Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, the Communication, Journalism, & Media and World Languages & Cultural Studies Departments and The Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Suffolk University present:
The screening of the acclaimed documentary film Dove’s Cry by Israeli filmmaker Ganit Ilouz, which will be followed by a post-screening talk with the filmmaker.
The afternoon’s moderator is Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber, associate professor, Communication, Journalism, & Media Department, Suffolk University.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021, 12:30 pm, IN PERSON AND Live VIA ZOOM Sargent Hall 120 Tremont Street, Fifth Floor Commons Boston, Massachusetts 02108
No registration is required for in-person attendance
Director Ganit IIouz’s documentary Dove’s Cry exposes the experiences of an Arabic educator teaching in a Jewish elementary school in Israel. The film followed the teacher Hadeel for an entire school year illustrating the oppression and general ignorance of the Jewish population towards Arab people and culture. While the film focuses on Hadeel’s day-to-day journey as a Muslim woman trying to share her culture with her Jewish students it also follows the struggles she faces at home and even lacks the acceptance of her narrative among her colleagues.
Dove’s Cry, premiered at the 15th Docaviv International Film Festival, 2013, is the first full-length documentary for filmmaker Ilouz. Her past projects include short documentaries, among them Hebrew Labor, 2010, screened at the 13th Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, and The Perfect Human, 2005, which won the Grillo Award at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Please be sure to review the COVID 19 Visitor Policy prior to arriving on campus for the event.
Ford Hall Forum and the Center for Political Research at Suffolk University present:
An evening with nationally recognized pollster David Paleologos of Suffolk University’s Center for Political Research. Paleologos will discuss the recent first-of-its-kind Suffolk/USA TODAY collaboration, CityView, a new series of pilot polls in Milwaukee, Detroit and Los Angeles, which have explored residents’ views on racial justice and race relations, policing, public safety, and other community issues across the United States. The evening’s moderator is Adrian Walker, associate editor and columnist, The Boston Globe.
Thursday, October 21, 2021Live via Zoom at 6:00 pmThis event is free and open to the public.
Since 2002, the Suffolk University Political Research Center (SUPRC) has conducted innovative survey research and political polling. Now, over a year after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis brought a new racial reckoning to the forefront, Suffolk University in Boston joins the national conversation with “Suffolk City View,” a new series of polls on racial justice, policing, and other urban issues in America’s most diverse cities. After successful pilot polls in Milwaukee in June 2021 and Detroit in July 2021, and with plans to expand to other cities across the country over the course of the next year, SUPRC wants to know how urban residents feel about the state of race and city life in the 21st century and to investigate solutions to the conflict between law enforcement and the ongoing police and criminal justice reform movement. Moving beyond the buzzwords of “Black Lives Matter” or “Defund the Police,” SUPRC’s surveys will delve deep into current events and join the ranks of innovative research conducted by Suffolk University.
Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University and GBH Forum Network present:
AN AFTERNOON WITH INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED SCIENCE JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR LAURA SPINNEY
Spinney will discuss her latest non-fiction title, Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World. She will discuss the enduring effects of this pandemic flu, which killed over 50 million people worldwide, and society’s response—how they altered global politics, race relations, family structures, and thinking across medicine, religion, and the arts. Spinney will discuss the parallels between the Spanish Flu and COVID-19, what we can learn from history and memory, and how pandemics begin and how they end. The afternoon’s moderator is Udodiri R. Okwandu, Presidential Scholar, Harvard University.
Thursday, October 7, 2021
12:00 pm Live via Zoom
This event is free and open to the public.
This virtual program is produced by GBH Forum Network.
Barbara Abrams, PhD., Suffolk University, Mira Morgenstern, PhD, The City College of New York, and Karen Sullivan, PhD, Queens College/CUNY discuss their latest book, Reframing Rousseau’s Lévite d’Ephraïm: The Hebrew Bible, hospitality, and modern identity. The afternoon’s moderator is Jennifer Vanderheyden, PhD., Marquette University.
What can Enlightenment philosophes — especially Rousseau, arguably the most difficult of them all — have to tell us about modern life that we don’t already know?
Join a team of scholars from different academic areas, each of whom offers a unique vantage point in understanding Rousseau’s texts. This constellation of approaches — grounded in an appreciation of the shared background of feminist critique promoted by the contributors to this volume — provides the density that allows Rousseau’s nuanced writings to be read in their full complexity.
This multi graph book focuses on a relatively unfamiliar work of Rousseau’s, Le Lévite d’Ephraïm, a prose-poem in which Rousseau elaborates on a little-known Hebrew biblical text to interrogate many of the accepted, conventional views on issues ranging from the role of sacred texts; to Rousseau’s self-construction through the representation of guilt and remorse; to the role of hospitality in structuring both individual self-representation and social cohesion; to the place of violence in establishing national and communal self-identity. In each of these spheres, Rousseau reveals a particularly modern perspective in trying to honor both personal and social needs, and in privileging both the individual viewpoint and the political structure.
This virtual program is produced by GBH Forum Network.
After COVID. It’s hard to imagine what that will look like and how long it will take us, globally, nationally, regionally and locally, to get there. The term “new normal” has been tossed around faster than the COVID-19 virus is spreading, but what does it really mean? The truth is that we can’t provide any concrete answers to this complex question, but we can examine empirical patterns that are already observable and ask experts from public health, development, economics, political science, and public policy to predict what will change fundamentally and what lessons about preparedness we will have learned. We hope you’ll join us for a far-ranging and provocative discussion to cap off our Pandemic 2.0 series.
When COVID-19 initially began to rage across the globe, it was described as an equal opportunity killer that didn’t differentiate between hosts – everyone was vulnerable. It quickly became apparent that not everyone was impacted in the same way. While the virus itself does not discriminate, our responses to it – geographically, socioeconomically, and politically – have resulted in vastly different outcomes. The past 18 months have exposed massive inequalities at both the national and international levels when it comes to combating the virus.
This evening’s panel will examine some of the most disappointing and surprising developments in COVID responsiveness and to ask essential questions to better understand what role resources, ideology, and geography have played in creating such divergent responses and to discuss what can be done to level the playing field going forward.
Public policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused enormous global economic disruption as have reactions from consumers and corporations. The economic turmoil is visible everywhere – in supply chains, in unemployment numbers, and in housing markets. Consumers are hoarding. The unequal distribution of economic pain in communities, sectors, and groups has worsened. Despite this, some have managed to innovate and thrive (the world has 6 more billionaires), which only escalates the widening wealth gap. Given these trends, how will this economic disruption further impact our behaviors and change the fundamentals of how markets function, and how will we treat vulnerable groups, conduct economic policy, and think about the care economy and public health infrastructure going forward? Come join the conversation with our panel who’ll tackle these questions and discuss the economic implications if these disruptions persist.
Week Three: Getting the Word Out. How do we Communicate during a Pandemic?
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Live at 6:00 pm
This event is free and open to the public.
We could see COVID-19 as a common enemy to unite us, yet several responses to the pandemic have resulted in misinformation that creates confusion, hostility, and even violence. Antagonism around how we define the crisis caused by COVID-19 inspires outrage toward mask and vaccine mandates, lockdowns, school and business closures. To make matters worse, global leaders have manipulated information, undermined trust in vaccines, and advanced political agendas by politicizing public health responses.
This evening’s expert panel will measure how effective public health information and policy have been communicated by governments, public health officials, media, and civic organizations. They will also discuss ways to combat misinformation as we make our way through the pandemic. Join us to continue our survey course on how the complexities and challenges of the crisis impact and impede our ability to fight the pandemic.
Week 2: Vaccinating the World: Will Diplomacy, Nationalism or Profit Motive Prevail?
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Live at 6:00 pm.
This event is free and open to the public
How can nations gain influence, strengthen alliances and protect their own populations against a global threat? Here’s one way: provide support in the battle against the common enemy. With less than 10 percent of the globe vaccinated and surges in infections from the COVID-19 Delta variant on the rise, getting shots in arms everywhere should be a public health priority, a national security strategy, and a moral imperative, especially for high-income countries. Yet vaccine nationalism, underfunded international organizations, and arguments over intellectual property rights, rather than vaccine diplomacy and robust international coordination, have slowed progress.
This week Elise Labott, a global correspondent for Foreign Affairs moderates a panel discussion to help us understand the complex issues governing the global response to the pandemic to date, the prospects for getting it right in the future, and how Covid-19 is shaping geopolitics in a changing world.
Week One: From Outbreak to Pandemic: Year Two and Counting
Wednesday, July 14, 2021 Live at 6:00 pm This event is free and open to the public.
As we move into the second year of COVID-19, some communities are emerging from months of isolation, assessing damages, removing masks, and navigating toward a “new normal.” While it’s tempting to feel like a finish line has been crossed with some incredible progress having been made, the pandemic is far from over. It still rages across the globe, with infections, deaths, and more transmissible variants emerging faster than the availability and pace of vaccinations. The juxtaposition is striking given that almost four million people have died globally, and the death rate in 2021 already exceeds that of 2020.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy, politics, trust in institutions, and reshaped lives in ways not yet understood. In this series, we invite experts into our virtual classroom to assess how far we have come, how far we have to go until the world is vaccinated and to examine some of the most consequential and inequitable outcomes to date. Although many of us are quite literally sick of COVID, in this 2nd edition of our survey course for everyone, we’ll offer a unique take on the politics of the global public policy response, present a diversity of perspectives on what the post-pandemic new normal will be, and explore whether we will be any better prepared for the next global crisis.
Week No. 8 Assessing Biden’s First 100 Days: Where do we go from here?
Thursday, April 21, 2021
Live at 6:00 pm via Zoom
This event is free and open to the public
The 100-day mark is an important yardstick for assessing a modern President’s performance. It’s traditionally been the “honeymoon” period, providing a window of opportunity for new Administrations to move campaign promises from rhetoric to reality. Although most Americans can’t seem to agree on much these days, we can probably agree that these are atypical times, and that makes Biden’s “honeymoon” a complex one. The Biden-Harris Administration faces numerous historic challenges at home and abroad, all while attempting to move its agenda forward. Join us as we discuss where the Administration has and has not made headway and why and also for a conversation about what comes next.
This event continues a new spring series, No. 46: Examining the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration, that focuses on the most important developments in the early days of the Biden Administration. Guest speakers over the semester examine the ability of the 46th President and his team to affect change in some of the most vital policy areas that impact all of us.
Week No. 7: Fixing What’s Broken: Uncivil War and American Democracy
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Live at 6:00 pm via Zoom
This event is free and open to the public
Fourteen days after a mob stormed the Capitol attempting to “stop the steal,” President Biden declared in his inaugural address that we must “end this Uncivil War” threatening our democracy. Hyperpolarization, partisan tribalism, the politics of outrage, incivility, refusal to compromise, and truth decay have led to a state of division and politically motivated violence we’ve not seen since the Civil War. GBH News political reporter Mike Deehan moderates a discussion with U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern, political scientist Lilliana Mason, and political strategist Ron Christie on what can be done to turn the temperature down, answer President Biden’s call for “unity” and focus on the urgent business of governing our nation.
This event continues a new spring series, No. 46: Examining the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration, that focuses on the most important developments in the early days of the Biden Administration. Guest speakers over the semester examine the ability of the 46th President and his team to affect change in some of the most vital policy areas that impact all of us.
Join Stanley Sheldon, incomparable bass guitar player best known for his work with the acclaimed British rock star Peter Frampton and notable as an early adopter of the fretless bass for rock music, who will discuss his studies on nineteenth-century slave society in Latin American countries and how its influence on past music continues to affect the transformation and the hybridization of world music today. The evening’s moderator is Iani Moreno, associate professor, World Languages & Cultural Studies Department, Suffolk University.
Drawing on his Latin American Studies, Sheldon will discuss the colonial Caribbean American slave trade, which gave rise to flourishing societies made up of escaped slaves who had fled the harsh conditions endured in the sugar plantations. A strong correlation between regionally specific intensive sugar production and Afro-Caribbean art can be observed in all the major regions where enslaved people were brought to work. Afro-Caribbean music and dance evolved not only in and around the plantations but also in more remote mountainous regions of the islands of Hispaniola, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, Cimarron culture is regarded as a “culture of the drum,” bearing a striking resemblance to the aboriginal African rhythms but nonetheless uniquely Afro-American. Afro-Caribbean music is not only important as an integrating, democratic force, it also at times displays a voice’ challenging and defying hegemony.
Week No. 6: Fixing what’s broken: America’s Place in the World
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Live at 6:00 pm
This event is free and open to the public.
Even as President Biden moved swiftly to re-engage allies by rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, addressing the G-7 and Munich Security Conference, and announcing plans to host a “Summit for Democracy,” his declaration that “America is back” has been met with cautious optimism at best and even outright skepticism. Join the conversation with our panel of foreign policy experts as we examine the many challenges, crises, and opportunities that the Biden Administration faces in determining America’s role in a rapidly changing world order.
This event continues a new spring series, No. 46: Examining the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration, that focuses on the most important developments in the early days of the Biden Administration. Guest speakers over the semester examine the ability of the 46th President and his team to affect change in some of the most vital policy areas that impact all of us.
Join us as four fascinating storytellers grace the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University Zoom stage:
Catherine Filloux, award-winning playwright, human rights and social justice advocate, Alicia Partnoy, acclaimed poet, memoirist, scholar, survivor, and human rights activist, Mu Sochua, outspoken and respected Cambodian politician who has dedicated her life to fighting for women’s rights and democracy in Southeast Asia, and Amira Al- Sharif, Yemeni photojournalist who in her nearly two-decade career has documented the multi-cultural lives of women, the beauty in ordinary daily life, and the horror of a long raging and brutal war.
Week 3
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Live via Zoom at 4:00 pm
This event is free and open to the public.
Behind the Lens: Unveiling Misconceptions and Documenting the War with Amira Al-Sharif
In her nearly two-decade career as a photojournalist, Yemeni photographer Amira Al-Sharif documented the multi-cultural lives of women, the beauty in ordinary daily life, and now the horror of a long-raging and brutal war. Through stunning images of her beloved country of Yemen, Amira bears witness to what has been termed “the worst man-made humanitarian crisis in the world.” In this conversation, Amira will talk about her life-long bond with the camera, her work to unveil misconceptions, and her struggles to keep documenting the lived experiences, while finding glimmers of hope, in a place consumed by conflict and suffering. Using the lens of her camera, and unlocking her “bitter-sweet” memories, Amira relives her artistic mission to rescue “the fleeting, hiding, or missing scenes” from her journey as a war photographer.
Speaker and Moderator (Click on their name to view their bio)
As we begin to inch closer to the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel and with the passage of “The American Rescue Plan,” President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package and first big legislative win, where does the economy stand? Which groups and sectors have been most ravaged by the Covid economy and what will be the impact of this newest measure from Congress? How long will “recovery” take and what will a post-pandemic economy and the future of work look like? Join us as we take a deeper dive into these questions, the answers to which will impact all of us, but in very different ways.
This event continues a new spring series, No. 46: Examining the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration, that focuses on the most important developments in the early days of the Biden Administration. Guest speakers over the semester examine the ability of the 46th President and his team to affect change in some of the most vital policy areas that impact all of us.
Join us as four fascinating storytellers grace the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University Zoom stage:
Catherine Filloux, award-winning playwright, human rights and social justice advocate, Alicia Partnoy, acclaimed poet, memoirist, scholar, survivor, and human rights activist, Mu Sochua, outspoken and respected Cambodian politician who has dedicated her life to fighting for women’s rights and democracy in Southeast Asia, and Amira Al- Sharif, Yemeni photojournalist who in her nearly two-decade career has documented the multi-cultural lives of women, the beauty in ordinary daily life, and the horror of a long raging and brutal war.
WEEK 2
Thursday, March 11, 2021 When Two Voices Aren’t Enough with Alicia Partnoy Live via Zoom at 7:00 pm This event is free and open to the public.
When we say that poems and stories move us, we usually mean that they make us feel more deeply, or that they open us up to new knowledge or new ways of thinking. Alicia Partnoy, acclaimed poet, memoirist, scholar, and human rights activist and the author of the book, The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival, which chronicles her abduction from her home in Argentina by secret police and her imprisonment and torture at a concentration camp, joins pioneering women’s studies scholar Amy Kaminsky in conversation as they discuss how poetry and storytelling are not just solitary practices. They are critical elements in the struggle for human rights, for survival, and for justice. They call on readers to become participants, to raise their own voices in solidarity.
Join us as four fascinating storytellers grace the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University Zoom stage: Catherine Filloux, award-winning playwright, human rights and social justice advocate, Alicia Partnoy, esteemed poet, author, survivor, and professor of modern languages, Loyola Marymount University, Mu Sochua, outspoken and respected Cambodian politician who has dedicated her life to fighting for women’s rights and democracy in Southeast Asia, and Amira Al-Sharif, Yemeni photojournalist who in her nearly two-decade career has documented the multi-cultural lives of women, the beauty in ordinary daily life, and the horror of a long-raging and brutal war.
Week 1: Thursday, March 4, 2021 with Catherine Filloux and Mu Sochua Live via Zoom at 7:00 pm THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
“turning your body into a compass” Catherine Filloux is an award-winning playwright who has been writing plays about human rights and social justice for over twenty-five years. The evening will include Filloux’s work both in the U.S. and in Cambodia. She will discuss her web play “turning your body into a compass” about children and deportation in the U.S., performed live as a 360° online experience. She will also share her work addressing issues of memory and complicity in relation to the experiences of Cambodians who suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Filloux will be joined by Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Mu Sochua, the Cambodian politician and rights activist. The moderator is Alexa Jordan, a playwright, and actress who served as associate producer and outreach coordinator on “turning your body into a compass.”
Learn more about our program participants. (Click their names for more information)
No. 46: Examining the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Live at 6:00 pm
This event is free and open to the public.
President Biden has promised an all-hands-on-deck approach to tackling climate change, which he has described as an existential threat. He has created two new positions in the National Security Agency with an exclusive focus on climate, internationally and domestically. He has infused ecology in the portfolios of directors of agencies not typically associated with these issues, such as National Intelligence, Defense, and Treasury. Finally, he has taken swift action during his first weeks in office to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, revoke the permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and order the review of hundreds of executive orders harmful to the environment. Will these steps make progress? Will a deeply divided Congress be able to act decisively and swiftly in order to take the necessary steps, along with the rest of the world, to slow, stop or reverse climate change? Join us as we discuss the promises and obstacles to achieving Biden’s climate agenda.
No. 46: Examining the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration
Thursday, February 11, 2021
LIVE 6 PM
This event is free and open to the public.
The last four divisive years follow decades of frustration from a lack of progress for racial justice and gender equity. Anger has moved the debate into the streets, most notably with the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement and #MeToo protests sometimes met with opposition from far-right and white supremacist groups holding their own rallies and spurring on riots.
President Biden has made ambitious promises to address the country’s polarization born out of discrimination and inequality. The early days of his Administration have featured a down payment on this promise with a flurry of executive actions and the record-setting pace for creating his own team, but can he bring about more lasting change with the help of Congress? Can he change the hearts and minds of Americans at large? Join us as we discuss the problems, the promises, and the possibilities of Biden’s “Equity Agenda.”
Week 4:The Economics of Pandemic Disruption
