Wednesday, 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)

Tim 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

Thursday, 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 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

New 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)

Krishnendu 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

Breaking 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

Northampton 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 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

Breaking Issue

Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Panelists

Mark Duckenfield, U.S. Army War College
Oya Dursun-Özkanca, Elizabethtown College
Ed Webb, Dickinson College

It has been over three years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, yet a negotiated agreement to enable an orderly exit is still not in place. Many describe this situation as the worst political crisis faced by the UK in several decades. The final deadline is fast approaching. Our panelists will address several questions concerning the present moment and what to expect moving forward.

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

Biographies (provided by the panelists)

Mark Duckenfield is chair of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the Army War College. He has written numerous academic articles on the European Union, British politics and international political economy. He is the author of the book Business and the Euro; and has also served as editor/general editor of the volumes The History of Financial Disasters; and Battles over Free Trade: Anglo-American Experiences with International Trade, 1776-2006. He has held teaching appointments at the Air War College (2009-2015), the London School Read more

Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Panelists:

Santiago Anria (moderator), Dickinson College
Tanya Hernández, Fordham University
Stacey Moultry, Dickinson College
Eric Vázquez, Dickinson College

There is a myth that as the U.S. becomes more mixed race, racial harmony will follow. But as we have seen in Latin America and the Caribbean the presence of mixed race majorities does not preclude racism. This talk will address how the U.S. can learn from the existing racial inequalities of Latin American and Caribbean societies in order to chart a better path forward.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of English; American studies; Latin American, Latino & Caribbean studies; and political science; and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Inclusivity. It was initiated by the Clarke Forum’s student project managers

Biographies (provided by the speakers)

Santiago Anria is assistant professor of political science and Latin American studies at Dickinson College. His research focuses on social movements, political parties, and democracy in Latin America and has appeared in journals including Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Democracy, Studies in Comparative Political Studies, Read more

Filmmaker

Part of the Tournées Film Festival

Ouvrir la Voix (Speak Up/Make Your Way)

Friday, February 22, 2019
Althouse Hall, Room 106, 5:45 p.m.

Filmmaker Amandine Gay will join us for the showing of Ouvrir la voix (Speak Up/Make Your Way) and for discussion and Q&A. The film is a documentary by and about francophone European black women from the diaspora. Through art, performances, and compelling storytelling, the film focuses on a common experience related to one’s minority status in predominantly white, ex-colonial countries, while highlighting the great diversity of Afropean communities.

Tournées Film Festival is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC), the French American Cultural Fund, Florence Gould Foundation and Highbrow Entertainment.

The event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of French & Francophone studies; women’s, gender & sexuality studies; film & media studies; music; history; the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity, the Women’s & Gender Resource Center, the Office of LGBTQ Services, and the French Club.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Amandine Gay is a Saint-Denis-based Read more

Brown University

Dominican Blackness, Ghosting, and Bad Patriots

Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

This talk explores how Dominican fiction, film, architecture, fiction, and poetry negotiates the miscomprehension, miscategorization, and misperception–or ghosting–of the Dominican Republic from broader Western discourses.

Note: Monday, February 18, 2019, Althouse Hall, Room 106, 7 p.m.
Film Showing: Cocote  – This film, shot entirely in the Dominican Republic, is in connection with Dixa Ramírez’s program.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of Spanish & Portuguese; Latin American, Latino & Caribbean studies; American studies; the Women’s & Gender Resource Center and the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Dixa Ramírez is assistant professor of transnational African American literatures in the American studies and English departments at Brown University. Her first book, Colonial Phantoms: Belonging and Refusal in the Dominican Americas, from the 19th Century to the Present, argues that dominant Western discourses have ghosted the Dominican Republic despite its central place in the architecture of the Americas. Ramírez’s work has been published in Atlantic Studies, Comparative Literature, The Black Scholar, Small Axe Read more

University of Delaware

The Bruce R. Andrews Lecture

Why People Believe Conspiracy Theories

Monday, February 4, 2019
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Live Stream Link

Miller will discuss her research on the roots of conspiracy theory beliefs, including the motivating forces of self-concept preservation, uncertainty, and powerlessness.

The event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Bruce R. Andrews Fund.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Joanne M. Miller is associate professor of political science and associate professor of psychology and brain sciences at the University of Delaware. Her work, which has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, centers on the psychological underpinnings of political attitudes and mass behavior. She is the recipient of three best paper awards from the American Political Science Association, including the Paul Lazarsfeld Award for the best paper delivered on a Political Communication panel (for her co-authored paper (with Kyle L. Saunders and Christina E. Farhart) titled “Conspiracy Endorsement as Motivated Reasoning: The Moderating Roles of Political Knowledge and Trust”). She has published articles in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Political Psychology, and Public Opinion Read more

Thursday, October 11, 2018
Weiss Center for the Arts, Rubendall Recital Hall, 3 p.m. 

Panelists

Alice Handy, Investure
Sarah Kolansky, Graham Partners
Rob Symington, Dickinson Board of Trustees

What is the purpose of Dickinson’s endowment? How is it managed? Should Dickinson join a growing movement to invest our endowment in ways that align with community values regarding corporate behavior, social justice, environmental stewardship, climate change and other issues? What might be the implications for the performance of our endowment and the financial wellbeing of the college? Is it possible to have a sustainable endowment? Join us for a discussion about these issues.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the President’s Office, Dickinson Sustainable Investment Group, Board of Trustees, Office of Finance & Administration, and Center for Sustainability Education.

Biographies (provided by the speakers)

Actor and Monologist, Featured as Karl Marx

Marx in Soho by Howard Zinn

Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

In Howard Zinn’s one-person play, Karl Marx, the revolutionary socialist, comes back to earth to clear his name. Performed by Bob Weick, Marx in Soho, is a freewheeling and entertaining show, and Weick delivers an impassioned performance that connects Marx to contemporary themes.

The presentation is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of history, sociology, economics, American studies and the First Year Seminar program.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Bob Weick is the celebrated national touring actor of Howard Zinn’s Marx in Soho. A veteran stage actor in Philadelphia, he is a two-time Barrymore nominee with Iron Age Theatre (TERRA NOVA) and Theatre Horizon (CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION). Weick’s friendship and working relationship with the late Howard Zinn began in 2004 with the critically acclaimed sold out Philadelphia premiere of Marx in Soho. Weick has gone on to perform the piece over 300 times across the country from Maine to California.

Weick is a company member of Iron Age Theatre, where he collaborates with artistic director John Doyle Read more

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Joseph Priestley Award Celebration Lecture

Giving New Life to Materials for Energy, the Environment and Medicine

Thursday, September 27, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Live Stream Link

This talk will address the possibilities Engineering Biology provides for working with a larger toolkit of materials to tailor properties in devices for energy, environmental remediation, and cancer diagnostics and treatment.

The Joseph Priestley Award recipient is chosen by a different science department each year. The Department of Chemistry has 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.

Biography

Angela Belcher is a biological and materials engineer with expertise in the fields of biomaterials, biomolecular materials, organic-inorganic interfaces and solid-state chemistry and devices. Her primary research focus is evolving new materials for energy, electronics, the environment, and medicine.

She received her B.S. in creative studies from The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Read more

Georgetown Law

Talk is Trump and the Rule of Law

Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general of the United States, will be discussing the Supreme Court, President Trump, the Mueller investigation, and the rule of law in a wide ranging discussion.

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Penn State’s Dickinson Law and co-sponsored by the Departments of Political Science and History.

Biography (provided by the speaker)

Neal Katyal is the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of Law at Georgetown University and a partner at Hogan Lovells. He previously served as acting solicitor general of the United States. He has argued 37 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, with 35 of them in the last 9 years. Most recently, Neal argued the “Travel ban” case on behalf of the State of Hawaii against President Trump in the Supreme Court of the United States. In the 2016-17 term alone, Neal argued 7 cases in 6 separate arguments at the Supreme Court, far more than any other advocate in the nation – nearly 10% of the docket. At the age of 48, he has Read more