The Tibetan plateau, a land mass about the size of Western Europe, has great biodiversity despite its high altitudes. Known as “Asia’s Watertower,” Tibet’s glaciers feed rivers in China, India, and Southeast Asia. The region’s importance cannot be overstated, nor can the short- and long-term effects of environmental problems such as the declining quality of grasslands, melting glaciers, and rising population. Our conversation begins with a look at the physical geography of Tibet and will assess the impact of development projects and efforts to protect and restore an ecological system that is crucial for much of the planet.

Presented with the School of Earth Sciences
 

Related Themes: environment, justice, Tibet

In the course of over fifty years of married life and raising four children, Irvin and Marilyn Yalom have made marks in their respective fields of psychotherapy and women’s studies with contributions through teaching and research leading to the publication of academic papers and popular books. Last year, they each presented their own research into death: Irv’s Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death and Marilyn’s The American Resting Place: Four Hundred Years of History Through our Cemeteries and Burial Grounds. Our conversation will begin with the Yaloms’ poignant explorations of human finitude and then turn to the story of their time together as a dual-career academic couple. Related Themes: books, couples, creativity, death

This conversation concerns loyalty and the limits to which it might be subject when viewed in particular historical, social, and political contexts. What roles does loyalty play in forming personal and social identities? What are the connections between loyalty, patriotism, and pride? Under what conditions can loyalty be a vice and disloyalty a virtue? Is there greater agreement that disloyalty is a vice than that loyalty is a virtue? With class and racial inequalities remaining deeply embedded in our social, political, and economic structures, what is the place of loyalty in America today? Related Themes: citizenship, ethics, loyalty, vices, virtues

This installment in our Education for Citizenship series on virtues and vices examines greed, a selfish and excessive desire for more than is needed. How much is enough? What enables advertisers to convince citizens to consume more than is reasonable? Are seductive images of comfort, convenience, and sexual stimulation that bombard us in advertising edging out non-market values of care, community, love, and public service? Are market values changing college campuses? Join us for a conversation that casts a critical eye on the effects of greed on individual and collective life. Related Themes: citizenship, greed, vices, virtues

What are the prospects for public education in America today? What conditions have brought about epidemic rates of depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse among both affluent and underprivileged youth? What does leaving no child behind really mean? Join us for a constructive conversation with four leading educators who are addressing current problems and revitalizing our nation’s most important social institution: our public schools. Related Themes: democracy, education