Racial justice, national security, global health in focus at Ford School autumn events

August 29, 2021

Fall term 2021 will see another packed events calendar, as the Ford School continues to attract some of the most compelling experts and voices from around the world.

In conjunction with the launch of the new Center for Racial Justice, the Racial Foundations of Public Policy speaker series will focus on the historical roots and impact of race in shaping public policy as both a disciplinary field and as a course of action. Open to the public, the series will bring in renowned scholars from across the country to deliver virtual presentations. The series will include Dr. Trevon Logan (Racial foundations of economic policy), Dr. Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve (Racial foundations of criminal justice policy), Dr. William Darity (Racial foundations of income & wealth inequality), Dr. Rucker Johnson (Racial foundations of education policy), and Dr. Jennifer Lee (Racial foundations of immigration policy). The center will also host a Masterclass in Activism, with Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole.

The Ford School community will continue to examine Public Policy and Institutional Discrimination with talks about Embracing diversity in national security and diplomacy, featuring professor of practice Ambassador Susan D. Page and associate professor of practice Javed Ali, and Redesigning healthcare towards equity, with Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence Abdul El-Sayed

To mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the annual Josh Rosenthal Education Fund Lecture will look at Covering 9/11: How the attacks shaped our world today, with reflections from journalists Beth Fertig of WNYC and Nancy Youssef of the Wall Street Journal, who both covered the attacks and their aftermath. Examining the national security reverberations of the attacks, Javed Ali will lead a discussion on Key developments in counterterrorism and national security since 9/11, with Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of Homeland Security, Farah Pandith, foreign policy strategist and first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities at the Department of State, and Eric Schmitt, journalist at The New York Times.

As the world endures more surges of COVID-19 and its variants, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, will give a Policy Talk on the global requirements for combating the disease. Presented in conjunction with the School of Public Health, Dean F. DuBois Bowman will moderate the conversation. 

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