Past Events

The Washington Center hosts the Inside Washington Seminar each year, which brings together students and faculty from all over the country to examine the most pressing issues facing the nation, engage with elected officials, practitioners, thought leaders and one another. This year, Inside Washington is opening its doors to a broader audience by filming and publishing some of the talks from the opening day’s plenary session. Listen to the introductory remarks by Dr. Scott McLean of Quinnipiac University, as he frames the debate over the health of American democracy and what the outcome of the 2022 midterms told us about the state of our institutions. This episode is part of a series done in partnership with GBH Forum Network, The Washington Center, Ford Hall Forum, Suffolk University Political Science and Legal Studies Department.

As the inaugural speaker, Kathy Boockvar, President, Athena Strategies, LLC and Former Secretary of State, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shares her own story of a career devoted to election administration and security. She explains the ways in which “stealing an election” is not possible and makes a compelling case for the vital importance of strengthening civic engagement to the health of democracy. The Washington Center hosts the Inside Washington Seminar each year, which brings students and faculty from all over the country together to examine the most pressing issues facing the nation, engage with elected officials, practitioners, thought leaders and one another. This episode is part of a series done in partnership with The Washington Center, Ford Hall Forum, Suffolk University Political Science and Legal Studies Department.

What are the most important takeaways from the 2022 midterm election and how are these likely to impact an already dysfunctional congress? What role did younger voters play in these races and what can be done to enhance their participation and engagement in policy and politics? Matt Bennett – Executive Vice President for Public Affairs, Third Way and Samuel Abrams – Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute and Professor, Sarah Lawrence College, provide their perspectives on these wide ranging topics in a discussion moderated by Dr. Christina Kulich, Professor of Political Science at Suffolk University. The Washington Center hosts the Inside Washington Seminar each year, which brings students and faculty from all over the country together to examine the most pressing issues facing the nation, engage with elected officials, practitioners, thought leaders and one another. This episode is part of a series done in partnership with GBH Forum Network, The Washington Center, Ford Hall Forum, Suffolk University Political Science and Legal Studies Department.

**Tuesday, December 20, 2022 - 5 pm - Webinar** Do you constantly obsess about being happy? Well, you are not alone. It appears that many Americans share this national proclivity. These pervasive desires with how to be the wealthiest, the most powerful or famous, take up a lot of psychic energy, and the end results are not too impressive. Despite the myriad of self-help books out there, we Americans are among the most anxious people on earth. At this time of year, it is particularly noticeable with people struggling to make their holiday celebrations perfect and feeling guilt-tripped into spending money they don’t have on gifts that aren’t needed. So, we are taking a stop and asking, is there a better way? We suggest that you inhale the sweet spices of the season and join us to consider some fresh thinking on the subject. **AVRAM ALPERT**, writer and educator, shares his ideas from _The Good-Enough Life_, suggesting how an acceptance of our own limitations can lead to a more fulfilling life and a more harmonious society. ”Obsessing about greatness has given us an epidemic of stress, anxiety, inequality and ecological damage,” according to Alpert who is a writer and teacher, and currently a Research Fellow at The New Institute in Hamburg where he is working on a book on wisdom. He previously taught at Princeton and Rutgers. **KIERAN SETIYA**, a professor of philosophy at MIT provides a refreshing and realistic antidote to many of the platitudes pushed by our contemporary American self-improvement industry. His latest book _Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help us Find our Way_ suggests that trying to live a perfect life in difficult circumstances only brings dismay. Much in life that makes us miserable can neither be changed nor ignored, so we need to come to terms with reality. Both guests challenge the notion that happiness should be life’s primary pursuit – arguing we might be better served by living well within our means, acknowledging some difficult truths and concentrating on leading a meaningful life instead? Embracing the “good-enough” life might be preferable to hankering for the perfect one, and we might just stumble across happiness in the process. Join this stimulating discussion for some useful suggestions about how to maintain our humanity, in challenging times. Photo credit : Pexels.com - Pixabay

The ideological divide in the United States on the subject of climate change has impeded progress in curbing greenhouse emissions. But extreme weather events at both ends of the thermometer have focused attention on the consequences of inaction. What role will the United States play in future negotiations on climate? Join us for a discussion of this complex topic with Rachel Kyte, Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University. The program features expert remarks from Dean Kyte followed by live audience Q&A.

Most people believe that nature is characterized by competition and conflict—red in tooth and claw, as the poet Tennyson said. But recent science suggests that cooperative relationships among living things have both shaped the world around us and knit ecosystems together. How can we uphold these cooperative relationships and become a cooperative partner with the rest of life? Join us with Biodiversity for a Livable Climate as we host Kristin Ohlson, a Portland, OR, writer and author of _Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Stories of Cooperation and Generosity in Nature_ and _The Soil Will Save Us_. Kristin is joined in conversation by ecosystem restoration specialist Jim Laurie.

Presented by the American Inspiration Series from American Ancestors/NEHGS and Boston Public Library, in partnership with GBH Forum Network, a groundbreaking new biography of the celebrated painter John Singer Sargent and a page-turning exploration of an epochal time in art history, and in America. John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) is a great American artist who lived among and painted the opinion-leaders and society kingpins of his day. He is also an abiding mystery. Sargent scandalized viewers on both sides of the Atlantic with the frankness and sensuality of his work. He charmed his wealthy patrons, but reserved his greatest sympathies for Bedouins, Spanish dancers, and the gondoliers of Venice. At the height of his renown in Britain and America, Sargent quit his lucrative portrait-painting career. In _The Grand Affair_, the scholar Paul Fisher offers a vivid portrait of the buttoned-up artist and his unbuttoned work, following his trans-European childhood to his spirited travels as an adult to his late-life journeys with his friend and patron Isabella Stewart Gardner. Fisher’s illustrated talk and discussion provides insight into on Sargent’s extensive work at the Boston Public Library, the mural cycle “The Triumph of Religion.” This talk is modoerated by Meghan Weeks, an artist and cultural heritage professional with an academic background in historical structures, painting, and curating.

After a three year hiatus, 10-in-1 LivableStreets’ annual StreetTalk is back in person in the Old South Meeting House. Ten speakers take the stage on ten different topics in one location to talk about issues regarding transit advocacy, climate justice, protecting our greenways, equitable housing + land use policies, and more!

Each speaker presents for seven minutes.
With Wes Edwards, Jarred Johnson & Matthew Peterson, Jacklyn Thibodeau, Jen Mergel, Tiffany Chu, Shavel'le Olivier, Kassie Infante, Yonerky Santana, Malaysia Fuller-Staten, Maitlyn Lang and Abby Jamiel and Stacie Thompson.

About 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the dark universe cooled enough that particles were able to form the first atoms (hydrogen, helium), and then light. This is known as the “reionization” era. It is the most important period to astrophysicists because features and conditions in the reionization, including dark matter, determined the evolution of the universe. But this early epoch is inaccessible to telescopes. Astrophysicists devise very complex models to test their theories of the reionization and formation of the earliest galaxies. Dr. Vogelsberger, known for some of the most accurate simulations of the earliest galaxy formations, describes the Thesan project he developed with other scientists at MIT, Harvard University, and the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics. This is of particular interest now that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will eventually be able to site these earliest formations. Dr. Vogelsberger will also discuss other related simulation projects.

Storyteller, cultural geographer, and accidental environmentalist Carolyn Finney, PhD and Boston Public Library President David Leonard will discuss Dr. Finney's book Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors (2014). Garrett Dash Nelson, President & Head Curator of the Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, will provide opening remarks. After the conversation, there will be time for audience Q&A, and following that, there will be a chance for in-person attendees to purchase books from a soon to be determined local independent bookstore. Patrons who wish to purchase copies online may do so at the following link. ### About the book Why are African Americans so underrepresented when it comes to interest in nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism? In this thought-provoking study, Carolyn Finney looks beyond the discourse of the environmental justice movement to examine how the natural environment has been understood, commodified, and represented by both white and black Americans. Bridging the fields of environmental history, cultural studies, critical race studies, and geography, Finney argues that the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the “great outdoors” and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces. Drawing on a variety of sources from film, literature, and popular culture, and analyzing different historical moments, including the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964 and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Finney reveals the perceived and real ways in which nature and the environment are racialized in America. Looking toward the future, she also highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns.