New Topics New College

New Topics is a collaboration of the New College Foundation and New College of Florida.  This dynamic community series pairs prominent national speakers with New College faculty for stimulating discussions on relevant topics of our time.  A reception follows each program and provides an opportunity to meet the speakers, students and faculty.

The 2010-2011 program is currently being finalized.  The first program will be in November.  Please contact New College Foundation at 941-487-4685 or the Events Office at 941-487-4888 for details.

2009-2010 Program

Stimulating discussions on relevant topics of our time.

Tuesday, October 20

Establishing Democracy in the World's Trouble Spots
Inge Fryklund, '64
Rule of Law Advisor, International Foundation for Electoral Systems
Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 7:00 pm

New College alumna Inge Fryklund has spent the past nine years in some of the world's most troubled countries, working with U.S.A.I.D., UNDP, the American military and various contractors to improve legal and governance systems and establish fair elections in Kosovo, Tajikistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently returned from investigating election fraud in the Afghan presidential election, Fryklund will speak to the challenges and opportunities of establishing democratic processes in these countries and offer her own analysis and prognosis on U. S. policies there. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an independent, non-governmental organization providing professional support to electoral democracy.

Tuesday, November 3

Falling Behind: U.S. Competitiveness in a High-Tech World
Dr. Robert D. Atkinson, '74
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 7:00 pm

Robert Atkinson’s talk will focus on the United States losing its international economic competitiveness as it falls behind in advanced technologies and the forthcoming green tech revolution.  A New College alumnus, he is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, DC-based technology policy think tank.  Atkinson is the author of The Past and Future of America's Economy: Long Waves of Innovation that Drive Cycles of Growth and the State New Economy Index series. He is chair of the Congressionally-created National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and was appointed by President Clinton to the Commission on Workers, Communities, and Economic Change in the New Economy. Before starting ITIF, Atkinson was Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute and Director of PPI’s Technology & New Economy Project.

Tuesday January 12

Affairs of the Heart — New Advances and Opportunities in Diagnosing and Treating Cardiovascular Disease
Robert A. Phillips, '69
University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center
Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 7:00 pm

Better integration of medical disciplines in the treatment of patients is one of the new frontiers for medicine.  New College alumnus Robert A. Phillips (MD, PhD), who has pioneered this integrated approach as director of the Heart and Vascular Center of Excellence at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, will discuss powerful new tools in the early diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in men and women.  He will also speak to the opportunities and challenges of working across medical fields in providing a new level of care for patients with cardiovascular problems.  Phillips is a professor of medicine at the UMass Medical School in Worcester and has received numerous awards in his fields. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association and currently serves as a Senior Editor for the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.

Tuesday, February 9

Out of Print? The Future of the American Newspaper
David H. Lipsey, '71, Entertainment and Media Consultant
Mike Connelly, Executive Editor, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Andrew Barnes, Retired Chair and CEO, St. Petersburg Times
Maria Vesperi, Professor of Anthropology, New College of Florida (moderator)
Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 7:00 pm

Panel Discussion: Newspapers throughout the United States are struggling financially, hit by declining readership and the current economy.  Are things as bad as they seem?  Where is the newspaper business headed, and what will it look like when it gets there?  A panel of media experts and practitioners will discuss the current situation and ultimate fate for newspapers.

David Lipsey is the Managing Director for Media & Entertainment practice at FTI Consulting, Inc., a Washington, DC-based global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. A New College alumnus, Lipsey has over 25 years of experience in the diversified media and entertainment sectors. He is widely known as an innovative thought leader and speaker on contemporary content issues and will address the need to restructure the newspaper businesses in light of steep declines of revenue.

Andrew Barnes is former chairman and chief executive of the St. Petersburg Times, which under his tenure won five Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence.  In 1998, he won the Nelson Poynter Civil Liberties Award, given each year by Florida’s American Civil Liberties Union. Barnes is the chair emeritus of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, and was chairman of the board that awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prizes. A newspaper journalist for 40 years, he worked at the Providence (R.I.) Journal, the Washington Post and the St. Petersburg Times during his career. The Barnes Scholarships at the St. Petersburg Times Fund target high-achieving high school seniors who have overcome significant obstacles in their lives.

Mike Connelly is executive editor of the Herald-Tribune, the newspaper for Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties on Florida’s Gulf coast.  He is responsible for news coverage in the newspaper, HeraldTribune.com and the company’s magazines.  He has worked for The Wall Street Journal, St. Paul Pioneer Press and The Baltimore Sun as regional editor.  In 1997, Connelly moved to Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., a magazine, book and online publisher that specializes in information about Congress and the federal government. 

Maria Vesperi is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in the analysis of contemporary social issues and the communication of anthropological ideas to the public. Using ethnographic data collection methods and symbolic theory, she focuses on identifying beliefs that underlie cultural constructions of age, ethnicity, and community. She offers courses in cultural anthropology, myth and ritual, history of anthropological theory, anthropology and literature, language, culture and society, contemporary U.S. cultures, and anthropological approaches to the study of aging. Before joining the New College faculty, Professor Vesperi was a member of the Editorial Board and a staff writer and columnist at the St. Petersburg Times. She is author of the book, City of Green Benches: Growing Old in a New Downtown, and co-editor, with J. Neil Henderson, of The Culture of Long Term Care: Nursing Home Ethnography.

Tuesday, March 2

Turning Down the Thermostat: Innovation in Energy and Climate Technologies
Frank Alcock, Associate Professor of Political Science (moderator)
Fred Bennett, Adjunct Ethics Professor, St. Pete College; CFO, Lykes Brothers
Nick Gladding, Environmental Law Attorney
Mary Anne Bowie, Sustainability Leader, Eco Trans Alliance
Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 7:00 pm

Panel Discussion: Climate change, alternative sources of clean renewable energy – these are topics about which we’ve been hearing for a long time. But innovations are being made, many of them right here in the Sunshine State.  In this discussion, we’ll hear from some of the innovators themselves as Florida looks to secure a leading role in green technology.

Fred Bennett is Executive Vice President/CFO of Lykes Brothers and president of its subsidiary companies, Lykes Land Investment and EcoAsset Solutions.  Lykes is an agricultural and land management company with principal activities in the citrus, ranching, land investment and insurance industries. The family-owned firm is engaged in solar and renewable energy initiatives and large-scale ecologically compatible community development.

Nick Gladding is an environmental attorney with the law firm of Adams and Reese LLP and is a founding member of SCOPE. A first-time commissioner on the Florida Energy and Climate Commission, he recently received the Governor’s Point of Light in honor of Climate Change/Energy Efficiency Awareness Month. “His tireless efforts are helping pave the way to a stronger economy with a secure energy and climate future,” said Governor Crist.

Mary Anne Bowie is president of Bowie Urban Planners, where she has provided site specific land planning solutions, regulatory and market analysis and expert testimony. She is also Sustainability Leader for Eco Trans Alliance, which assists companies and universities in making the switch from “the pump to the plug” with a range of renewable solar energy transportation solutions. Bowie authored and published 2005 Sarasota Green Pages™ and conducted the Sarasota Green Connection/Marketplace, establishing the initial network of green businesses in the area.

Frank Alcock is Director of the Environmental Studies Program at New College.  A political scientist, he teaches courses on global environmental politics, international law and sustainable development.  He also serves as director of the Marine Policy Institute at Mote Marine Laboratory. Alcock appears regularly on Sarasota television station ABC7 as a political analyst.

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Tuesday, March 9 at 4:00 pm

“Climate Change – a Visual World View of Global Warming”
Gary Braasch, explorer and environmental photojournalist
Faculty host:  Meg Lowman, professor of biology and environmental studies, New College of Florida
Underwritten by the TREE Foundation

Join us for a visual tour of the places in the world most affected by climate change, from the poles to mountains and our cities, and some of the actions being taken to combat the warming, presented by Gary Braasch,  an explorer and photojournalist from Portland, Oregon. Braasch is an environmental photojournalist who creates remarkable images and important documentation about nature, environment, biodiversity and global warming. Included will be images from Florida and the Atlantic Coast, underscoring the local effects and dangers of rapid climate change.  Braasch recently reported and photographed from the Copenhagen international climate negotiations last December, and will offer his perspective on the direction being taken by the world's nations in reacting to and reducing global warming.