Tag Archives: center for the study of public life

Drug Policy, Regional and National Panel Discussion

How should we – as a university and as a society – address the use of illicit drugs? In light of recent events, the Allbritton Center is bringing together experts from a variety of fields and perspectives for panel discussions on drug use and policies at Wesleyan and beyond. The hope is to have an open and informative dialogue, and to provide a space for sharing your questions and concerns. All students, faculty, staff, and community members are welcome. Questions for panelists may be submitted at each event or in advance to scapron[at]wesleyan[dot]edu or @wes_engage.

At 8 p.m. on April 28, Rob Rosenthal, director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, will moderate a panel discussion, “The Policy Debate: What is to be Done?” Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance; Susan O’Connor, program director of Phoenix House; and Mike Lawlor, under secretary for criminal justice policy and planning in the State Office of Policy and Management will speak in Kerr Lecture Hall (Shanklin 107).

Date: Tuesday, April 28
Time: 8 pm
Place: Shanklin 107

Allbritton Talks: Unpaid Internships

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Are unpaid internships exploitative, or is free labor a fair trade for a learning experience? Why do businesses and organizations hire unpaid interns, and should students accept these positions? Who wins and loses in a society where unpaid internships are permitted?

We will consider these questions and more over pizza tomorrow at Allbritton Talks, a new conversation series addressing current events, controversial issues, and the enduring questions of public life. If you’ve got a hot-button issue or ethical quandary you’d like to pick apart as a group, send your suggestions to scapron(at)wesleyan(dot)edu.

This series is sponsored by the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life.

Date: Friday, January 30
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Place: Allbritton 311

Crisis in the Middle East

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From Jennifer Enxuto at the Center for the Study of Public Life:

A panel discussion on recent developments in the Middle East: Why have the hopes of the Arab Spring reached the current impasse, and what can be done to avoid further violence?

Date: Thursday, September 19th, 2013
Time: 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Place: Pac 001
Cost: Free

More information about the panelists below.

Complete Video: Panel on Guns and Gun Violence

Back in February, just before winter storm Nemo crippled most of campus, the CFA Hall hosted “Guns and Gun Violence: Crisis, Policy and Politics,” a panel discussion featuring various visiting scholars. Chaired by Wesleyan’s own Professor of History and African-American Studies Leah Wright, the discussion involved professors Saul Cornell, Kristin A. Goss, and Matthew Miller from Fordham, Duke, and Harvard, respectively—a rather stacked lineup of experts. The room was packed, but in his reflection on the discussion that ensued, Wesleying’s justice described it as an echo chamber of predominantly left-leaning views:

While I will happily advocate for the liberal solution for many issues (with appropriate data as backup), I would also like to hear what people with “non-traditionally-Wesleyan” opinions have to say, especially with an issue as explosive as gun control. And this event would have been a perfect opportunity to bring in a panelist with a non-liberal perspective. But we didn’t. And we can tell ourselves all we want that this was because the “other side” simply isn’t correct, but in the end, that’s the real problem—we’re just talking to ourselves.

If you missed the event but remain interested, the Allbritton Center for Building Names That Sound Like Robots has only recently managed to post the entire thing on YouTube. Judge for yourself—watch it below, or at this link.

Guns and Gun Violence: Crisis, Policy and Politics

Professor Jennifer Tucker cordially invites you to check out this nifty, poignantly piquant panel happening Wednesday night:

On Wednesday evening, Feb. 6 at 7:30 PM, the Allbritton Center of Study of Public Life will host a panel and public discussion, “Guns and Gun Violence: Crisis, Policy and Politics” in the CFA Hall on the Wesleyan campus.   We hope that our Center, here in central CT, could be used to put a spotlight on the rich scholarship on guns and gun violence and the need for public debate informed by research from different domains, including the social sciences, public policy and public health.

The panel will be chaired by Leah Wright, Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies at Wesleyan.  Following the presentations, the audience discussion will be moderated by John Dankosky, WNPR News Director and host of “Where We Live.”

The three panelists for this event include:

CSPL Screens Lincoln, Taps Professors Eudell and Lim for Discussion

Professor Jennifer Tucker, acting as the interim director of the Center for the Study of Public Life (CSPL), has arranged a free screening of the new Spielberg film, Lincoln, for this coming Thursday evening to kick things off for the CSPL. If that wasn’t awesome enough, Professor Demetrius Eudell (History and African American Studies) and Professor Elvin Lim (Government) will run a Q&A after the screening on the CSPL’s theme,Lincoln: Politics in the Public Eye.

The screening is set to start at 7:30PM this Thursday, December 6th, at our local Middletown theater in Metro Square. There are only 200 seats available, so go to the Box Office in Usdan now, like, right now, seriously, right now, to get a ticket.

Date: Thursday December 6th
Time: 7:30PM – 10:30PM
Place: Metro Movies 12 (theater in Metro Square off Main Street)
Cost: FREE……EEEEEDOM! No but seriously it’s free.

Dar Williams ’89 to Teach CSPL Course in the Fall

If you’ve browsed through WesMaps recently, perhaps you noticed an exciting new addition to our illustrious faculty—folk singer and Wes alum Dar Williams ’89! She’s teaching a course for the Center for the Study of Public Life (CSPL) called Music Movements in a Capital Democracy.” The course, currently open to junior and senior non-majors (Wednesdays 1:10-4), is described as follows: