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Provost's Lecture Series 2008/09

Policy Visions for a New Presidency

The Provost announces the fourth year of an annual series of related lectures on a topic of major campus and broader societal importance. 

Among the issues the new administration will face, some are familiar from recent debate, while others are still emerging. Those that are well known include immigration, health care, and energy. Other less discussed but crucial issues such as the growth of inequalities in income and wealth in the US, the US’s rate and demography of criminal incarceration, or how far and how the US should extend itself internationally, call for greater public awareness. Issues such as these for the new administration are the focus of the 2008-2009 Provost’s Lecture Series.

The lecture series brings the University's research and teaching mission to bear on some timely societal issues.  While the campus community is its core audience, it is directed as well to the Durham, national, and international audiences.  The substance of the lecture series is developed with input from an appropriate committee of faculty. In addition to giving a public lecture, speakers are invited to meet with students and faculty in smaller group activities.

The Provost wishes to thank the following Lecture Series Advisors for their work in helping to design this year's series: John Aldrich (Political Science), Linda Burton (Sociology), Charlie Clotfelter (Public Policy Studies), Sandy Darity (Public Policy Studies), Sherman James (Public Policy Studies), Alex Rosenberg (Philosophy), Jim Salzman (Law).

Previous Speakers

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 from noon to 1:30 p.m.
Bryan Center, Von Canon C
Linda Burton, James B. Duke Professor, Department of Sociology
Family Co-Morbidity and Wealth Accumulation: An Unlikely Prospect
Summary from the three city ethnography - a lecture attachmentPDF
Peter Feaver
, Alexander F. Hehmeyer Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Policy Studies
Rising and Falling Great Powers: American Grand Strategy in a Time of Turmoil
Richard Newell, Gendell Associate Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics, Nicholas School of the Environment
Energy and Environmental Policy

Three Duke faculty members offered their perspectives on issues of importance to the next president of the United States. Each topic will be featured again in the spring when five external speakers will further contribute to the discussion on some of the top issues our new president will face.

Click here for video of lecture

The Numbers of the Dominant Animal: Why the US Needs a Population Policy
Love Auditorium, Levine Science Research Center
Monday, February 2, 2009 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Paul Ehrlich
Bing Professor of Population Studies and President of the Center for Conservation Biology
Department of Biology, Stanford University

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Powering & Empowering America in the 21st Century
Love Auditorium, Levine Science Research Center
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Joseph Stanislaw
Founder, The JAStanislaw Group

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Punishment and Inequality in America
Love Auditorium, Levine Science Research Center
Thursday, February 19, 2009 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Bruce Western
Professor of Sociology and Director of the Program in Inequality and Social Policy, Harvard University

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Poverty and Wealth Building Amidst a Mortgage Meltdown and Recession
Love Auditorium, Levine Science Research Center
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Thomas Shapiro
Director, Institute on Assets and Social Policy and Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Brandeis University

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Measuring American Power in Today's Fractured World
Love Auditorium, Levine Science Research Center
Thursday, March 5, 2009 from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Paul Kennedy
J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of History and Director, International Security Studies, Yale University

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Previous Series:

2005 - 2006 - Science, Evolution, & Religion Series

2006 - 2007 - Privacy at Risk?

2007- 2008 - On Being Human