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<P>Cambridge Forum</P>
<P>Fall 2008 Program Schedule</P>
<P>Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. ** (unless otherwise noted)</P>
<P>First Parish In Cambridge</P>
<P>3 Church Street</P>
<P>Cambridge, MA 02138</P>
<P>FREE and Open to the Public</P></B></FONT><B><FONT size=4>
<P>Cost: What We Pay and What We Value</P></B></FONT>
<P>Cost–the price, the amount paid, a loss, a trade-off. Cost is an inevitable, but often unrecognized, part of our lives. We are well aware of financial costs, especially in the current economic downturn. And we speak of emotional costs. But hidden costs, opportunity costs, costs to our time, energy, health and well being, and environment are harder to define and harder to integrate into a matrix that would produce a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis. This year Cambridge Forum examines some of the "costs" we Americans pay in areas from housing to human rights, from education to the environment, from the military to medicine. How much are we willing to pay? And what do those "price points" say about what we value?</P>
<P>** Thursday, September 18 <B>Tales of Science and Love</B>* </P>
<P>Internationally renowned evolutionist <B>Lynn Margulis</B> reveals science from the inside–its passions, disappointments, and triumphs. Drawing on her lifetime of experience as a researcher and conversations with the world’s most esteemed scientists, Margulis gives personal voice to those who attempt to wrest secrets from nature. 6:30 pm Reception preceeds Forum.</P><I>
<P>Ron Burns Memorial Forum on Science and Technology.</P>
<P></I><B>Book: <I>Luminous Fish</I> and others in the Sciencewriter series</B></P>
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<P>October 1 <B>Is America Possible? A Journey of Hope</B> </P>
<P><B>Vincent Harding</B>, theologian and professor emeritus of religion and social transformation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, argues that, especially for African Americans, the American Dream has never been realized. At best a hope, at worst a mockery, it remains alive in the words and imaginations of the artists and activists of the community. Retracing the roads and revisiting his companions of the Civil Rights Movement, Harding reflects on their achievements in making the dream more of a reality and points out the work that still needs to be done. 6:30pm Reception Preceeds Forum.</P><I>
<P>Co-sponsored by The Fetzer Institute as part of their series on Deepening the American Dream.</P>
<P></I>October 8 <B>Crunch: Feeling Squeezed in Today’s Economy</B>* </P><B>
<P>Jared Bernstein</B>, senior fellow and director of the Living Standards Program at the Economic Policy Institute, decodes the workings of the economy. Translating the jargon of Wall Street into the language of Main Street, Bernstein argues that economics should be more than a tool for the nation’s elite. How are Wall Street and Main Street linked? How can we use economics to organize American society to provide for Main Street’s needs as well as Wall Street’s?</P>
<P><B>Book: <I>Crunch: If The Economy Is Doing So Well, Why Do I Feel So Squeezed?</I></B></P>
<P><B><I></B></I>October 15 <B>The Opinion Makers: Lies My Pollster Told Me</B>* </P><B>
<P>David Moore</B>, a former senior editor at the Gallup Poll, argues that pollsters don’t report public opinion; they manufacture it. What tactics and strategies do they use in shaping our views? What can ordinary citizens do to short-circuit their methods? Why it is important to understand the sources of pollsters’ power? </P>
<P>Book: <B><I>The Opinion Makers: An Insider Reveals The Truth About Polls</B></I> </P>
<P>**Monday, October 20 <B>Confessions of an Eco-Sinner*</B> </P>
<P>Science journalist <B>Fred Pearce</B> traces the environmental costs of the things that make up ordinary daily life–our clothing, our food, our cup of coffee– to reveal the extraordinary hidden costs of a modest Western lifestyle. What changes in our consumption patterns could we make to lower those environmental costs? What would those changes mean for our lifestyle?</P>
<P><B>Book:</B> <B><I>Confessions of an Eco-Sinner: Tracking Down the Sources of My Stuff</I></B></P>
<P><B><I></B></I>October 29 <B>The Three Trillion Dollar War*</B> </P><B>
<P>Linda Bilmes</B>, expert in budgeting and public finance at Harvard’s Kennedy School, discusses "the true cost of the Iraq conflict", as calculated in her new book, co-authored with Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. What expense items have been hidden from American taxpayers? What future costs does war entail? What trade-offs does the cost of war impose on the U.S. economy?</P>
<P><B>Book:</B> <B><I>The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict</I></B></P>
<P>November 5 <B>Human Rights in China: After the Olympics</B> </P><B>
<P>Jianli Yang,</B> survivor of the Tiananmen Square massacre and a five year prison term in China, looks at human rights in China today. After the Olympic spotlight has dimmed, what real progress toward an open society based on principles of individual rights do we see? What internal democratic movements exist in China? What role can the international community play in moving China toward democracy?</P>
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<P>Co-sponsored by an Anonymous Supporter of China-Tibet Friendship.</P>
<P></I>November 12 <B>Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness*</B> </P>
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<P>Harvard law professor <B>Cass Sunstein</B> applies cutting edge social science research on human behavior to legal questions in the stock market, mortgage markets, environmental protection, and family law. What are the implications for law and public policy of psychology’s new insights into decision-making behavior? What is the moral significance of developing public policies that "nudge" people to make "wise decisions"? </P>
<P><B>Book: <I>Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness</I></B></P>
<P><B><I></B></I>November 19 <B>Old Cultures in New Worlds</B> </P>
<P>Boston<I> Globe</I> travel writer <B>Tom Haines</B> has visited the remote corners of the globe on reporting assignments and he’s found that the world really is getting smaller. What impact have the forces of modern communications and trade had on formerly isolated cultures? What is daily life like for people living with one foot in the past and one in the present?</P><I>
<P>Co-sponsored by D. Leveille.</P>
<P></I>December 3 <B>Loot: Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World*</B> </P>
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<P>Why are the Elgin Marbles in London and not on the Acropolis? Foreign correspondent and former <I>New York Times</I> culture reporter<B> Sharon Waxman</B> demonstrates that there are no simple answers to this question. In her new book <I>Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World</I>, Waxman explores of the issues of preservation, cultural context, theft, and repatriation that accompany the question of ownership of a work of art. What role does the international law play in determining the fate of antiquities? What role does monetary value play in the conflict over their rightful ownership? What value does the sense of shared cultural heritage have in this conflict? </P><I>
<P>Co-sponsored by Jane Sturtevant</I>.</P>
<P><B>Book:</B> <B><I>Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World</P></B></I>
<P>*Book signing courtesy of Harvard Book Store.</P> </BODY><pre>
Cambridge Forum
3 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone/fax: 617-495-2727
email: mailto:director@cambridgeforum.org
website: http://www.cambridgeforum.org
"Bringing People together to talk again . . ."
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