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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/

  • Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling

    Sat, Oct 8, 2005
    Richard L Bushman makes a strong case for Joseph Smith's vision as a trace of the regional culture that he left behind with his childhood. Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, was a New Englander at heart: his family left the region when he was 10 and he never returned. Economic hardship and religious confusion cut him off from his New England roots, but his religious vision evoked the Antinomian side of the Puritan heritage, and his attempts to build a City of Zion are powerfully reminiscent of the first generation's desire to erect "a city on a hill".
    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
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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

  • 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

  • American Experience: Eyes on the Prize

    Tue, Sep 26, 2006
    WGBH hosts a preview screening of part one of the *American Experience: Eyes on the Prize* series and a panel discussion with Coolidge Corner Theater audience members. The evening also includes a special performance by a group of Berklee students who welcome the audience with "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize," the theme song for the series. American Experience: Eyes on the Prize is an award-winning 14-hour television series produced by Blackside and narrated by Julian Bond. Through contemporary interviews and historical footage, the series covers all of the major events of the civil rights movement from 1954-1985.
    Civil Rights Movement Series
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • 2006 MA Gubernatorial Candidate Debate: Round II

    Thu, Oct 19, 2006
    Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates, Grace Ross, Christy Mihos, Deval Patrick, and Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, debate at Boston's Faneuil Hall. As election day grows near, and negative political advertising increases, growing tension between Democrat Deval Patrick and Republican Kerry Healey bubbles over.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • Betsy Ross and the Making of America

    Thu, Jan 20, 2011
    National folk hero Betsy Ross, often described as a simple seamstress who rose to fame by creating our most recognizable national symbol, has long captivated the American imagination. But behind the legend is the compelling true story of an accomplished colonial artisan, a furniture upholsterer woven into a thriving colonial economy. Marla Miller, Associate Professor and Director of the Public History Program at UMass Amherst, and acclaimed author of *Betsy Ross and the Making of America*, stitches together the incredible story of this accomplished woman and explores why we as a nation cannot reconcile her true role in our historical imagination
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • Faces of Syria

    Sun, Jan 9, 2011
    Fully subscribing to Mark Twain’s phrase, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness," Dick Simon and his family went to Syria in 2011 to better understand the human story behind the headlines. The Syria they experienced was not what they expected, the way our media has portrayed it. Simon said, "We found Syria to be a beautiful place with wonderful people. Our interactions with those we met opened our eyes and changed our perspective. Everyone welcomed us, including an encounter with President Bashar Assad, even after learning we were from the United States, the country which has imposed embargoes and labeled them Axis of Evil."
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network

  • The Road Ahead: Investment Outlook

    Tue, May 17, 2011
    After two years of strong returns, can the bull market continue? Investors have a lot to be concerned about. Unrest in the Mideast. Natural disasters in Japan. Rising government indebtedness around the world. What are the key long-term themes that will determine future investment returns? Choate Investment Advisors and Managing Director Todd Millay host a panel discussion of key investment trends. Todd and a panel of economists and senior financial experts discuss the road ahead for investors.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    GBH Forum Network
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