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Forum Network

Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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Cambridge Forum

Let Cambridge Forum change your mind....

Cambridge Forum hosts free, public discussions that inform and engage, so that people can better explore the varied issues and ideas that shape our changing world. CF broadcasts its live events via podcasts, weekly NPR shows and online presentations via GBH Forum Network on YouTube.

http://www.cambridgeforum.org

  • Danielle Ofri: Why Doctors Write

    Wed, Mar 26, 2014
    "Beacon Press director Helene Atwan explores the relationship between editor and author with Danielle Ofri, a practicing physician, author, and the editor of the Bellevue Literary Review, the premier literary journal focused on illness, health, and healing. How does writing change Ofri's practice of medicine? How does editing the Bellevue Literary Review inform her view of her hospital and her patients? What does publishing a ""doctor who writes"" add to Beacon Press's legacy? How has Helene Atwan's sense of the power of writing changed through her work with Danielle Ofri?"
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  • Mary McGrath & Jo Radner: The Power of Narrative

    Wed, Apr 9, 2014
    Radio OpenSource producer, Mary McGrath and award-winning storyteller Jo Radner discuss their materials--facts, memories, voices, pregnant pauses, music, sound effects--and the ways they are put together to create a narrative that inspires the imagination and moves the heart.
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  • Learning To Look

    Wed, Apr 30, 2014
    You love Sebastian Smee's pieces about art and the local art scene in the Boston Globe and you've loved Paul Tucker's Monet exhibitions at the MFA. Now, meet them at Cambridge Forum as part of ArtWeek Boston to discuss the ways that looking at a work of art can open it up to reveal a rich web of information about the work itself, its maker and the society in which it was created. How does a work of art become meaningful for the beholder? Where can that appreciation lead the ordinary person?
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  • Key Issues: Election 2014

    Wed, May 14, 2014
    The fall Congressional elections may seem far off in the future. But with Congress experiencing record low approval ratings, voters are primed to look seriously at the policy positions of aspirants for national office. What should voters be attuned to as they sort through candidates in the upcoming Congressional elections? What are the key issues of concern to the new generation of millennial voters? A panel of scholars explores some of the fundamental questions newly elected representatives will have to address. Keith Bentele of the University of Massachusetts Boston looks at poverty and inequality; Alex Hertel-Fernandez from Harvard discusses tax policy and the social safety net; and Jack Schneider of the College of the Holy Cross looks at education reform. The panel proposes research- and experience-based policy solutions in an effort to overcome the ideological divisions that derail so much political debate. Boston University's Michelle Johnson moderates. Produced in conjunction with the Scholars Strategy Network, a national group of scholars seeking to use research to improve policy and enhance democracy.
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  • Gregory Maguire: Something Wicked This Way Comes

    Wed, Dec 7, 2011
    "With the publication of *Out of Oz*, the fourth and, perhaps, final volume in the series of books that began with *Wicked* in 1995, Gregory Magurie has spent more than 15 years in the land of Oz and has accumulated enough miles on the yellow brick road to be able to look back on his journey of imagination in the world that L. Frank Baum first brought to the page a century ago. What is its like to step into another writer's story and re-imagine it from the inside out? What are the satisfactions in re-imagining a beloved tale? What are the pitfalls? Are there ethical considerations: when does re-telling become plagiarism?"
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  • Michael Nielsen: Reinventing Discovery

    Wed, Nov 9, 2011
    Michael Nielsen, a pioneer of quantum computing, discusses the concept of "open science" and the need to change the way scientific research is conducted and the way data is handled in the modern scientific era. How is technology revolutionizing the way scientific problems are solved? How can a system traditionally based on individual discovery adapt to support collaboration and teamwork?
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  • Alzheimer's Prevention Program

    Thu, Feb 9, 2012
    "Alzheimer's disease currently afflicts 5 million Americans; one American is diagnosed with Alzheimer's every 70 seconds, and right now the only cure is prevention. Can Alzheimer's really be prevented? What are the new research techniques being used to study Alzheimer's disease? And what do they show us about the possibilities for preventing or delaying its degenerative effects? In his new book, *The Alzheimer's Prevention Program*, Dr. Gary Small looks at what Alzheimer's disease actually is and reviews the research on preventing its onset. Small challenges the widely held notion that Alzheimer's is not preventable and discusses a variety of ways to keep the brain healthy."
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  • Israel and the Palestinians: Aftermath of the Arab Spring and the United Nations Petition

    Mon, Feb 13, 2012
    Diana Buttu addresses the question of the role of diplomacy in an insecure world, as she discuses her research on the dynamics of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, "Negotiating in the Absence of the Law: Palestine's Refugees and the Palestinian-Israeli Negotiations, 1993-2007". How has the role the United States plays in the peace process changed over that period? What impact have the events of the Arab Spring had on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? What are the sources of the Palestinian petition for recognition by the United Nations? How should the United States respond to these new initiatives?
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  • The European Debt Crisis: Lessons from Greece

    Mon, Feb 13, 2012
    "The Great Recession of 2008 revealed a new threat to Americans' sense of security: the global economy. The meltdown of domestic housing and financial markets shook the international economy to its core, exposing weaknesses in the Eurozone that now threaten not only a global recovery but also the U.S. economic recovery. What were the causes of the Greek debt crisis? Why don't the solutions proposed by the European Union seem to be working? How could the European crisis come back to weaken the United States economy? Richard Parker of the Harvard Kennedy School explores these issues and more. "
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  • A Farewell to Geopolitics: American Grand Strategy for the New Era

    Mon, Feb 13, 2012
    Stephen van Evera of MIT's Security Studies Program looks at the ways the United States has responded to military, diplomatic, and economic challenges in the decade since 9/11 and asks 'Have our actions made us more secure?' Arguing that, in fact, U.S. strategies have been ineffective, even counter-productive, he outlines an 'American grand strategy' for the new globalized web of international relationships. What policies and actions does he see as effective in promoting American and global security going forward? Where does he find the political and economic will to achieve such a new strategic vision? What should citizens be doing to foster increased security?
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