In 1816, Francis Cabot Lowell was in Washington DC lobbying Congress to pass the first protectionist tariff in American history. In the aftermath of the War of 1812, the burgeoning cotton textile industry he had fought so hard to build was imperiled by the cheap dumping of British imports. By building a coalition between Northern industrialists and Southern plantation owners, Lowell was successful in arguing that tariffs would ensure that American domestic manufacturing should be protected, and that the federal government’s trade policy had a duty to so.

Now, tariffs are back in the political conversation, and the efforts around the Tariff of 1816 and its consequences are as relevant as ever. Join us as we engage in a dynamic conversation connecting the past, present, and future of tariffs and trade policy and their effects. Economist Bryan Snyder and historian Larry Peskin will draw lessons from American history to inform our understanding of economic policy today.

Lawrence Peskin is a professor of History at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He specializes in antebellum political economy and has written extensively on pro-manufacturing protectionism, most recently on American business and diplomacy in the Mediterranean. His books include Manufacturing Revolution: The Intellectual Origins of American Industry (Johns Hopkins University Press; Matthew Carey, The New Olive Branch (Anthem Press, editor); Three Consuls: Capitalism, Empire and the Rise and Fall of America's Mediterranean Community, 1776-1840."

Professor Snyder is a Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Bentley University. His teaching interests cover a wide scope of economics, economic history and political economy. His current writing and research activities focus on the editing and production of the classroom readers Real World Micro (31st edition), Real World Macro (41st edition) and Economic of the Environment (4th edition) for Dollars & Sense magazine.

Hear about the journey of a 1950s good girl to an irreverent, feisty, feminist physician with author Alice Rothchild in a conversation hosted by Our Bodies Ourselves Today and Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University.

'Inspired and Outraged' is the intimate memoir of Alice Rothchild from her adolescence to her mid-40s and the experiences that contributed to her passion and power as a doctor, an activist, and a woman. Compiling stories of her life in verse, Rothchild explores the events of her childhood, her training as an obstetrician-gynecologist, and her discovery of feminism as a guiding force in her life.

Rothchild’s voice encapsulates her perseverance in the face of the male-dominated medical world and the shifting sexual politics of the late twentieth century. This memoir is both a record of the past and an urgent call to action.

She is in conversation with Amy Agigian, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Suffolk University (Boston), where she is the founding director of the Center for Women's Health and Human Rights. She also serves as executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves at Suffolk University. 

Amy Agigian, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Suffolk University (Boston), where she is the founding director of the Center for Women's Health and Human Rights. She also serves as executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves at Suffolk University.

Are we on the brink of a new and irreversible epoch; one that signals the end of democratic civilization as we have known it? Hard right political groups like Germany’s AfD party, which has roots in Nazi ideology, have celebrated Trump’s second term along with other extreme European politicians like Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban who announced that he had “downed vodka” in celebration of Trump’s win.

Cambridge Forum has invited three experts to consider the current political situation, from a US and global perspective. Richard Seymour, a writer and broadcaster from Northern Ireland, has been watching the disturbing political developments in Europe and elsewhere; his latest book, Disaster Nationalism, analyzes the roots, influencers and threats that this global shift poses.
Sasha Abramsky, political journalist and writing lecturer at UC Davis, is a correspondent for The Nation magazine. Last week, he summarized the chaotic situation in Washington for The Nation “Trump’s win is a boon to the far right in Europe and beyond. There are certain basic things that an administration is supposed to do in a constitutional democracy, first and foremost is abiding by the law, not physically endangering political opponents and funding government services.”
Michelle Lynn Kahn is an Associate Professor of Modern European History at the University of Richmond where she examines post-1945 Germany and Europe in a global and transnational frame focusing on racism, far-right extremism, gender and migration.

Recently, Elon Musk and his “unelected, unvetted and without federal government clearance” team wreaked havoc in government offices in the Capitol, to obtain access to sensitive personal data of all U.S. citizens. Is this assault on our democratic system the beginning of the end?

Michelle Lynn Kahn is an Associate Professor of Modern European History at the University of Richmond where she examines post-1945 Germany and Europe in a global and transnational frame focusing on racism, far-right extremism, gender and migration.

Sasha Abramsky is a widely published freelance journalist. The author of ten books, he is the Western States correspondent for the Nation magazine, and his work has appeared in the Atlantic, the New York Times, Salon, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, the New Statesman and many other publications. His most recent book is Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-Right Takeover of Small-Town America. He currently writes a weekly column on the Trump regime, Hiding in Plain Sight, for the Nation.

Richard Seymour, a writer and broadcaster from Northern Ireland, has been watching the disturbing political developments in Europe and elsewhere and in his latest book, Disaster Nationalism, he analyzes the roots, influencers and threats that this global shift poses. Seymour offers a stark warning. The battle against disaster nationalism is not just political; it is a struggle for our collective soul and the future of civilization itself. Unless we get to grips with the deeper forces propelling the far-right resurgence, a new fascism will emerge, and we will have little chance of stopping it.

Since Francis Cabot Lowell and Paul Moody set the first power looms in motion in 1814, textiles have been at the crossroads of American industry, artisan craft, and functionality. The great textile mills of New England drove the American Industrial Revolution, starting with the Boston Manufacturing Company on this very site in Waltham.

Now two centuries later, designers are forging innovative ways to ‘weave’ textiles using 3D technology and design in virtual space, grounded by the principles of the loom. Award-winning designer, artist, and professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, Oren Sherman, will bring us along on his own journey, discovering the cultural meaning and evolving technology embedded in textile design. Pattern traveled on textiles and the availability of locally made affordable woven cloth gave birth to an industry supercharged by the Waltham-Lowell System, including fabric dyeing and pattern design. That scale led to rapid innovation in manufacturing and design.

In exploring the construction of commercial textile patterning, Sherman found himself leaving the world of the ‘repeat’ and exploring in virtual space. He’ll explain how a desire to ‘walk through walls’ lead him to 3D weaving as an inspiration that, ironically, led him back to the first principles of the elegantly complex power loom. Oren’s talk will feature vivid color and vibrant patterns, while simultaneously connecting innovation with cutting-edge technology.