New Topics New College Announces 2010-11 Series

Series opens November 16 with Washingtonian magazine writer Shane Harris, author of The Watchers: The Rise of America’s Surveillance State

(October 6, 2010) — New Topics New College, a community discussion series addressing relevant topics of our time, will open its 2010-2011 series on November 16 at 4 pm in Mildred Sainer Pavilion with a talk on “The Rise of the Surveillance State: U.S. Intelligence Since 9/11,” featuring Washingtonian magazine writer Shane Harris. Author of The Watchers: The Rise of America’s Surveillance State, Harris has written about intelligence and counterterrorism for more than a decade and will speak about how the U.S. government has attempted to catch terrorists since the 9/11 attacks and the implications for our security, privacy and, ultimately, our democracy.

Running through April, additional programs will address the evolution of conflict resolution, the preservation of cultural heritage, legal and economic implications of health care reform, cultural values in our political landscape and the growing international antiquities trade.

Guest speakers include: Nat Colletta, former World Bank official and New College adjunct professor (Jan 11); Carla Schroer and Mark Mudge of Cultural Heritage Imaging (Feb 10); Victor L. Moldovan and Lawrence Vernaglia, attorneys and experts on health care law (March 1); bell hooks, author, social critic and visiting distinguished scholar at New College (March 8) and Morag Kersel, archaeologist and assistant professor of anthropology at DePaul University (April 12). Schroer, Mudge, Moldovan and Vernaglia are New College alumni.

All six programs take place at 4 pm on the New College campus. Five will be held at the Mildred Sainer Music & Arts Pavilion, 5313 Bay Shore Road. The April program will be held at College Hall, 315 College Drive.  Series tickets are $75, and individual lectures are $15, with net proceeds funding scholarships and other resources for New College students. For reservations and information, call 941-487-4800 or visit www.ncf.edu/new-topics-new-college.

New Topics New College is presented by New College of Florida and New College Foundation, Inc. Each event will conclude with a complimentary reception at which attendees will be able to meet the speakers, New College faculty and students. Additional programs may be added during the year.

Media sponsors for the series are the Herald-Tribune Media Group and WEDU public television.

A calendar listing follows.

CALENDAR LISTINGS: NEW TOPICS NEW COLLEGE 2010-2011

Tickets (series $75; individual lectures $15) & Info: 941-487-4800

November 16 at 4 pm, Mildred Sainer Pavilion
“The Rise of the Surveillance State: U. S. Intelligence Since 9/11”
Washingtonian magazine writer Shane Harris, author of The Watchers: The Rise of America’s Surveillance State, has written about intelligence and counterterrorism for more than a decade. He was a correspondent for National Journal, and his work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Harris will speak about how the U.S. government has tried to catch terrorists since the 9/11 attacks, and the implications for our security, privacy, and ultimately our democracy.

January 11 at 4 pm, Mildred Sainer Pavilion
“Finding Common Ground: Conflict Resolution in the 21st Century”
Former World Bank official and New College Adjunct Professor Nat Colletta has negotiated peace accords between governments and insurgencies in Nepal, the Philippines and other countries, and recently brought his skills to an innovative conflict resolution program at Venice High School. Colletta will talk on how diplomacy to end conflict is evolving and what hope we may have for a less violent world, at home and abroad.

February 10 at 4 pm, Mildred Sainer Pavilion
“From Paleolithic Caves to the Museum of Modern Art: Documenting and Preserving Humanity’s Cultural Legacy”
San Francisco-based New College alums Carla Schroer and Mark Mudge have developed new technologies for documenting and analyzing the surface of objects, be it cave art in the Pyrenees or Jackson Pollock paintings at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Schroer and Mudge are part of Cultural Heritage Imaging, a California nonprofit that supports the development and adoption of new tools and methods that apply the power of digital technology to humanity’s cultural legacy. Mudge and Schroer, who are also husband and wife, will speak to their life on the road and how their sophisticated, but low-cost technology is leading to the democratization of archaeological research and the preservation of cultural heritage. Co-sponsored by the New College Public Archaeology Laboratory.

March 1 at 4 pm, Mildred Sainer Pavilion
“Above the Political Fray: What Health Care Reform Really Portends”
New College alumni and attorneys Victor L. Moldovan (Atlanta) and Lawrence Vernaglia (Boston) are leading experts on health care law and will discuss some of the little-explored legal and economic implications of health care reform for the industry and for each of us as health-care consumers.

March 8 at 4 pm, Mildred Sainer Pavilion
“Transforming Dominator Culture: The Way to Peace”
Author, educator, and social critic bell hooks has long been at the forefront of feminist and racial theory in America, arguing that personal transformation – recovering ourselves by confronting the pain in our lives – is fundamental to changing cultural attitudes, politics and society. hooks, visiting distinguished scholar at New College, will reflect on how race and gender has changed over the course of her career, and the clash of cultural values that continue to define much of our political landscape.

April 12 at 4 pm, College Hall
“Networks of Plunder: The International Antiquities Trade”
Archaeologist Morag Kersel studied the international antiquities trade while earning her Ph.D. from Cambridge University.  She has emerged as a world figure in the effort to protect and preserve the past. Prior to her current appointment as assistant professor of anthropology at DePaul University, Dr. Kersel managed the congressionally funded Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation to help less-developed countries protect their cultural heritage. Dr. Kersel will speak on the growing trade in antiquities, how it has been affected by civil breakdown in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what is being done to curtail it.  Co-sponsored by the New College Public Archaeology Laboratory.