*Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling (501) 683-5239.
“Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection,” Jacob Silverman
Wednesday, April 1, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
– Social networking is a staple of modern life, but its continued evolution is becoming increasingly detrimental to our lives. Shifts in communication, identity, and privacy are affecting us more than we realize. “Terms of Service” crystalizes the current moment in technology and contemplates what is to come: our newly adopted view of daily life through the lens of what’s share-worthy and the surveillance state operated by social media platforms to mine our personal data for advertising revenue. Integrating politics, sociology, national security, pop culture, and technology, Silverman explores the surprising conformity at the heart of Internet culture, explaining how social media companies engineer their products to encourage shallow engagement and discourage dissent, and reflects on the implications of the collapsed barriers between our private and public lives
Leocadia Zak, director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 12:00 noon (Sturgis Hall)
– Leocadia Zak is the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which helps U.S. businesses create jobs through the export of their goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. companies to export opportunities by funding project planning activities, pilot projects, and reverse trade missions while creating sustainable infrastructure and economic growth in partner countries. For the sixth year in a row, USTDA’s export multiplier increased in FY 2014 — for every dollar the Agency programmed, an unprecedented $76 in U.S. exports were generated. Zak will participate in a discussion on international trade and economic development, including President Obama’s trade policy agenda and trends in emerging markets, moderated by former Arkansas Economic Development Commission director Grant Tennille.
Tyson Gersh, founder of the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative
Monday, April 6, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– Tyson Gersh is the co-founder and president of the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI), a nonprofit based in Detroit’s North End Community that uses urban agriculture as a platform to promote education, sustainability, and community in an effort to empower urban communities, solve many social problems facing Detroit, and potentially develop a broader model for redevelopment for other urban communities. Such projects produce nutritious food while teaching the community sustainable farming skills. MUFI engages 2,500 volunteers and grew more than 10,000 pounds of produce in the last year alone.
“American Economic Leadership in an Uncertain World,” Fred Hochberg
Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
– Fred Hochberg is chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank, America’s official export credit agency. With globalization accelerating and the middle class rising throughout the developing world, winning the race for export success has never been more critical to America’s capacity to build a durable economy and achieve resilient job growth. The role of the Export-Import Bank is to level the playing field for U.S. exporters by equipping those who cannot access private financing with the tools they need to compete and win on the merits of their goods and services. As exports continue to drive America’s recovery — bringing millions of high-wage jobs to our shores that would otherwise end up elsewhere — the Export-Import Bank’s mission has never been more critical to the country’s long-term success.
“Why Civil Resistance Works: Nonviolent Struggle in the Past and Future,” Erica Chenoweth
Wednesday, April 8, 2015 at 12:00 noon (Sturgis Hall)
– Erica Chenoweth is associate professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and an associate senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO). An internationally recognized authority on political violence and its alternatives, Foreign Policy magazine ranked her among the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2013 for her efforts to promote the empirical study of civil resistance. Though it defies consensus, between 1900 and 2006, campaigns of nonviolent resistance were more than twice as effective as their violent counterparts. Attracting impressive support from citizens that helps separate regimes from their main sources of power, these campaigns have produced remarkable results, even in the contexts of Iran, the Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, and Burma.
Clinton School Center on Community Philanthropy Scholar in Residence, Celeste Clark
Friday, April 10, 2015 at 12:00 noon (Sturgis Hall)
– Dr. Celeste Clark, the Center on Community Philanthropy Scholar in Residence, will present on the topic of corporate philanthropy. Dr. Clark has an extensive background in leadership development and corporate giving and is currently the Principal at Abraham Clark Consulting and a Trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
“The Golden Hour: Africa’s Rise and the Challenge for American Diplomacy,” Todd Moss
Monday, April 13, 2015 at 12:00 noon (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
– Todd Moss is chief operating officer and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and is a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. Due to African nations being increasingly prosperous, democratic, and interconnected with the lives of Americans, Africa is now more important to the United States than ever before. The new threats to U.S. national security – the spread of terrorism, international criminal networks, and cross-border disease – are pushing Africa higher up the U.S. foreign policy agenda. Moss, a former senior State Department official, will discuss the challenges a rising Africa poses for American foreign policy, asses the Obama Administration’s performance, and share why he wrote about all of this in his new fiction thriller, “The Golden Hour.”
“Who Cares?,” Michael Bearden, Ballet Arkansas’s artistic director
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 12:00 noon (Sturgis Hall) *In partnership with Ballet Arkansas
– Under the artistic direction of Michael Bearden, Ballet Arkansas will be performing its annual spring mixed repertory show April 17-19, 2015 at the Arkansas Repertory Theater. The show titled “Who Cares?” after the finale piece created by world-renowned choreographer George Balanchine, has a line-up of five works. This show will be groundbreaking for Ballet Arkansas in two ways: Hilary Wolfley, the winner of Ballet Arkansas’s first annual Visions Choreographic Competition will debut the full length version of her award-winning piece and this will be the first time an Arkansas entity will be performing an official Balanchine work. Bearden will give a presentation on George Balanchine and his impact on the world of dance and what it means in the greater dance world that Ballet Arkansas was authorized by the Balanchine Trust to perform a piece of his work.
Irene Hirano Inouye, president of the U.S.-Japan Council
Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *In partnership with Hendrix College
– Irene Hirano Inouye is President of the U.S.-Japan Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to building people-to-people relationships between the United States and Japan. The council contributes to strengthening U.S.-Japan relations by bringing together diverse leadership, engaging stakeholders, and exploring issues that benefit communities, businesses, and government entities on both sides of the Pacific. Hirano is the former president and founding CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, a position she held for twenty years. She also has extensive experience in nonprofit administration, community education, and public affairs with culturally diverse communities nationwide.
Symposium on the Moral Imperative of Music Education
Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (Wally Allen Ballroom, Statehouse Convention Center) *In partnership with the Spirit of Harmony Foundation
The Clinton School and the Spirit of Harmony Foundation, founded by musician, songwriter and record producer Todd Rundgren, will host a symposium on the importance of music education. The symposium will explore the social, neurological, economic, academic and creative benefits of music education and will conclude with a short musical performance by Todd.
The symposium panel includes:
– “The Social Benefits of Music Education: Music education improves children’s lives by making them more successful academically and in their social interactions (working with others and self-confidence)” with Margaret Martin, founder of the Harmony Project.
– “The Neurological/Physical Benefits of Music Education: Music education changes a child’s brain in ways that last a lifetime, making the child a better student and a more mentally fit adult” with Nina Kraus, director of Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.
– “The Economic Benefits of Music Education: The proven physical and social benefits of music education ultimately result in substantial economic assets that manifest throughout a person’s lifetime” with George S. Frod, co-founder and chief economist at Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies.
– “The Academic Benefits of Music Education: Individual students experience substantial and life-change positive results from active participation in music education programs” with Carl Mouton, director of bands for Maumelle High School.
– “The Emotional/Creative Benefits of Music Education: Music changes the world and changes ourselves” with Todd Rundgren, founder and president of the spirit of Harmony Foundation.
For more information, visit http://www.spiritofharmony.org/symposium.html
“The Barefoot Lawyer,” Chen Guangcheng
Monday, April 20, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
– The son of a poor farmer in rural China and blinded by illness when he was an infant, Chen Guangcheng became a self-taught lawyer and a political activist. Repeatedly harassed, beaten, and imprisoned by Chinese authorities, Chen was ultimately placed under house arrest. Despite his disability, he was determined to escape to freedom and fight for the rights of his country’s poor. After two years, one morning he climbed over the wall of his heavily guarded home and escaped. Days later, he turned up at the American embassy in Beijing, and after high-level negotiations, was able to leave China and begin a new life in the United States. Both a riveting memoir and a revealing portrait of modern China, “The Barefoot Lawyer” tells the story of a man who has never accepted limits and always believed in the power of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle.
“Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid that Avenged Pearl Harbor,” James Scott
Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
– The Doolittle Raid is a feat of legend: a daring, some thought suicidal, bombing mission designed to avenge the attack on Pearl Harbor by taking the fight to the heart of the Japanese Empire—Tokyo. The raid’s success became a rallying point for the United States, destroyed Japan’s sense of its own invulnerability, and helped force a confrontation at Midway, a critical turning point in the Pacific War. Shrouded in secrecy at the time, the raid quickly entered the realm of myth, almost literally: the White House and the American press began using “Shangri-La,” the name of a fictional mountaintop utopia, as a stand-in for the undisclosed launching point of the operation. In “Target Tokyo,” award-winning historian James Scott strips away the layers of the legend and provides the first truly comprehensive account of the raid, one that’s based on new interviews and scores of never-before published records drawn from archives across four continents.
“Powers of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs,” Joshua Shenk
Saturday, April25, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow *In partnership with the Arkansas Literary Festival
– “Powers of Two” — the most recent book by acclaimed essayist Joshua Wolf Shenk — ruminates on the way relationships drive creativity. Contrary to the myth of the lone genius, Shenk suggests, the real agent of discovery and innovation lies in interconnection between people who teach, challenge, and buoy each other. In his book, Shenk illuminates the varieties of this relational experience—the common ingredients shared by duos ranging from John Lennon and Paul McCartney to Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation about chemistry and creativity with a special focus on the relationship between mentors and their students. Twenty years ago, Shenk learned about the craft of non-fiction and the essay from the master writer and teacher Pat C. Hoy, who joins him on stage as interlocutor. “Powers of Two” was recently nominated by PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction which is awarded to an author of a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective and illuminating important contemporary issues.
“Arkansas Puzzle Day,” with David Rosenfelt
Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow *In partnership with the Arkansas Literary Festival
– The Clinton School will welcome crossword and Sudoku puzzle enthusiasts for the eighth Annual Arkansas Puzzle Day. The event will feature crossword and Sudoku contests, which will take place at Sturgis Hall on Sunday, April 26. All skill levels are encouraged to attend and participate. David Rosenfelt is an author who has written fourteen novels and three TV movies.
Ron Haskins, co-director Brookings Center on Children and Families and Budgeting for National Priorities Project
Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 6:00 pm (Sturgis Hall) *In partnership with Arkansas Community Foundation
– Haskins is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies program and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution and senior consultant at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore. From February to December of 2002 he was the senior advisor to the President for welfare policy at the White House. His areas of expertise include welfare reform, child care, child support, marriage, child protection, and budget and deficit issues. In 1997, Haskins was selected by the National Journal as one of the 100 most influential people in the federal government. Haskins was the editor of the 1996, 1998, and 2000 editions of the Green Book, a 1600-page compendium of the nation’s social programs published by the House Ways and Means Committee that analyzes domestic policy issues including health care, poverty, and unemployment.
*Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling (501) 683-5239.
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