[act-ma] (Wed.) 4/22 Cambridge Forum Discusses Political Polarization 4-22-15

[director at cambridgeforum.org]

CAMBRIDGE FORUM
3 Church Street ● Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-2727
email: director at cambridgeforum.org
www.cambridgeforum.org

/RELEASE /                                                                                              
APRIL 3, 2015

CAN A POLARIZED PEOPLE MAINTAIN A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY?

On WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015, AT 7:00 PM Cambridge Forum hosts MICHAEL
DIMOCK, President of the Pew Research Center discussing their new study
documenting the growing polarization of the American people and the ways
that this trend threatens American democracy.  TED LANDSMARK responds and
moderates a public discussion of ways to create community solidarity that
can strengthen social bonds and the well-being of our social contract. The
program takes place at the First Parish (Unitarian Universalist) in
Cambridge, 1446 Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square.

One of the defining features of early 21st century American politics is the
political polarization of the citizenry, as well as of their elected
representatives. This is reflected not only in the public’s views about
issues ranging from immigration to guns, but also in their personal lives
and lifestyles. In June 2014 the Pew Research Center  documented how the
American people have become ideologically polarized over the past 20 years.
Michael Dimock discusses this ground-breaking study, looking at the causes
of this growing divide and its implications  for the health of our
democracy.  How can we counteract this trend?  What can citizens do to
create and support stronger social bonds?

MICHAEL DIMOCK is president of Pew Research Center. A survey researcher and
political scientist by training, he oversees the center’s overall
operations and research agenda, including research on politics, religion,
demographics, media, technology and international issues.   He has worked
at Pew Research Center for more than a decade. During that time he
co-authored several of the center’s landmark research reports, including
its studies of long-term trends in American political and social values and
its polling reports from the last several presidential cycles. In 2014, as
vice president of research, he oversaw the execution and analysis of the
largest U.S. political survey that the Pew Research Center has conducted,
the  in-depth examination of the nature and scope of political
polarization within the American public.  Dimock is a frequent commentator
on public opinion polling for major media organizations.  A regular
election night analyst on NPR, he has appeared as a survey analyst on PBS
NewsHour, Fox News, NBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN and MSNBC, among other broadcast
outlets.

TED LANDSMARK is President Emeritus of the Boston Architectural College
(BAC) and was previously the Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education at
the Massachusetts College of Art. He also served as the Director of
Boston's Office of Community Partnerships.  He serves as a trustee to
numerous arts-related foundations and is Trustee Emeritus of the Museum of
Fine Arts in Boston. Widely recognized as an important advocate of
diversity and of the African American cause in schools of architecture, he
has facilitated city planning sessions of the Washington, D.C.-based
Mayor’s Institute on City Design, lending his perspective on planning
issues in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Santa Fe, and Charleston. 
In 2006 he received the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award from the American
Institute of Architects in recognition for his efforts as a social
activist.

/This program is funded in part by MassHumanities, which receives support
from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National
Endowment for the Humanities.  The program is co-sponsored by Citizens for
Public Schools./

The program is free and open to the public. Cambridge Forum is recorded and
edited for public radio broadcast. Edited podcasts are available, and
select forums can also be viewed in their entirety on YouTube.    

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Cambridge Forum
3 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-2727
www.cambridgeforum.org