Past Events
Who is President Biden appointing to key senior leadership and cabinet positions and what does this tell us about the administration’s policy priorities and strategies? How quickly can Biden address one of President Trump’s legacies – four years of a concerted effort to deconstruct the administrative state? How does the Biden transition compare to previous ones? In this conversation, we survey the obstacles and opportunities Biden’s team has and discuss how the actions taken in the first few months will impact his ambitious policy agenda.
This event is part of a new spring series that will focus on the most important developments in the early days of the Biden Administration. Guest speakers over the Spring semester will 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.
Presented by the Suffolk University Department of Political Science & Legal Studies, in collaboration with the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University and hosted by GBH’s Forum Network
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS
Meena Bose, PhD
Roger Fisk
Martha Kumar, PHD
Stephanie Murray
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Past Events
Week 3: Thursday, October 29, 2020
Live at 7:00 pm
THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Too Fat For China follows Phoebe Potts, a comic storyteller, and a self-described “professional Jew” as she tries, fails, and eventually succeeds to adopt a baby. Potts is the daughter of journalists from Brooklyn, where everyone was indignant before breakfast and stories were the currency of relationships. After a U.S. adoption goes horribly wrong, Potts finds herself surprised, disgusted, and ultimately resigned to the role she plays as a middle-class white woman in the business of adopting babies in the U.S. and internationally. Potts’ tragicomic journey is about looking for more – more love, more life, and more family. She will do anything to get it, including having her morals and values fold in on themselves. With humor and honesty, Potts tells the story of the terrible things she did for love. The evening’s moderator is Dr. Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber, associate professor, Communication, Journalism, and Media Department, Suffolk University.
Learn more about Phoebe Potts
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Learn more about Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber
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THIS VIRTUAL SERIES IS PRODUCED BY WGBH FORUM NETWORK.
Past Events
Past Events, Uncategorized
A Virtual Three-Week Storytelling Series
Beyond Borders: Women’s Stories and the Art of Bearing Witness
Join us in October as four fascinating storytellers talk to three Suffolk University professors via Zoom. Laura Levitt, professor, Religion, Jewish Studies and Gender, Temple University, Alba Jaramillo, executive director, Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors and nationally recognized human rights and social justice advocate, Patricia Davis, noted author, poet, and playwright, and Phoebe Potts, director, Family Learning, Sylvia Cohen Religious School, memoirist, and comic. These four captivating women will share their work, which bears witness to struggles about human rights, memory, belonging, and love.
Week Two: October 15, 2020
Live at 7:00 pm
THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Alba Jaramillo and Patricia Davis talk about Digna. Written by Patricia Davis, the one-woman play starring Jaramillo follows Digna Ochoa, a prominent Mexican human rights lawyer who suffered torturous attacks following her defense of environmentalist peasants in Mexico. By the age of 37, she had met President Clinton, became close to the Kennedy family, and won a MacArthur Fellowship and the Amnesty International’s Enduring Spirit Award. In 2001, she was killed in her Mexico City office. In the play, Digna comes back from the dead in response to the worsening human rights crisis in Mexico. Jaramillo, an immigrant, human rights lawyer, and activist herself, plays the role of Digna with conviction, passion, and self-reflection. In telling her story and confronting her own doubts, Digna finds her strength and courage as she invites us to find our own. The evening’s moderator is Iani Moreno, PhD, associate professor, World Languages and Cultural Studies Department, Suffolk University.
THIS VIRTUAL SERIES IS PRODUCED BY WGBH FORUM NETWORK
Past Events
Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, WGBH Forum Network, the Communication, Journalism & Media and World Languages & Cultural Studies departments, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the Global and Cultural Studies Program at Suffolk University present:
A Virtual Three-Week Storytelling Series
Beyond Borders: Women’s Stories and the Art of Bearing Witness
Join us in October as four fascinating storytellers talk to three Suffolk University professors via Zoom. Laura Levitt, professor, Religion, Jewish Studies and Gender, Temple University, Alba Jaramillo, executive director, Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors and nationally recognized human rights and social justice advocate, Patricia Davis, noted author, poet, and playwright, and Phoebe Potts, director, Family Learning, Sylvia Cohen Religious School, memoirist, and comic. These four captivating women will share their work, which bears witness to struggles about human rights, memory, belonging, and love.
October 1, 2020
Live at 7:00 pm
For PDF flyer click here
Please register to join the conversation, click here
The Objects That Remain is Laura Levitt’s memoir and fascinating examination of the ways in which the material remains of violent crimes inform our thinking about trauma and loss. Considering artifacts in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and evidence in police storage facilities across the country, Levitt’s story moves between intimate trauma, the story of an unsolved rape, and genocide. She asks what it might mean to do justice to these violent pasts outside the justice system or through historical accounts. The evening’s moderator is Barbara Abrams, associate professor and director, Global and Cultural Studies program, Suffolk University.
October 15, 2020
Live at 7:00 pm
Alba Jaramillo and Patricia Davis talk about Digna. Written by Patricia Davis, the one-woman play follows Digna Ochoa, played by Alba Jaramillo, a prominent Mexican human rights lawyer who suffered torturous attacks following her defense of environmentalist peasants in Mexico. By the age of 37 she had met President Clinton, became close to the Kennedy family, and won a MacArthur Fellowship and the Amnesty International’s Enduring Spirit award. In 2001, she was killed in her Mexico City office. In the play Digna comes back from the dead in response to the worsening human rights crisis in Mexico. Jaramillo, an immigrant, human rights lawyer and activist herself, plays the role of Digna with conviction, passion and self-reflection. In telling her story and confronting her own doubts, Digna finds her strength and courage as she invites us to find our own. The evening’s moderator is Iani Moreno, associate professor, World Languages and Cultural Studies Department, Suffolk University.
October 29, 2020
Live at 7:00 pm
Too Fat For China: follows Phoebe Potts, comic storyteller and a self-described “professional Jew” as she tries, fails and eventually succeeds to adopt a baby. Potts is the daughter of journalists from Brooklyn, where everyone was indignant before breakfast and stories were the currency of relationships. After a U.S. adoption goes horribly wrong, Potts finds herself surprised, disgusted and ultimately resigned to the role she plays as a middle-class white lady in the business of adopting babies in the U.S. and internationally. Potts’ tragicomic journey is about looking for more – more love, more life, and more family. She will do anything to get it, including having her morals and values fold in on themselves. With humor and honesty, Potts tells the story of the terrible things she did for love. The evening’s moderator is Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber, associate professor, Communication, Journalism, and Media Department, Suffolk University.
Past Events
Alba Jaramillo is one of Arizona’s community leaders in the area of social justice and human rights and the arts. Alba holds a Juris Doctor from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and Bachelor of Arts in theatre arts and anthropology from the University of Arizona. Her background in theatre arts and law and her experience as an activist and community organizer for immigrant rights promoted her to create Teatro Dignidad, a theater company in Tucson that produces plays that promotes human rights.
Alba also has 20 years of experience in building programs to raise awareness about gender-based violence, immigrant rights, and human rights. She was the youngest executive director in the country serving as a statewide director for Virginia’s sexual and domestic violence coalition. Alba has created programs that has serve hundreds of immigrants. Currently she is the Executive Director of Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors, a non-profit organization that provides legal services and advocacy for immigrants and asylum seekers.
Blog, Past Events
Join us for a conversation with Tim Phillips, Founder and CEO, Beyond Conflict and Scott Warren, CEO, Generation Citizen and a Visiting Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. The evening’s moderator is Michal Ben-Joseph Hirsch, Assistant Professor, Political Science & Legal Studies Department, Suffolk University.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Live at 7:00 pm
THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Deepening toxic polarization in the United States is a profound threat to the American people and the very core of American democracy. After 30 years of working around the globe to bring peace and reconciliation to deeply divided societies, Beyond Conflict launched an unprecedented research project in 2018, the Beyond Conflict Polarization Index™, with leading brain and behavioral scientists to assess the psychological factors that fuel polarization. The study found a consistent pattern across measures: Americans incorrectly believe that members of the other party dehumanize, dislike, and disagree with them about twice as much as they actually do. These false perceptions about the other side are correlated with outcomes that are consequential for democracy and represent a new degree of toxic polarization in America.
Using the unique approach of shared experience, Phillips has helped catalyze the peace and reconciliation processes in several nations, including Northern Ireland, El Salvador, and South Africa. Now leading initiatives in the U.S., Phillips will present the key findings of Beyond Conflict’s study. Warren’s organization, Generation Citizen, is one of the preeminent civics education organizations in the country, promoting Action Civics across diverse geographies through best-in-class programming and concrete policy change.
REGISTER NOW TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION
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LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PANELISTS
Timothy Phillips
Scott Warrren
READ THE FULL REPORT
https://beyondconflictint.org/americas-divided-mind/
Past Events
In Massachusetts, federal and state civil rights laws prohibit housing discrimination based on race and source of income, among other factors. Suffolk University’s study, however, demonstrates that high levels of discrimination based upon both of those classes are occurring. The fieldwork for this study was conducted at a time of keen focus on the lack of affordable housing in Greater Boston and the threat that crisis poses to our region’s continued prosperity. The analysis shows that just as important as supply is the issue of access to existing and new housing for all. Housing access is critical for health and safety and we are at a point where the impact of lack of access is on full display. The coronavirus pandemic and all of its fallout have underscored the ties between housing and health. The continued killing of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color by law enforcement and the nationwide protests that have been occurring since the brutal killing of George Floyd have intensified awareness of systemic racism and inequity in America. This study offers further evidence of the entrenchment of discrimination and the unequal application of rights, with its close examination of Boston’s rental housing practices.
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Live @ 7pm
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND FREE EVENT
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Past Events
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. It’s size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes—from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive—are all in question. In this survey course, we will consider the challenges of governing, campaigning, and administering elections during a pandemic
This week, our panel of experts will explore what may come next as the pandemic progresses, including the future of climate, politics, economics, social justice, and popular mobilization. Further, we will examine who may emerge from this massive inflection point as winners or losers. Finally, we will tackle the concept of crisis as an opportunity to fundamentally re-imagine and address some of the massive issues we face as a community, a nation, and a global society. Whether you are optimistic or pessimistic about the future, we hope you will join us for the final program of our series as we attempt to look to the future.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Live at 4:00 pm
THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE CONVERSATION
Past Events
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. Its size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes – from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive – are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
The idea that a pandemic was a threat to National Security has not been in doubt for many years. The real questions were when, in what form, how bad and how do we prepare? As we cope with the ravages of COVID-19, new questions emerge: Will the world after COVID be more or less dangerous? Will the U.S. role in the world be more important, or less? How can we best protect the integrity and safety of our elections during this crisis and, by extension, the integrity of our democracy? How do we best protect the most vulnerable among us, retain readiness to deal with other crises, and prevent economic insecurity from fueling destabilization, desperation and disruption? Our discussion this week will examine how the pandemic is changing the landscape of National Security.
Please register click here
JOIN US FOR THE CONVERSATION
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Past Events, Uncategorized
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. Its size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes – from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive – are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
The idea that a pandemic was a threat to National Security has not been in doubt for many years. The real questions were when, in what form, how bad and how do we prepare? As we cope with the ravages of COVID-19, new questions emerge: Will the world after COVID be more or less dangerous? Will the U.S. role in the world be more important, or less? How can we best protect the integrity and safety of our elections during this crisis and, by extension, the integrity of our democracy? How do we best protect the most vulnerable among us, retain readiness to deal with other crises, and prevent economic insecurity from fueling destabilization, desperation and disruption? Our discussion this week will examine how the pandemic is changing the landscape of National Security.
Blog, Past Events
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. Its size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes-from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive-are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
The pandemic has raised anew issues in which policy makers must address several key tensions: privacy, individual rights and the public’s right to know; individual freedom versus quarantine; who is liable when coronavirus is contracted. At a time when we are discussing freedom and individual rights, the protests over the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others have raised America’s “other pandemic” — the long history of racism, discrimination, and the denial of basic rights and freedoms to minorities living in the United States.m,
To Register {Click Here}
Past Events
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Live 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Past Events
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. Its size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes-from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive-are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
Times of crisis require governments to cooperate and coordinate large-scale responses. Yet Congress and President Trump are inherently partisan actors in a federal system who must negotiate competing pressures of obtaining concrete results for constituents, while also not being seen as being too accommodating of political rivals. What have been the main takeaways from the politics of legislating in the era of COVID-19 pandemic? How have motives of major actors shifted or changed and how has this impacted the federal response? Does President Trump still dominate the GOP and what electoral outcomes might we see in November, given what current polling, favorability ratings, and climbing COVID cases and deaths tell us?
Wednesday, July 29th
LIVE 4 PM
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PLEASE REGISTER TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Click Here to Register
Past Events
The COVID -19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. It’s size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes—from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive—are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having devastating consequences for countries around the world. Refugees and migrants face challenges similar to, but even more dire than those of many of their host populations. Already impacted by a massive disruption in their lives, including greater levels of food insecurity, poverty, and woefully inadequate access to essential services that would help mitigate the health crisis, refugees and migrants face a grim future. Unfortunately, these fragile populations are often invisible in their suffering. Will COVID expose these issues? Will the crisis fuel greater conflict around the world as prices rise and incomes fall? Will the crisis transform into a call to action to increase health and social protections?
Wednesday, July 22nd
LIVE 4 PM
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PLEASE REGISTER TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Click Here to Register
Past Events
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. Its size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes-from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive-are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
Many argue that the Trump Doctrine in foreign policy has been characterized by a retreat from global leadership in multilateral institutions, abandonment of traditional diplomacy, strained relationships with allies, and an enhanced projection of military strength. The response to coronavirus pandemic has been similar; an insistence on going solo. What have been the costs and consequences of an over-reliance of the militarization of US policy abroad and at home? What role should the military play in U.S. democracy and how has the pandemic impacted our ability to respond to national security threats, both traditional and new, such as COVID-19 and climate change?
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
LIVE 4 PM
Click Here For PDF Flyer
PLEASE REGISTER TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Click Here To Register
Past Events
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. It’s size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes-from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive-are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
This week, McGovern will sit down with Fisk to examine the changing landscape of governing, serving constituents, and running for office in a time of the global pandemic. McGovern and Fisk will explore how has Congress adapted to manage its business during the major crises facing the nation: COVID-19, its economic impact, and the growing movement for social justice. They also will explore to what extent new rules have impacted this vital work, what challenges Congress faces in responding to unprecedented times, and what will be the most likely next steps. They also will discuss what a virtual campaign looks like and how all of this will impact voting in remaining primaries and November’s General Election.
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Past Events
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. It’s size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes-from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive-are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
Distribution of information in this global crisis plays a powerful role in shaping public understanding and behavior. The novelty of the virus itself means that scientific knowledge rapidly evolves and shifts based on new data. Where, how, and from whom do people get their information and misinformation? What impact does such information have on behavior?
Join us as we consider the challenges of reporting on and conveying “good” information about the pandemic to the general public. A panel of experts – Jonas Kaiser, Jennifer Kavanagh, and Felice Fryer – will examine the rapid decline in trust in public institutions, public figures, and the media and discuss the resulting impact on the health of not only citizens but of their democracy.
FOR PDF FLYER {CLICK HERE}
TO REGISTER AND TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION
https://wgbh.zoom.us/webinar/register/3215929566140/WN_50EGqNAoSU2dbqmLZq5qtQ
Past Events
The Covid-19 pandemic is a global event unlike any other experienced in the contemporary era. It’s size, scope, reach, and implications are enormous, ongoing, and unequal. Outcomes-from how people all over the world will live their daily lives to whether democracy will survive-are all in question.
Come into our virtual classroom to delve deeper into the pandemic-related themes we will explore in this survey course for everyone.
Mahrukh Doctor, Vivien Schmidt, and Sebastián Royo, all experts with a global focus, will discuss the differential impact of the pandemic around the world, and the differential responses across nations, comparing countries, regions, and states in the context of democracy, populism, public trust, and compliance.
This Suffolk University lecture series presented with Ford Hall Forum and WGBH is designed to be a broad survey of themes most of interest to political scientists and public policy experts and is part of a novel online summer course for incoming Suffolk students.
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Blog, Past Events
In this moment of sorrow and rage, Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University mourns the death of George Floyd, a tragedy for his children, siblings, his friends, our nation, and the world. The Forum recognizes also the violent deaths of many others, among them Breonna Taylor,
Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Shaun Fuhr, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice. Insidious violence inflicted upon Black men, women, and children has continued for over 400 years.
Join us in September for the start of the new Ford Hall Forum program year, where we will engage in forums exploring social justice and human rights issues. Among the topics we seek to explore are the policing of Black men and women, the roots of American protest, the pandemic, the 2020 election, and economic, education, and health disparities among Black and Latinx Americans. The nation is on the precipice of a tipping point, and the only way to make it over the enormous hurdles that lie ahead is to have the difficult conversations to learn, to grow, and to advocate for change. That is what Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University does best.
