Russia’s History of Covert Electoral Influence with David Shimer
Air Dates: October 12-18, 2020 Over the last four years, Americans have heard a lot about Russian interference in our elections. David Shimer says we haven’t heard the whole story about the Cold War, 2016, or 2020. Shimer is an expert on election security, U.S.-Russian relations, and covert action. He is the author of “Rigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference,” a New York Times Editors’ … Read More
Recap: “How Did We Get Here? A Conversation with Robert Dallek”
Polarization is a major issue in American politics, but Robert Dallek is still optimistic. On October 1st, 2020, Dallek had an in-depth conversation around his most recent book “How Did We Get Here? From Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump.” Dallek was joined by Pell Center Executive Director Dr. Jim Ludes and Salve Regina University history professor and Pell Honors Program Director Dr. William Leeman. Dallek reminded us that there have … Read More
Child and Adolescent Mental Health in the COVID-19-Era with Gayani DeSilva
Air Dates: October 5-11, 2020 Pandemic, social unrest–Americans of every age are coping with the mental health consequences of this era. Dr. Gayani DeSilva cautions that the challenges of being a child or adolescent currently poses special health risks. DeSilva has been a psychiatrist for 15 years and focusses on enhancing the mental health of children and adolescents and their families. Much of her work addresses the complex array of … Read More
The Breakdown of Politics
On the 22nd of May, 1856, Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina entered the old Senate chamber shortly after the Senate concluded its business for the day. After sitting for a moment in an empty seat on the floor of the chamber, Representative Brooks offered to a member of the Senate staff that he hoped the attractive woman sitting just outside the Senate chamber would leave. Despite such chivalrous concerns, … Read More
A Public Health Perspective on COVID-19 with Megan Ranney
Air Dates: September 28-October 4, 2020 COVID-19 has put America’s top doctors on the frontlines of a battle to save lives. Dr. Megan Ranney spends her days at the front, working in an urban emergency room where her training in public health and emergency medicine give her unique insights about the pandemic and the nation’s response. Ranney is a practicing emergency physician and researcher, focusing on the intersection between digital … Read More
Power and Values
We live in a cynical time. The president of the United States boasts that his pandemic response warrants a grade of A+ in the same week that deaths from the pandemic exceed 200,000 Americans. A GOP-controlled committee of the U.S. Senate released a preliminary report on an investigation into the son of Vice President Joe Biden that tracks with rumors spread by Russian agents the same week that the U.S. … Read More
Examining the Broad Reaches Systemic Racism with Tricia Rose
Air Dates: September 21-27, 2020 Americans took to the streets after the murder of George Floyd, rejecting racism in all its forms. Tricia Rose explains that structural racism has a long history in the United States—and so do the efforts to combat it. Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies … Read More
2020 Fall Event Series Announced
The Pell Center is pleased to announce its 2020 fall event series. Tickets to these events are free and will be available about two weeks prior to the event date. Please RSVP for each event on the Pell Center’s Eventbrite page and call 401-341-2927 or email [email protected] with questions. Scroll to the bottom of this page to sign up for our email list and be notified when tickets become available. All events will … Read More
Truth and Panic
Tackling Social Inequality in American Education with Eve Ewing
Air dates: September 14-20, 2020 The artist’s role in society is to challenge us, to shine a mirror on our strengths and to expose our weaknesses. Through a remarkable body of work—poetry, visual arts, rigorous scholarship on race and society, as well as ground breaking work in comic books, Eve Ewing does just that. Ewing is an Assistant Professor in the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. She … Read More