March 26, 2019, 6-7:30 p.m., Sargent Hall, Fifth Floor Commons, 120 Tremont Street, Boston
Author Frye Gaillard will discuss his recent book, A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence. Frye Gaillard has given us a deeply personal history, bringing his keen storyteller’s eye to this pivotal time in American life. He explores the competing story arcs of tragedy and hope through the political and social movements of the times ― civil rights, black power, women’s liberation, the War in Vietnam, and the protests against it. But he also examines the cultural manifestations of change ― music, literature, art, religion, and science ― and so we meet not only the Brothers Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, but also Gloria Steinem, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Harper Lee, Mister Rogers, James Baldwin, Andy Warhol, Billy Graham, George Wallace, Richard Nixon, Angela Davis, Barry Goldwater,and the Beatles. The evening’s moderator is Robert Poulton, Vice President, Marketing & Branding, NBC10 Boston, NECN & Telemundo Boston.
“A Hard Rain is essential reading for a time when an American president has willfully ignored the hard-earned lessons from our passage through the most tumultuous decade of social change since the Civil War.”
~Howell Raines, former executive editor, The New York Times, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Old North Church Speaker Series presented in partnership with Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University: LECTURE + COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
Populism and Nationalism: What We Can Do to Strengthen Our Democracy, a lecture by John Shattuck, foreign affairs and human rights expert.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Old North Church,
193 Salem Street,
Boston MA 02113
Populist discontent with democracy is on the rise. We see examples of this dissatisfaction in the economic and cultural rebellions of people feeling threatened by globalization and shut out by elites. John Shattuck, foreign affairs and human rights expert, will examine how that discontent is being manipulated by opportunistic politicians in the US and Europe. These political figures claim they can fix the situation by strengthening nationalism, which often translates into weakening democratic institutions and centralizing power. How does that affect our global and domestic communities? What are the potential sources of resilience of our democracy, and what can we do as citizens to save it?
Afterwards, join us for a reception and Community Conversation, co-facilitated by Shattuck and Brian Conley, Ph.D., for an intimate discussion on the necessity of active citizenship and the role individuals play in governmental shifts.
John Shattuckis Professor of Practice in Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, specializing in transatlantic affairs and US foreign policy, and Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, focusing on the contemporary crisis of democracy in the US and Europe. Previously, he served as the President of Central European University in Budapest, Hungary (2009-2016), the CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and the US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Clinton. From 1984 to 1993 Shattuck was a Vice-President at Harvard University and taught at the Harvard Law School. His many publications include Freedom on Fire, a study of the international response to genocide and crimes against humanity, Rights of Privacy, and articles on higher education, human rights, foreign affairs, and international security.
Brian M. Conley, PhD, is the Director of Graduate Studies and an Associate Professor in the Government Department at Suffolk University in Boston. His principal research and teaching interests are in the areas of political parties, the US electoral politics, political marketing and communication. His research and writing have appeared in the Studies in American Political Development, American Review of Politics, the Journal of American Studies and Political Science Quarterly as well as in numerous political anthologies on US politics. In 2014, he edited, with Kenneth Cosgrove and Jennifer Lees-Marshment, Political Marketing in the United States for Routledge. Current research projects include a book with Routledge examining the rise of the conservative Right within the Republican Party between Goldwater and Trump. Conley’s new forthcoming book, The Rise of the Republican Right: From Goldwater to Reagan, will be released in May 2019. Conley received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the New School for Social Research in New York City.
April 10, 2019, 6-7:30 p.m., Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Street, Boston
An Evening with Former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Margaret Marshall, the first woman to serve in the position, one that she held from 1999 until she retired in 2010. During her tenure, she worked to ensure equal access to justice for all, including our most vulnerable populations.
Born and educated in South Africa, Marshall actively opposed the apartheid regime, and served as the President of the National Union of South African students, a leading anti-apartheid organization. In 1968, she came to the United States on an academic scholarship. Unable to return home because of her political activism, she graduated from Harvard University with a master’s degree in education and Yale Law School, and worked in private practice until the 1990s. From her early days in South Africa, Marshall has been a defender of human rights and equality for all individuals, as reflected in her judicial decisions. Margery Eagan, co-host of WGBH’s midday program Boston Public Radio, will serve as the evening’s moderator.
Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University invites you to an evening with Marty Baron, Executive Editor, The Washington Post, and former Editor, The Boston Globe, as we honor him with the Forum’s First Amendment Award.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Sargent Hall, Fifth Floor Sky Lounge and Commons
120 Tremont Street, Boston
5:00-6:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception with Baron. The Forum also will recognize Charles Tsectares for his 43-year tenure as a Ford Hall Forum Advisory Council member.
6:00-7:30 p.m. First Amendment Award Ceremony and a conversation with Baron. The evening’s moderator is Meghna Chakrabarti, award-winning host and producer of WBUR’s On Point.
The Forum recognizes Baron for his powerful and fearless defense of the First Amendment and the free press. Baron’s relentless pursuit of the truth over his storied career, and his stalwart defense of journalists especially in these turbulent times for the Fourth Estate, have resulted in impactful and important journalism, with implications for years to come. For more information click here [PDF].
The cocktail reception is a paid event. The Forum is free and open to the public.
About Marty Baron
Martin “Marty” Baron became Executive Editor of The Washington Post in January 2013. Newsrooms under his leadership have won 14 Pulitzer Prizes, including seven at The Post. Under Baron’s leadership, the Post has won four prizes. Previously, Baron was the Editor of The Boston Globe. During his 11 ½ year tenure, The Globe won six Pulitzer prizes. The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service was awarded to the Globe in 2003 for its investigation into clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Church, coverage portrayed years later in the Academy Award-winning movie “Spotlight.” Prior to the Globe, Baron held top editing positions at The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald. Under his leadership, the Miami Herald won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Coverage for its coverage of the raid to recover Elián González, the Cuban boy at the center of a fierce immigration and custody dispute.
January 23, 2019, 6:00-7:30 p.m., Sargent Hall, Fourth Floor Moot Courtroom, 120 Tremont Street, Boston. Please join Shoshana Zuboff, Harvard Business School professor emerita, upon the publication of her latest book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power and moderator Christopher Lydon, radio host of WBUR’s Open Source.
The challenge to humanity posed by corporations that predict and control our behavior with our data. The Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal was just a glimpse of the ways big tech companies exploit personal data without our knowledge, and how those data are used to shape our behavior. Our challenge now is to move past the shock and revulsion to ask the most important question of our time: Will we be the masters of the information age or will it master us?
The Age of Surveillance Capitalismreveals what is at stake for our digital future and how we can reclaim control by harnessing the power of indignant citizens, journalists and policymakers. Finally, we have the book that will lift the lid off of this hidden territory in a comprehensive geography, seven years in the making: its economics, operations, secrets, power, plan for society, consequences for humanity. This is the map we have been waiting for to point us forward.
“A masterpiece of rare conceptual daring, beautifully written and deeply urgent. — Robert B. Reich
January 25, 2019, 8:00-10 p.m. Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street, Boston
Babylon: Journeys of Refugees, created and performed by the acclaimed Sandglass Theater and presented by Puppet Showplace Theater and Suffolk University.
Following the performance, Ford Hall Forum will host a discussion featuring Eric Bass, Sandglass Co-Artistic Director and Babylon director; Ragini Shah, Suffolk University clinical professor of law and founder and director of Suffolk’s Immigration Clinic; Rev. Amy L. Fisher, director of the Suffolk University Interfaith Center and the University’s chaplain and contributing author of Displaced Persons: Theological Reflection On Immigration, Refugees, And Marginalization; and moderator Iani Moreno, PhD, associate professor, Suffolk University Department World Languages & Cultural Studies.
This new production looks at the relationship of refugees to their homelands, lost and new, and the conflicts that exist within the American communities where they have fled. The tour of Babylon is supported by The National Endowment for the Arts and The Jim Henson Foundation, among others.
Babylon, is an ancient city in what is now Iraq. This fallen mythic civilization becomes a metaphor for the destruction and destabilization that is leading much of the world into a refugee crisis of mythic proportions. Sandglass Theater’s new production is a response to this crisis. Working with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, Sandglass Theater looked at the relationship of refugees to their homelands, lost and new. Sandglass artists interviewed resettled refugees in order to gain first hand insight into their plight, trauma, and the challenges of resettlement. This is a vital conversation in all communities, whether they are directly impacted by newly resettled refugees or not.
Using puppets and moving panoramic scrolls, Sandglass tells the refugees’ stories in original four-part choral songs. The artists work with simple means, not much more than someone could carry with them as they flee. In Babylon, the blending of actual testimony with unreal figures gives audiences a startlingly new perspective into how we can respond to the enormity of this crisis.
The Sandglass Theater and Babylon residency is made possible through the collaboration of Puppet Showplace Theater and Suffolk University’s Ford Hall Forum and Theatre Department.
January 31, 2019, 9:00-5:00 p.m., Sargent Hall, 120 Tremont Street, Boston
Public Domain Day, so-sponsored with the Suffolk University Law School.
In January 2019, for the first time since the passage of the Copyright Term Extension Act in 1998, works will enter the public domain in the United States due to the expiration of the copyright term. This event celebrates the legal and public policy rationale behind copyright limits and the public domain, as well as the creativity of those individuals whose works will soon enter the public domain. We’ll be talking about Virginia Woolf, Charlie Chaplin, Man Ray, Hemingway, the future of copyright law and much more. Speakers include Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Cunningham and Professor Lawrence Lessig, public domain advocate and founder of Creative Commons.
February 6, 2019, 6:00-7:30 p.m., Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street, Boston
“The Enemy of the People? Freedom of the Press and Democracy,” A conversation with Suffolk University English Department Chair Bryan Trabold and Marjorie Pritchard, Deputy Managing Editor, Editorial Page, The Boston Globe.
In response to President Trump’s vilification of the media, The Boston Globe recently coordinated an initiative with newspaper editorial boards from across the country to promote the vital role that a free press plays in sustaining democracy. This forum will examine why The Boston Globe felt compelled to respond to President Trump’s attacks, the public response to this editorial initiative, and the challenges for journalists operating in this current climate.
It will also situate The Boston Globe’s resistance within broader historical and international contexts. What is the relationship between this editorial initiative to the long struggle for freedom of expression in the United States? How do President Trump’s efforts to discredit and undermine an independent press compare with other countries, such as the apartheid regime in South Africa, or the current governments in Turkey, Russia, and Hungary?
These are particularly timely questions to consider. As The Boston Globe noted in its editorial that was part of this larger national conversation, “The greatness of America is dependent on the role of a free press to speak the truth to the powerful.”
Bryan Trabold is an Associate Professor of English and department chair at Suffolk University, and a Research Associate at the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre, University of Johannesburg. His recently released book from the University of Pittsburgh Press, Rhetorics of Resistance: Opposition Journalism in Apartheid South Africa, examines the tactics of resistance developed by those working for the Weekly Mail and New Nation published in South Africa in the mid-and late 1980s. Trabold has also published articles in South African Historical Journal, African Journalism Studies, College English, and College Composition and Communication.
Marjorie Pritchard is the deputy managing editor of The Boston Globe, where she oversees the Globe’s opinion page. She edits Globe staff columnists and regular contributors as well as commissioned pieces from thought leaders around the country.
Sargent Hall Fifth Floor Commons, 120 Tremont Street, Boston
War and Conflict through the Lens of the Camera
Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalists Greg Marinovich and Craig F. Walker have captured the horrors and the humanity, the tragedy and the toll of war and conflicts through their photography. In very different conflicts, each has confronted risk, including to themselves, to shed light on the realities of war and geopolitical conflict by powerfully documenting individual stories. Their work displays both the inhumanity and the humanity of conflict, and searches for meaning. Theirs are photographs that stop us in our tracks. They are images that shed light on events happening half a world away, yet they also have an effect on us. They make each story personal and real and bring those stories home in a way that only a fantastic split second image can.
Join the Ford Hall Forum for a conversation with two award-winning photojournalists as they discuss their work, and the individual and human stories they have documented in the midst of conflict.
Many years after the American Revolution, John Adams reflected on the 1761 speech by James Otis against writs of assistance. “Otis demonstrated the illegality, the unconstitutionality, the iniquity and inhumanity of that writ in so clear a manner, that every man appeared to me to go away ready to take up arms against it,” Adams wrote. “Then and there,” he said, “the child Independence was born.” This presentation will offer a reexamination of the writs of assistance speech by James Otis, testing Adams’s claim about its importance. Did the Revolution begin with the writs of assistance trial? To answer that question, we will review the purpose and function of writs of assistance within the political, legal, and economic environment of colonial Massachusetts, and discuss the constitutional dispute over writs of assistance in the 1761 trial. With a more complete understanding of Otis’s speech, what can we conclude about his influence on colonial opposition to British rule, and about his impact on American legal development in the areas of constitutional protection against unreasonable search, and with regard to the practice of judicial review of legislative action?
Afterwards, join us for a reception and Community Conversationwith the speaker and Assistant Clinical Professor of Law Christina A. Miller (Suffolk University)for an intimate discussion about the parallels between the writs of assistance and the parameters of search and seizure law as it is developing in the modern world.
A Conversation about New England’s Conflicted Past
Please join us Thursday, October 25th from 6-7:30pm for this free lecture at the Suffolk University Modern Theatre at 525 Washington St in Boston.
Public commemorations have become a difficult business in recent years, often provoking sharp conflict about the meaning and implications of the past. With the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival in Plymouth fast approaching, the Congregational Library & Archives, Suffolk University, and the Ford Hall Forum are sponsoring an important conversation about remembering and memorializing that event, bringing together leading scholars of Puritanism and Native American history.
Presenters:
Jean O’Brien, University of Minnesota, a White Earth Ojibwe and author of Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England (2010).
Lisa Blee, Wake Forest University, author of Framing Chief Leschi: Narratives and the Politics of Historical Justice (2014)
David D. Hall, Harvard Divinity School, author of A Reforming People: Puritanism and the Transformation of Pubic Life in New England (2011)
Marty Blatt, Professor of the Practice in History and Director of Public History Program at Northeastern
This is a program of New England Beginnings, co-sponsored by the Congregational Library & Archives, Suffolk University, and the Ford Hall Forum.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 4:00-6:00 PM Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street, Boston
Acclaimed Mexican playwright Hugo Salcedo will present a lecture titled “A Hermetically Sealed Boxcar…Now After 31 Years of Suffocation”/Un vagón de tren herméticamente cerrado… ya 31 años de asfixia.
The lecture will be followed by an introduction of the U.S.-Mexican border by Prof. Iani Moreno.
Laura Shink will then lead a staged dramatic reading of Salcedo’s play, El viaje de los cantores – “The Troubadours’ Journey” – a series of vignettes showing Mexican men attempting to cross the border into the U.S. and the women they left behind.
The reading will be followed by a discussion with the playwright.
“The Troubadours’ Journey” is based on a true infamous 1987 incident in which 18 Mexican men were horribly suffocated in a locked steel-walled boxcar while attempting to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexican border. Told in 10 scenes, most of which flash back to and flash forward from the actual event, the play is an impressionistic, nearly religious work lamenting not only the appalling loss of life, but the conditions that led up to it.
Monday, September 17, 2018, 5:30-7:00 p.m.,
Modern Theatre
“A Conversation on Mental Health with the Sports Community.” Congressman Joe Kennedy III and Trenni Kusnierek, NBC Sports Boston sports anchor and reporter, will co-host a forum discussion on mental health issues among professional athletes and the sports community. Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens and former NHL player Kevin Stevens will join the discussion.
Professional athletes are regarded as tough in our culture, and mental health complications are often seen as a contradiction to that narrative. Mental illness doesn’t choose who is affected, and in fact, one in five American adults experience a mental health issue in a given year, which means that professional athletes are just as susceptible as anyone else. Increasing numbers of sports stars are breaking barriers by talking about their mental health issues in the hopes that these very personal public testimonies will encourage others to reach out for help.
Our moderators and panelists will share personal stories and discuss efforts to remove the stigma of mental health in sports, how professional leagues and teams are addressing the issue, and what’s being done on the legislative level to improve access to treatment. Audience questions will be invited.
Noted pollster David Paleologos, Director, Suffolk University Political Research Center, will give a talk, “People Who Don’t Vote: Their Impact and Importance in the 2018 and 2020 Elections.” His presentation will focus on the unlikely and unregistered voter poll SUPRC released in April of this year. Mr. Paleologos will be joined by Rachael Cobb, Associate Professor and Chair, Government Department, an expert in American electoral politics and election administration.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 4:00-6:00 p.m., Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street, Boston
Acclaimed Mexican playwright Hugo Salcedo will lead a staged dramatic reading of his play, “El Viaje de los Cantores” – “The Troubadours’ Journey”- a series of vignettes showing Mexican men attempting to cross the border into the U.S. and the women they left behind. The reading will be followed by a discussion with the playwright.
The Troubadours’’ Journey is based on a true 1987 incident in which 18 Mexican men were horribly suffocated in a locked steel-walled boxcar while attempting illegal immigration to the U.S. Told in 10 scenes, most of which flash back to and flash forward from the actual event, the play is an impressionistic, nearly religious work lamenting not only the appalling loss of life, but the conditions that led up to it.
Is American democracy at risk? Daniel Ziblatt, Harvard political scientist and coauthor of The New York Times bestseller, “How Democracies Die,” will discuss how we can look to a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow to show how democracies die—and how ours can be saved. Professor Ziblatt’s talk will be followed by a panel of Suffolk scholars – Mona Al Amin, Brian Conley, Greg Fried, and Renee Landers – and will be moderated by Acting Provost Sebastian Royo.
Ziblatt’s teaching and research is in comparative politics, with a focus on democratization, state-building, historical political economy, and European politics.
The Ford Hall Forum will host a “How Democracies Die” fall book group, which will be moderated by Government Department Assistant Professor Christina Kulich-Vamvakas, and open to all Suffolk faculty, staff, and students.
Thursday, October 25, 2018, 6:00-7:30 p.m.,
Modern Theatre
Public commemorations have become a difficult business in recent years, often provoking sharp conflict about the meaning and implications of the past. With the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival in Plymouth fast approaching, the Congregational Library and Archives joins Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University in sponsoring an important conversation about remembering and memorializing that event, bringing together leading scholars of Puritanism and Native American history.
Presenters: Jean O’Brien, University of Minnesota, a White Earth Ojibwe and author of Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England (2010)
Lisa Blee, Wake Forest University, author of Framing Chief Leschi: Narratives and the Politics of Historical Justice (2014)
David D. Hall, Harvard Divinity School, author of A Reforming People: Puritanism and the Transformation of Pubic Life in New England (2011)
Marty Blatt, Professor of the Practice in History and Director of Public History Program at Northeastern
Bob Cousy and Bill Russell were an NBA duo turned dynasty, but the racial tensions of the Civil Rights Era divided them, scarring Russell with discrimination and Cousy with regret. During their seven seasons together, Cousy wishes he had spoken out publicly about the racism Russell faced in Boston and across the NBA. He also wishes he had privately pulled aside Russell, and told him, “Russ, I’ve got your back.” Is it possible at this late hour for Cooz to close the circle with Russ? With full access to Cousy, journalist Gary M. Pomerantz uncovers timely insights into today’s rise of racial tension in sports and broader society in his new book THE LAST PASS.
Little White Lie tells Lacey Schwartz’s story of growing up in a typical middle-class Jewish household in Woodstock, NY, with loving parents and a strong sense of her Jewish identity — that is until she discovers that her biological father is actually a black man with whom her mother had an affair. What defines our identity, our family of origin or the family that raises us? How do we come to terms with the sins and mistakes of our parents? Lacey discovers that answering those questions means understanding her parents’ own stories as well as her own. She pieces together her family history and the story of her dual identity using home videos, archival footage, interviews, and episodes from her own life. Little White Lie is a personal documentary about the legacy of family secrets, denial, and redemption.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
6:00–7:30 pm
MODERN THEATRE, 525 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON
with Executive Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police, Boston College and former
Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans, CEO and Founder of Beyond Conflict, Timothy Phillips, and moderator Dean Maria Toyoda, PhD, College of Arts and Sciences, Suffolk University
