Past Programs

Alicia Sams

Documentary Film Director and Producer

The Obama Election

Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

By the People: The Election of Barack Obama is a behind-the-scenes documentary of the Obama campaign. Director Alicia Sams will discuss the making of the film and the insights she gained from being on the campaign trail with the candidate, organizers and the traveling press.

Co-sponsored by the Departments of Political Science and Film Studies.

About the Speaker
Alicia Sams has extensive experience working in both documentary and fiction films. Her most recent film as director is By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, which chronicles the journey of Barack Obama from before the announcement of his Presidential campaign to the White House, and premiered on HBO in November, 2009. Also released in 2009 was the award-winning narrative feature AMREEKA, for which she was executive producer. In 2006, she produced two feature-length documentaries: Wanderlust, a film about road movies for IFC; and the theatrical release Toots, about legendary NY saloonkeeper Toots Shor. Prior to that, she produced the Sony Pictures Classics release Grateful Dawg, independent documentary Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s (released by Read more

America’s Role and Image in the World

Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.

The panel will assess how the United States is viewed around the world, particularly given the United States’ current foreign policy.

Panelists include:
Beth Paige, senior foreign service officer and mission director for USAID in Nepal
J. Sherwood McGinnis, professor in the Department of National Security Studies at U.S. Army War College

Andrew Wolff, professor of political science, Dickinson College
Mark Ruhl, professor of political science, Dickinson College.
Moderator: Stephen DePaul, executive director of Global Education and associate provost, Dickinson College.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Global Education. Read more

Hip Hop Symposium

This symposium will include special speakers, student and faculty panel discussions, and live hip hop entertainment.

The event was coordinated by The Clarke Forum Student Board and The Clarke Forum Student Project Managers.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Creation of a Graffiti Wall
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Britton Plaza

Thursday, April 8, 2010

7:00 p.m. – Stern Center, Great Room

How You Gonna Be the King of New York?
Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African American studies, Duke University
More Information

Friday, April 9, 2010

12:30 p.m. – Stern Center, Great Room

“Pick Up the Mic”
Shante Paradigm Smalls, New York University
More Information

2:00 p.m. – Stern Center, Great Room

The Culture of Hip Hop
Student Panel Discussion

4:00 p.m. – Stern Center, Great Room

Faculty Weigh-In
Discussion about the cultural meaning and significance of hip hop.
More Information

7:00 p.m. – Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium

Hip Hop in Action
Live performances by Hypnotic, REACH, open mic acts and Shanté Paradigm Smalls

Executive Director, Center for Clinical Research and Regulation; Metzger-Conway Fellow

Epidemics, Pandemics, and Bioterrorism

Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

* This event is part of the Clarke Forum’s series on Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty.

This lecture will discuss the potentially disastrous consequences that epidemics, pandemics, and incidents of bioterrorism could have on public health along with the political and sociological aspects of these types of major catastrophes.

About the Speaker
Dr. Weinberg is an associate professor of Health Care Management, and executive director of the Center for Clinical Research and Regulation and of the Center for Superdemic Management. He edits two international journals, one related to each Center: The Journal of Superdemic Management (ILeibert Press), and the Journal of Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs (Informa Press). Dr. Weinberg has also authored fifteen books (most recent, Guidebook for Drug Regulatory Submissions, Wiley, 2009) and more than one hundred articles and papers. He is a regulatory columnist for Medical Device Summit and for the Journal of Scientific Computing.

Sandy is a retired biomedical entrepreneur, having launched and grown six successful international drug development, medical device, and bioinformatics companies; and served as senior director Read more

Vincent Paterson ’72

Choreographer, Director and Metzger-Conway Fellow

The Man Behind the Thrones

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.

Patterson will talk about his career in the entertainment business and the challenges he confronts as he works intimately with famous performers, making them look their best, while attempting to remain fairly anonymous himself.

About the Speaker
Vincent Paterson is a world-renowned director and choreographer whose career spans just about every genre of the entertainment industry including film, theatre, Broadway, concert tours, opera, music videos, television and commercials.

“What I try to do with my work is to fill the audience with an energy that alters their being in a positive way. The work is the stone thrown into the pond. The ripples emanate from the audience. If the audience is affected even infinitesimally in a positive way, they might make something positive happen in the next five minutes, or tomorrow, or next week. That action will vibrate into the ether and the better the world will be.”

Vincent directed the critically acclaimed opera Manon with soprano Anna Netrebko and conducted by Placido Domingo. His direction of Anna Netrebko: The Woman, The Voice received a nomination for “Best Television Arts Read more

Terry Engelder

Professor of Geosciences, Penn State University

Marcellus Gas Shale

Thursday, March 25, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m

* This event is part of the Clarke Forum’s series on Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty.

Engelder will talk about the Marcellus gas shale that is located in Pennsylvania, the potential economic value it has for the state, and the probable ramifications it will have for political scientists, lawyers, policy analysts and environmentalists.

Co-sponsored by the Department of Geology, Center for Environmental & Sustainability Education, and the Department of Environmental Science.

About the Speaker
Terry Engelder, a leading authority on the recent Marcellus gas shale play, holds degrees from Penn State B.S. (’68), Yale M.S. (’72) and Texas A&M, Ph.D. (’73). He is currently a professor of geosciences at Penn State and has previously served on the staffs of the U.S. Geological Survey, Texaco, and Columbia University. Short-term academic appointments include those of visiting professor at Graz University in Austria and visiting professor at the University of Perugia in Italy. Other academic distinctions include a Fulbright Senior Fellowship in Australia, Penn State’s Wilson Distinguished Teaching Award, membership in a U.S. earth science delegation to visit the Soviet Union immediately following Read more

Guillermo Meneses

El Colegio de al Frontera Norte, Tijuana

The “Fence”: The View from Tijuana

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

The United States is building one, two, three or more walls and “other obstacles” in the southwest border. Customs and Border Protection claim, “New dangers face the borders of our nation.” Terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal immigrants are waiting to cross the border.
Co-sponsored by the Departments of Latin American Studies and Spanish and Portuguese.

Topical Background
Founded in 1982, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, or “The College of the Northern Border,” serves as both an institute of higher education and a prominent think tank. With headquarters in Tijuana, Mexico, the institution has branches throughout Mexico in Monterrey, Ciudad Juarez, Mexicali, Nogales, Piedras Negras, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros. Its mission is threefold:

1.Study and divulge the significance of regional issues occurring in the U.S.-Mexico border

2.Train students and staff to excel as professionals and researchers

3.Maintain close links with civil society and government to contribute to the development of the region and the country

In the classroom, students at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte learn extensively about issues surrounding the U.S.-Mexico border in six different Read more

Judge Richard J. Leon

U.S. District Court Judge, Washington, D.C.

Guantanamo: Constitutional Challenges

Thursday, March 11, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

* This event is part of the Clarke Forum’s series on Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty.

As the first federal judge to conduct habeas corpus proceedings to determine the lawfulness of the detention of the Guantanamo detainees, Judge Leon had to confront many practical and legal challenges as he tried to strike the proper balance between liberty and national security.

Topical Background

September 2001: Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Congress passes The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)
This resolution grants the executive branch power to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against those associated with terrorism, particularly those related to the September 11 attacks.

January 2002: United States opens detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay
The Bush administration argues the camp falls outside of U.S. legal jurisdiction, and the detainees, known as “enemy combatants,” are not protected by the Geneva Convention.

June 2004: Supreme Court decides Rasul v. Bush
Supreme Court declares that habeas corpus rights (the right to claim wrongful imprisonment) apply to Guantanamo detainees because the United States has “complete jurisdiction” of Guantanamo Bay.

June 2004: Read more

Women, Equality and Education

Monday, March 8, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

A panel of international students from Dickinson College will join Muska Assad, a recipient of a scholarship from the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women (IEAW), in a discussion of women, gender equality and education. This event is in observance of International Women’s Day which was created to commemorate the accomplishments of women and celebrate the fight for women’s equality.

This event is co-sponsored by the Women’s Center and Betty R. ’58 and Dan Churchill.

Topical Background
International Women’s Day (IWD) was first celebrated by the Socialist Party of America in 1909. Two years later, it was officially honored in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. For the next several decades, women across the globe rallied together each March to demand voting rights, better pay, and equality. Although it was initiated by a socialist movement, International Women’s Day slowly developed into a world-wide celebration of women, serving as a forum to recognize the continued struggle for parity. In 1977, the United Nations officially designated March 8 International Women’s Day. Today more than 15 countries have made March 8th a national holiday. This year, the United Nation’s theme for IWD is “Equal Read more

Neil Printz

Art Historian, co-editor of the Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné

Andy Warhol: Post-Pop or Not?

Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 4:00 p.m.

Printz considers Warhol’s work after the 1960s in light of photographs and the works of art recently donated to Dickinson College by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Photographic Legacy Program.

This event is co-sponsored by The Trout Gallery.

Topical Background
Born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928, Andy Warhol became one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Known mainly as a leading figure in the Pop Art movement, Warhol is also recognized for his work as an avant-garde film maker, record producer, author, and public figure. By the time of his death in 1987, Warhol coined the popular phrase “15 minutes of fame,” sold his canvas Eight Elvises for $100 million dollars, and was identified by the media as the “Prince of Pop.”

Warhol showed early artistic talent at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, known today as Carnegie Mellon University. He then worked in New York as an illustrator for various magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Glamour, and The New Yorker. As Warhol became more concerned with turning his Read more

Dallas Burtraw

Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future

Next Steps in U.S. Climate Policy: Winners, Losers and Innovations in Policy Design

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

* This event is part of the Clarke Forum’s series on Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty.

After the international climate meetings in Copenhagen, the eyes of the world rest on the U.S. and its progress towards meeting its goals for achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The leading proposal in the U.S. is a market-based cap-and-trade program, but there are a variety of approaches in designing such a program. These alternatives have very different implications for the overall cost of climate policy, and perhaps more importantly, who bears that cost.

Economists argue that cap and trade can achieve environmental goals at much less cost than traditional regulatory approaches. However, the asset value of the tradable “emissions allowances” that are introduced under cap and trade would constitute one of the largest commodity markets in the world. How these allowances are distributed – free distribution, or distribution through an auction – will have enormous implications for the efficiency and distributional impact of the policy, and ultimately on the nation’s willingness to move Read more

Rebecca Skloot

Award-winning science writer; professor of English, University of Memphis

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Thursday, February 18, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m

Rebecca Skloot discusses her new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a story inextricably linked to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles that could determine whether we own the stuff we are made of. A booksigning will follow the presentation.

Co-sponsored by the Departments of Biology, Sociology and Psychology

Topical Background
Born in 1920, Henrietta Lacks, a mother of five, was a native of rural southern Virginia whose family grew tobacco. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital and died on October 4, 1951 at the age of thirty-one.

While at Johns Hopkins Hospital, researchers took a biopsy of her tumor without her knowledge or permission. The cells, named “HeLa” for Henrietta Lacks, multiplied outside her body at an unprecedented rate. Because they can potentially divide an unlimited number of times in a laboratory setting, HeLa cells have been described as “immortal”. “If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh Read more

Leonard Cassuto

Professor of English, Fordham University

What’s in a Bestselling Crime Novel?

Thursday, February 11, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

After exploring the origins and complexities of “bestsellers,” Cassuto applies his conclusions to the way crime novels are read and understood in the U.S.

Co-sponsored by the Departments of English and American Studies

Topical Background
The broad genre of “crime fiction” first captured the American imagination in the mid-19th century. Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” published in 1841, told of a dark mystery based in Paris. Its protagonist, C. Auguste Duperin, appears to be one of the first characters resembling what would come to be the archetypical crime fiction detective.

Soon after Poe’s works hit the literary world, Britain’s Sir Arthur Conan Doyle turned the detective novel into a phenomenon. The popularity of his Sherlock Holmes anthology transcended the Atlantic and sparked an enormous production of crime and detective novels. Crime fiction quickly became one of America’s favorite literary genres.

New categories of crime fiction are popularized with each generation of crime novelists. “Whodunits,” “hardboiled” fiction, legal thrillers, police mysteries, and spy novels are just a few of the many types of crime Read more

Arlene Dávila

Professor of anthropology and American studies, New York University

Shop ‘Til You Drop in Puerto Rico?

Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Dávila will explore the consumption culture of Puerto Rico, in particular, the myth of the overspent Puerto Rican consumer.

Co-sponsored by the Departments of American Studies, Latin American Studies and Spanish and Portuguese.

Topical Background
Shortly after Columbus visited Puerto Rico, Spain colonized the island and established it as an important military and trading post. Soon thereafter, colonists began to coerce natives into a system of forced labor that was slavery in all but name. Sugar quickly became the most important agricultural product. Although the system of forced labor was formally abolished in 1720, sugar remained a significant export for Puerto Rico, along with cattle, tobacco and coffee.

During the 19th century, Puerto Ricans were clamoring for independence. In response, Spain conceded political and administrative autonomy to the Puerto Rican Autonomous Party in 1887. However, after the Mexican War, the Treaty of Paris called for the transfer of Puerto Rico’s sovereignty to the United States. At this time, Puerto Rico and the United States enjoyed a free trade relationship. In 1917, President Wilson signed Read more

Art Spiegelman – "Morgan Lecturer"

Pulitzer Prize-winning artist/illustrator; author of Maus

Comix 101.1

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.

Through a chronological tour of the evolution of comics, this Pulitzer Prize-winning artist/illustrator explains the value of this medium and why it should not be ignored.

The event is Dickinson College’s annual Morgan Lecture in honor of James Henry Morgan, professor of Greek, dean, and president of the college.

Co-sponsored by The Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life, The Trout Gallery, Women’s Center, the Office of Institutional and Diversity Initiatives, and the Departments of Political Science, English, German, Judaic Studies, Art and Art History, History, Sociology, and Film Studies.

Topical Background
Comics are a graphic medium in which images are used to convey a sequential narrative. The term “comics” arose because the medium was at first used primarily for comedic intent. Today the term is applied to all uses of the medium, including those which are far from comic. The sequential nature of the pictures and the predominance of pictures over words distinguish comics from picture books, though there is some overlap between the two media. Different conventions have developed around the globe, from the manga of Japan to the manhua Read more

Thomas Boellstorff

Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California and Editor-in-Chief, American Anthropologist

Virtual Popular Culture

Monday, Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Virtual worlds represent an important new modality of human interaction. The discussion will focus on emerging forms of popular culture in virtual worlds, the promise of ethnographic methods for studying these emerging forms of popular culture, and the broad social implications of their emergence.

Topical Background
A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment inhabited by avatars. Avatars are computer users’ representations of themselves or alter egos in the form of a three dimensional model, a two dimensional icon, or a text construct. Communications between users range from text, graphical icons, visual gesture, and sound. Multiplayer online games commonly represent a world very similar to the real world. However, virtual worlds are not limited to games; they can encompass computer conferencing and text-based chat rooms. Persons who interact and forge new forms of selfhood and society in virtual worlds are creating a virtual culture.

One of the earliest virtual world experiences can be traced back to 1968 when the first virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) head-mounted display system was invented at Massachusetts Institute Read more

Reflecting on Greek Life at Dickinson

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

Relying on a local targeted survey of Dickinson Greek and non-Greek students, Ann Hanson, former dean of student affairs, Middlebury College, will lead a moment of reflection on the positive and negative consequences of Greek Life on the Dickinson community. The goal is to promote discussion and dialogue on a significant dimension of the Dickinson experience.

This program was created by The Clarke Forum Student Board.

Co-sponsored by the Division of Student Development.

Topical Background
The importance of Greek Life on college campuses is a hotly contested issue nationwide. Some argue that fraternities and sororities are time-honored traditions that foster friendship, leadership, and service, while others feel that Greek Life is an outdated social structure that detracts from college life today. This debate is very much dependent on the campus climate that is unique to each individual college campus. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize whether Greek Life is a positive or a negative factor without first examining its unique influence on specific college campuses.

At Dickinson, “The Greek community is advised by the Dean of Students Office. Fraternities are governed by the Interfraternity Council (originally established in 1859) Read more

William Greenlee – "Rush Award"

President and CEO of The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences

Building Intellectual Bridges

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

This is event is part of The Clarke Forum’s “Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty” series

The goal of research and scholarship is the pursuit of new knowledge. That pursuit expands the intellectual endowment, but without a purpose and plan for the endowment’s use, new knowledge does not benefit society as much as it could. Scholars must take a leading role in the translation of discoveries and new knowledge into products, policies, and guidance for the benefit of all.

Benjamin Rush Award
The Benjamin Rush Award Ceremony recognizes outstanding achievement by a member of the business or government community. The individual accepting the award presents a public lecture addressing the relationship of a liberal arts education to the business or government world. Opportunities for members of the College community to converse and discuss issues with the award recipient occur while the recipient is on the campus. Click here for listing of past recipients.

Topical Background
The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences is an independent, nonprofit organization that unites academia, the private sector, and government in the conduct Read more

Beyond the Wall

Panel Discussion on the Twentieth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Thursday, November 12, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the world watched and celebrated. After the jubilation subsided, questions and concerns arose as to the global and European political, social, and cultural consequences of this major event. A panel of three experts will discuss how this historical event transformed our view of Germany, Europe, and the world.

Panelists
Andrew Wolff, moderator, Political Science Department, Dickinson College
Jana Simon, journalist and writer, Die Zeit newspaper in Berlin
Wolfgang Muller, German Department, Dickinson College
Alan Stolberg, European Studies, U.S. Army War College

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

Topical Background
For nearly thirty years, the Berlin Wall symbolized the Cold War’s division of communist East Germany from democratic West Germany and the larger divide of Eastern from Western Europe. First erected in August of 1961 by the Soviet-occupied German Democratic Republic (GDR), the wall was built to prevent East Germans from immigrating to West Germany, which offered more economic freedom and personal independence. Over the years, Read more

COLBY: The Rise and Fall of an American Spy

Test Screening of the Documentary

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Colby is a feature-length documentary on the life of legendary spymaster and CIA Director William Colby, told through the eyes of his Emmy-Award-winning filmmaker son, Carl and Colby’s wife Barbara. The films tells the story of the consummate American soldier and spy who always followed orders and took on the toughest assignments until the President ordered him to “stonewall” Congress and CIA’s past and he refused. The story reveals why for once he could not obey an order.

Carl Colby will be available to answer questions at the end of the presentation.

Audience members will be asked to fill out a brief questionnaire at the conclusion of the screening. Read more