E.N. Thompson Forum
Archive
2007-2008 | 2006-2007 | 2005-2006 | 2004-2005 | 2003-2004 | 2002-2003 | 2001-2002
A cooperative project
of the Cooper Foundation and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the E.N. Thompson
Forum on World Issues began in 1988 as part of a mission to promote better understanding
of world events and issues by Nebraskans. For more information about the Forum, visit the E.N.
Thompson Web site.
Click anywhere on the lecturer's name or lecture title to view an archived video file of the lecture in Real (all lectures through 2005-2006) or Windows Media (2006-2007 to current lectures) format. If you are unable to view a file with your current browser plug-ins, click here to download Real Player (Basic), click here to download Windows Media Player, or click here to download QuickTime Player.
Lectures 2007-2008
Bruce Babbitt: "Nebraska's Water Future: Feast or Famine"
(Listen to MP3 file)
Bruce Babbitt was Governor of Arizona from 1978-87 and Attorney General of Arizona from 1975-78. As governor, he brought environmental and resource management to the forefront in the state. He negotiated and steered to passage the Arizona Groundwater Management Act of 1980, which remains the most comprehensive water regulatory system in the nation. He was also responsible for creation of the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
Appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Clinton, Babbitt led the creation of the forest plan in the Pacific Northwest, restoration of the Florida Everglades, passage of the California Desert Protection Act, and legislation for the National Wildlife Refuge system. As a certified fire fighter, he brought his front line experience to creating a new federal wild land fire policy that emphasized the role of fire in maintenance and restoration of natural ecosystems. He pioneered the use of habitat conservation plans under the Endangered Species Act and worked with Clinton to create 22 new national monuments. He is the author of "Cities in the Wilderness," recently issued by Island Press, in which he lays out a new vision of land use in America. He currently serves as a director of the World Wildlife Fund.
For more information about Bruce Babbitt: 'America's Dams' article from Open Spaces | Profile & interview from Terrain.org | NewsHour interview
Richard Cizik: "For God's Sake"
(Listen to MP3 file)
Known as "The Green Evangelist," Reverend Richard Cizik calls climate change a crisis of "biblical proportions." Cizik is vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). His responsibilities include setting NAE's policy direction on issues before Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court, as well as serving as a national spokesman on issues of concern to evangelicals. A conservative both politically and religiously, Cizik is on a mission to convert tens of millions of Americans to the cause of conservation, using a right-to-life framework and spreading the doctrine of "creation care" to evangelical Christians. Thanks to his leadership, NAE released a manifesto urging its members to adopt eco-friendly living habits and exhorting the government to lighten America's environmental footprint. The organization also circulated a charter calling on its member network and top-level Beltway allies to fight global warming. Educated in political science and public affairs, Cizik also received a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary and an honorary Doctorate of Ministry in Christian Leadership from the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. Cizik was ordained by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in 1992 and, in addition to his work for NAE, maintains an active preaching and speaking schedule.
For more information about Richard Cizik: Profile at National Association of Evangelicals | Speaking of Faith Radio Program | 'Creation care' article from Prairie Fire
Amory Lovins: "Winning the Oil Endgame"
(Listen to MP3 file)
Physicist Amory Lovins is the Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), an independent think-and-do-tank that creates abundance by design. RMI works with individuals and organizations of every imaginable kind to help them use energy and resources efficiently while being ever-better stewards of the environment.
Published in 29 books and hundreds of papers, Lovins' work has been recognized by a MacArthur Fellowship and a Time "Hero for the Planet" Award among many others. He advises governments and major firms worldwide on advanced energy and resource efficiency, and has led the technical redesign of $30 billion worth of facilities in 29 sectors to achieve very large energy savings at typically lower capital cost. The Wall Street Journal named Mr. Lovins one of thirty-nine people worldwide "most likely to change the course of business in the '90s"; Newsweek has praised him as "one of the Western world's most influential energy thinkers"; and Car magazine ranked him the twenty-second most powerful person in the global automotive industry.
For more information about Amory Lovins: Profile at Rocky Mountain Institute Web Site | Prairie Fire Newspaper | Rocky Mountain Institute
Douglas Durante & Jerry Taylor: "Ethanol: Fueling Debate"
(Listen to MP3 file)
Douglas Durante has worked in the fields of energy, transportation, and the environment since 1977. He was the Director of Public Affairs for the National Alcohol Fuels Commission and served as a Special Assistant in the Office of Alcohol Fuels at the U.S. Department of Energy. Mr. Durante has served on numerous state and federal advisory committees, including Chair of the Fuels Subcommittee of the Federal Biomass Advisory Committee and on the Governors' Ethanol Coalition's Biomass Advisory Committee. He also served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Fuels Advisory Committee, and the Department of Energy's Business Roundtable Advisory Group. In 1987, Durante helped form the Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC), a non-profit organization. The CFDC works in support of renewable alcohols and has a broad-based membership including automotive, agricultural, and other alternative energy interests.
For more information about Douglas Durante: Clean Fuels Development Coalition
Jerry Taylor is the most widely cited and influential right-of-center critic of federal energy and environmental policy in the nation. Taylor is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal and National Review and has published op-eds in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and virtually every other important newspaper in the country. He is a regular guest on CNBC and Bloomberg Radio and has also appeared frequently on the major news networks as well as CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, Public Radio International, and the BBC. Taylor has served on numerous congressional advisory bodies and has testified frequently on Capitol Hill regarding various energy and environmental policy matters. He is the author or coauthor of numerous policy studies and has contributed to several anthologies, including Energy & American Society - 13 Myths, Market Liberalism: A New Paradigm for the 21st Century, The Cato Handbook for Congress, China as a Global Economic Power: Market Reforms and the New Millennium, and Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the Planet.
For more information about Jerry Taylor: Cato Institute
Joel Sartore: "Grounded: A Reflection on the Use of Life and Land"
(Listen to MP3 file)
A life-long Nebraskan, photographer Joel Sartore has covered everything from the remote Amazon rainforest to beer-drinking, mountain-racing firefighters in the United Kingdom. In addition to his celebrated work for National Geographic, which often focuses on conservation, endangered species, and land use issues, Sartore's work has been featured in Time, Life, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and numerous books. Sartore and his career have been the subject of several national broadcasts, including "National Geographic Explorer," the "NBC Nightly News," NPR's "Weekend Edition," and "CBS Sunday Morning," as well as an hour-long PBS documentary, At Close Range.
For more information about Joel Sartore: Joel Sartore's Web Site
Lectures 2006-2007
Sherwin B. Nuland: "Faith, Philosophy and Medicine: Reflections on Maimonides"
(Listen to MP3 file)
Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine and a Fellow at Yale's Institute for Social and Policy Studies. He is the author of nine books, including Doctors: The Biography of Medicine, The Wisdom of the Body, The Mysteries Within, Lost in America: A Journey with My Father, and The Doctors' Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis. His book How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter won the National Book Award and spent thirty-four weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.
For more information about Sherwin Nuland: Nuland article | NextBook Interview | Identity Theory Interview
Clyde Prestowitz: "The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East"
(Listen to MP3 file)
Clyde Prestowitz is founder and President of the Economic Strategy Institute, a Washington think-tank influential in the areas of international trade policy and specialized in how key sectors of the U.S. and world economy adapt to change, in particular the effects of globalization. Mr. Prestowitz served as counselor to the Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan Administration and led many U.S. trade and investment negotiations with Japan, China, Latin America, and Europe. His latest book, Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East, deals with the economic rise of Asia and the upcoming rebalancing of the world economic order and its impact on the United States. He is also the author of Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions and the best-selling book on U.S.-Japan relations, Trading Places.
For more information about George McGovern: ESI Biography | Institute of International Studies Interview | Rogue Nation Review | Three Billion New Capitalists Review
George McGovern : "America: the Road Ahead at Home and Abroad"
(Listen to MP3 file)
George McGovern was a United States Congressman, Senator, and the Democratic nominee for the 1972 presidential election. After leaving the Senate in 1980 he was a visiting professor at a number of institutions, including Columbia University, Northwestern University, Duke University, Cornell University and the University of Berlin. He served as President of the Middle East Policy Council from 1991-1998, when President Bill Clinton appointed him U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. In 2001, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan named him honorary United Nations Global Ambassador on World Hunger.
For more information about George McGovern:
McGovern article at The Nation | "U.S. Congress Biography"
Azar Nafisi: "The Role of the U.N. in U.S. Foreign Policy"
(Listen to MP3 file)
Azar Nafisi, author of the national bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, is the director of the Dialogue Project at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., where she is a professor of aesthetics, culture, and literature, and teaches courses on the relation between culture and politics. She held a fellowship from Oxford and taught English literature at the University of Tehran, the Free Islamic University and Allameh Tabatabai University in Iran.
For more information about Azar Nafisi:
Nafisi website and work | "Reading Lolita In Tehran" review | PBS interview
John Bolton : "The Role of the U.N. in U.S. Foreign Policy"
(Listen to MP3 file)
John R. Bolton was appointed by President George W. Bush as United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations on August 1, 2005. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Bolton served as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security from May 2001 to May 2005. He was Senior Vice President of the American Enterprise and spent many years of his career in public service, serving as Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Department of State, 1989-1993; Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, 1985-1989; Assistant Administrator for Program and Policy Coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1982-1983; and General Counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1981-1982.
For more information about John Bolton: Wikipedia Profile | Wall Street Journal Interview | State Dept. Biography
Lectures 2005-2006
Peter Peterson: "America and the World Economy "
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The Lewis E. Harris Lecture on Public Policy and the E.N. Thompson Forum present Peter G. Peterson, chairman and co-founder of The Blackstone Group and founding president of The Concord Coalition, a bi-partisan citizen's group dedicated to building a constituency of fiscal responsibility. Peterson was Assistant to President Nixon for International Economic Affairs and was named Secretary of Commerce by Nixon in 1972. Peterson is the author of several books, including Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do about It (2004).
T.R. Reid: "The United States of Europe"
(Listen to MP3 file)
T.R. Reid is the Rocky Mountain bureau chief for The Washington Post. He has become one of the nation's best-known correspondents through his coverage of global affairs. Reid has written six books in English and three in Japanese. His most recent book, The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy (2004) has become a national best-seller.
MICHAEL WALZER : "The Paradox of National Liberation: India, Israel and Algeria "
(Listen to MP3 file)
The Kripke Lecture, a collaboration between the Thompson Forum and the UNL Norman and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies, presents Dr. Michael Walzer a leading American political theorist and professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey since 1980. His recent books include Arguing about War (2004) and Politics and Passion (2005).
To read an interview: The United States in the World - Just Wars and Just Societies: An Interview with Michael Walzer
ELAINE PAGELS: "Beyond Belief: A Different View of Christianity"
(Listen to MP3 file)
(NOTE: By contractual arrangement with Dr. Pagels, this archived file is available only to UNL and its associated research centers and extension offices. If you try to download this file from an Internet address outside UNL, you will be denied access.)
Dr. Elaine Pagels is a preeminent scholar of religious history and is the Harrington Spear Pain Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Her best-selling books, The Gnostic Gospels and Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, use new research into the early history of Christianity to raise provocative questions about the basic beliefs of the Christian tradition and the social role of religion in the modern world.
For more information about Elaine Pagels: Women's History Profile
Lectures 2004-2005
JOHN GERARD RUGGIE: "American Exceptionalism, Exemptionalism and Global Governance"
Mr. Ruggie is the Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs and Weil Director, Center for Business and Government, at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Ruggie was U.N. assistant secretary-general and chief adviser for strategic planning to Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 1997 to 2001.
For more information about John Gerard Ruggie: Kennedy School of Government
SAMANTHA POWER: "US
Foreign Policy and Human Rights"
Ms. Power is the Executive Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
and adjunct lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University. Power is the author of A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of
Genocide, winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction and National
Book Critics Circle award.
For more information about Samantha Power: American
Speakers Bureau
DAVID
HALBERSTAM: "War and the Modern Presidency"
One of the most distinguished social and political commentators in America, David
Halberstam won a Pulitzer Prize at age 30 for his prophetic reporting in the early
days of the Vietnam War. Reflecting his remarkably long tenure as a major analyst
on the American scene, 38 years later his bestseller, War in a Time of Peace,
was a runner-up for the Pulitzer. The Wall Street Journal called
it "Riveting, merciless... indispensable to anyone interested in that confused
period between the Cold War and the Terrorist War about to begin."
For more information about David Halberstam: Royce
Carlton Incorporated
LEON WIESELTIER: "Power and Virtue: American Foreign Policy in the Middle East after September
11"
The Kripke Lecture, a collaboration between the Thompson Forum and the UNL Norman
and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies presents Leon Wieseltier , a literary
editor of The New Republic since 1983 and author of Nuclear War Nuclear Peace
, Against Identity , and Kaddish .
Some recent articles concerning Leon Wieseltier:
The New Republic
Online - Washington Diarist - The Joy of Sects
The New
Republic Online - What America Can Learn From its Atheists - Under God and Over
ROY
GUTMAN -correspondent with Newsday
This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations
with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public
Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.
"Welcome to a "Conversation with History." I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute
of International Studies. Our guest is Roy Gutman, a correspondent
with Newsday. Roy won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for his reporting on
Bosnia.
More
>>>>
Lectures 2003-2004
THOMAS BORSTELMANN
The new Thompson Professor of Modern World History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and prize-winning author and teacher, Thomas Borstelmann spent 12 years in the History Department at Cornell University. Watch the archived version of his lecture here.
MARY ROBINSON
The first female President of Ireland (1990-1997) and more recently, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002), Mary Robinson has spent most of her life as a human rights activist. As an academic, legislator, and barrister, she has always sought to use law as an instrument for social change. Now based in New York, Robinson is currently leading a new project, the Ethical Globalization Initiative, whose goal is to bring the standards of human rights into the globalization process and to support capacity building in good governance in developing countries, with an initial focus on Africa. Watch the archived version of her lecture here.
BENJAMIN BARBER
The Thompson Forum series for 2003-2004 opened with Benjamin Barber,,
author of the international best-seller Jihad vs. McWorld. An internationally
renowned political theorist, Barber consults regularly with political/civic
leaders and organizations
in the United States and abroad. He was a founding editor and for 10 years
editor-in-chief of the distinguished international quarterly Political Theory.
Barber is renowned for his passionate
defense of "strong democracy," a democratic theory that advances
the role of robust democratic citizenship over formal constitutional mechanisms.
Watch the archived version of his lecture here.
AMOS OZ
Israel's most distinguished literary figure and a founding member of Israel's
Peace Now movement, Amos Oz established his reputation with his first book,
Where the Jackals Howl. Many of his subsequent novels have been critically acclaimed
best-sellers in Israel and around the world including his best known work, My
Michael, and Black Box. Oz is the author of 11 novels, three volumes of nonfiction,
and a children's book. He continues to devote his time to writing, teaching,
and actively campaigning for the Israeli peace movement. Watch the archived
version of his lecture here.
Lectures 2002-2003
ANNA
ROSMUS: GROWING UP WHERE HITLER LIVED
As a teenager,
Rosmus uncovered a deeply buried Nazi past in her hometown of Passau, Germany.
She has located and published the stories and artwork of Jews who once lived
in the Passau area and has written five books on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism.
She has been awarded the highest honor of the German Jewish Community, the 1995
Galinski Prize, and is the subject of a documentary shown throughout Germany,
“The Nasty Girl in America.” For the E.N. Thompson forum, Anna Rosmus
lectured on "Growing Up Where Hitler Lived". Watch the archived version
here.
MIKHAIL
GORBACHEV: RUSSIA: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT
Former president of the Soviet Union from 1990-91 and General Secretary
of the Communist Party from 1985-1991, Mikhail Gorbachev lectured on "Russia:
Retrospect and Prospect". He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his
role in promoting peace and change in the Soviet Union. He currently serves
as president
of the Gorbachev Foundation, which focuses on the challenges of the post-Cold
War world. He also is president of an environmental organization, Green Cross
International. Watch the archived version here.
ANDREW
NATHAN: IS IT ANY OF OUR BUSINESS? HUMAN RIGHTS AS AN ISSUE IS U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS
The Thompson Forum series for 2001-2002 closed with an appearance by Andrew
Nathan. He lectured on the subject of 'Is It Any of Our Business? Human Rights
as an Issue in U.S.-China Relations". Civil and political rights in China
are largely illusory, says Nathan, a professor of political science at Columbia
University and an internationally renowned expert in U.S.-China relations.
Nathan is the author of numerous books, including Negotiating
Culture and Human Rights: Beyond Universalism and Relativism. Watch the archived
version here.
Lectures
2001-2002
THOMAS
FRIEDMAN: THE MIDDLE EAST AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues opened its fifteenth season as Nebraska's
premier lecture series with author and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.
A foreign affairs columnist at The New York Times and the author of two bestsellers,
he lectured on the subject of "The Middle East and American Foreign Policy".
He has also been three times a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. Watch
the archived version here.
PAUL
FARMER: INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND POVERTY: A VIEW FROM HAITI
Profiled in the New Yorker as the good doctor and the 1993 winner of a MacArthur
genius grant, Paul Farmer lectured on the subject of "Infectious Diseases
and Poverty: A View from Haiti". He is the co-director of the Program in Infectious
Disease and Social Change at Harvard Medical School, a chief consultant to
the World Bank, and the founding Director of Partnership in Health. Shifting operations
between Haiti, the United States, Paris, and Russia, Farmer's goal is at once simple
and difficult: to heal of the world of preventable, treatable diseases. Watch
the archived version here.
MARY
PIPHER: THE MIDDLE OF EVERYWHERE: THE WORLD'S REFUGEES COME TO OUR TOWN
A Nebraska native and Lincoln resident, clinical psychologist, and
the author of two best-selling books, Mary Pipher lectured on the subject
of "The Middle of Everywhere: The World's Refugees Come to our Town". While her
book Reviving Ophelia looked at teenage girls and Another Country addressed
aging, Pipher's most recent book The Middle of Everywhere: The World's Refugees Come
to our Town describes the plight of refugees settling in Lincoln. Watch the
archived version here.
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