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Askwith Education Forum

HGSE Announces Spring 2015 Askwith Forums

The Harvard Graduate School of Education is pleased to announce its spring 2015 Askwith Forums, a series of public lectures dedicated to discussing challenges facing education, sharing new knowledge, and generating spirited conversation. Highlights this spring include a conversation with University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan; a discussion about the future of teacher unionism with National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García and Teach Plus CEO Celine Coggins; and a talk by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, and Define American founder Jose Antonio Vargas.

The complete fall schedule of events follows:

January 26: Ferguson and Beyond: Educational Strategies to Address Racism and Social Injustice with Tiffany Anderson, superintendent of Jennings [Missouri] School District; Ed.L.D. candidate Tracey Benson; Ni’Cole Gipson, parent and social media activist; and Valeria Silva, superintendent, St. Paul [Minnesota] Public Schools. Moderated by Professor Paul Reville. Introduced by Dean James Ryan. 5:30–7 p.m. Presented in conjunction with a yearlong community conversation on Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity.

January 28: Is There a Future for American Teacher Unionism? with National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García, Teach Plus CEO Celine Coggins, and Professor Fernando Reimers. Moderated by Professor Paul Reville. 5:30–7 p.m.

February 18: A Space of Their Own? Girls, Women, and STEM with Black Girls Code Founder Kimberly Bryant; Harvey Mudd College President Maria Klawe; UCLA senior researcher Jane Margolis, Ed.M.’88, Ed.D.’90; and astronaut Stephanie Wilson. Moderated by Assistant Professor Karen Brennan. 5:30–7 p.m. Presented in conjunction with a yearlong community conversation on Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity.

February 23: A forum on charter schools with authors of A Smarter Charter: Finding What Works for Charter Schools and Public Education, Richard Kahlenberg and Halley Potter, and Harvard Law School Professor Martha Minow, Ed.M.’76. 5:30–7 p.m.

February 27: How Do You Define American? with Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, and the founder of Define American. (Time to come.) Presented in conjunction with the 13th Annual Alumni of Color Conference and yearlong community conversation on Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity.

March 5: Carmen Fariña, chancellor of New York City Department of Education. Introduced by Professor Deborah Jewell-Sherman, Ed.M.’92, Ed.D.’95. 5:30–7 p.m. Forum in conjunction with the Women in Leadership professional education convening.

March 30: Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law and member of Harvard University Board of Overseers. 6–7:30 p.m. Presented in conjunction with a yearlong community conversation on Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity.

April 9: University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan with discussant Senior Lecturer Judith McLaughlin. 5:30–7 p.m.

April 23: How Can Education Address the Biggest Global Challenges? with Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative co-chairs Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Harvard School of Public Health Professor Howard Koh; Havard Kennedy School Professor William Clark, faculty chair, Energy and Natural Resources Program, Belfer Center for International Affairs; and Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Professor Diana Eck. 4–6:30 p.m. Moderated by Professor Fernando Reimers. Forum held in conjunction with the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, Education Think Tank.

April 28: The opportunities and challenges of teaching about religion in public school settings. 5:30–7 p.m. Forum held in conjunction with Facing History and Ourselves.

All forums are held in Askwith Hall at the Longfellow building on Appian Way in Cambridge. Forums are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted on the calendar description. Askwith Forums also will be live streamed on the HGSE website and archived events can be viewed on the Harvard Education YouTube channel. For an opportunity to win reserved seating tickets to Askwith Forums, please like HarvardEducation on Facebook. To join the conversation online, follow HGSE on Twitter or use the #Askwith hashtag.

The Askwith Forums were established in 1998 by the children and grandchildren of New York City public-relations consultant, writer, and publishing executive Herbert Askwith A.B.’(19)07.

Prominent speakers have included U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, historian Noam Chomsky, edX President Anant Agarwal, mindfulness guru Jon Kabat Zinn, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Colin Powell, filmmaker M.Night Shyamalan, autism activist Temple Grandin, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Khan Academy founder and director Sal Khan, and Whistling Vivaldi author Claude Steele.

Askwith Education Forum

Bringing innovators and influential leaders to the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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