Past Programs

Adapting to Challenging Times: Local Small Businesses Navigate the Coronavirus Response

smallbusinposterfinalWednesday, April 15, 2020 – 7 p.m.
Live Stream Event

 

Panelists

Stephanie Patterson Gilbert, Georgie Lou’s Retro Candy
Tanis Monroy, Destination Carlisle
Kirk Ream, Transformation Training & Fitness

The Coronavirus Pandemic and resulting closure of non-essential businesses and shelter-in-place orders have had serious impacts on small businesses across the nation. In this discussion, small business owners in Carlisle will share the new realities local businesses are adjusting to and how businesses in the Carlisle area are responding to the challenges presented by the pandemic.

Members of the public are invited to watch the discussion and submit questions for panelists in the comments section of the YouTube live stream.

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

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

Stephanie Patterson Gilbert is the owner of Georgie Lou’s Retro Candy, a candy, soda, and pop culture store in downtown Carlisle that opened in 2009 that is known for its elaborate store windows and downtown-wide kids events that is has staged for over a decade.  Stephanie is also the founder and president of Destination Carlisle, a volunteer merchant organization that helps connect downtown merchants to each other and the community Read more

Food in a Time of Crisis

Food in Time of Crisis Poster scaledTuesday, April 7, 2020 – 7 p.m.
Live Stream Event

 

Panelists

Jenn Halpin, Dickinson College Farm
Andrea Karns, Karns Quality Foods
Robert Weed, Project Share

Access to quality food was already an issue for many families in Central Pennsylvania prior to the arrival of the coronavirus. Today, the question of access is more urgent for many more people. Supply chains are also threatened, as our efforts to respond to the health crisis creates all kinds of unforeseen challenges. A panel of experts will discuss food, food supply chains and food access during a time of crisis.

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

Biographies (forthcoming)

IMG scaledJenn Halpin has been involved with food systems initiatives at Dickinson and within the region for over 18 years. She co-founded the organic farm at Dickinson College in 2007. In addition to directing all aspects of the farm, Halpin helped to establish Dickinson’s Food Studies Certificate Program and develop regional purchasing initiatives at the college. Additionally, she was the founding president of Farmers on the Square, Carlisle’s thriving producer-only farmers’ market and served on the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) board for nine years, several Read more

Marie Helweg-Larsen

we wont get corona scaledDickinson College

Why Are We Optimistically Biased About Our Risks?: Applications to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Monday, April 6, 2020
Live Stream Event, NOON – 1 p.m.

The optimistic bias (thinking you are less at risk than other people) is well documented. This talk will explain why it is so pervasive and how it can help us understand complacency in following coronavirus precautionary behaviors.

Biography

helwegmMarie Helweg-Larsen is a social psychologist who examines why smart people do dumb things. Helweg-Larsen has examined the causes, consequences, and correlates of optimistic bias (thinking you are less at risk than others) as well as other health-related behaviors and cognitions. Most recently she has examined cross-culturally how moralized beliefs about smoking affect risk perceptions and willingness to quit smoking. In her current NIH-funded research she is examining the effects of stigmatization on smokers’ willingness to quit smoking. Last week Helweg-Larsen began a research project with two Dickinson alumni (Laurel Peterson ’06 and Sarah DiMuccio ’15) in which they are examining the gendered and political factors in the link between coronavirus risk perceptions and preventive behaviors.

Related Links

https://blogs.dickinson.edu/helwegm/

https://theconversation.com/in-battling-the-coronavirus-will-optimistic-bias-be-our-wrongdoing-134476

Video of the Presentation

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Providing Safe Shelter When Home is Not a Haven From Crisis

Haven Crisis Poster Version Final scaledThursday, April 2, 2020 – 7 p.m.
Live Stream Event

Panelists

Jason Brode, AMEND Program
Sonya Browne, Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland and Perry Counties
Colleen Kinney, YWCA Carlisle
Scott Shewell, Safe Harbour

Around the world people are being told to stay home to help flatten the curve against the spread of Covid-19. But what happens if your home is not safe to shelter-in-place? According to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 123 victims lost their lives to domestic violence last year in Pennsylvania. How is COVID-19 and government recommendations to stay at home, impacting members of our community who are at risk? Representatives from Domestic Violence Services for Cumberland and Perry County, Safe Harbour, YWCA and the AMEND Program will talk about what their organizations and programs are doing to support survivors in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and what resources are available for individuals and families who are not safe (or at risk) at home.

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

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

Jason BrodeJason Brode is the executive director of Diakon Youth Services where he directs and administrates all Diakon Youth Read more

Mayor Tim Scott and His Team Explain How Carlisle is Responding to the Pandemic

Updated Tim Scott Panel MediaWednesday, March 25, 2020 – 7 p.m
Virtual Presentation

Participants:

Tim Scott, Mayor
Sean Shultz, Deputy Mayor
Susan Armstrong, Borough Manager
Jeffrey Snyder, Carlisle Fire Chief

Please join us for our first live-streamed event with our local officials concerning Carlisle’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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

Video of the Presentation

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Tom Brier ’14

Brier Poster scaledAttorney and Author

While Reason Slept: Recapturing the Founders’ Vision of a Rational Republic

Monday, March 2, 2020
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

How did we get to our current state of political acrimony?  Brier, the author of While Reason Slept, will walk us through the beginning of our national politics to the present day before offering a solution for recapturing our Founding Fathers’ path to a rational Republic.

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

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Brier PicThomas F. Brier Jr. is a native of Hershey, Pennsylvania, growing up as the oldest of three boys. He is a Dickinson College graduate with a degree in philosophy. Brier went on to Penn State Law, received a juris doctor in 2017 and was selected as commencement speaker by his classmates. After graduation, he served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit before joining an international law firm in Philadelphia.  At the firm, in addition to working on several multi-million-dollar lawsuits, he worked closely with the SeniorLAW Center and other pro bono legal assistance organization to help low-income families.  As a volunteer “Reader” in the Philly Reads Read more

Protests Around the World

Protests World Poster scaledWednesday, February 26, 2020
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium – 7 p.m.

Panel of Dickinson Faculty

Heather Bedi, environmental studies
Angela DeLutis-Eichenberger, Spanish & Portuguese and Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies
Nicoletta Marini-Maio,  Italian and film studies
Mireille Rebeiz, French & Francophone and women’s, gender & sexuality studies
Ed Webb,  political science and international studies

Protests are breaking around the world, and people are demanding immediate action and calling for changes in governmental, political, and environmental policies. What sparked these protests, and what is next for many of the countries involved? Panelists will address world-wide environmental activism as well as political protests in Algeria, Chile, Iraq, Italy, and Lebanon.

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

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

Heather Bedi is an assistant professor of environmental studies at Dickinson College. Funded by the Cambridge Political Economy Society Trust, she completed a Ph.D. in human geography from the University of Cambridge. Bedi’s research examines how civil society and socio-environmental movements experience and adapt to natural resource and landscape modifications related to energy processes, climate change, industrialization, and agricultural transitions. Her broader research and teaching interests include environmental and social Read more

Rick Doblin ‘P21

Doblin Poster scaledMultidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

Psychedelics: Science, Medicine and Politics

Monday, February 24, 2020
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

This lecture will discuss the politics of psychedelic research from the 1960s to today. Doblin will explore the history of MDMA, mechanisms of actions of psychedelics, and efforts to medicalize psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, depression and other indications.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of philosophy and psychology, the anthropology club, the neuroscience club, the Health Studies Program and the Program in Policy Studies.  This program was initiated by the Clarke Forum student project managers and is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Biography (provided by the speakers)

MAPS Rick Doblin HeadshotRick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his master’s thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis Read more

Bill Durden ’71

Durden Poster scaledInternational University Alliance (IUA)

An Anticipatory Memoir: Aging on the Diagonal

Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Advanced age – or what is commonly called “The Third Chapter” – arguably remains without operative definition, although so many citizens globally are entering that phase of life. Based upon personal reflection, a definition is proposed for debate – a definition that could lead to a “Good Life.”

The program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and is part of our The Good Life series. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Durden William

William G. Durden is President Emeritus of Dickinson College, where he served for 14 years (1999-2013). During his tenure at Dickinson he was both a professor of German and a professor of Education. He is currently president of the International University Alliance (IUA), a non-profit association of top-tier U.S. research universities committed to international education (sponsored by Shorelight), chief global engagement officer at Shorelight, a courtesy professor (research) in the School of Education, Johns Hopkins University and an operating partner of Sterling Partners, a diversified investment management platform founded Read more

Rwanda at 25

Rwanda Panel Final PosterMonday, December 2, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Panelists

Margee Ensign, Dickinson College
Mathilde Mukantabana, Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda to the U.S.
Jean-Pierre Karegeye (moderator), Dickinson College
Nelly Teta Ntwali ’22, Dickinson College

In 1994 more than a million people were murdered in Rwanda over the course of about 100 days in one of the century’s most brutal and shocking instances of genocide. Since that time, Rwanda has not only recovered but has become a beacon in Africa for thoughtful and equitable development.  In the words of President Paul Kagame: “In 1994 there was no hope, only darkness. Today, light radiates from this place. How did it happen? Rwanda became a family again.” This panel discussion will address the nature of the new Rwandan “family,” how Rwanda has achieved its remarkable recovery, and what we can all learn from its truly remarkable successes.

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

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

formargeeMargee Ensign is the 29th president of Dickinson College, which was chartered in 1783—the first college established in the new United States of America. Dickinson is a recognized leader in global education and Read more

Deepfake

Deepfake posterWednesday, November 20, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Panelists:

Tim Hwang, lawyer, writer, and researcher
Amy McKiernan, Dickinson College
James Sias, Dickinson College

Deepfake, a term coined in 2017, is an artificial intelligence technique which uses generative adversarial networks to create fake videos. Deepfakes have been used in pornography (both to fake the presence of public figures in pornographic videos, typically well known actresses, and in “revenge porn”). Those examples illustrate clearly the threat posed by deepfakes to privacy and human rights. To date their use in politics has been very limited, but the threat to democratic institutions is quite real.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of mathematics & computer science, political science, the Program in Policy Studies and the Order of Scroll and Key. It was initiated by the Clarke Forum’s student project managers.

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

hwangt fullresTim Hwang is a lawyer, writer, and researcher working at the intersection of emerging technologies and society. He was formerly director of the Harvard-MIT Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative, a philanthropic project working to ensure that machine learning and autonomous technologies are researched, Read more

Fallout from the American Military Withdrawal from Northern Syria

Syria PosterThursday, November 14, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Panelists:

Chris Bolan, U.S. Army War College
David Commins, Dickinson College
Larry Goodson, U.S. Army War College
Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob (moderator), Dickinson College

The recent abrupt withdrawal of United States military forces from the Syrian side of the border with Turkey immediately and drastically altered the balance of power in that volatile region. The panel will explore the ramifications of the U.S. withdrawal: Turkey’s military intervention, the dismantling of the Syrian Kurds’ autonomous zone, Russia’s ascent as the main powerbroker in Syria, the decline of American influence, and the prospect of a revival of the Islamic State.

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

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

Chris Bolan picChris Bolan is professor of Middle East security studies at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College where he researches, publishes, and teaches graduate level courses on U.S. national security, foreign policy, and the Middle East.  He served as a foreign policy advisor on Middle East and South Asia affairs for Vice Presidents Gore and Cheney from 1997-2003.  He is a retired U.S. Army colonel with overseas tours in Korea, Read more

Krishnendu Ray

Krishnendu Ray PosterNew York University

Cultural Politics of Taste: Mobility and Food Culture

Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

This talk is about a minor culinary culture in North America, which goes by the moniker “Indian.” It will address its popularity and location in a hierarchy of taste. A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of environmental studies and American studies, the Food Studies Program, First Year Seminar Program, and the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

CafeKrishnendu Ray is the chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at NYU. He was a faculty member and the associate dean of Liberal Arts at The Culinary Institute of America. He is the author of The Migrant’s Table (2004), The Ethnic Restaurateur (2016), and the co-editor of Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food and South Asia (2012). His most recent work is on street vending in global cities with attention to questions of law, livelihood, and liveliness of cities.

Related Links

City Food Research

Video of the Lecture

  Read more

Gene Dykes

Dykes PosterRecord-Holding Master Marathoner

Just Run

Monday, November 11, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

Dykes will explore the many ways running is made overly complicated and how both running and your life can be made so much more enjoyable by employing his “Just Run” philosophy.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Department of Athletics and the Office of Student Leadership & Campus Engagement. This event was also the first program that is part of our new The Good Life series.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Rokis TahoeFinish Tight eGene Dykes was born in Canton, OH in 1948. He lived there until he attended Lehigh University, graduating in 1970 with a B.A. in chemistry.  After two years in the army, serving in Vietnam and Japan, Dykes received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cornell University in 1978.  He then embarked upon a career in computer programming until he retired in 2012.  He married in 1982, and along with his wife, raised two daughters who now reside in San Francisco and Minneapolis.  His wife is a professor of economics in the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dykes ran track in high school and Read more

Perspectives on Impeachment

Perspective on Impeachment PosterBreaking Issue

Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorum, 7 p.m.

Dickinson Panelists

Susan Feldman, professor of philosophy
David O’Connell, assistant professor of political science
Kathryn Heard, instructor in political science and law & policy
Gregory Steirer, assistant professor of English and film & media studies

A panel discussion on the general topic of impeachment in the context of the ongoing impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump from legal, political, ethical, and media perspectives.

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

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

Susan Feldman is professor of philosophy at Dickinson College. Her interests include the history of modern philosophy, the problem of knowledge and skepticism, philosophy of science and ethics, both “pure” and “applied” to such areas as the environment, the status of women, medicine and public policy.

Kathryn Heard is a professor in the departments of political science and law & policy studies at Dickinson College, where she specializes in constitutional jurisprudence, political theory, issues of power, belonging, and recognition in democratic societies, and feminist and queer theories.  Her work has been supported by the Mellon Discovery Foundation and the Coblentz Civil Rights Endowment Fund, and Read more

Bryant Keith Alexander

BK aLEXANDER FINAL POSTERLoyola Marymount University

Queer Intersectionalities: The Communicative Dimensions of Race, Masculinity and Sexuality

Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

This lecture will use critical autoethnography as a mode of examining the queer intersectionalities of race, masculinity and sexuality as a positionality of power. A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and a Civic Learning and Engagement Initiative Grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and co-sponsored by the Division of Student Life, the departments of English, American studies, psychology, and women’s, gender & sexuality studies, the Women’s & Gender Resource Center, the Office of LGBTQ Services, the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity, and the Office of the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness and Inclusivity.  It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Masculinities.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

BKAlexanderBryant Keith Alexander, Ph.D. (Southern Illinois University Carbondale, M.S. and B.A, University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana Lafayette), is professor of communication, performance, and cultural studies. He currently serves as dean, College of Communication and Fine Arts at Loyola Marymount University. He is an active scholar, lecturer Read more

Javier Ávila

Avila Final PosterNorthampton Community College

Performance: The Trouble with My Name

Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Ávila’s one-man show, The Trouble with My Name, blends comedy and poetry to shed light on the American Latino experience. The show draws on the arts, education, and entertainment to deliver a powerful message about who we are as a society.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the department of Spanish & Portuguese, Latin American, Latino & Caribbean studies,  and American studies and the First Year Seminar Program.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Javier Avila High ResJavier Ávila (San Juan, Puerto Rico) is the recipient of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña Poetry Award, the Pen Club Book of the Year Award, and the Olga Nolla Poetry Award. Ávila’s dual-language anthology Vapor brings together poems from his award-winning poetry books. His best-selling novel Different was made into a movie entitled Miente. Two of his other novels, The Professor in Ruins and the controversial La profesión más antigua, explore Puerto Rico’s academic underworld. Ávila’s most recent novel, the thriller Polvo, was published in 2019. Ávila has been honored with the Outstanding Latino Cultural Arts, Literary Read more

Thomas Page McBee

McBee Final PosterAward-winning author

Am I a Real Man? Questioning Masculinity with a Beginner’s Mind

Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Author of Man Alive and Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man  as well as the first trans man to box in Madison Square Garden, McBee shares what masculinity means, and what it definitely does not mean. A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and a Civic Learning and Engagement Initiative Grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and co-sponsored by the Women’s & Gender Resource Center and the departments of English and philosophy. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Masculinities.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

ThomasMcBee byAmosMacThomas Page McBee is an author, journalist, television writer, and “questioner of masculinity” (The New York Times). His Lambda award-winning memoir, Man Alive, was named a best book of 2014 by NPR Books, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, and Publisher’s Weekly. His “refreshing [and] radical” (The Guardian) second book, Amateur, a reported memoir about learning how to box in order to understand masculinity’s tie to violence, was shortlisted for Read more