Skip to main content
Askwith Education Forum

Spring 2016 Askwith Forums Announced

The Harvard Graduate School of Education is pleased to announce its spring 2016 Askwith Forums, a series of public lectures dedicated to discussing challenges facing education, sharing new knowledge, and generating spirited conversation.

This season’s forum series kicks off on February 1 with a discussion on whether educators can help restore social mobility in society, featuring Harvard Kennedy School Professor Robert Putnam, author of Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. Other highlights include a conversation between Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust and her brother, retired teacher Donald Gilpin, on the importance of teaching and a visit from bestselling children’s author Sandra Boynton. Many of these forums are planned in conjunction with the Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity, an ongoing conversation and set of cohesive experiences bringing the HGSE community together around a topic central to our work as educators and individuals.

The spring schedule of events follows:

February 1: The American Dream in Crisis: Can Education Restore Social Mobility? with Harvard Kennedy School Professor Robert D. Putnam, author of Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis; and Professors Roland Fryer and Meira Levinson. Moderated by Professor Paul Reville. 5:30–7 p.m. This forum is planned in conjunction with the Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity community conversations.

February 23: In Pursuit of Hipponess with Sandra Boynton, author and illustrator of bestselling children’s books Hippos Go Berserk!, Barnyard Dance!, A to Z, and Blue Hat, Green Hat. Moderated by Senior Lecturer Pamela Mason. Introduced by Dean James Ryan. 5:30–7 p.m.

March 4: Alejandra Castillo, national director of the Minority Business Development Agency for the U.S. Department of Commerce. 5:30–7p.m. This forum is planned in conjunction with the Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity community conversations and this year’s Alumni of Color Conference, “Educators as Architects: Building a Mosaic for Democracy Now!”

March 21: A conversation between Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust and her brother, retired teacher Donald Gilpin, on the importance of teaching. Introduced by Dean James Ryan. 5:30–7 p.m.

April 13: Out Front! LGBTQ Leaders to Learn From, with Marc Solomon, principal and national director of Civitas Public Affairs, former national campaign director of Freedom to Marry, and author of Winning Marriage: The Inside Story of How Same-Sex Couples Took on the Politicians and Pundits — and Won, and Lecturer Timothy McCarthy, program director at the Harvard Kennedy School Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Moderated by Lecturer Matthew Miller, associate dean for learning and teaching. 5:30-7 p.m. This forum is being held in conjunction with the Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity community conversations and the Outfront LGBTQ Speaker Series.

All forums are held in Askwith Hall at the Longfellow building on Appian Way in Cambridge and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted on the calendar description. Askwith Forums also will be streamed live on the HGSE website and archived events can be viewed at http://www.gse.harvard.edu/askwith/videos. 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 former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, historian Noam Chomsky, edX CEO Anant Agarwal, mindfulness educator 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 CEO Sal Khan, and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Askwith Education Forum

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

Related Articles