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Last Year's Sunday Platforms
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September 2010
September 19 –
Plenitude: The New Economics of True
Wealth
Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology at
Boston College and co-founder of
the Center for a New American
Dream.
Economic activity is wreaking havoc on the planetary ecology at
the same time our economic system is failing for a growing
number of people. In this talk, economist and sociologist Juliet
Schor describes a growing movement of people who are meeting
these challenges by building small-scale, local economies with
high satisfaction and low eco-footprints. From her recent book
of the same name.
Music: Harel Geitman, cello, and
Kanako Nishikawa, piano
September 26 -
Discussion on Racism in
America and Political Polarization
Margo Woods, ESB President
We will use the techniques of Non-Violent Communication as we
attempt to place ourselves in the positions of those who may
have viewpoints different from our own.
Music: Suzy Giroux, voice and
guitar
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October 2010
October 3 -
Immigrants Learn English in
the Workplace
Claudette Beit-Aharon, ESOL Workplace Instructor,
Jewish
Vocational Service - Boston
What are the special challenges faced by minimum wage immigrants
in acquiring English language skills and cultural literacy? How
does one help such entry level employees to advance at work, and
understand the society around them? Claudette Beit-Aharon will
reflect on her experience teaching immigrant adults in
Boston-area workplaces.
Music: Paulo Cesar Pereira, cello
October 10 - The Social and Economic Costs
of Expanding Gambling in Massachusetts
Tom Larkin, Licensed Psychologist; President,
United to Stop Slots in
Massachusetts
Mr. Larkin will give a presentation and discussion of the
social, economic, and ethical issues of increasing the
availability of gambling in Massachusetts.
Music: Eric Alterman, cello
October 17 - Colleagues as a Defense
against Bad Science
Dr. Gerald Koocher, Ph.D., Associate Provost and Professor of
Psychology, Simmons College
Scientific misconduct has attracted considerable public
attention and has proved embarrassing for many researchers and
educational institutions. This talk will report on a survey of
senior scientists who chose to act (or not) when they suspected
misconduct in scientific research. The focus will address how
colleagues can use prevention and gentle alternatives to
whistle-blowing to reduce the incidence of misconduct.
Music: David Salstein, piano, and
Jan Pollack, flute
October 24 - Ethics and Immigration
Policy: Finding the Balance
Jonette Christian, Mainers for Sensible Immigration Policy
Immigration is a complex and contentious issue. This talk will
examine the ethical implications of immigration policy and its
impact on affected parties.
Music: Jessi Rosinski, flute
October 31 - Good Without God - The
Journey and the Next Steps
Margo Woods, ESB President and Greg Epstein,
Harvard Humanist
Chaplain and author of Good Without God
Greg Epstein will talk about his book and his experience
traveling around America and getting a sense of what is on
people's minds regarding religion, values and how we choose to
live our lives. This will be followed by an invitation for
greater collaboration between the Ethical Society of Boston and
the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard.
Music: Corcordia Connsort,
quartet of recorders
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November 2010
November 7 - Fighting for a Secular
Government in Washington DC
Woody Kaplan, Advisory Board Chair,
Secular Coalition for
America
The mission of the Secular
Coalition for America is lobbying in Washington, DC to increase
the visibility and respectability of non-theistic viewpoints and
to protect the secular character of our government. Woody will
address the Coalition's work during the past year and how the
election is likely to affect this work in the future.
Music: Yingjun Wei, Cello and
Aiyine Chin, piano
November 14 -
Collapse, Crisis, and Change
in the U.S. Economy
John A. Miller, Economics Professor,
Wheaton College and Member,
Dollars and Sense Collective
This talk will describe how extreme inequality and free-market
ideology brought about the continuing crisis of the U.S. and
global economies and how reducing inequality and combating
free-market ideology would help to get the economy moving in a
positive direction.
Music: Asuka Usui, violin and Yoko Tanaka, piano
November 21 - Reparations: Is It Time?
Ronald Peden, Author of Notes on the
State of America: Black to the Future, or White from the Past?
and founder of Organization of American Unity (OAU)
An introduction and overview of the book, which promotes
Reparations for American prosecution of the African slave trade
and two centuries of bonded labor that established and supported
both the British and American empires. Reparations is presented
as important in the interest of strengthening and fortifying
America against serious threats to its domestic stability and
against determined, formidable enemies abroad by legitimating a
historically disenfranchised minority.
Music: Josh Sawicki, pianist
November 28 - Thanksgiving Breakfast
Each Thanksgiving Sunday we gather for breakfast and discussion.
We each bring food to share and we share, too, our thoughts
about what makes us thankful during this season. We sometimes
speak also about what makes us less than thankful.
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December 2010
December 5 - Mid-term Elections: How
Massachusetts’ Voted
Avi Green, Executive Director of
MassVOTE
This year,
mid-term elections were characterized by tumult and controversy.
Avi Green will share his analysis of what happened in
Massachusetts on Nov. 2nd, and discuss how his organization
works to maximize voter participation.
December 12 - Holiday Get-Together or
Solstice Celebration
We will gather in Brookline to play music, sing, do readings,
and (of course) eat. If you wish to participate, contact
Andrea Perrault at (781)593-5794.
December 19 - Economic Refugees:
Immigration and the Growing Divide
Steve Schnapp, Senior Education Coordinator at
United for a Fair Economy
There is a growing clamor about our "immigration problem." But
what are the facts about immigration? What is pushing and
pulling workers to leave their homeland and families and make
dangerous border crossings? Who benefits from rules that allow
entrance by some workers and criminalize others? What do
foreign-born and domestic workers have in common? How can we
evaluate proposed immigration "reforms"? This presentation
provides information, analysis, and strategies for action to
close the political and social divides that pit workers and
communities against each other.
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January 2011
January 9 - Foreclosure Nightmare: The
Disaster Continues
Dave Burt and Ken Tilton, Community
Organizers, City Life / Vida
Urbana
In the spring of last year, City Life organizer Steve Meacham
discussed how bank foreclosures were destabilizing neighborhoods
and devastating home owners, and outlined City Life strategies
to fight back. This year, with broad evidence of bank
mismanagement of foreclosure processes, the crisis has
escalated. Our speakers will give us the latest update.
Music: Asuka Usui, violin
January 16 - Domestic Violence: Does
Everyone Have a Role?
Suzanne C. Dubus, Executive Director and
Jeanne Geiger of the Crisis Center
Suzanne will present an overview of domestic violence, the
prevalence of it in our society, and the role we can play to end
it.
Music:
Kiara Perico, viola
January 23 - Reparations: Is It Time? Part
2
Ron Peden, founder of Organization of
American Unity (OAU)
ESB member Ron Peden is author of Notes on the State of
America, Black to the Future or White from the Past?
continues the discussion from last month on the need for
reparations as important to strengthen and fortify America
against serious threats to its domestic stability and against
determined, formidable enemies abroad by legitimating a
historically disenfranchised minority.
Music: Paulo Cesar Pereira, cello
January 30 -
Spat-upon Veterans, Abandoned
POWs, and "Hanoi Jane": Vietnam and the Making of America's
Betrayal Narrative
Dr. Jerry Lembcke, Associate Professor of Sociology,
Holy Cross College
Jerry Lembcke will explore the historical, psychological, and
gendered dimensions of the betrayal images birthed in the
American lost-war culture following its defeat in Vietnam. He
will be especially attentive to the betrayal narrative
constructed by those images and the way it plays out in the
political environment form by the current wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan and the Obama presidency.
Music: Hisako Hiratsuka
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February 2011
February 13 - School Improvement
Strategies
Dr. Eileen De Los Reyes - Assistant
Superintendent of
Boston Public Schools
Dr. De Los Reyes will discuss school improvement strategies to
foster quality education for all students based on Paulo
Freire's approaches.
Music: Klaudia Szlachta, violin
February 20 - Dealing with Trauma through
Creative Writing
Peggy Rambach
Writing instructor Peggy Rambach helps students deal with the
traumas of life-threatening illnesses and incarceration through
creative writing classes at the
North Shore Medical
Center and the
Suffolk
County House of Correction.
Music:
Klaudia Szlachta, violin
February 27 - Safeguarding the "Dream" for
Immigrant Youth
Eva Millona, Executive Director of
MA Immigrant and Refugee
Advocacy Coalition
Westy Egmont, Consultant
Our speakers will discuss the Dream Act which failed passage in
the 2010 lame duck session of Congress, and the advocacy efforts
to continue to fight for its passage.
Music: Ben Warsaw, piano
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March 2011
March 6 - Youth Employment Prospects -
Danger on the Horizon
Dr. Andrew Sum, Director,
Center for Labor Market
Studies, Northeastern
University
Dr. Sum has examined the state of national, state, and regional
labor markets for many different populations. In this
presentation, he will discuss the results and implications of
his work analyzing youth employment.
Music: Concordia Consort
March 13 - Ethical Society of Boston's
School for Ethics
Margo Woods, ESB President
Dr. Woods will lead a discussion of the meaning of ethics. This
presentation will include viewing a film.
Music: no music this week
March 20 - Voices of King Philip's War
Faye George, Poet
Faye George will share historical information underlying her new
verse collection, Voices of King Philip's War -- a
collection of dramatic monologues tracing critical events of
that defining 17th century conflict between the
English colonists and the Algonquin Woodland tribes of Southern
New England. The narratives are drawn from primary and secondary
source material, from the imagined perspectives of a number of
its most prominent Indian protagonists among the Wampanoag,
Niantic, Mohegan, and Pawtucket/Pennacook.
Music:
Harel Gietheim, cello and Kanako
Nishikawa, piano
March 27 - Cuba: What It Looks Like under
Fidel and Raul
Donald K. McInnes, Attorney
In violation of the U.S. embargo, Don and his wife spent twelve
days in Cuba in the fall of 2010. Don will describe what they
saw and experienced of tourism, the people, private homes, the
health system, the economy, Communist propaganda, and the urban
scene.
Music: Yiong-Jun Wei, cello
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April 2011
April 3 - Strike at the Hyatt Hotel
Brian Lang, Vice-President,
UNITE HERE,
Local 26,
Tiffany Ten Eyck, UNITE HERE, Hyatt Hotel
Worker
Union officials and a hotel worker will discuss the strike at
the Hyatt Hotel.
Music: Sergio Escalera, jazz piano
April 10 - Youth
Helping Youth
Sarah Gogol,
Global Potential
Global Potential, an international organization, works with
youth across borders to help each other turn challenges into
opportunities.
Music: Benjamin Warsaw, piano
April 17 - The Ultimate Answer Survey
Results: What Makes Us Happy?
Marina Zdobnova,
One Laptop Per Child MAP
Curator, The Ultimate Answer Project Lead
There are many studies about what makes people happy, both
short-term and long term, and there are also online surveys to
help you rate your happiness levels. However, not many of these
focus on what we are missing and on how happiness is highly
correlated with quality of our relationships with other people.
Music:
Sergio Escalera jazz piano
April 24 - The Future of Human Services
Programs
Joe Diamond, Executive Director,
Massachusetts Community Action Agencies (MASSCAP)
Human services are expected to sustain serious budget cuts at
the federal level. Joe Diamond will discuss the prospects
for funding these services through community action programs.
Music:
Benjamin Warsaw, piano
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May 2011
May 1 - Panel Discussion on Racism in
Boston
Panelists:
Horace Smalls,
Union of Minority Neighborhoods
Jennifer Yanco,
White People Challenging Racism
Paul Marcus,
Community Change
Eva Martin Blythe,
YWCA Cambridge
May 8 - Because It's Wrong: Torture,
Privacy, and Presidential Power in the Age of Terror
Gregory Fried, Professor and Department
Chair, Philosophy Department,
Suffolk University
Global Potential, an international organization, works with
youth across borders to help each other turn challenges into
opportunities.
Music: Jessi Rosinski, flute
May 15 -
Steve Early, Labor journalist, lawyer, author, and former union
representative for the
Communications Workers of America
From Madison, Wisconsin, to Boston, Massachusetts, public
employees face bipartisan efforts to curb or eliminate their
hard won collective bargaining rights. How should other
members of the community respond, as tax-payers and concerned
citizens, to the current roll-back of negotiated contract
benefits and protections for teachers, social workers,
firefighters, and other civil servants? What should public and
private sector unions be doing to rally public support more
effectively?
Music:
Tamar Grader, piano
May 22 - On Just and Unjust Wars
Stanley H. Hoffmann, Paul and Catherine
Buttenweiser University Professor at
Harvard University
2011 Humanist of the Year award. Current
international troubles often pit the defenders of state
sovereignty against those who want to make it possible to reduce
the often disastrous consequences of it. Professor Hoffmann will
explain why he strongly supports the second group.
Music:
Megumi Stohs, violin, and
Jesse Lewis, cello
May 29 - Memorial Day Breakfast
Each Sunday of Memorial Day
Weekend we have a breakfast followed by a discussion about the
issues of our day. Our breakfast begins at 10:30 A.M., but you
are welcome to come earlier and help to set up the repast.
We will be gathering at our usual meeting place in the Spiegel
Auditorium.
Music:
Pei Yin, classical
saxophone
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June 2011
June 5 - A Trip to Basque
Tony Dunn,
AFL-CIO Community Service Liaison
North Shore labor union representatives took a trip to the
Basque area of Spain to meet and learn from staff of the
Mondragon Co., the world's most successful worker cooperative
with companies and co-ventures through the world. They are
Spain's 7th largest corporation covering many different sectors.
Music: Klaudia Szlachta, violin
June 12 - Concert and discussion
Benjamin Warsaw, Pianist
A frequent contributor to ESB musical segments at our Sunday
programs, Benjamin is currently working to achieve his Doctorate
in Piano Performance at Boston University. He will
perform:
Prelude in E Major by Ben Warsaw
English Suite in G Minor, BWV 808 by J.S. Bach
Sonata in F Minor, Op. 5 by Johannes Brahms
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