Current social and political issues are addressed in this ongoing series of lectures, conversations, performances, and panel discussions. Past programs have featured actress and activist Janeane Garofalo, radio host and author Laura Flanders, author Gore Vidal, former Ambassador to Iraq Joseph C. Wilson IV, hip hop artist Chuck D, comedian Margaret Cho, Bernadette Corporation, Mona Eltahawy, author Elizabeth Kolbert, environmental strategist Laurie David, and others.
All Hammer public programs are free. Tickets are required, and are available at the Billy Wilder Theater Box Office one hour prior to start time. Limit one ticket per person on a first come, first served basis. Members receive priority seating, subject to availability. Reservations not accepted, RSVP's not required.
Discussions
7pm
Education Without Learning
“Ken Robinson writes brilliantly about the different ways in which creativity is undervalued and ignored in Western culture and especially in our educational systems.”
-John Cleese
Sir Ken Robinson, author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, outlines the current crisis in American education, compares our schools and universities with others around the globe, and with wit and humor, shows us the path towards a more enlightened America. Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has advised national governments in Europe and Asia as well as and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations including the European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Education Commission of the States. Jennifer Washburn, a fellow at the New America Foundation, discusses the commercial transformation of American schools and the effect this is having on education, innovation, research and the free flow of public knowledge. Her book, University, Inc.: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education, exposes the relationship between research universities and private industry, and the broad market forces transforming American higher education from expanding knowledge to narrowing minds.
Paying for Play Money
As the recession becomes more apparent and a depression more possible, Professor Michael Greenberger, former Director of Trading and Markets at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, explains the crisis in American capitalism where finance has replaced production as income disparity grows and debt piles up. Until recently, the US has been considered the world’s most successful industrial democracy because its currency and its credit set the world’s standard. Lack of individual security, insufficient private and public investment, slow growth, an antiquated tax system, and widening disparities in income fortell a potential global financial crisis of catastrophic proportions. This could occur if the US dollar ceased to be the world’s reserve currency, exposing the full extent of our debt.
Moderated by KPFK's Ian Masters.
