Education: Diane Ravitch

September 18, 2012 • Roland Hayes Auditorium in the UTC Fine Arts Center  • 7p

Education historian and Former Assistant Secretary of Education. Author of the bestselling book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch now repudiates positions that she once staunchly advocated. Drawing on over forty years of research and experience, Ravitch is a critic of several current school reform ideas, including privatization, standardized testing, punitive accountability, and charter schools. View the video of her lecture here. 

Community Development: Thomas Friedman

November 13, 2012 • Tivoli Theater • 7p

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and columnist for the New York Times. Thomas Friedman has written extensively on foreign affairs, including globalization, the Middle East, and environmental issues. He is the author of six books, including the bestsellers Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and That Used to Be Us: How American Fell Behind in the World it Invented and How We Can Come Back. View the video of his lecture here. 

Environment: Will Allen

February 26, 2013 • Roland Hayes Auditorium at the UTC Fine Arts Center • 7p

Urban farming activist and MacArthur “Genius” Award winner. Will Allen is the founder of Growing Power, a 2-acre urban farm in Milwaukee that produces thousands of pounds of healthy food each year for the surrounding low-income neighborhoods. The internships and workshops hosted by Growing Power engage young adults, often minorities and immigrants, in producing healthy foods for their communities. His new book, The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People and Communities, outlines how local food systems can strengthen the health and economy of communities across the nation.

Arts + Culture: Ira Glass

April 7, 2013 • Tivoli Theater • 4p

Host and Producer of the public radio show, This American Life. Over the last 17 years, This American Life has become a public radio institution that is now heard weekly by nearly 2 million listeners. The show has been pioneering in its journalistic approach to oldfashioned storytelling.