Past Programs

Patrick McGovern

McGovern PosterScientific Director, University of Pennsylvania Museum

Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Fermented Beverages

Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

McGovern will describe how enterprising our ancestors were in concocting a host of fermented beverages from a vast array of natural products (honey, grape, barley, rice, sorghum, chocolate, etc.) and explain the profound effects these beverages have had on our cultural and biological development.

This event was initiated by the Clarke Forum’s Student Project Managers.  It is sponsored in partnership with The Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Student Senate Public Affairs Committee and co-sponsored by the Departments of Archaeology, Anthropology, History and Classics.

Biography (provided by the speaker)McGovernLowerEgypt

Dr. Patrick E. McGovern directs the Biomolecular Archaeology Project at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, where he is also an adjunct professor of anthropology and consulting scholar in the Near East Section.  Over the past two decades, he has pioneered the exciting interdisciplinary field of Biomolecular Archaeology which is yielding whole new chapters concerning our human ancestry, medical practice, and ancient cuisines and beverages.  Popularly, Dr. Pat is known as the “Indiana Jones of Ancient Ales, Wines, and Extreme Beverages.” He is the author Read more

James Hansen – Joseph Priestley Award Lecturer

Hansen Poster FinalFormer Director, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies

White House Arrest and the Climate Crisis

Thursday, November 7, 2013
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

A scientist’s view of the climate crisis: why the public does not see it, why governments fail to address it effectively, and options for how young people might respond to the intergenerational injustice of human-made climate change.

The Joseph Priestley Award recipient is chosen by a different science department each year.  The Department of Environmental Studies has selected this year’s recipient, James E. Hansen.  The event is supported by the College’s Priestley Fund and is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Student Senate and co-sponsored by the Department of Environmental Studies, Center for Sustainability Education, and the Departments of Biology, Earth Sciences, Psychology, Physics & Astronomy, Chemistry and Math & Computer Science.

This event is also part the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

hansen main headshotBiography (provided by the speaker)

Dr. James Hansen, formerly the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, is adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, where he directs a program in Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions. He was trained in physics Read more

Joseph Sestak – “General Omar N. Bradley Chair Lecture”

Omar Bradley Lecture Vert smallFormer Congressman and a Former U.S. Navy Three-Star Admiral and 2013-14 General Omar N. Bradley Chair in Strategic Leadership

Leadership to Restore the American Dream

Monday, November 4, 2013
Penn State Dickinson School of Law
Lewis Katz Hall Auditorium, 6 p.m.

Link to Penn State Dickinson School of Law Web site

“We once had leaders who recognized the expectations of the people, and turned them into demands that advanced the American Dream for both individual opportunity and the common good of the nation. Leadership must once again be accountable for brokering the shared alliance that deepens the individual strengths of these two great values of our American character so that we can restore the dream,” Sestak said.

His presentation will draw on his distinguished 31-year career in the U.S. Navy and his tenure as director for defense policy on the National Security Council, the first director of “Deep Blue,” the U.S. Navy’s counterterrorism unit, a sea-going Commander of an aircraft carrier battle group in war, and a U.S. Congressman representing Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District.

Sestak plans to discuss the American Dream, the belief that one’s children will have the opportunity to do even better than their parents. “It was Read more

Michael McDevitt

mcdevitt posterU.S. Navy (Ret.)

Asia’s Looming Hotspot

Thursday, October 31, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Rear Admiral McDevitt will discuss the increasingly contentious dispute between China and Japan concerning sovereignty over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea and the implications this dispute has for U.S. foreign policy.  This talk is one of a series on “Hidden Dangers: Emerging Global Issues of the 21st Century” sponsored with the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg and co-sponsored by the Department of East Asian Studies. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

MCDEVITMBiography (provided by the speaker)

Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt, U.S. Navy (ret) is a senior fellow associated with CNA Strategic Studies, a division of the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA); a not-for- profit federally funded research center in Washington D.C. During his 16 years at CNA, as both a manager and vice president and now as a fellow, he has had a number of papers published. His most recent research focus has been the maritime security issues along the Indo-Pacific littoral, the Read more

Mark Frazier

Frazier PosterProfessor, New School for Social Research

China-India Future Relations

Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Will India and China cooperate or compete?  Officials and experts have asked this question for over a century, and more often than not were wrong in their predictions.  This lecture explores why the predictions were wrong and suggests new ways of thinking about Sino-Indian relations.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Donald W. Flaherty Fund, and the Departments of International Studies and Political Science.

frazier photoBiography (provided by the speaker)

Mark W. Frazier is a professor of politics, and co-academic director of the India China Institute at The New School, a university in New York City. His research engages comparisons of China and India in terms of how each has coped with development challenges related to inequality and urbanization, historically and in the present. He is the author of Socialist Insecurity: Pensions and the Politics of Uneven Development in China (Cornell University Press 2010) and The Making of the Chinese Industrial Workplace (Cambridge University Press 2002). He has contributed op-eds to The New York Times and The Diplomat. Before assuming his current Read more

Amy Nauiokas ’94

Mister and Pete PosterFounder of Archer Gray Productions 

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete

(Film Screening and Q&A with Amy Nauiokas ’94, an executive producer of the film)

Friday, October 25, 2013
Althouse Hall, Room 106, 4 p.m.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete follows 14-year-old Mister (Skylan Brooks) and nine-year-old Pete (Ethan Dizion) during a sweltering New York City summer, after the arrest and detention of Mister’s mother (Jennifer Hudson) forces the unlikely duo to forage for food while dodging child protective services and the destructive scenarios of the Brooklyn projects. Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale, The Manchurian Candidate), Jordin Sparks (American Idol), and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, Million Dollar Baby) also star. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where Manohla Dargis, film critic for The New York Times, called the film a “beautiful…touching melodrama.” Amy Nauiokas ’94 is one of the film’s executive producers, along with Alicia Keys, who also wrote the film’s score. Nauiokas, whose career has taken her from the boardroom at Barclays Bank to a lucrative career as a producer and venture capitalist, will take questions from the audience after the screening.

Amy Nauiokas PhotoBiography of Amy Nauiokas

Amy Read more

James Oakes

Oakes posterProfessor, City University of New York, The Graduate Center

Emancipation Proclamation: Myths and Realities

Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

The Emancipation Proclamation is so shrouded in mythology that even today, 150 years later, we are unable to answer the simplest but most important question:  What did the proclamation actually do?

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the House Divided Project.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Currently a DJames Oakes eistinguished Professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center, James Oakes has been teaching and writing about slavery, antislavery, and the origins of the Civil War for nearly thirty years. Most recently, he is the author of The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics (2007) and Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861–1865 (2012), winner of the Lincoln Prize.

Video of the Lecture

  Read more

Kevin Kruse

Kevin Kruse PosterEntrepreneur and Bestselling Author

Wholehearted Leadership

Thursday, October 17, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Job satisfaction around the globe is at a record low, which both reduces companies’ profits and negatively impacts the quality of human life. Based on an analysis of surveys of 10 million workers in 150 countries, Kruse shows how growth, recognition and trust are the three primary drivers of emotional commitment and satisfaction.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Department of International Business and Management.

kruse headshot pic eBiography (provided by the speaker)

Serial entrepreneur and bestselling author, Kevin Kruse, uses a relentless focus on talent and employee engagement to build and sell several, multi-million dollar technology companies, winning both Inc 500 and Best Place to Work awards along the way. Kevin is also the author of several books including the NY Times bestseller, We: How to Increase Performance and Profits Through Full Engagement, which was named one of the top leadership books in 2011 by 800-CEO-Read.

Kevin gives back to communities worldwide through the Kevin Kruse Foundation. Projects have included building libraries throughout China and Vietnam with The Library Project, mentoring social entrepreneurs in Kenya Read more

Carlisle Mayoral Candidates Forum

CarlisleMayorsPosterFinalWednesday, October 16, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Candidates

Mayor William Kronenberg (R)
Tim Scott (D)
Roger Spitz (I)

The three mayoral candidates will debate the issues confronting Carlisle, Pennsylvania with Michelle Crowley, president and CEO, Greater Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce, as the moderator.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues, Carlisle Young Professionals, Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce, League of Women Voters, AAUW Carlisle Branch, Carlisle YWCA, The Sentinel and WHTM. Read more

Janice Perlman

perlman posterFounder and President, The Mega-Cities Project: Innovations for Urban Life

The Bruce R. Andrews Lecture

FAVELA: Four Decades of Research in Rio

Thursday, October 10, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Perlman, author of the recent book FAVELA, will share her experience, findings, and photographs from field research in Brazil, starting as a student and continuing until the present.

The event is sponsored in partnership with The Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Student Senate Public Affairs Committee.  The event is also co-sponsored by the Bruce R. Andrews Fund, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, Center for Sustainability Education and the Departments of Sociology, Policy Studies and the Community Studies Center. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Perlman Pic eBiography (provided by the speaker)

Dr. Janice Perlman is among the world’s foremost experts on urbanization, innovation and informal settlements.  Her most recent book, Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro (Oxford University Press, 2010; paperback, 2011) won the 2010 PROSE Award for best book of the year in two categories: “Excellence in the Social Sciences” and “Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Sociology and Social Work”. The Read more

Jenny Reardon

Reardon PosterDirector, Science & Justice Research Center, UC, Santa Cruz

The Anti-Racist Democratic Genome?

Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

The opening decade of this millennium witnessed genome scientists, policy makers, critical race theorists and world leaders proclaiming the anti-racist democratic potential of human genomics.  These views stand in stark contrast to the 1990s concern that genomics might create new forms of racism.  This lecture explores this shift, both why it happened and what it reveals about emerging challenges for understanding issues of race and racism in the genomic age.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Departments of American Studies, Anthropology, and Spanish & Portuguese. This program is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, The Meanings of Race.

Reardon PicBiography (provided by the speaker)

Jenny Reardon is an associate professor of sociology and faculty affiliate in the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz.  She also founded and directs the UCSC Science and Justice Research Center.  Her book, Race to the Finish: Identity and Governance in an Age of Genomics, was published with Princeton University Press in 2005.  Reardon is

Read more

Citizenship and Partisanship

Citizenship Poster with Bannerindd FINALFriday, September 27, 2013
Allison Hall (former Allison Church), 3 p.m.

Panelists:

John E. Jones III ’77 filling in for James Gerlach ’77, U.S. Representative, PA 6th District
Lisa Jackson, vice-president of Environmental Initiatives at Apple and the current Rose-Walters Prize winner for Global Environmental Activism
Joseph Sestak, former three-star admiral and congressman, and the 2013-14 recipient of the General Omar N. Bradley Chair in Strategic Leadership

Professor Douglas Edlin, political science, will moderate a panel discussion that will explore how partisanship is related to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the contemporary constitutional framework of the United States.  This event is one of several celebrating the inauguration of Nancy A. Roseman as the new president of Dickinson College.

Update: James Gerlach was replaced with John E. Jones III ’77

Biographies (provided by the speakers)

Gerlach PicJames Gerlach ’77  has served the citizens of Southeastern Pennsylvania for more than 20 years. His distinguished career began in 1990 with the first of two terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, which was followed by two terms in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Jim is serving his sixth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing portions of Berks, Chester, Lebanon and Montgomery Read more

Sarah Tishkoff

Tishkoff Final Poster

Professor, University of Pennsylvania

African Genomic Variation

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Tishkoff will discuss the results of recent analyses of genome-scale genetic variation in geographically, linguistically, and ethnically diverse African populations for the purpose of reconstructing human evolutionary history in Africa and the genetic basis of adaption to diverse environments.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Departments of Biology and Anthropology. This program is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, The Meanings of Race.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Tishkoff Hi ResSarah Tishkoff is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in Genetics and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, holding appointments in the School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Tishkoff studies genomic and phenotypic variation in ethnically diverse Africans. Her research combines field work, laboratory research, and computational methods to examine African population history and how genetic variation can affect a wide range of practical issues – for example, why humans have different susceptibility to disease, how they metabolize drugs, and how they adapt through evolution.  Dr. Tishkoff is a recipient of an NIH Pioneer Award, a David and Read more

David Eng

Eng Poster FinalProfessor, University of Pennsylvania

Absolute Apology, Absolute Forgiveness

Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Eng will address how the atomic bombing of Japan and the postwar politics of reparations are both connected to a longer history of native dispossession in the New World, uranium mining of indigenous lands, and more recent colonial violence and militarism in the Cold War transpacific.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Departments of American Studies and East Asian Studies. This program is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, The Meanings of Race.

imageBiography (provided by the speaker)
David L. Eng is Richard L. Fisher Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also a member in the Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory as well as the Program in Asian American Studies. After receiving his B.A. in English from Columbia University and his Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley, Eng taught at Columbia and Rutgers before joining Penn in 2007. His areas of specialization include American literature, Asian diaspora, psychoanalysis, critical race theory, queer studies, and visual culture. Eng has held Read more

James A. Baker – Constitution Day Address Lecturer

Baker poster finalFormer Counsel for Intelligence Policy and Associate Deputy Attorney General, Justice Department

Surveillance Post-Snowden

Thursday, September 12, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Baker will reflect on the recent disclosures of government surveillance activities. Formerly in charge of representing the government before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Baker will provide his perspective on the challenging security and privacy issues facing us today.

This event is jointly sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues, Penn State Dickinson School of Law and School of International Affairs

Biography

James A. Baker has worked on numerous national security matters during his career. A former federal prosecutor, he worked on all aspects of national security investigations and prosecutions, including in particular the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), during his 17 year career at the U.S. Department of Justice. From 2001-2007, Mr. Baker served as Counsel for Intelligence Policy at the Justice Department, where he was head of the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. In that position, he was responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing national security policy with regard to intelligence and counterintelligence matters for the department. Mr. Baker provided the Attorney General, the U.S. Intelligence Community, and the White House with Read more

What Should the United States Do About Syria?

Syria Web Stream poster** Breaking Issue **

Web Stream Viewing of U.S. Army War College Presentation

Wednesday, September 11, 2013
1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Weiss Center, Room 235

Panelists:

Dr. James MacDougall: Moderator
Dr. Larry Goodson: “The Policy Challenge Posed by Syria”
Dr. W. Andrew Terrill:  “Internal Dynamics of Syria”
Dr. Richard Winslow: “Regional Effects of Syrian Civil War”
Dr. Christopher Bolan: “U.S. Strategy toward Syria”

This web stream viewing of the U.S. Army War College presentation is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues.

 Link to Video of Presentation Read more

Robert Bilheimer

Bilheimer Film Poster FinalPresident, Worldwide Documentaries, Inc.

Not My Life (Film Showing and Discussion with Film Director)

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 6:15 p.m.

Not My Life is a film that depicts the cruel and dehumanizing practices of contemporary human trafficking.  Bilheimer, who directed and produced the film, will make general remarks and conduct a question-and-answer session at the end of the film. This event is one of a series on “Hidden Dangers: Emerging Global Issues of the 21st Century” sponsored with the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

This event is sponsored jointly by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg and co-sponsored by the Office of Institutional & Diversity Initiatives, and the Departments of Sociology and Economics.  It is also part of The Clarke Forum’s Leadership in a Age of Uncertainty Series.

imageBiography (provided by the speaker)

Robert Bilheimer, president of the nonprofit company Worldwide Documentaries, is one of the most influential documentary filmmakers working in the world today.
In 1989, Robert was nominated for an Academy Award for Cry of Reason, a feature-length documentary that profiles the South African anti-apartheid leader Beyers Naude. Since that time, he has made Read more

Gail Dines

Founding Member, Stop Porn Cultureporn culture poster

Sex, Identity and Intimacy in a Porn Culture

Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

In this multi-media presentation, Dines explores how masculinity and femininity are shaped by a consumer-driven image-based culture and how pornography reproduces a gender system that encourages social and economic inequality and promotes a rape culture.  Note: This presentation contains explicit images.

A book sale and signing will follow.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Division of Student Development, Women’s and Gender Resource Center and the Departments of American Studies, Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies.

Gail web portraitBiography (provided by the speaker)
Dr. Gail Dines is a professor of sociology and women’s Studies at Wheelock College in Boston, where she is also chair of the American Studies department. She has been researching and writing about the porn industry for well over twenty years. Dr. Dines is co-editor of the best-selling textbook Gender, Race and Class in Media and she has written numerous articles on pornography, media images of women and representations of race in pop culture. She is a recipient of the Myers Center Award for Read more

Syria: What Next?

Syria Poster

** Breaking Issue **

Monday, September 2, 2013
Althouse Hall, Room 106 – 7 p.m.

A panel discussion focused on the issues arising out of the Syrian civil war, in particular the recent apparent use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime and the likelihood of a military response by the United States.  The situation highlights a number of perplexing issues regarding how the conflict affects other countries in the Middle East, the outcomes of the Arab uprisings, the substance and binding character of international law, along with a number of domestic U.S. constitutional and political issues.

Panelists

Neil Diamant, professor of Asian law and society
Joseph Sestak, General Omar N. Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership
Edward Webb, assistant professor of political science and international studies
Russell Bova, (moderator), professor of political science and international studies

Biographies

Neil J. Diamant is professor of Asian law and society at Dickinson College. He has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and teaches classes on Israeli politics and the history of Zionism in addition to those in his primary field of expertise.  He lived in Israel between 1978-1988, and 1997-2000, serving in the Israeli Read more

Pennsylvania Gun Debate

Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Gun Debate Poster FinalParticipants:

State Representative Stephen Bloom (R), serving the 199th Legislative District in Cumberland County

State Senator Larry Farnese (D), serving the 1st Senatorial District in Philadelphia

The participants will discuss the merits of gun control provisions currently being considered by the Pennsylvania legislature.

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

Biographies

BloomPORTRAITRepresentative Stephen Bloom, of Cumberland County, was first elected to represent the citizens of the 199th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in November 2010. A practicing lawyer for more than 20 years, now of counsel with the Carlisle firm of Irwin & McKnight, P.C., Bloom focused on business and transactional matters. He was also an adjunct instructor of management and business at Messiah College, where he taught economics and business law.

His mission as a lawmaker is to cut the size and scope of government, reduce the burden of taxes and unnecessary regulation, protect and defend constitutional freedoms, and by doing those things, unleash the power of individuals and businesses to create and grow jobs and economic prosperity.
Full Biography

Farnese downloadSenator Larry Farnese Read more