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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:

Harvard Graduate School of Education

The Askwith Education Forum, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is endowed through the generosity of Patricia Askwith Kenner and other members of the Askwith family, and acts as a galvanizing force for debate and conversation about education in its narrowest and broadest perspectives. Each year, the Forum welcomes a number of prominent people from diverse fields to speak about issues relevant to education and children. Recent topics have included immigration, values, affirmative action, education reform, and the arts. All of these events are free and open to the public.break

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/askwith

Assessing Literacy: Exploring the Reader's Mind and Heart

Thu, Apr 7, 2005

Robert Calfee discusses the importance of effective teaching and active research regarding reading and accessing literacy. Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, Charles Warren Professor of the History of American Education and Dean, provides an introduction to the lecture.

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Inventing Kindergarten: Seedbed of Modern Art

Thu, May 5, 2005

Norman Brosterman discusses the history of kindergarten and its influence on such modernist giants as Frank Lloyd Wright, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus school. In his book Inventing Kindergarten, Brosterman argues that within this lost world of women and children we can locate the seedbed of modern art. With its emphasis on abstract decomposition and building up from elemental forms, the original kindergarten system of the mid-nineteenth century created an education and design revolution that profoundly affected the course of modern art and architecture, as well as physics, music, psychology and the modern mind itself.

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Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet

Tue, Oct 9, 2001

The co-authors of Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet discuss how professionals can do work that is both expert and socially responsible, even in market-driven times.

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Harvard Graduate School of Education
Beyond the Drama Club: Safe School Programs

Wed, Nov 7, 2001

Jeff Perrotti and Kim Westheimer discuss the issues raised in their book, *When the Drama Club is Not Enough: Lessons From the Safe Schools Program for Gay and Lesbian Students*, which examines schools, individuals and programs that made a positive difference in all students' lives. Other panelists include gay and lesbian students, teachers, counselors, parents, and researchers.

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Unholy War: Terror In the Name of Islam

Wed, May 8, 2002

Considered "the most influential Islamic Scholar in the United States" by the International Herald Tribune, John Esposito discusses his latest book, *Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam*, which sketches the activities and influence of Osama bin Laden, surveys the doctrines and practice of jihad throughout history, presents the major Islamist groups worldwide, and concludes by asking, "Where do we go from here?" John Esposito is Professor of Religion and International Affairs, and of Islamic Studies, at Georgetown University, and is the founding Director of Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

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Harvard Graduate School of Education
Meet the Poet: Billy Collins

Thu, Dec 12, 2002

In this intimate discussion, Billy Collins shares his thoughts on poetry as well as select readings from his works.

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Harvard Graduate School of Education
Baudolino: Lying About the Future Produces History

Tue, Oct 15, 2002

Umberto Eco, author of *The Name of the Rose*, speaks about his latest book, *Baudolino*.

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Harvard Graduate School of Education
A Nation Reformed or a Nation at Risk?

Wed, Feb 19, 2003

This discussion, led by some of the contributors to the recently published book, *A Nation Reformed?*, in response to the 20th anniversary of the release of *A Nation at Risk*, focuses on the educational gains and losses of the last 20 years. The panel is moderated by the book's editor, David Gordon, and includes Timothy Knowles, deputy superintendent for the Boston Public Schools; Kim Marshall, former principal of Boston's Mather Elementary School, now with New Leaders for New Schools; Jeff Howard, founder and chair of the Efficacy Institute; and Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Professor of the History of Science Emeritus, Harvard University, and a member of the National Commission on Excellence in Education which produced *A Nation at Risk*.

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Another World: Alternative Ways to Globalization

Fri, Feb 28, 2003

Panelists explore alternative and constructive pathways to globalization in "Another World Is Possible", the culminating forum of the Student Research Conference. Speakers include Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics at MIT, Mel King, former Massachusetts State Representative, Carolina Contraras, Somerville High School Atrevete organizer, Dayanna Fernandez, Somerville High School Atrevete organizer, Leonida Zurita Vargas, Quechua Community organizer from Rural Bolivia, and moderator Melissa Chabran, student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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Meet the Poet: Nikki Giovanni

Tue, Feb 4, 2003

Nikki Giovanni, University Distinguished Professor of English and Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies at Virginia Tech, reads and discusses excerpts from her latest of 27 books, *Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite Poems.*

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Harvard Graduate School of Education