15 Highlights of 2015 – Chelsea Clinton was 1,000th Clinton School Speaker

chelsea

Eleven years to the day of the first Clinton School Speaker Series public program, that initiative celebrated its 1,000th speaker on September 18, 2015.

In “It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!,” Chelsea Clinton tackles the biggest challenges facing us today. She combines facts, charts, photographs and stories to give readers a deep understanding of the world around them and how anyone can make a difference. With stories about children and teens who have made real changes big and small, this book inspires readers of all ages to do their part to make our world a better place.

One of Clinton’s favorite childhood books was “50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth.” As an elementary school student in Little Rock, she helped start a paper-recycling program at her school; as a teenager in Washington, D.C., she led her school’s service club; and as a student at Stanford University, she volunteered as a reading and writing tutor and at the Children’s Hospital.

Today, she is Vice Chair of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation where she helps lead the work of the Foundation across its various initiatives, with a particular focus on work related to health, girls and women, creating service opportunities, and empowering the next generation of leaders. Chelsea holds a BA from Stanford University, an MPH from Columbia University, and an MPhil and doctorate degree in international relations from Oxford University.

The lecture featuring Chelsea Clinton was the 1,000th public program for the Clinton School of Public Service. On September 18, 2004, the Clinton School welcomed their first public program speaker, Senator Bob Dole.

This event will be at the Wally Allen Ballroom at the Statehouse Convention Center at 6pm.

Tonight at Clinton Center, Patterson Hood delivers latest Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture

Over the course of ten albums with the Drive-By Truckers, the band he co-founded, and three acclaimed solo records, songwriter Patterson Hood has developed a style that blends a heart-rending observation of Southern culture with a healthy respect for the power of myth in ways that have placed him firmly in the company of great American storytellers like Twain and Welty.

“As a songwriter, I’ve spent the better part of my career trying to capture both the Southern storytelling tradition and the details the tall tales left out, putting this dialectical narrative into the context of rock songs,” Hood says of a career that has seen him turn his hand to prose with success as well. Last July, Hood’s op-ed piece, “The South’s Heritage Is So Much More Than Just A Flag,” appeared in the New York Times Magazine, shortly after Hood published the lyrics to a new song inspired by the events in Ferguson, Missouri.

Tonight, Friday, December 4, Patterson Hood tells stories and sings songs about living in (and leaving) the South and his life in Rock and Roll and the Drive-By Truckers in the next installment of the Frank and Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series, in partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service and AT&T.

When: Friday, December 4, 2015
Doors Open: 6:00 P.M., Address begins at 7:00 P.M.

Where: Clinton Presidential Center Great Hall 

Ark Rep’s The Little Mermaid is focus of Clinton School lunchtime program today

LittleMermaidThe 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.

The latest in these takes place today, Thursday, December 3 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.  It focuses on the Rep’s upcoming production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

Adapted from the beloved fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen into one of Disney’s most popular animated films of all time, “The Little Mermaid” is now a lavish theatrical spectacle you won’t want to miss.

From Hans Christian Andersen to Disney to The Rep, generations have fallen in love with the young mermaid who dreams of love and life on land. This musical has it all: a great story, lush designs and all the songs you sang with your kids.

Join the Clinton School for a panel discussion about this production with moderator Bob Hupp, producing artistic director at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.

The play opens officially on Friday evening and runs through Sunday, January 3.

“Most Likely to Succeed” film screening and Q&A at Clinton School tonight

Tonight at 7pm, the Clinton School will screen the documentary Most Likely to Succeed.  It will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s producer Ted Dintersmith.

Where a college diploma once meant a guaranteed job, now more than half of America’s new college graduates are unable to find employment. Director Greg Whiteley locates the source of the problem not in the economy but in our educational system, which was developed at the dawn of the Industrial Age to train obedient workers and has changed little since, despite radical changes in the marketplace wrought by technology and the outsourcing of labor.

With a world of information available a click away, and the modern workplace valuing skills like collaboration and critical thinking, our rote-based system of learning has become outdated and ineffective. Charter schools like San Diego’s High Tech High, which replaces standardized tests and compartmentalized subjects with project-based learning and a student-focused curriculum, offer an alternative. Whiteley follows students, teachers, and parents to see if this different model can reawaken the love of learning and offer the potential for a paradigmatic shift in education.

New book EMPIRE OF COTTON focus of Clinton School lecture

In “Empire of Cotton,” Sven Beckert tells the epic story of the rise and fall of the cotton industry, its centrality to the world economy, and its making and remaking of global capitalism. The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities.

“Empire of Cotton” weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist. The book won the Bancroft Award, The Philip Taft Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Sven Beckert is an American historian and Laird Bell professor of American History at Harvard University, with a particular emphasis on the history of capitalism, including its economic, social, political, and transnational dimensions.

The program starts at 6pm tonight at the Clinton School of Public Service.

Four Elections which shaped 20th Century focus of Clinton School lecture tonight

Pivotal Tuesdays: Four Elections that Shaped the Twentieth Century

6pm, November 16 – Clinton School Sturgis Hall

In her book, “Pivotal Tuesdays,” Margaret O’Mara looks back at four pivotal presidential elections of the past 100 years to show how they shaped the twentieth century. Exploring personalities, critical moments, and surprises of the elections of 1912, 1932, 1968, and 1992, this book shows how elections are windows into changing economic times and how history is made when ordinary people cast their ballots. A book signing will follow.

Margaret O’Mara is an associate professor of History at the University of Washington in Seattle, specializing in the political and economic history of the twentieth century United States. Her research and writing focuses on the history of the high-tech industry, the history of American politics, and the connections between the two. In addition to her academic work, she has collaborated with government, business, and civic organizations on a range of projects exploring how innovation drives growth and change.

Jeane Hamilton discusses founding of Arkansas Arts Center today at noon at Clinton School

Photo taken for SOIREE

Photo taken for SOIREE

Jeane Hamilton, who has been actively involved with the Arkansas Arts Center since its beginning in 1957 and has an extensive collection of history and memorabilia, will join Dean Skip Rutherford to talk about the Arts Center, the founding leadership roles played by both the Junior League of Little Rock and Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, its development for almost 60 years, and her vision for its future in light of an ongoing community dialogue. Mrs. Hamilton’s commitment began when she was named Junior League Arts Chairman by then President Carrie Dickinson.

The conversation will take place at noon today at the Clinton School.