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Forum Network

Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:
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GBH Forum Network

The Forum Network is a public media service of the GBH Educational Foundation that offers thousands of video lectures by the world's foremost scholars, authors, artists, scientists, policymakers, and community leaders, made available to the public for free.

Lectures hosted on The Forum Network are presented by community organizations and educational institutions from the Boston area and beyond.

From science to the humanities, from local to global topics, The Forum Network is committed to providing outstanding educational content for lifelong learners, and to encouraging deeper understanding and civic engagement around the vital issues of our time.

Explore lectures by Topics, Series, Partners, and Speakers. To provide viewers with more information, lectures are further augmented with speaker biographies, related lectures and books, captions and transcripts, and downloadable audio.

In the past, GBH has collaborated with other public media partners—WETA in Washington, DC; Public Broadcasting Atlanta; and WNET New York—to record public speaking events. While the structure of the Forum Network changed in 2014 to focus specifically on the Boston region, previously recorded lectures remain archived in this website.

Major support for the GBH Forum Network comes from the Lowell Institute, an organization created to carry out the 1836 bequest of John Lowell Jr., to make free public lectures available to the citizens of Boston

Stay in touch with Forum Network. » Facebook Find us on Facebook and Twitter. Become a partner by joining our network as a local community content contributor. Email forumnetwork@wgbh.org with the subject line "New Partner".

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About GBH Educational Foundation

GBH enriches people's lives through programs and services that educate, inspire, and entertain, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of learning, and the power of diverse perspectives. GBH serves New England, the nation, and the world with programs that inform, inspire, and entertain. GBH is PBS's single largest producer of content for television (prime-time and children's programs) and the Web. Some of your favorite series and websites -- Nova, Masterpiece, Frontline, Antiques Roadshow, Curious George, Arthur, and The Victory Garden, to name a few -- are produced here in our Boston studios. GBH also is a major supplier of programs heard nationally on public radio, including The World. And we're a pioneer in educational multimedia and in media access technologies for people with hearing or vision loss. Our community ties run deep. We're a local public broadcaster serving southern New England, with 11 public television services and three public radio services -- and productions (from Greater Boston to Jazz with Eric in the Evening) that reflect the issues and cultural riches of our region. We're a member station of PBS and an affiliate of both NPR and PRI. In today's fast-changing media landscape, we're making sure you can find our content when and where you choose -- on TV, radio, the Web, podcasts, vodcasts, streaming audio and video, iPhone applications, groundbreaking teaching tools, and more. Our reach and impact keep growing. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors -- Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards -- even two Academy Awards. In 2002, a special institutional Peabody Award cited GBH's 50 years of service to the "community, the nation, and the world with outstanding productions and collaborations."

GBH is devoted to bringing you new experiences, taking you to new worlds, and giving you the very best in educational content. We're here for you -- and it all happens thanks to your interest and generous support!

https://forum-network.org/

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    From Beethoven to Ballads: Music of Landscape

    Sun, Jul 8, 2007
    Musicians and music experts explore the many connections between landscape and music, both historically and for present-day songwriters, composers and musicians. This event is cosponsored by the National Park Service/Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site and Brookline Adult and Community Education.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • Beyond Black and White: Race in the Boston Public Schools

    Wed, Mar 23, 2005
    Basic Black hosts an hour-long forum with panelists and an audience in the WGBH studio. The discussion explores how the Boston public school system can maintain a commitment to diversity and provide a quality education. Major areas covered in the discussion include: the re-segregation of schools and how this impacts the achievement of students of color; multilingual education and the obligation to address the needs of a swelling immigrant student population; the re-examination of school assignments; and the impact of the recent court decision that the voluntary desegregation plan in Lynn, MA is unconstitutional. One of the goals for the forum is to provide a setting where the academy meets the community--a gathering that promotes conversations and ideas among Boston's scholars, parents, education activists and students.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • In a Global Village, Where is the 'Public Square'?

    Fri, Jan 13, 2006
    Speaking on the idea of mass media, the blogosphere, where they meet and their place within a global village, David Liroff launches the Public Media Roundtable Speakers Series at American University's Center for Social Media. The Center for Social Media showcases and analyzes strategies to use media as creative tools for public knowledge and action. It focuses on social documentaries for civil society and democracy, and on the public media environment that supports them. The Center is part of the School of Communication at American University.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • American Experience: Victory in the Pacific

    Thu, Apr 14, 2005
    Filmmaker Austin Hoyt discusses his new documentary, American Experience: Victory in the Pacific, which examines the final year of World War II in the Pacific, including the rationale for using the atomic bomb, and features first-hand recollections of both American and Japanese civilians and soldiers.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • Nantucket Sound Offshore Wind Farm Debate

    Wed, Apr 5, 2006
    The WGBH Conservation Initiative hosts a debate concerning the proposed development of America's first offshore wind farm in the shallow waters of Nantucket Sound. The Cape Wind offshore wind farm would provide Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket with approximately 75% of their electricity needs in average winds. However, there is strong opposition to this controversial project.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • PRI's The World: Invisible Nation

    Tue, Apr 29, 2008
    Quil Lawrence discusses the Iraq War's seldom-told success story, the rise of the Kurds of northern Iraq. Lawrence has recently released a new book *Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood Is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East*, based on his experiences as a reporter in Iraq. Quil's photos of Kurdistan can be seen on the [ PRI's The World Flickr page.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/pritheworld/sets/72157604814728071/) Generously shared with the Forum Network by David Leveille and Stephen Snyder.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • Benny Golson on Composing and Arranging

    Thu, Apr 17, 2008
    Benny Golson discusses his life as a composer and arranger for such artists as Count Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • The Pleasures of Winter 2008

    Tue, Nov 25, 2008
    'The Pleasures of Winter' is an annual, live-performance, winter holiday music special hosted by folk duo [Jay Ungar and Molly Mason](http://www.jayandmolly.com/index.shtml) and recorded at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York. The music includes fiddle tunes, vintage jazz, beautiful waltzes, and original songs, all with a seasonal flavor. This year's show is a collection of the hosts' performances, featuring a variety of guest musicians sitting in with the house band including: Butch Thompson, David Bromberg, Kate Pierson of the B52s, Tony Trischka, Laurel Masse, and many more of Ungar and Mason's musical friends.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network
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    Putting a Price Tag on Life / How to Measure Pleasure

    Sun, Sep 20, 2009
    Lecture Three: "Putting a Price Tag on Life" Jeremy Bentham's late 18th century Utilitarian theory -- summed up as "the greatest good for the greatest number" -- is often used today under the name of "cost-benefit analysis." Sandel presents some contemporary examples where corporations used this theory -- which required assigning a dollar value on human lives -- to make important business decisions. This leads to a discussion about the objections to Utilitarianism: is it fair to give more weight to the values of a majority, even when the values of the majority may be ignoble or inhumane? Lecture Four: "How to Measure Pleasure" Sandel introduces J.S. Mill, another Utilitarian philosopher, who argues that all human experience can be quantifiable, and that some kinds of pleasures are more desirable and more valuable than others. Mill argues that if society values the higher pleasures, and values justice, then society as a whole will be better off in the long run. Sandel tests this theory by showing the class three video clips -- from *The Simpsons*, the reality show *Fear Factor* and Shakespeare's *Hamlet* -- then asks students to debate which of the three experiences qualifies as the "highest" pleasure.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • This Land is My Land / Consenting Adults

    Sun, Oct 4, 2009
    Lecture Seven: "This Land is My Land" John Locke is both a supporter and detractor from the theory of Libertarianism. Locke argues that in the "state of nature," before any political structure has been established, every human has certain natural rights to life, liberty -- and property. However, once we agree to enter into society, we are consenting to being governed by a system of laws. And so, Locke argues, even though government is charged with looking after one's individual rights, it is the majority that defines those rights. Lecture Eight: "Consenting Adults" John Locke on the issue of taxation and consent. How does John Locke square away the conflict between 1) his belief that individuals have an unalienable right to life, liberty, and property and 2) that government -- through majority rule -- can tax individuals without their consent? Doesn't that amount to taking an individual's property without his/her consent? Locke's answer to that is that we are giving our "implied consent" to taxation laws, by living in society, therefore taxation is legitimate. And, as long as government doesn't target a particular group for taxation -- if it isn't arbitrary -- then taxation isn't a violation of the fundamental rights of individuals.
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    GBH Forum Network
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