Tag Archives: Clinton School of Public Service

Today at Clinton School – the Arkansas Rep production of CHICAGO

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Image may contain: indoorThe Arkansas Repertory Theatre works in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service to participate in the UACS’s Distinguished Speaker Series, hosting educational panel discussions on various Rep productions.  Now that the Rep is back in production (!), this partnership is back in full force.

The latest in these takes place today, Thursday, February 21 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.  It focuses on the Rep’s upcoming production of the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago.

Originally a play in the 1920s, it was adapted as a musical in 1974 and 1975 by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Bob Fosse.  Opportunity knocks when a crime of passion earns Roxie Hart the kind of notoriety that slick-talking attorney Billy Flynn can exploit for her dreams of fame and his hunger for fortune. Roxie’s story captures the imaginations of newspaper readers and reporters who fall hook, line and sinker for Billy’s clever manipulation. Roxie quickly overshadows previous murderess, media darling, and fellow Cook County inmate – vaudevillian Velma Kelly.

Set in the Jazz Age, Kander and Ebb’s legendary, Tony Award-winning musical takes a tantalizing look at how the times may change, but the allure of fame remains a fundamental motivation for those willing to sacrifice their scruples for the spotlight.

The original Broadway production was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and ran for 936 performances. The 1996 Broadway revival is still running (9,251 performances as of this past Sunday) and won 6 Tony Awards.  The 2002 movie won 6 Oscars including Best Picture.

Join the Clinton School for a panel discussion about this production with Ron Hutchins, who is directing the production, and members of the cast and creative team.

The play opens officially on Friday evening and runs through Sunday, March 24.

Rock the Oscars 2019: John Lithgow

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On February 18, 2008, two time Oscar nominee John Lithgow appeared in Little Rock before a packed house at the Statehouse Convention Center.  Sponsored by the Clinton School for Public Service speaker series, he spoke about the importance of the arts.  He also read from his children’s stories to the kids in attendance who he brought up to the front.

Actor, author and singer John Lithgow has appeared in more than 30 films, been nominated for two Oscars and had roles in numerous television shows. Perhaps his most celebrated work came as the loopy character of the alien High Commander, Dick Solomon, on the hit NBC comedy series “3rd Rock from the Sun.”

As an author, Lithgow has written seven New York Times best-selling children’s picture books, including “The Remarkable Farkle McBride,” “Marsupial Sue,” “Micawber,” and “I’m a Manatee.” A graduate of Harvard University, Lithgow helped to establish “Arts First,” a weeklong festival on campus dedicated to the arts, and the “Arts Medal,” given annually to a Harvard graduate for outstanding achievement in the arts.

As a New York Times best-selling author of children’s, Lithgow says he writes in order to educate children “without them knowing it” and labels himself “the perfect man for the job.” Lithgow calls for successful people who achieve their ambitious goals to ask, “What else can I do here?” and “How can I use my success to make things happen?”

His 2008 appearance can be viewed here.

President of Rotary International speaks tonight at the Clinton School

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Image result for barry rassin rotaryTonight (2/18) at 6pm at Sturgis Hall, the Clinton School is presenting Barry Rassin, the president of Rotary International.

Barry Rassin of the Rotary Club of East Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas, is the president of Rotary International. A Rotarian since 1980, Rassin has served Rotary as director and is vice chair of The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees. He was an RI training leader and the aide to 2015-16 RI President K.R. Ravindran.

Rassin earned an MBA in health and hospital administration from the University of Florida and is the first fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in the Bahamas. He recently retired after 37 years as president of Doctors Hospital Health System, where he continues to serve as an adviser. He is a lifetime member of the American Hospital Association and has served on several boards, including the Quality Council of the Bahamas, Health Education Council, and Employer’s Confederation.

Rassin received Rotary’s highest honor, the Service Above Self Award, as well as other humanitarian awards for his work leading Rotary’s relief efforts in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.

Rock the Oscars 2019: Sam Waterston

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On February 15, 2008, Oscar nominated actor Sam Waterston appeared at the Clinton Presidential Center in a Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series program sponsored by the Clinton School for Public Service and the Clinton Foundation.

Waterston was joined by the nation’s leading authority on Abraham Lincoln, Harold Holzer in presenting “Lincoln Seen and Heard,” featuring excerpts from Lincoln’s speeches, photographs of the late president and historical commentary.

He received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for 1984’s The Killing Fields.  He has also appeared in the Oscar winning The Great Gatsby and the Oscar nominated Heaven’s Gate, Interiors, Crimes & Misdemeanors, and Nixon.  On stage, Waterston was nominated for a Tony Award and received the Drama League Award for his performance in a revival of Abe Lincoln in Illinois.

Civic Hope is focus of Clinton School program today at noon

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“Civic Hope: How Ordinary Americans Keep Democracy Alive” is the topic of Roderick P. Hart’s discussion today (February 14) at noon at the Clinton School.

Civic Hope is a history of what everyday Americans say – in their own words – about the government overseeing their lives. Based on a highly original analysis of 10,000 letters to the editor from 1948 to the present published in twelve U.S. cities, the book overcomes the limitations of survey data by revealing the reasons for people’s attitudes.

While Hart identifies worrisome trends – including a decline in writers’ abilities to explain what their opponents believe and their attachment to national touchstones – he also shows why the nation still thrives. Civic Hope makes a powerful case that the vitality of a democracy lies not in its strengths but in its weaknesses and in the willingness of its people to address those weaknesses without surcease. The key, Hart argues, is to sustain a culture of argument at the grassroots level.

Roderick Hart is one of the most successful deans in the history of the Moody College at the University of Texas at Austin and is among its most renowned scholars and teachers. An expert of politics and the mass media, he has taught in the Communication Studies Department since 1979 and is the author of 12 books. He has taught courses on political communication, rhetoric, and government and is a member of UT’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers. He founded the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, a research and outreach center committed to reversing civic and political apathy. From 2004 to 2015, he served as dean of the Moody College of Communication.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.

Rock the Oscars 2019: Geena Davis

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On February 7, 2012, Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis spoke in Little Rock.  She was hosted by the University of Arkansas Clinton School for Public Service and the William J. Clinton Foundation.

Davis founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004. The institute is the only research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate and influence the need for gender balance, reducing stereotyping and creating a wide variety of female characters in entertainment. Davis won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Accidental Tourist” in 1988.

She was again nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance as Thelma in Ridley Scott’s “Thelma and Louise,” in which she co-starred with Susan Sarandon.  She received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of baseball phenomenon Dottie Hinson in “A League of Their Own.”

Geena Davis is the founder of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and its programming arm See Jane, which engages film and television creators to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters — and reduce gender stereotyping — in media made for children 11 and under.  In 2015, she founded the Bentonville Film Festival.

Tonight at the Clinton School – Little Rock Central High 1957-59 and Beyond: A Black and a White Perspective

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This evening at 6pm, the Clinton School Speaker Series offers another insightful, timely discussion: Little Rock Central High 1957-59 and Beyond: A Black and a White Perspective.

John Bilheimer and Henry Jones bring the civil rights movement to life, offering a first-hand account of what life was like for a black teen and a white teen in the Deep South in the late 1950s.

Bilheimer, who is white, and Jones, who is black, discuss their experiences growing up in Little Rock during the height of the battle over school desegregation from 1957-1959. The two grew up near one another before leaving the state to pursue their education. Billheimer earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Arkansas and Harvard University; Jones attended Yale University and the University of Michigan. The pair did not meet until adulthood while working at Arkansas’ first integrated law firm.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.