We Can All Be Patriots
Each year, in my “day-job,” I’m responsible for organizing a speaker series that brings compelling speakers—scholars, journalists, filmmakers, and more—to campus to share their insights with our students and with our community. We kicked-off the fall series on Tuesday night with a Constitution Day lecture on American democracy and the authoritarian tradition of the west. We had about 150 people in the room—a mixture of students and faculty and community … Read More
System or Market? The Political Debate over Healthcare in America with Michael Fine
Air Dates: September 16-22, 2019 The political debate over healthcare in the United States seems cyclical—it rises and falls with America’s political calendar. Dr. Michael Fine argues that for patients and caregivers, issues like cost, access, and outcomes are real, they are present, and they often have life-and-death consequences. A former director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, Fine has been a writer, community organizer, family physician and public … Read More
The Tribalization of Politics with Ian Reifowitz
Air Dates: September 9-15, 2019 When Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States, pundits and leading news outlets heralded the arrival of a “post-racial America.” Some Americans, however, didn’t see it that way. Ian Reifowitz discusses the exploitation of race in the Obama years by one of America’s prominent conservative opinion makers, Rush Limbaugh, in his latest book, The Tribalization of Politics: How Rush Limbaugh’s Race-Baiting Rhetoric … Read More
Fall 2019 Event Series Announced
Pell Center has announced its event series for Fall 2019. Tickets to Pell Center 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 stay informed about when tickets become available. All … Read More
Not Normal
People who live in DC and people who don’t live in DC have a different standard of normal. When my wife and I were dating, she lived outside of Boston and I lived in Washington. She came down a couple of times each month and we’d take in all the city had to offer. I remember one beautiful afternoon sitting at an out-door table at a restaurant along the Potomac … Read More
Dr. Iskander Rehman’s Detailed Study of Cardinal Richelieu’s Grand Strategy Released by Texas National Security Review
In the latest issue of the leading national security journal Texas National Security Review, Senior Fellow Dr. Iskander Rehman engages in a detailed and interdisciplinary analysis of Cardinal Richelieu’s grand strategy during the Thirty Years’ War. One of history’s more polarizing figures, Richelieu is perhaps best known for three things: his unabashed authoritarianism, his efforts to stiffen the sinews of the French state, and his controversial decision to position France … Read More
Exploring the Meaning of Justice with Christopher Brown
Air Dates: September 2-8, 2019 The concept of justice is central to the American experience. We celebrate it in our monuments and in our history. But who gets justice, and who defines it are seldom considered questions. Christopher Brown is a practicing attorney and dystopian novelist who combines his talents in a new novel exploring these concepts in a different America. Brown is a writer and lawyer whose 2017 debut … Read More
Empathy not Sympathy
It seems like the biggest story of the week in the world of sports was the retirement of Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Andrew Luck. He cited years or injury, rehabilitation, and pain as his reason for retiring and the reaction was both horrifying and affirming. For some, their hot-take reactions were really only about what his loss would mean for his team. But others defended Luck’s motives and his right to … Read More
Golden Years: Social Inequalities in Later Life with Deborah Carr
Air Times: August 26-September 1, 2019 Some Americans will be able to enjoy their golden years. Others will not. Deborah Carr argues that the biggest factor determining which side of that equation you fall on is your socioeconomic status—that combination of education, income, and occupation that determines your social standing. Carr is Professor and Chair in the Sociology department at Boston University. Her research focuses on aging and the life … Read More
The Question of Impeachment with Frank O. Bowman III
Air Dates: August 19-25, 2019 Whether to impeach President Donald Trump is an open question in American politics. Those who favor impeachment point no further than volume II of the Mueller report and its accounts of apparent obstruction of justice by the President. Others caution that absent the ability to win a conviction in the Senate, impeachment would boomerang and only boost the president’s popularity and likelihood of winning reelection … Read More