What matters to you.
0:00
0:00
NEXT UP:
 
Top

Forum Network

Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:

All Speakers

  • Born in 1931 into a family of Georgia sharecroppers, David C. Driskell is today a renowned painter and collector of art, as well as one of the leading authorities on the subject of African American art and the black artist in American society. His paintings can be found in major museums and private collections worldwide. His contributions to scholarship in the history of art include many books and more than 40 catalogues for exhibitions he has curated. Prof. Driskell studied at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and received his undergraduate degree in art at Howard University (1955) and a Masters in Fine Arts degree from Catholic University (1962). He joined the faculty of the Department of Art at the University of Maryland in 1977 and served as its Chair from 1978-1983. Driskell curated the groundbreaking exhibit Two Centuries of Black American Art: 1750-1950 which laid the foundation for the field of African American Art History. Since 1977, Prof. Driskell has served as cultural advisor to Camille O. and William H. Cosby and as the curator of the Cosby Collection of Fine Arts. In 2000, in a White House Ceremony, Prof. Driskell received the National Humanities Medal from President Bill Clinton. In 2007, he was elected as a National Academician by the National Academy.
  • Andrea J. Cabral was elected on November 2, 2004 and sworn in on January 5, 2005 as the 30th Sheriff of Suffolk County. She is the first female in the Commonwealths history to hold the position. In her 21 year career in public service, she has a demonstrated a commitment to public safety. Sheriff Cabral began her legal career in 1986 as a staff attorney at the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department at the Charles Street Jail, working to prepare and argue motions for bail reduction for the Suffolk Superior Court. Subsequently, she served as an assistant district attorney at the Middlesex County District Attorneys Office from 19871991. Sheriff Cabrals published works include *Obtaining, Enforcing and Defending x.209A Restraining Orders in Massachusetts *and coauthored *Same Gender Domestic Violence: Strategies for Change in Creating Courtroom Accessibility*.
  • Elyse Clawson currently serves as the Executive Director of the Crime and Justice Institute. She brings over 30 years of experience and a substantial background in criminal and juvenile justice, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and education. Throughout her career, Ms. Clawson has worked extensively with elected officials and other policy makers as both a national consultant and department director. Elyse Clawson provides consultation on policy and practice in criminal/ juvenile justice, and human services for state and local government. She also makes presentations to professional organizations, legislatures, and other policy groups. She is currently a member of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections Advisory Council and was recently appointed to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Department expert panel tasked with reviewing Department of Corrections programs and system both in the institution and upon reentry. She is a member of American Probation and Parole Associations, American Corrections Association, and National Association of Probation Executives. She is a Fulbright Senior Specialist.
  • Linda Pinkow is a media activist who has been co-news director of WMBR, community radio at MIT, since 1995. She began doing radio in 1979 at WBRS, where she served as program director, special productions director, and producer. From 1986 through 1993, Pinkow was a member of the Great Atlantic Radio Conspiracy, a collectively produced, leftist public affairs program that was aired on dozens of radio stations.
  • Judith Vecchione has contributed to many major documentary series, including *Nova*, *American Experience*, *Vietnam: A Television History*, and *Frontline*. She won an Emmy and a Red Ribbon at the American Film Festival for her work on Vietnam, and was Series Senior Producer and Producer of the first two programs of the critically acclaimed documentary series *Eyes on the Prize*. She has been Executive Producer for a number of award-winning national PBS documentary series, including *Americas*, 10 hours of programming on Latin America and the Caribbean; *The China Trilogy* ("China in Revolution," "The Mao Years," and "Born Under the Red Flag"); a three-part international coproduction, *De Gaulle and France*; and a six-part series on women scientists today, *Discovering Women*. She has produced specials, including "Fire Wars," which aired on *Nova*, and "Tug of War: The Story of Taiwan"; and she was Executive Producer for the film biographies *Eleanor Roosevelt* and *Mary Pickford* (for *American Experience*), and for *China in the Red* and *Young & Restless in China* (for *Frontline*.) She was also WGBH's Executive Producer for Martin Scorsese's multi-platform series, *The Blues*. Her programs have won awards from American Women in Radio and Television, the Chicago Film Festival, the Columbus International Film and Video Festival, the USrrr International Film and Video Festival, as well as the George Foster Peabody Award, three Christopher Awards and four CINE Golden Eagles, among others. In addition to her programming responsibilities, Vecchione is Executive Director for the Producers Workshops at WGBH, an initiative of CPB and PBS that has trained more than 150 national and regional producers, from public broadcasting stations and from the independent community, over the past eight years. Workshop participants have come from 40 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico; 48% of the Workshoppers have been minorities. Projects in development include an ITVS-funded special on Latino civil rights after World War II, *The Battle After the War* (working title), and films on Johnny Cash and on public health.
  • Eileen Newman has been named Executive Director of the National Board of Review. Previously she has most recently served as the Senior Director of Programming at IFP/NY. Before joining IFP, Eileen served as Executive Director of Film/Video Arts. Ms. Newman was formerly a program officer at New Visions for Public Schools, an educational non-profit where she assisted in the creation of small New York City elementary and secondary schools. She has worked in education and media for over 30 years as an administrator and a teacher working for the Department of Education in New York City and as a professor of film studies at Adelphi University. In addition, Ms. Newman has served on the boards of New York Women in Film as Vice-President of Programming and Membership, the New York Production Alliance, the Film and Video Council, and on the Advisory Board of DocuClub. Her work at Film/Video Arts included working closely with hundreds of filmmakers providing technical support through the fiscal sponsorship program.
  • Richard M. Burnes is a founding member and general partner at Charles River Ventures, one of the nation's major venture capital firms. He has been a venture capitalist since beginning his career in 1965, and co-founded Charles River Ventures in 1970, playing a major role in the firm's development. His focus in recent years has been investment in the fields of communications and information services. He holds a BA degree from Harvard University, and a MD in Business Administration from Boston University. Among his other interests, he is a trustee of Boston's Museum of Science, and Vice Chair of the Sea Education Association. Mr. Burnes is a past chairman of the board of the Middlesex School, and has been a major fundraiser for that institution. He is also a director of Concord Communications and Passport Corporation.
  • Geeta Pradhan is Director of the New Economy Initiative at the Boston Foundation and co-developer of the Boston Indicators Project. She co-authored the 2000 and 2002 Boston Indicators reports, The Wisdom of Our Choices and Creativity and Innovation: A Bridge to the Future. At the Boston Foundation, Geeta also developed and launched The New Economy Initiative a special five year effort that uses networking, constituency building and grant making to reduce the digital divide and to empower young people, adults and nonprofit organizations to compete effectively in the 21st century.
  • Boston City Councillor John M. Tobin, Jr. was elected as the District 6 representative to the Boston City Council in 2001. He was re-elected in 2003, 2005 and 2007. His district includes the neighborhoods of West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and parts of Roslindale and Mission Hill. Councillor Tobin has focused on improving the quality of life for individuals and families in his district and across the city. He proposed increasing residents participation in the citywide recycling program, an idea that has been implemented on a pilot basis. Thanks to Councillor Tobin, the city's building department now notifies abutters to new construction for as of right projects or jobs that don't require zoning board approval. In 2005 he helped pass an ordinance that imposes fines on property owners who do not remove graffiti. Two years ago Councillor Tobin launched Slow Down Boston, a citywide public awareness campaign aimed at curbing speeding in the city's neighborhoods. Councillor Tobin was born in Boston on August 31, 1969. He is the son of Jack and Kathy (Freeman) Tobin and is the oldest of six children. He grew up in Dorchester's Lower Mills neighborhood and in West Roxbury where he currently resides with his wife Kate (Plunkett) and their sons Matthew and Daniel. He is a 1987 graduate of Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
  • Mr. Seaman joined the DLF in 2002 from the Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia Library, where he was the founding Director (1992-2002). In this role, he oversaw the creation and development of an online archive of XML and SGML texts, of which many are available in multiple e-book formats. Mr. Seaman has lectured and published extensively in the fields of humanities computing and digital libraries, and since 1993 has taught e-text and internet courses at the annual summer Book Arts Press Rare Book School at Virginia.