Common Hour Spring 2009
Common Hour is now accepting Nominations for the 2009-2010 year.
Nominate a speaker!
Common Hour begins at 12:30 p.m. and concludes at 1:30 p.m.
Friday, January 23
Davis Robinson, Karofsky Faculty Encore Lecture
"Professor Plum's Peculiar Public Presentation"
Davis Robinson teaches acting and directing, and courses in Theater Styles, Comedy, Improvisation, Ensemble Theater, and Shakespeare. He has worked professionally as an actor and director around New England for over twenty years. He is also the founder and director of the award-winning Beau Jest Moving Theater with whom he acts, writes, directs, and tours nationwide, including runs Off-Broadway and appearances at Lincoln Center and the Picollo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. He trained in Paris with Jacques LeCoq, and is particularly interested in movement-based theater, re-discovering forgotten American plays, and the creation of original work.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center
Friday, February 6
Rahaf Harfoush, New Media Expert; Member of Obama's Social Media Team
A social media evangelist and strategist whose clients include British Telecom, MTV, and Unilever, Rahaf Harfoush studies various Net-related issues, including sustainable innovation, women and the Web, and the impact of technology on today's youth. She is a contributor to Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, and was the research coordinator for Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. As a social media strategist for Barack Obama, she helped develop the most innovative, comprehensive and high-stakes social media campaign ever conceived. She will soon publish "Yes We Did", a book about her work on the Obama campaign.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center
Friday, February 20
Anya Kamenetz, Staff Writer for Fast Company Magazine, Yahoo! Finance Expert, and Author of "Generation Debt"
Since graduating from Yale University in 2002, Kamenetz has been a New York City-based freelance writer. In 2004, the Village Voice nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize in feature writing for her work on the series "Generation Debt: The New Economics of Being Young". Not long after, the series became a biweekly column and Kamenetz became one of the youngest columnists in the paper's history. Anya Kamenetz writes about the importance of financial literacy and responsibility, the costs of higher education, and in particular, credit laws to protect young adults from chronic and excessive high-interest debt. Her work is important in today's youth-driven marketplace, and helps young adults understand what is necessary to successfully manage their money. Today, she reaches millions with her "Generation Debt" online column and regularly appears on major news networks including CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, CNBC, and NPR.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center
RESCHEDULED: Thursday, April 2, 7:30pm
Christopher Hill '74, Career Diplomat, U.S. Ambassador Designate to Iraq
Important Update: This special campus lecture with Christopher Hill '74 has been RESCHEDULED. Bowdoin ID required.
On February 27 at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, President Barack Obama announced that he was nominating Christopher R. Hill to be the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq, saying that "From his time in the Peace Corps, to his work in Kosovo and Korea, Ambassador Hill has been tested, and he has shown the pragmatism and skill that we need right now." A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Hill's prior appointment was as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs (2005-2009), during which time he led the U.S. delegation to the 2007 six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. Previously he served as U.S. ambassador to Poland (2000-2004), ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia (1996-1999), and special envoy to Kosovo (1998-1999). Hill graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in economics. He earned his master's degree at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., and speaks Polish, Serbo-Croatian, and Macedonian. He is the recipient of the State Department's Distinguished Service Award and the Robert S. Frasure Award for Peace Negotiations.
Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall
Tickets required; if you have your original ticket, you may use it at the door. If not, updated tickets are available at the David Saul Smith Union information desk.
CANCELLED: Friday, April 3
Geoffrey Canada '74, President and CEO of Harlem Children's Zone
Important Update: Common Hour and related events with Geoffrey Canada '74 have been CANCELLED, pending rescheduling.
"Winning the War on Poverty through Education"
Under Geoffrey Canada's leadership, the Harlem Children's Zone has gained national recognition as a model for urban redevelopment, even surfacing in the 2008 presidential race. A non-profit, community-based organization that works to enhance the quality of life for children and families in a 97-block area of New York City, HCZ has been called one of the most ambitious social experiments of our time by The New York Times. Canada is also the author of "Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America", which was chosen as the first-year reading for the Class of 2004, and "Reaching Up for Manhood". He has earned numerous accolades, including Bowdoin's Common Good Award, the McGraw Prize for Education, and the Jefferson Award for Public Service.
This event is part of the "Seeking Equity through Education Series" sponsored by the McKeen Center for the Common Good.
Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall
Tickets required; tickets available beginning Monday, March 23, at the David Saul Smith Union information desk.
Friday, April 10
Marjora Carter, Green Jobs and the Green Economy
Majora Carter is an environmental advocate born, raised, and continuing to live in the South Bronx, her work takes her around the world in pursuit of resources and ideas to improve the quality of life in environmentally challenged communities. She founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 to achieve environmental justice through economically sustainable projects informed by community needs. Ms. Carter simultaneously addresses public health, poverty alleviation, and climate change as one of the nation's pioneers in successful green-collar job training and placement systems. As President of the Majora Carter Group, her work now includes advising cities, foundations, universities, businesses, and communities around the world on unlocking their green-collar economic potential to benefit everyone. She has garnered numerous awards and accolades including a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship and was named one of Essence Magazine's 25 Most Influential African-Americans in 2007.
This event is part of the April Climate Days sponsored by The President's Climate Advisory Committee. Immediately following Common Hour, President Mills will introduce Bowdoin's new Environmental Mission Statement and announce the Climate Contest winners.
A campus wide Reception with Majora Carter will follow the event in Memorial Hall. The Reception will include displays by the Climate Contest winners and Majora Carter will join a "green" jobs table sponsored by the Career Planning Office. Local food and beverages will be served, please join us for this special celebration!
Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall
Tickets required; tickets available beginning Monday, March 23, at the David Saul Smith Union information desk.
Friday, April 17
Student Chamber Ensemble Concert
Please join us for a relaxing afternoon of wonderful music performed by students in the Bowdoin Department of Music.
Studzinski Recital Hall, Kanbar Auditorium
Common Hour aims to provide an occasion for faculty, students, and staff to absent themselves from daily concerns, gather in common spaces, and engage in the ideas of speakers and the presentations of artists, and with each other in discussion of shared interests and concerns. The hour will seek to bring into the public Bowdoin forum the best of what happens in our academic departments, student groups, and the wider world: political commentary; discussion of scientific and technological issues; the work of writers, poets and journalists; philosophical ideas; the visual and performing arts; sports; business; and international affairs.
More About Common Hour
All speakers' books available at the Bowdoin Bookstore
Read the Common Hour Statement of Purpose
Explore past semesters' Common Hours in the Common Hour Archives
Contact Common Hour at CHour@bowdoin.edu