Today), an advocacy group and community that centers racial justice in the college admissions process and profession. Recently named a “Global Game Changer” by Facebook, Bigham is a national leader in college admission redesign and reform. In 2018, ACCEPT received the Excellence in Education Award from the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, awarded to “those who use their prominence to advance equity and access in education.”  Bigham’s lifelong commitment to racial justice has informed her Read more

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

hauskerposter scaledGetting to Net-Zero: Climate Challenges and Solutions

Karl Hausker P’22, senior fellow in World Resource Institute (WRI)’s Climate Program

While leaders all over the world have embraced the goal of “net-zero emissions” by 2050, the path to success is complicated by uncertainty and ongoing debate on several of the challenges involved: the potential contributions of renewables, the role of nuclear power, the economic risks inherit in the transition, as well as the roles of the public and private sectors. Hausker will discuss how analysis and modeling of pathways to net-zero can help answer these questions.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainability Education and the departments of environmental studies & environmental science, and earth sciences.

Topic overview written by Bao Tran ’23

Biography

karl hausker wriDr. Karl Hausker is a senior fellow in World Resource Institute (WRI)’s Climate Program. He leads analysis and modeling of climate mitigation and net-zero pathways;  electricity market design; and the social cost of carbon. He led the Risky Business study of clean energy pathways for the U.S., and lectures widely on all these topics . He has worked for Read more

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS), 7 p.m.

McCallum Poster scaledNo Ruined Stone: A Reading & Conversation with Shara McCallum

Shara McCallum, award-winning poet

McCallum will read from her new book of poems, No Ruined Stone. The reading will be followed by a conversation with Professor Adrienne Su about the relationship between McCallum’s poetry and history.

The  program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Department of English, the  Latin American, Latinx & Caribbean Studies Program, the Creative Writing Program, and the Women’s & Gender Resource Center.

Topic overview written by Rebecca Fox ’22

Biographies

SharaMcCallumHeadshot scaledFrom Jamaica, and born to a Jamaican father and Venezuelan mother, Shara McCallum is the author of six books published in the US & UK, including No Ruined Stone. McCallum’s poems and essays have appeared in journals, anthologies, and textbooks throughout the US, Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and Israel. La historia es un cuarto/History is a Room, an anthology of poems selected from across her six books and translated into Spanish by Adalber Salas Hernández, will be published in 2021 by Mantis Editores in Mexico. In addition to Spanish, her poems have been translated into Italian, French, Romanian, Turkish, Read more