Tag Archives: Clinton School Speaker Series

“The Partisan Divide: Congress in Crisis” with Reps. Martin Frost & Tom Davis today at the Clinton School at noon

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Today at noon at the Clinton School, former Congressmen Martin Frost and Tom Davis will discuss their book The Partisan Divide: Congress on Crisis.

While the authors, Martin Frost and Tom Davis, share many common viewpoints, they come from opposite sides of the political spectrum. 

Tom Davis served in Congress from 1994 to 2008 representing Virginia’s 11th district. During that time, he chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee for two cycles (2000 and 2002), and was chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight before retiring, as he likes to say, “undefeated and unindicted” in 2008. 

Martin Frost represented the Dallas–Ft. Worth area of North Texas in Congress for 26 years, serving four years as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and four years as chair of the House Democratic Caucus. 

According to Frost and Davis, Congress is incapable of reforming itself without a good kick in the seat from the American public. They dissect the causes of legislative gridlock and offer a common sense, bipartisan plan for making our Congress function again. 

The preface by Pulitzer Prize finalist David Eisenhower, grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, sets the stage for this powerful behind-the-scenes narrative that uncovers the road to the present political gridlock and then offers thought-provoking insights and possibilities for the way out.

“Privacy in the Age of Big Data” at Clinton School at noon today

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Today at noon at the Clinton School, Theresa Payton will discuss issues surrounding privacy in today’s data-mining world. 

Payton was the White House Chief Information Officer from May 2006 until September 2008. 

She was the first woman to hold that position and her team served President George W. Bush and over 3,000 members of the executive office. 

Payton is the founder and CEO of Fortalice, a team of cybercrime fighters protecting against internet predators. 

“Privacy in the Age of Big Data” highlights the many positive outcomes of digital surveillance and data collection while also outlining those forms of data collection to which we may not consent, and of which we are likely unaware.

Politics, Communications & Leadership focus of Clinton School program today

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Clinton-School-of-Public-Service-LogoSometimes politics, government and public service are viewed as three distinctly separate concepts.  Tonight at the Clinton School, speaker Dan Schnur will discuss how they work together to promote a better future.

Dan Schnur is the executive director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, where he works to motivate students to become involved in politics, government, and public service and teaches popular classes in politics, communications and leadership.

In 2010, Schnur was appointed Chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). During his tenure, he implemented groundbreaking campaign finance disclosure requirements for independent committees, appointed a bipartisan task force to update California’s 1978 Political Reform Act, and worked to assure the disclosure of campaign finance and spending practices, fair elections, and government transparency. In 2014, Dan ran for statewide office as a non-partisan candidate for California Secretary of State, the first candidate to run for statewide office as an Independent.

For years, Schnur was one of California’s leading political and media strategists, whose record includes work on four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns including serving as the national Director of Communications for the 2000 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator John McCain and five years as chief media spokesman for California Governor Pete Wilson.

The program begins at 6pm at the Clinton School.

 

Teacher Recruitment and Retention is focus of Clinton School program today

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Clinton-School-of-Public-Service-LogoJonathan Crossley, who teaches at Palestine Wheatley High School, was selected as the 2014 Arkansas Teacher of the Year in November 2013. In addition to teaching 11th and 12th-grade English and oral communication and serving as the drama director, Crossley is the literacy coach for grades six through 12. His students were recognized for the most improved literacy scores in the state of Arkansas, improving from 36% to 92% proficient or advanced.

Furthermore, Crossley tracks ACT score growth where his students improved an average of 5.6 points (17.6-23.2). He was recently selected as a national honor roll teacher for the Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice and the Lowell Milken Fellowship for Unsung Heroes.

This evening at the Clinton School he will discuss teacher retention and recruitment. He’ll further examine the role they play in influencing educational equality.

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

Author John Pollack tonight at the Clinton School

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JDPollack_smallTonight at 6pm at the Clinton School, author John Pollack will discuss “Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation and Sell Our Greatest Ideas.”

The 1995 World Pun Champion and a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, John Pollack has spent more than a decade as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and public sector leaders. Throughout his career, he has pursued insight and understanding by venturing off the beaten path, intellectually and otherwise. In this spirit, his worldview has been informed by living and working in Africa and Europe, installing seismometers in Antarctica, hitchhiking across Australia, exploring the Caucasus and skippering a boat he built of 165,321 corks down Portugal’s Douro River.

In “Shortcut,” Pollack reveals just how pervasive analogies really are — and how powerful. He also explains how to evaluate the “truth” of any analogy, and how people can hone their ability with analogies to become more creative, perceptive, and persuasive.

A graduate of Stanford University, John began his journalism career as a newspaper reporter for the Hartford Courant, covering a local sewer commission. Later, he worked in Spain as a foreign correspondent, covering everything from terrorism to business to bullfights for media that included the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Advertising Age. His first book, The World On a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent, grew out of that experience. He speaks fluent Spanish, and has traveled extensively on seven continents.

In addition to Shortcut and The World on a String, John is the author of two other books. Cork Boat tells the story of John’s 30-year quest to build a Viking ship made almost entirely of wine corks, and its 2002 voyage down Portugal’s Douro River. In 2011, Gotham Books published The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics, which explores the surprising role of puns in the rise of modern civilization.

Black History Month is focus of discussion sponsored by Butler Center and Clinton School

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legaciesIn honor of Black History Month, the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ monthly Legacies & Lunch will feature a discussion on the benefits and potential detriments to setting aside a month to focus on the history of African Americans.

Panelists will be Henderson State University history professor John Graves, Arkansas State University history professor Cherisse Jones-Branch, community leader Freeman McKindra, and Butler Center staff member Rhonda Stewart.  Among the topics they will discuss include: Does the promotion of Black History Month lead to decreased attention to this topic in other months, or does setting aside an entire month build commitment to the history of African Americans?

This program is co-hosted by the Clinton School of Public Service.

It will take place from noon to 1pm at the Ron Robinson Theatre in the Arcade Building.

THE WHIPPING MAN at Arkansas Rep is focus of Clinton School lunchtime conversation

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THEREP_THE WHIPPINGMAN (no credits)-page-001The 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, January 22 at 12 noon at Sturgis Hall in Clinton Presidential Park.  It focuses on the Rep’s upcoming production of Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man.

Arkansas Repertory Theatre producing artistic director, Bob Hupp, will host a panel discussion on the upcoming production of The Whipping Man, winner of the 2011 John Gassner New Play Award from the NY Outer Critics Circle and becoming one of the most produced plays in the country.

In this post-Civil War drama, a Jewish confederate officer, Caleb DeLeon, returns from the war, badly wounded, to find his family missing and only two former slaves remaining, Simon and John, the two men who are forced to care for him. As Caleb, Simon and John wait for the family’s return, they wrestle with their shared past as master and slave, digging up long-buried family secrets, as well as new ones. The Whipping Man is critically acclaimed drama full of loyalty, deceit, and deliverance.

Join members of the production team as they discuss this chilling play selected for the Halloween season.

The Whipping Man opens officially on Friday evening and runs through Sunday, February 8.