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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:
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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/

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    Kip Tiernan and Betty Burkes: PeaceWomen

    Mon, Oct 24, 2005
    Kip Tiernan, founder of Rosie's Place, the country's first drop-in emergency shelter for women and Betty Burkes, a world-renown peace educator, were both nominated in 2005 for the Nobel Peace Prize. The two women from New England talk about women worldwide engaged in the cause of peace and human dignity. In 2005, one thousand women from more than 150 countries around the world were jointly nominated for the famous Nobel Peace Prize under the initiative PeaceWomen Across the Globe.

    The nominated women, from all religious, cultural and class backgrounds, work daily in small villages and big cities to further the cause of peace and justice, often under difficult circumstances.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Ford Hall Forum

  • Reclaiming Democracy

    Sun, Oct 2, 2005
    Eli Pariser, the campaigns director of MoveOn, a grassroots Internet advocacy group, talks about his work, the state of democracy today, and what lies ahead. Moderated by Susan Shaer, executive director of Women's Action for New Directions (WAND), and president of the Ford Hall Forum. Cosponsored by the WAND Education Fund.
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    Partner:
    Ford Hall Forum

  • Defending Guantanamo Bay Detainees

    Thu, Mar 30, 2006
    In a program cosponsored by Amnesty International USA, three lawyers currently defending prisoners in Guantanamo Bay talk about who the detainees are and why the United States continues to hold them. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States government has held hundreds of men at Guantanamo Bay as part of its "global war on terrorism." Some see the methods employed there as necessary to protect ourselves against new and horrifying threats to national security. However, the secrecy and questions about the legality of the imprisonments have drawn concern from lawmakers, foreign governments, and human rights groups. They claim that such measures violate the Geneva Conventions, inspire anti-Americanism, and infringe upon the very foundations of our civil rights.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Ford Hall Forum

  • After Saigon: Vietnamese Immigrants in America

    Tue, Dec 6, 2005
    Thirty years ago, the Fall of Saigon ended the Viet Nam War and led to the first wave of Vietnamese immigration to Boston and other cities in the United States. 130,000 refugees fled Vietnam in 1975, fearing reprisal from the Communist Party. The exodus continued and as of the 2000 census, there were nearly 1,220,000 Vietnamese Americans living in the US, the fifth largest Asian immigrant group in the country. Ten years after diplomatic relations between the US and Viet Nam were re-established, as many as 20,000 Vietnamese live and work in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. Panelists talk about generational issues, homeland politics, cultural barriers and challenges, and the contributions Vietnamese Americans have made to the City of Boston and the country as a whole. Presented in partnership with Carney Hospital, Viet AID, City of Boston Office of Neighborhood Services, Office of New Bostonians, Dorchester Reporter.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Ford Hall Forum

  • Momsrising.org: The Motherhood Manifesto

    Thu, Oct 18, 2007
    Joan Blades, well known for co-founding the e-advocacy group MoveOn.org, discusses her new organization, Momsrising.org, and internet advocacy in general. With this new site, she hopes to build an army of citizen activists who will push for strong maternity leave laws, improved health care coverage, and fair wages, among other issues. Do more "family friendly" policies make economic sense for our country? Does an active online community necessarily translate into political influence? Blades screens her documentary film, *The Motherhood Manifesto*, and explores the Internet's ever-changing role in our political process.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Ford Hall Forum