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Forum Network

Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:
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Ford Hall Forum

The Ford Hall Forum is the nation's oldest continuously operating free public lecture series. Its mission is to foster an informed and effective citizenry and to promote freedom of speech through the public presentation of lectures, debates, and discussions. Forum events illuminate the key issues facing our society by bringing to its podium knowledgeable and thought-provoking speakers. These speakers are presented in person, for free, and in settings, which facilitate frank and open debate.

http://www.fordhallforum.org/

  • An Actor and A Gentleman

    Mon, Nov 8, 2010
    Lou Gossett, Jr. is one of the most respected African American stage and screen actors, rising to fame with his Emmy-winning role in the television miniseries Roots and Oscar-winning performance in An Officer and a Gentleman. From his early success on the New York stage appearing with Ruby Dee and Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun and through most of his long career in Hollywood, he has struggled to get leading roles and fair pay as a black actor. Gossett speaks frankly of his problem with drugs and alcohol that took years to overcome and his current work to eradicate racism and violence and give our children a better future. He is joined by his writer, Phyllis Karas, biographer and professor of journalism.
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  • Yaron Brook on Ayn Rand: 'Apollo and Dionysus' Revisted

    Thu, May 8, 2008
    In 1969, Ayn Rand's Ford Hall Forum talk, 'Apollo and Dionysus,' addressed the near simultaneous events of Woodstock and the first lunar landing. Employing Greek mythology's god of the sun and god of wine, she compared the awe-inspiring accomplishments of NASA's Apollo space program to the famous three-day concert that has come to exemplify the counterculture of the 1960s and the "hippie era." Almost four decades later, Dr. Yaron Brook, President and Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute, reflects on her words and takes a new look at our society's drives toward individualism versus wholeness, light versus darkness, and civilization versus primal nature.
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    First Amendment Award: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

    Thu, Mar 18, 2010
    The Ford Hall Forum presents the 2010 Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which is dedicated to defending and sustaining individual rights at America's colleges and universities. Greg Lukianoff, President of FIRE; Steven Pinker, bestselling author and FIRE Advisory Board member; and Harvey Silverglate, Civil liberties lawyer and FIRE Co-Founder, join moderator Judge Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts to discuss their organization's work and what freedom of speech means today.
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  • Reforming Boston Schools: Race, History, and the Future

    Thu, Apr 15, 2010
    Joseph Cronin, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education; George Greenidge, Executive Director of National Black College Alliance; Claudio Martinez, Executive Director of Hyde Square Task Force; and Jean McGuire, Executive Director of METCO, join moderator Tessil Collins, senior coordinator of the Boston Public Schools, to reflect on Boston Public Schools' challenges of previous decades, as well as the hurdles ahead in developing a stronger education system for our city.
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    Fifth Estate: Can Twitter and YouTube Solve Real Government Problems?

    Thu, May 6, 2010
    Chris Csilkszentmihalti, Director of the MIT Center for Future Civic Media; Nigel Jacob, Senior Advisor for Emerging Technology for the City of Boston's Mayor's Office; and Joseph Porcelli, founder of Neighbors for Neighbors, Inc., join moderator Callie Crossley, host of WGBH's *The Callie Crossley Show*, to address the promise--and challenges--of building more transparent, participatory, and effective institutions through the evolving technological tools at our fingertips.
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  • Lessons from the Financial Crisis: More Government or Less?

    Thu, May 20, 2010
    Yaron Brook, President and Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute, and Peter Kadzis, Editor of the *Boston Phoenix* and former contributor to *Money*, *Forbes*, and the *Boston Business Journal* debate the lessons learned during the financial crisis--from bailouts to reforms to our efforts to prevent another economic disaster.
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  • A Presidency in Peril

    Thu, Jun 3, 2010
    Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of *The American Prospect*, Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow, and columnist for *The Boston Globe*, joins Wendy Ballinger, founder of Ballinger Consulting, to discuss the dilemmas facing the Obama administration from trade to efficiency to the challenge of regulating global capitalism.
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    Food, Inc.

    Thu, Apr 29, 2010
    Jody Adams, award-winning chef/owner of Rialto restaurant, and Donald Wiest, President of Boston Public Market, join moderator Annie B. Copps, senior food editor for Yankee Magazine, to screen the documentary film "Food, Inc." and explore how the food industry shapes our economy, our health, and our lives.
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  • AIDS, Social Justice, and the Politics of Transformation

    Thu, Sep 30, 2010
    Kevin Cranston, Director of the Massachusetts Bureau of Infectious Disease; Dazon Dixon Diallo, President of SisterLove; Julie Davids, Founder and Co-Director of CHAMP (Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project); and Guillermo Chacón, President and CEO of the Latino AIDS Commission converse with moderator Rebecca Haag, President and CEO of AIDS Action Committee about the ongoing problem of HIV transmission. As death from AIDS becomes less common, AIDS service organizations must transform their services and prevention programs to follow a more radical approach. Why are there 56,000 new infections in the U.S. every year when we know what causes HIV, how it’s transmitted, and how to treat it? Join us to discuss how to stop the spread of HIV by addressing the underlying social injustices of racism, sexism, homophobia, violence, substance abuse, and poverty. (Presented in collaboration with Old South Meeting House, a museum and National Historic Landmark dedicated to the free exchange of ideas, as part of the Partners in Public Dialogue series.)
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  • Election 2010 and Communities of Color

    Thu, Nov 4, 2010
    Dr. Maria Idali Torres, director of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy; Dr. Paul Watanabe of the Institute of Asian American Studies at UMass Boston; and Marvin Venay, executive director of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, join State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry to explore how the newly elected and reelected officials are likely to address upcoming legislation affecting Latino, Black, and Asian American populations on education, immigration and language, affordable housing, economic development, and health and safety. Hear what the panel thinks we can do to ensure better representation for our communities.
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