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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/

Skin in the game: Turning Engagement into Votes

Tue, Nov 1, 2022

Gen-Z’s civic engagement is loud, visible on the streets and viral on social media. They are engaged, worried about big issues and increasingly discontent with incremental or no progress in addressing them. The question is whether this energy will translate into votes? How do advocacy groups and political parties recruit young people? Some use aggressive tactics and build on anger. Some tap into passion for an issue or partisan identity. Others stay above the fray and appeal to a sense of civic responsibility and extol the power of voting. Who’s listening to all these different messages and why? No matter the rate at which young people turn out to the polls, they will play a pivotal role in the outcome of the 2022 midterms. Join our panelists as we discuss the methods being used to engage young people and harness their power, while at the same time fostering a healthy civic culture.

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Our Issues, Our Voices, Our Votes: Youth Civic Participation Today

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Misogyny at the Times of the Salem Witch Trials: Lessons Learned and Forgotten

Thu, Oct 27, 2022

There have been many changes in the 330 years since the Salem Witch Trial. Author and witch scholar Marilynne Roach, Bobbi Van Gilder, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Suffolk University, and Playwrights Michael Cormier & Myriam Cyr, look at how the justice system failed the accused women in Salem. They discuss how a justice system, created by men, has treated women throughout our history and how gender continues to impact the rights of women in America. Note, This talk followed a dramatic reading of the new play, Saltonstall’s Trial: The Untold Story of the Salem Witch Trials. Photo credit: Pexels.com

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Lighting the fire: What motivates young activists?

Wed, Oct 19, 2022

What brings young people to the streets, engage in advocacy, and go to the voting booth? Despite widespread disillusionment with “establishment politics” and skepticism about the power to make change, increasing numbers of young organizers and activists are making their voices heard. Some tactics are familiar to traditional campaigns, but some tactics are innovative and fresh. We’ll sit down with some of these young leaders to hear their stories about what motivates them to action and explore some of the tactics and strategies they are branding with their unique generational stamp. Join us!

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Our Issues, Our Voices, Our Votes: Youth Civic Participation Today

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Youth Civic Participation: More Than Just Voting

Tue, Oct 4, 2022

Historically one of the groups of voters who do not turn out are young people. This holds true across partisan, regional, religious and other differences. Our first discussion examines the reasons why there is low voter turnout and considers other forms of participation. How do Millenials and Gen Z’ers see their civic role in their communities? How are they reimagining and reshaping what it means to be involved and engaged? We take a deep dive to examine youth engagement in public affairs. Join the conversation with Milos Gringlas, Associatem Generation Citizen, Nancy Thomas, Director of the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Mia Payne, Peer Facilitator at YVote and Syeeda Rahman, Suffolk University Political Science Student. The conversation will be moderated by Katie Lannan, GBH News State House reporter.

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Our Issues, Our Voices, Our Votes: Youth Civic Participation Today

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The Decline of Local News and the Rise of Polarization

Thu, Sep 29, 2022

Local journalism is in crisis. Community newspapers are folding and those that remain struggle to devote resources to reporting on local issues. Meanwhile political polarization is growing and local issues are increasingly viewed through the lens of national politics and partisanship. This year’s Masterman Speaker Series will examine the relationship between the decline of local news and the rise of polarization, as well as the effect this decline has had on government accountability and democracy more generally. The discussion will also consider models for strengthening and reimagining local journalism in the years ahead. With : * Joshua P. Darr, associate professor of political communication in the Manship School of Mass Communication and Department of Political Science at Louisiana State University * Renée Loth, opinion columnist for The Boston Globe * Charles St. Amand, Vice-President of the New England Society of News Editors’ Board of Governors * Dan Kennedy, Professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University (moderator) ### About the Masterman Speaker Series Some of the most polarizing and provocative issues of our time involve matters rooted in the First Amendment. Edward I. Masterman, JD ‘50, LLD ‘90 and his wife Sydell, established the Masterman Speaker Series on the First Amendment and the Fourth Estate to provide a forum for robust debate and exchange of ideas on freedom of the press and its attendant responsibilities. The Speaker Series brings together representatives from government, the legal profession, and the press for the purposes of informing, educating, and engaging those who care deeply about these issues.

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Creating Success Through Building a Diverse Arts Community

Thu, Jun 9, 2022

In this evening of conversation, Karen Brooks Hopkins, president emerita, Brooklyn Academy of Music will discuss her 36 years at the world-famous cultural institution. A page-turning look behind the scenes of America’s oldest performing arts center, BAM … and Then It Hit Me is filled with stories and photographs of artists and icons—Princess Diana, Ingmar Bergman, Chuck Davis, David Byrne, LL Cool J, among others—along with hands-on practical advice on fundraising and leadership. The book is a paean to the glory of the arts and the evolution of Brooklyn: in Karen’s words, “the coolest neighborhood on the planet.” Through personal stories and raw reflections, tales of glamour and of grit, Karen looks back upon her career’s twists of fate, the total failures, and great triumphs along the way. Hopkins’s view of arts as a critical driver for the post-pandemic economy and her emphasis on diverse partnerships could be a blueprint for Boston and beyond. This evening’s conversation is moderated by Myriam Cyr, artistic director, Puntuate4 with a special introduction by Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., executive director, American Repertory Theater, (A.R.T.), Harvard University.

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Deliberate and Unafraid: Examining the Plight of the Black Woman Cultural Critic

Thu, May 12, 2022

As cultural criticism becomes more valuable than ever, marginalized writers are still routinely pushed to the sidelines and no one is more ostracized than the Black woman critic. But what happens when they manage to find the courage to write–and ultimately find success–anyway? Join award-winning Boston Globe cultural columnist Jeneé Osterheldt as she moderates a discussion among journalist Clarissa Brooks, writer, cultural critic, and community organizer, Erica Campbell, News Editor at NME, and Candace McDuffie, journalist and cultural critic, as they explore this topic in depth. ### Resources Books that inspired Clarissa: [Misogynoir](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/misogynoir-transformed-black-womens-digital-resistance_moya-bailey/27142551/item/47825335/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4PKTBhD8ARIsAHChzRKoOuoT1rUk2vypC1Uu6z19R7vIcZSeLWUexSs_NzNoS7hDoMDKaxYaApt5EALw_wcB#idiq=47825335&edition=58138873) - ['Glitch Feminism'](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/glitch-feminism-a-manifesto/26138950/item/41838276/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4PKTBhD8ARIsAHChzRKFWg5GKAzFraqNEkLWiHA6D2xUGLWLIl9cEZ42DEfrM7baCn2J_XoaAi2TEALw_wcB#isbn=1786632667&idiq=41838276) [Jia Tolentino on what happens when life is an endless performance](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jia-tolentino-on-what-happens-when-life-is-endless/id1081584611?i=1000447807714) [The Guardian: The journalist as influencer: how we sell ourselves on social media](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/oct/20/caroline-calloway-writers-journalists-social-media-influencers) [Black Criticism Is Always Good — Especially When Black Art Isn’t](https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/05/10463837/black-criticism-important-them-series-backlash) [NY Times: The Vitality of Black Criticism](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/07/arts/music/black-critics-pop-conference.html) [What Happens When the Line Between Hip-Hop Journalist & Online Personality Becomes Blurry?](https://www.okayplayer.com/culture/no-jumper-dj-akademiks-hip-hop-journalist-2018.html)

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Catherine Filloux and Claudia Bernardi: Under The Skin

Thu, May 5, 2022

Catherine Filloux is an internationally recognized award-winning playwright who has been writing about human rights and social justice for over 25 years. Her new one-person play “Under the Skin” is about the internationally acclaimed visual artist and human rights activist Claudia Bernardi, who is part of a generation that grew up in Argentina under a military junta, Filloux and Bernardi show clips from the virtual workshop of the play and share how they embarked on this collaboration of trust, having first met in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They discuss aspects of the play including its historical perspectives, Bernardi’s participation with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, as well as the community art model Bernardi has shared with communities that suffered political violence in many parts of the world. The conversation is moderated by Toni Shapiro-Phim, PhD, a Brandeis University professor whose work focuses on efforts at the nexus of the arts, human rights, and social justice concerns, and who has worked with Filloux and Bernardi in theatrical, educational, and community endeavors. ### Resources The Disappeared Are Appearing: Murals that Recover Communal Memory International Journal of Transitional Justice Oxford University Press Published: 26 November 2019 Claudia Bernardi: Author [Abstract](https://academic.oup.com/ijtj/article-abstract/14/1/193/5643962) [Article (free access)](https://academic.oup.com/ijtj/article/14/1/193/5643962?guestAccessKey=3d64083b-09fe-45ed-81a4-9d64b29b6ae3) [Argentinian Artist Claudia Bernardi Visually Unearths Brutalities Of Past Present](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackieabramian/2021/01/07/argentinian-artist-claudia-bernardi-visually-unearths-brutalities-of-past-and-present/?sh=75f959b53a07) By Jackie Abramian FORBES Magazine [“La Bestia/ The Beast”](https://solispress.com/9781910146460.html) Claudia Bernardi: Author Voices On The Move: An Anthology About And By Refugees Edited by Domnica Radulescu and Roxana Cazan Solis Press/ England 2020 [Cartography](https://smoca.org/2020/06/17/museum-musings-claudia-bernardi/ ) Claudia Bernardi: Author Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art [Second Chances](https://directory.weadartists.org/second-chances) Claudia Bernardi: Author WEAD, Women Eco Artists Dialog [“The Tenacity of Memory”](https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319749648) by Claudia Bernardi “Doubling the Voice, Expanding the Frame: Re-imagining Witnessing Against Torture” Bringing together the voices of torture survivors from TASSC International with non-survivor academics, clinicians, and advocates Edited by Elizabeth Swanson, Ph. D. and Alexandra Schultheis Moore [Horrors and Dreams](http://clas.berkeley.edu/research/art-horrors-and-dreams) Claudia Bernardi: Author Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Fall 2015. “Urdimbre de Historia” Claudia Bernardi: Author Aesthethika, Revista Internacional de Estudio e Investigación Interdisciplinaria sobre Subjetividad, Política y Arte International Journal for the Study and International Investigation of Subjectivity, Politics and Art. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vol 8, No 1, Septiembre 2012 ISSN 1553-5053 [Version online](http://www.aesthethika.org/Urdimbre-de-historias) “An Angel Passes By: Silence and Memories at El Mozote” Claudia Bernardi: Author “Inhabiting Memory: Essays on Memory and Human Rights in the Americas” Edited by Marjorie Agosin Wing Press, San Antonio, Texas “The Moral Imagination Embodied/ Insights from Artists Navigating Hybrid Identities In Scholarship and Practice” by Kathryn M. Lance The International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution 2016 (4) 1 55 doi: 10.5553/IJCER/221199652016004001004

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The Great Divide: Policy Making in Polarized Times

Tue, Mar 1, 2022

From charged school board meetings to shouting matches in Congress, on social media platforms and increasingly partisan media outlets, the level of incivility and outright hostility to anyone with views opposed to one’s own is alarming and unproductive. Real policy debates and compromise cannot be accomplished in an environment in which participants ascribe malign intent or even dehumanize others. Polarization in the United States has created both legislative stasis at the federal level and also widened the red state/blue state gulf, all contributing to a widespread lack of trust in democratic institutions by voters. How did we get here and how can we dial down the divisions? How will this impact our democracy? President Biden promised a return to civility in his Inaugural Address. Has he made any headway or is the situation only worsening? Join us to unpack these questions with former policymakers and experts in the field. The Washington Post's Arjun Singh moderates a panel discussion with former congressmen Scott Klug (R-WI) and Larry LaRocco (D-ID) as well as democracy scholar Dr. Jennifer McCoy.

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Challenges to Safeguarding our Democracy

Wed, Feb 16, 2022

Is there an alert system to notify us about the health of our democracy? In this episode we will examine the impact of partisan rancor not seen since the Civil War, declining trust in institutions, doubts about our election process, and the insurrection on January 6, 2021. There is emerging consensus that democracy in the United States is threatened. What can we do about it? Our panel will consider the health of our democracy and discuss solutions for restoring faith in our institutions and our democratic systems for everyone. This series builds upon Suffolk University’s historic mission of access, opportunity, and engagement with our alumni and the communities to which we belong. It’s sponsored by the Department of Political Science and Legal Studies in collaboration with the Ford Hall Forum, The Washington Center and GBH’s Forum Network.

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