The Heart of the Matter: Events & Discussions

Washington Ideas Festival

Washington, DC – October 29, 2014

Commission Member and Cornell University President David Skorton is interviewed by Philip Kennicott, Art and Architecture Critic at The Washington Post, during the Washington Ideas Festival.

Global Power, Influence, and Perception in the 21st Century

The British Academy – June 24, 2014

Members of the British and American Academies discuss what soft power is, as well as its significance and dilemmas today. Moderated by Bridget Kendall, BBC Diplomatic Correspondent.

Panelists:

Karl W. Eikenberry, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General
Professor Sir Adam Roberts, Senior Research Fellow of the Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford
Sir Martin Davidson, Chief Executive of the British Council as they explore what soft power is and its significance and dilemmas today.

Broadening the Debate: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences (Part I)

The British Academy – June 23, 2014

Along with Professor Nicholas Stern (Lord Stern of Brentford), President of the British Academy; Professor Dame Helen Wallace, Foreign Secretary of the British Academy; Professor Jonathan Bate, Vice-President (Humanities) of the British Academy; and Professor Nigel Vincent, Vice-President (Research and HE Policy) of the British Academy, Chief Judge Diane Wood opens day one of Broadening the Debate: How the Humanities and Social Sciences can Help us Address Global Challenges, a two-day joint conference of the British and American Academies in London. Judge Wood is joined by members of the British Academy and fellow Commission member Pauline Yu and Steve Kidd of the National Humanities Alliance.

Broadening the Debate: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences (Part II)

The British Academy – June 23, 2014

Part II of day one of Broadening the Debate, with remarks from members of the British Academy along with Commission member Hunter Rawlings and Eva Caldera, Assistant Chairman for Partnership and Strategic Initiatives at the National Endowment for the Humanities. Sharon Witherspoon MBE, Director of the Nuffield Foundation, moderates.

Speakers:

Baroness Blackstone, Chair of the British Library
Eva Caldera, Assistant Chairman for Partnership and Strategic Initiatives, National Endowment for the Humanities
Richard Hardie, Non Executive Chairman, UBS
Hunter Rawlings, President, Association of American Universities
David Sweeney, Director, Higher Education Funding Council
Professor Nigel Thrift FBA, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Warwick

Mapping the Future of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Carnegie Mellon University – April 21, 2014

Symposium on the future of the humanities and social sciences with addresses by Carnegie Mellon University president Subra Suresh and Commission members Norman Augustine and Hunter Rawlings.

Panelists:

Baruch Fischhoff, Howard Heinz University Professor of Social and Decision Sciences and Engineering and Public Policy Head, Carnegie Mellon University
Susan Polansky, Teaching Professor of Hispanic Studies and Modern Languages Head, Carnegie Mellon University
David Shumway, Professor of English, Carnegie Mello University
Kiron Skinner, Associate Professor of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University

The Heart of the Matter

North Carolina State University – April 7, 2014

Discussion about The Heart of the Matter moderated by NC State dean Jeff Braden.

Panelists:

David Price, Representative, North Carolina
Richard Brodhead, President of Duke University and Commission Co-chair Commissioner
Karl Eikenberry, William J. Perry Fellow in International Security at Stanford University
Tom Ross, President of North Carolina State University

Francisco Cigarroa

The George Washington University – March 10, 2014

Commission member Francisco Cigarroa, Chancellor of the University of Texas System, speaks at the National Humanities Alliance Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Annette Gordon-Reed

University of Maryland – February 27, 2014

Commission member Annette Gordon-Reed, professor of history and law at Harvard University, speaks at the University of Maryland’s Worldwise Arts & Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series.

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Humanities in the Digital Age

Stanford University – January 23, 2014

Speakers:

Richard Saller, moderator, Vernon R. and Lysbeth Warren Anderson Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, the Kleinheinz Family Professor of European Studies, and Professor of Classics and History, Stanford University
Joshua Cohen, Martha Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society and Professor of Political Science, Philosophy, and Law, Stanford University; member, Apple University faculty
Michael Keller, Ida M. Green University Librarian, Stanford University; and Publisher, HighWire Press
Franco Moretti, Danily C. and Laura Louise Bell Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Stanford University; Director, Stanford Literary Lab
Elaine Treharne, Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Medieval & Early Modern Studies, Stanford University

Chicago Humanities Summit

Gratz Center at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, IL – January 9, 2014

Commission members and Academy Chair Don Randel open the Chicago Humanities Summit, a cooperative effort presented by the Chicago Humanities Festival, the Modern Language Association,
and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Panelists:

John Rowe, Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Exelon Corporation and
Commission Co-chair
Richard Brodhead, President of Duke University and Commission Co-chair
Diane Wood, Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

John Lithgow

University of Maryland – November 18, 2013

Commission member John Lithgow, actor and author, speaks at the University of Maryland’s Worldwise Arts & Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series.

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G. Wayne Clough

University of West Georgia – October 31, 2013

Commission member G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, speaks at the University of West Georgia’s 28th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference in the Humanities.

Panel symposium in the Townsend Center for Performing Arts, University of West Georgia.
Moderated by Dr. Randy Hendricks, Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities at UWG.

Panelists:

Secretary G. Wayne Clough: Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. President Emeritus of Georgia Institute of Technology & member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Commission of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Professor Rosanna Warren: Award-winning poet & Endowed Professor at the University of Chicago.
Ms. Esther Mackintosh: President of the Federation of State Humanities Council.
Dr. Robert Schaefer: Professor of political science and Chair of the Department of Political Science and Planning at UWG.

Richard Brodhead

2013 College Board Forum – October 24, 2013

At the 2013 College Board Forum, Commission Co-chair Richard H. Brodhead delivered the Presidential Address on The Heart of the Matter and the crucial role of the humanities in creating the value of higher education.

Project Briefing

Cambridge, MA – October 12, 2013

Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University, and Philip Bredesen, Former Governor of Tennessee, discussing the Commission on the Humanities & Social Sciences at a briefing on Academy research projects and studies, October 2013

Languages for All? The Anglophone Challenge

UMD CASL – September 30, 2013

in cooperation with the University of Maryland Center for the Advanced Study of Language, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), the American Councils for International Education, the British Academy, the DLI Foundation, the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA), and the Joint National Committee on Languages – National Council for Language and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS)