[act-ma] Cambridge Forum Announces Spring 2008 Program Schedule

[Cambridge Forum]

Cambridge Forum
Winter-Spring 2008 Program Schedule
Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.  (unless otherwise noted **)
First Parish In Cambridge
3 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-2727
www.cambridgeforum.org

FREE and Open to the Public

The Medium and the Message: Communicating in the Digital Age

Cambridge Forum explores the many ways we communicate–across the globe, across time, across a room or a conference table. In person and in writing, through the arts, the press, advertising and the sound bite, using e-mail and instant messaging, we convey information and exchange ideas.  How have digital technologies affected our ability to communicate?  How do we balance the 21st century’s demands to convey information rapidly and flexibly with the enduring human quest for examining ideas and timeless truths?  How do we respond to the authorial or the authoritative voice in an interactive culture?

										
Wednesday
January 30	THE BULLDOZER AND THE BIG TENT: Recovering American Ideals*

		Todd Gitlin, professor of sociology and journalism at Columbia University and one-time president of SDS, brings his political insights to the 2008 presidential campaign on the eve of the February 5 super-primary. Why have Republicans been so much better than Democrats at getting and exercising power?

Book:		The Bulldozer and the Big Tent


Wednesday
February 6 	ENDING SLAVERY*

		International human rights worker and award-winning author Kevin Bales presents a 25-year plan to end global slavery and rebuild the lives of 27 million held in slavery today. What actions by governments, NGOs, businesses, and individuals are required to bring an end to more than 5,000 years of human bondage?

Book:		Ending Slavery


Friday
February 22	PLAN B 3.0:  Mobilizing to Save Civilization

		Environmental guru Lester Brown proposes a plan of action to address the challenges of climate change.  How can nations cut carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2020?  What are the economic and political prospects for mobilizing the world to achieve Plan B 3.0?  Co-sponsored by Tim Weiskel and Harvard Book Store.

Book:		Plan B 3.0:  Mobilizing to Save Civilization


Wednesday
March 19	GETTING A GRIP ON DEMOCRACY

		Visionary social activist Frances Moore Lappé challenges citizens to examine their underlying assumptions and think about fear, power, democracy and hope itself in new ways.  She argues that replacing a vicious “circle of powerlessness” with a virtuous “circle of empowerment” enables a democratic society to reach its full potential. Co-sponsored by Food For Free.

		6:30 reception precedes the program.

Book:		Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad 


Wednesday
March 26	TIBET: Lens on Human Rights in China


		Dr. Lobsang Sanjay, Senior Fellow of the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School, discusses Tibet.  Using Tibet’s status as a starting point for examining China’s commitment to human rights, Sanjay explores how Tibet’s situation illuminates shortcomings as well as strengths in international law and politics.  Co-sponsored by Mullane, Michel & McInnes, Counselors at Law.


Thursday
April 10	WRITING AGAINST THE GATEKEEPERS*	

		A panel of authors discuss the barriers to getting “dangerous” and important work published.  Co-sponsored by PEN-New England, as part of the Freedom to Write series.		

* A selection of books will be available.


Wednesday
April 16	BAD MONEY*

		Best-selling author and political analyst Kevin Phillips exposes the crisis of American capitalism.  How has the interaction among reckless financial dealings, excessive debt, worn-out politics and global over-reach creates an Achilles heel for U.S. national security?  What challenges does the threat of “bad money” pose for the 2008 presidential candidates?  And for the new administration in 2009?

Book:		Bad Money: Wreckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism


Friday, 8:00 p.m.
April 25	BAD RELIGION: Greg Graffin, Cultural Humanist

		Evolutionary biologist and punk rocker Greg Graffin receives the 2008 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism. The lead singer and songwriter for Bad Religion, arguably America’s most influential punk rock band of the past generation and professor of life sciences at UCLA, Graffin explores the philosophies underlying human creativity–in the sciences and in the arts. Co-sponsored by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard.

		Event takes place at The Memorial Church in Harvard Yard.  Tickets are required; call Cambridge Forum at 617-495-2727 to reserve yours.

Book:		Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?  A Professor and a Punk Rocker Discuss Science, Religion, Naturalism, and Christianity



Cambridge Forum
3 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone/fax:  617-495-2727
email:  mailto:director at cambridgeforum.org
website:  http://www.cambridgeforum.org

"Bringing People together to talk again . . ."