Speakers include a Supreme Court justice, a presidential candidate, political operatives, a scientist, and a philosopher
The Tisch College of Civic Life brings leaders, innovators, and activists to Tufts to talk about their work and engage with students and other members of the community. The fall semester’s lineup includes figures such as Senator Ed Markey, Karl Rove, Tarana Burke, and José Andrés, with topics ranging from civil rights to the environment.
For more information, please visit the Tisch College events page.
Presidential Town Hall with Beto O’Rourke
Thursday, September 5 | 5:30 PM (doors open at 5) | Cohen Auditorium, Aidekman Arts Center
Currently a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, Beto O’Rourke served Texas’ 16th district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013-2019. In March of 2017, he launched a historic campaign to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate. Running the largest grassroots campaign the state had ever seen, O’Rourke ultimately received more votes than any Democrat in Texas history. Prior to his time in Congress, O’Rourke served on the El Paso City Council for six years and founded a small technology business.
Follow the conversation at #BetoAtTufts.
RSVP at https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/beto-orourke
As part of the 2020 election season, Tisch College will host presidential candidates on campus for informal conversations with the Tufts community. These discussions are intended to promote civic dialogue on important issues and inform students, faculty, and staff about candidates’ platforms prior to the election. Tisch College is a nonpartisan institution and does not endorse any candidate.
Coffee & Cookies with Congressman Will Hurd
Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas
Friday, September 6 | 2 p.m. | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/congressman-will-hurd
Faculty Research Workshop: Can Microfinance Break the Trap of Poverty?
Cynthia Kinnan, assistant professor of economics, Tufts University
Tuesday, September 10 | 9 – 10:15 a.m. | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/microfinance
A Conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Thursday, September 12 | 3:30 p.m. (doors open at 2 p.m.) | Gantcher Center
Sotomayor was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2009 by President Barack Obama after having served eleven years as a judge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and six years at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. From 1979 to 1984, Sotomayor was assistant district attorney for New York, after which she was a partner at Pavia & Harcourt LLP. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and received the university’s highest academic honor. Sotomayor earned a J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.
This is a ticketed event. Tickets will be available for Tufts students, faculty, and staff beginning Thursday, September 5 at 10:30 a.m. at the Mayer Campus Center information booth or online at www.TuftsTickets.com. Limit to one ticket per Tufts ID.
Please note metal detectors will be in use. No large bags or backpacks allowed. No re-entry.
Tufts Constitution Day – Free Speech or Premeditated Violence? A Conversation with the Tufts Alum Behind the Landmark Charlottesville Suit
Amy Spitalnick, A08, executive director of Integrity First for America
Monday, September 16 | noon – 1:15 p.m.| Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/constitution-day
Film Screening – Denial
Acclaimed feature film depicting the true story of author and historian Deborah Lipstadt’s legal battle against a Holocaust denier
Monday, September 16 | 6 p.m. | Room 012, Olin Center
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/denial
Antisemitism: Here and Now with Deborah Lipstadt
Tuesday, September 17 | 4 – 5:30 p.m. | ASEAN Auditorium, Cabot Center
A renowned writer and Holocaust historian, Deborah Lipstadt is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. The author of six books, including Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier and Antisemitism: Here and Now, Lipstadt is widely known for her victory in the widely publicized 1996 libel lawsuit brought against her by David Irving for calling him a Holocaust denier.
This event is part of the School of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Lecture Series.
RSVP at https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/antisemitism-here-and-now
What Can We Learn from the Closure of Hospital Maternity Wards: A Look at New Jersey from 2000 to 2016
Alecia McGregor, assistant professor of community health, Tufts University
Tuesday, September 24 | 9 – 10:15 a.m. | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/hospital-maternity-wards
Fighting Gerrymandering with Geometry
Moon Duchin, associate professor of mathematics, Tufts University; Tisch senior fellow; director of the Science, Technology, and Society Program; co-founder of the Metric Geometry and Gerrymandering Group
Tuesday, September 24 | 7:30 - 9 p.m. | ASEAN Auditorium, Cabot Center
RSVP to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute here.
Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series: Karl Rove
Wednesday, September 25 | 6:30 p.m. | ASEAN Auditorium, Cabot Intercultural Center
Karl Rove served as senior advisor to President George W. Bush from 2000 to 2007 and deputy chief of staff from 2004 to 2007. At the White House, he oversaw the offices of strategic initiatives, political affairs, public liaison, and intergovernmental affairs, and he was deputy chief of staff for policy, coordinating the White House policymaking process. Before his service at the White House, Rove was the instrumental architect behind both of George W. Bush’s successful gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. He currently writes a weekly op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, appears frequently on Fox News, and is the author of New York Times bestseller Courage and Consequence, and The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1886 Still Matters.
Follow the conversation live at #KarlRoveAtTufts.
RSVP at https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/karl-rove
Civic Life Lunch – True Identity: Intersex Activism and the Politics of Gender
Tatenda Ngwaru, Zimbabwean intersex activist and asylum seeker
Monday, September 30 | noon | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/tatenda-ngwaru
What Are Institutions, and How Do We Change Them?
Brian Epstein, associate professor of philosophy, Tufts University
Thursday, October 3| 9 – 10:15 a.m. | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/institutions
Civic Science: Instilling a Sense of Wonder About Science, Society & Each Other
Jonathan Garlick, oral pathologist and professor and director of the Division of Cancer Biology and Tissue Engineering at Tufts School of Dental Medicine and professor at Tufts School of Medicine
Thursday, October 3 | 7:30 - 9 p.m. | ASEAN Auditorium, Cabot Center
RSVP to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute here.
Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series: Ed Markey
Monday, October 7 | 6:30 PM | Cohen Auditorium, Aidekman Arts Center
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will discuss climate change, politics, and public service with Gib Metcalf, the John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service and a professor of economics at Tufts. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 2013, Markey previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives for thirty-seven years after entering politics as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Throughout his career, Markey has become a national leader on energy, climate change, and environmental protection, co-authoring the only comprehensive climate change bill to pass either chamber of Congress. In February, he co-authored the Green New Deal with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Markey is the recipient of multiple awards and recognitions, including an honorary degree from Tufts University in 2019.
Follow the conversation live at #EdMarkeyAtTufts.
RSVP at https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/ed-markey
Civic Life Lunch – Media for Democracy: Journalism Then + Now in American Politics
Hedrick Smith, Pulitzer Prize and Emmy award-winning journalist
Tuesday, October 8 | noon | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/hedrick-smith
Faculty Research Workshop: Zero-Sum or Win-Win? How Welcoming Immigration Approaches Affect Identity and Belonging among U.S.-Born Whites in Arizona and New Mexico
Deborah Schildkraut, professor of political science, Tufts University
Thursday, October 17| 9 – 10:15 a.m. | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/immigration
We the Possibility: How We Get the Government We Invent
Mitch Weiss, professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School and the Richard L. Menschel Faculty Fellow
Thursday, October 17 | 7:30 - 9 p.m. | ASEAN Auditorium, Cabot Center
RSVP to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute here.
Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series: Tarana Burke
Thursday, November 7 | 6:30 p.m. | ASEAN Auditorium, Cabot Intercultural Center
A civil rights activist and founder of the #MeToo movement, Burke has dedicated more than twenty-five years to social justice and to laying the groundwork for a movement that was initially created to help young women of color who survived sexual abuse and assault. She serves as the executive director of the ‘me too.’ organization and as the senior director of Girls for Gender Equity, a youth leadership development organization working to actualize racial and gender justice in partnership with young people. In her upcoming book, Where the Light Enters, Burke discusses the importance of the 'me too' movement as well as her personal journey from “victim to survivor to thriver.”
Follow the conversation live at #TaranaBurkeAtTufts.
RSVP at https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/tarana-burke
Estimating the Effects of Public Housing on Intergenerational Mobility
Shomon Shamsuddin, assistant professor of urban and environmental policy, Tufts University
Wednesday, November 13| 9 – 10:15 a.m. | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/public-housing
Civic Life Lunch – 2016 to 2020: Lessons from the Campaign Trail
Robby Mook, campaign manager for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign
Monday, November 18| noon | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/robby-mook
The Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty at 25: A Conversation with Ambassador Dennis Ross
Ambassador Dennis Ross, diplomat and author
Tuesday, November 19 | 5:30 p.m. | ASEAN Auditorium, Cabot Intercultural Center
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/dennis-ross
Civic Life Lunch – The Age of Spin: Political Communications in the Trump Era
Philippe Reines, Democratic political strategist
Monday, December 2| noon | Rabb Room, Tisch College
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/philippe-reines
Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series: José Andrés
Tuesday, December 10 | 6 p.m. | ASEAN Auditorium, Cabot Intercultural Center
One of the most famous chefs in America and a pioneer of Spanish tapas in the U.S., José Andrés has been a tireless advocate for immigration reform, food policy, and disaster relief. He is founder of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which has earned global respect for its chef-driven humanitarian and disaster relief operations which recently provided over two million meals for those in need in Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. An internationally recognized culinary innovator, New York Times bestselling author, educator, humanitarian, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup, he received an honorary degree from Tufts University in 2018.
Follow the conversation live at #JoseAndresAtTufts.
https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/content/jose-andres
