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33rd annual Commencement Forums
Former Brazilian president and Nixon counsel headline forums
Brown will present its 33rd annual Commencement Forums throughout the
day on Saturday, May 24, 2003. The 18 sessions, all free and open to the public,
will feature leaders in the fields of science and medicine, the arts,
international affairs and entertainment.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Former President of Brazil Fernando
Henrique Cardoso and former Nixon counsel and Prison Fellowship ministry founder
Charles Colson ’53 will be among the speakers at Brown University’s
33rd annual Commencement Forums Saturday, May 24, 2003.
An outgrowth of the campus teach-ins of the early 1970s, the Commencement
Forums offer a window on the intellectual world of Brown and have become an
integral part of the University’s Commencement/Reunion Weekend. The forums
draw upon the knowledge, talent and expertise of Brown alumni, faculty, parents
and special guests to consider timely social, political and personal issues.
This year’s speakers will share lessons learned in the arenas of
international affairs, history, science and medicine, the arts and
entertainment.
Eighteen forums will be offered Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing
through the afternoon in several locations on campus. Each session will last 60
to 90 minutes and will include time for questions from the audience. All forums
are free and open to the public on a space-available basis.
Editors: Times and locations are subject to change. For the latest
information, contact the News Service at (401) 863-2476 or visit the Web site
(www.brown.edu/news) for updates.
People with special needs who plan to attend a forum should contact the
University at least 24 hours in advance by calling University Events at (401)
863-2474 during business hours or Brown Department of Public Safety at (401)
863-3322 after business hours.
The forums are scheduled as follows:
9 a.m.
- Abraham Lincoln: Our Ever Present Contemporary
Abraham Lincoln’s presidency has particular relevance today. In a Friends
of the Library Lecture, the Hon. Frank Williams, chief justice of the Rhode
Island Supreme Court, will examine Lincoln’s controversial use of military
tribunals and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil
War.
Salomon Center for Teaching (lower level), The College Green
- The Service Ethic:
Colleges and Universities as Good Citizens in Their Own Home Towns
Roger Mandle, president of the Rhode Island School of Design, examines the
unique expressions of their own mission that colleges and universities bring to
their home cities. As part of his remarks, Mandle will present a “report
card” on future collaborations between RISD and Brown.
Starr Auditorium, MacMillan Hall, 167 Thayer St.
- Can the Ivy League Teach Ethics?
The financial-markets scandals of 2002 reflect a serious ethical failure in
American life. Charles Colson ’53, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries
and former special counsel to President Richard M. Nixon jailed for his role in
the Watergate scandal, believes that for society to function optimally, human
beings need to be taught a code of moral truth with objective standards of right
and wrong. Can elite institutions such as Brown, committed as they are to
philosophical relativism, do this?
Salomon Center for Teaching (upper level), The College Green
- Pax Americana? Problems and Prospects for U.S. Foreign Policy
What factors will shape foreign policy in the era after 9/11 and the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq? Peter Gourevitch, professor at the Graduate School of
International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California–San
Diego, and Neta C. Crawford, associate professor of political science at
Brown’s Thomas J. Watson Institute for International Studies, will explore
conceptual issues that frame debates on U.S. security, interests, values and
identity.
Sayles Hall, The College Green
10:15 a.m.
- The Daily Planet:
Why the Press Stumbles over the World’s Biggest Story – the State
of the Planet
Most news is dramatic and fast-breaking, whereas environmental issues are
manifested in subtle, slow-moving shifts – the antithesis of news. Andrew
Revkin ’78, a veteran environmental reporter for The New York
Times, discusses the difficulty of explaining such issues in a way that will
capture the attention of editors and readers.
Sayles Hall, The College Green
- Medicine, Manpower, and Money: Will You Have a Doctor When You Need
One?
Dramatic – and expensive – advances in technology have greatly
improved the outcome of many illnesses, yet insurance companies and HMOs often
balk at paying for these advances. Soon, predicted physician shortages will
further impede timely access to health care. In this Ruth Sauber Lecture, Pardon Kenney
’72, M.D., chief of surgery at Faulkner Hospital, discusses what the
future holds for doctors and their patients?
Salomon Center (lower level), The College Green
- Entitled and Empowered: Today’s Child
Author/illustrator Ted Dewan ’83 (Crispin, the Pig Who Had It All)
and author Lisa Birnbach ’78 (1,003 Great Things About Kids) will
use slides from Dewan’s books to present a humorous and incisive look at
today’s “poor little rich kids.”
List Art Center, room 120, 64 College St.
- Biomaterials and How they Change Our Lives
New drug-delivery technologies, including novel polymers and intelligent
microchips, promise to revolutionize treatments for cancer, heart disease and
other illnesses. The ability to create tissues that combine mammal cells and
synthetic polymers may help physicians treat burns, damaged cartilage, paralysis
and vascular disease. In this Maurice and Yetta Glicksman Lecture, Robert Langer,
the Kenneth J. Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will discuss the brave new world of
bioengineered materials.
Starr Auditorium, MacMillan Hall, 167 Thayer St.
- Come with Me to the SEC
From Enron to Global Crossings, issues confronting the securities market, and
the SEC’s role in addressing them, continue to dominate the business news.
Annette Nazareth ’78, director of the Division of Market Regulation at the
U.S Securities and Exchange Commission, plays a policy- and decision-making role
at the SEC; she will discuss the current situation and future directions.
Salomon Center (upper level), The College Green
2:15 p.m.
- Fighting Terrorism and the Danger of Neglecting Human Rights
Since September 11, some observers feel that the Bush administration has viewed
human rights as an obstacle to fighting terrorism. Kenneth Roth ’78,
executive director for Human Rights Watch, believes that respecting rights and
ending terrorism should be seen as mutually reinforcing processes, not as a
zero-sum game.
Salomon Center (lower level), The College Green
- Unchained Memories
The WPA slave narratives so powerfully captured in the HBO film Unchained
Memories represent one of our few connections to a past era and a lost
generation. Spencer Crew ’71, executive director and CEO of the National
Underground Railroad Freedom Center, talks about these former slaves, the
circumstances of their lives, and the process of capturing their memories for
the film and a book.
Salomon Center (upper level), The College Green
In conjunction with this forum, the interactive exhibition
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives will be on display
in the lobby of the Salomon Center Wednesday through Friday, May 21-23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Monday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Exploring the Surface of Mars with Twin Rovers
Next month, NASA will launch two identical robotic rovers to explore the surface
of Mars early next year. Each Mars Exploration Rover will examine its landing
site for geological evidence of past liquid water activity and past
environmental conditions hospitable to life. Catherine Weitz ’98 Ph.D.,
NASA Mars Exploration Rover (MER) program scientist, will present an overview
and a visual tour of the MER program.
Starr Auditorium, MacMillan Hall, 167 Thayer St.
- How War and Terrorism Affect Women and Children, Here and Abroad
What impact do war and terrorism have on the lives of women and children? In
this panel Cynthia Garcia Coll, Brown’s Charles Pitts Robinson and John
Palmer Barstow Professor and professor of education, will discuss the
psychological effects on women and children in the United States, as well as
economic impacts. Jacqueline Bhabha, adjunct lecturer in public policy at
Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and an international
human rights attorney, will talk about international law in regard to women and
children during times of war, and Elliott Colla, assistant professor of
comparative literature at Brown, will examine gender and the metaphors of
war.
List Art Center auditorium, 64 College St.
3:30 p.m.
- The Business of Show Business, Redux
Producer/ filmmaker Doug Liman ’88 has found that success depends on hard
work, focus, and raw talent, not the chance Hollywood-and-Vine encounters of
movie lore.
Salomon Center (upper level), The College Green
- Closing the Gap on Race and Gender:
What is the Role of Art Museums with “Niche” Agendas in the 21st
Century?
Chartered in 1967, the Studio Museum in Harlem is one of many museums organized
over the last 35 years devoted to showcasing the work of artists of color
– artists who were poorly represented in mainstream institutions. With the
advancements and improvements that came with the movements of the 1980s and
1990s, is there still a need for such institutions, or has their primary mission
been pre-empted by the mainstream? Lowrey Stokes Sims, director of the Studio
Museum in Harlem, considers what these museums can still offer that is distinct
from mainstream institutions.
Sayles Hall, The College Green
- Lupus and Snurps: Uncovering an Extra Step in the Central Dogma
Joan Steitz, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale
University, will discuss the discovery of the cellular machinery that removes
introns (nonsense regions) from gene transcripts involved the use of clinical
tools – a reversal of the usual “bench to bedside” paradigm in
biomedical research. Steitz will review this pathway to discovery in basic
biology, as well as more recent surprises concerning splicing and the nature of
our genomes.
Starr Auditorium, MacMillan Hall, 167 Thayer St.
- Internet Technology and Medicine: From Education to Diagnosis
It is difficult for the public and the medical community to keep abreast of
today’s quantum leaps in medical treatments and health information. Such a
lack of awareness can lead to missed opportunities for improved health and
well-being. Chirinjeev Kathuria ’88, M.D., and Associate Dean for Medical
Education Stephen Smith will look at innovative information solutions for
patients and physicians.
Salomon Center (lower level), The College Green
3:45 p.m.
- Toward a New Order: The Influence of Globalization on Democratic
Theory
The Stephen A. Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture on International
Affairs
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, will give the Stephen A.
Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture. Cardoso is one of Latin America’s
most distinguished social scientists, and he was recently appointed to a
five-year term as professor-at-large at Brown.
Starr Plaza, Watson Institute for International Studies, 111 Thayer
St.
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