Oct
14
6:00 PM18:00
May
17
10:00 AM10:00
Apr
15
11:00 AM11:00
Nov
12
12:00 PM12:00
Oct
29
12:00 PM12:00
Sep
30
5:30 PM17:30
COVID-19, Race, and the 2020 Election
Webinar Registration Link:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/9716002260766/WN_NypY4Z6KRNe6OKheYtqbvw
This webinar panel discussion is free and open to the public. There will be a Q&A segment following three speaker presentations. Registration is required to receive a confirmation email with a unique link to join the webinar on Zoom.
Panelists
SHERRY GLIED is Dean of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. From 1989 to 2013, she was professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She also served as assistant secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is the author of Chronic Condition, coauthor of Better But Not Well: Mental Health Policy in the U.S. Since 1950, and coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics.
MICHAEL NUTTER was the 98th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia after serving almost 15 years in the Philadelphia City Council. He is a past President of the United States Conference of Mayors. Since leaving public service, Mayor Nutter has remained active in public policy, government, and civic life. He is also the David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN is a Democratic campaign consultant and founding partner and principle strategist for Penn, Schoen & Berland. He is the author of multiple books, including The Power of the Vote: Electing Presidents, Overthrowing Dictators, and Promoting Democracy Around the World and Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System.
Moderator
ROBERT Y. SHAPIRO is President of the Academy of Political Science and Editor of Political Science Quarterly. He is also the Wallace S. Sayre Professor of Government and Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
The nearly yearlong Challenges and Opportunities in the 2020 Election Series is a forum for academics, journalists, and others to comment on the issues at stake in the 2020 presidential election, and related topics front and center in American politics and society. The series fosters interdisciplinary conversations that explore undercurrents and themes affecting the upcoming election and the integrity of—and trust in—our democratic institutions.
Event Sponsors
The American AssemblyUrban and Social Policy Program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public AffairsNew York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public ServiceThe Academy of Political Science
With additional support from the Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE)
Sep
24
4:00 PM16:00
Trust in Models and Modeling Trust: Modeling COVID-19 in Real Time
How should modelers communicate the uncertainty inherent in their models without undermining trust? What does it mean to trust a probabilistic forecast? Do models incorporating assumptions about public behavior need to be understood and trusted by the public being modeled? Should modelers try to influence the public and decision-makers or should we be worried that such attempts might backfire and lead to loss of trust? We will explore all these questions and many more with the help of an esteemed panel of epidemiologists and public health experts. A concise and accessible primer on some of the core tensions around models, policymaking and public sentiment is available here.
This virtual event is free and open to the public. Register here to join us!
Jun
12
8:00 PM20:00
Apr
29
2:00 PM14:00
Reflections on the Centennial of Women's Suffrage
Webinar Registration Link:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/1615868324879/WN_kT4o5AE0T6eZ2gJ-7QYa8g
This webinar panel discussion is free and open to the public. There will be a Question & Answer segment following four speaker presentations. Registration is required to receive a confirmation email with a unique link to join the webinar on Zoom.
In addition to reflecting on the centennial of women's suffrage, panelists will discuss women's political leadership, participation, and rights.
Panelists
LIZ ABZUG is the Founder and President of the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, which works to inspire, train, and mentor young women to become leaders in creating positive social and economic change. As a national public affairs and strategic consultant, professor, lobbyist, and candidate for New York City elective office, Ms. Abzug has been a professional involved in many fields including politics, economic and urban development, and human rights. She is daughter of the late Bella Abzug, first Jewish Congresswoman and women’s rights advocate.
GALE A. BREWER is the 27th Borough President of Manhattan. Brewer previously served on the City Council for 12 years. Prior to that, she served as Chief of Staff to Council Member Ruth Messinger, NYC Deputy Public Advocate, Director of the city’s Federal Office, and Executive Director of the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women. She also served on the staff of Lt. Governor Mary Anne Krupsak, the first women elected statewide in New York in 1974 (under Gov. Hugh Carey) and first served in government in the City Parks Department during the Lindsay administration.
COLINE JENKINS is a municipal legislator, author, and television producer. She is co-founder and president of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Trust, a collection of 3,000 objects of women’s suffrage memorabilia. She serves as Vice President of Monumental Women, a non-profit dedicated to erecting the first Central Park statue of real women—Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth—in recognition of the centennial of the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. She is great-great granddaughter of American Suffragist and abolitionist Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
JULIE SUK is dean for master’s programs and professor of Sociology at The Graduate Center, CUNY. She is a scholar of comparative law and society, with a focus on women in comparative constitutional law. She is most known for her recent work on renewed efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, in light of the theory and practice of gender equality provisions in constitutions around the world. Her dozens of articles and book chapters address the potential and limits of antidiscrimination law as a tool for eradicating social inequality.
Moderator
KATHRYN B. YATRAKIS is Faculty Advisor at Columbia University, Office of the President. She is also adjunct associate professor in urban studies and retired Dean of Academic Affairs, Columbia College. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Political Science.
The nearly yearlong Challenges and Opportunities in the 2020 Election Series is a forum for academics, journalists, and others to comment on the issues at stake in the 2020 presidential election, and related topics front and center in American politics and society. The series fosters interdisciplinary conversations that explore undercurrents and themes affecting the upcoming election and the integrity of—and trust in—our democratic institutions.
About the Event Sponsors
THE AMERICAN ASSEMBLY fosters public conversations that lead to more just, equitable, and democratic societies. It does so by bringing research to bear on public problems, by creating new resources for public understanding, and by strengthening the forms of trust and deliberation that make democracy work. For more information, visit: www.americanassembly.org
THE ACADEMY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, founded in 1880, promotes nonpartisan, scholarly analysis of political, social, and economic issues by sponsoring conferences and producing publications. Published continually since 1886, the Academy’s journal, Political Science Quarterly, is edited for both specialists and informed readers with a keen interest in public and international affairs. For more information, visit: www.psqonline.org.
With additional support from the Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE)
Apr
12
8:00 PM20:00
We Be Imagining: Science on Sundays (SOS) #2
Coler and the Chronopolitics of the Pandemic
Coler Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center is located on Roosevelt Island.
Host: J. Khadijah Abdurahman
Just click the Zoom link here to join the show:
This episode of SOS is dedicated in memory of Roy Watson, a devout Muslim, activist, OPEN DOORS member and Coler resident who died on Tuesday, April 6th of COVID-19
Featuring Professor Gabriel Winant discussing his recently published piece in n+1 magazine, Coronavirus and Chronopolitics
Vince Pierce, member of OPEN DOORS and resident of Coler sharing his experience on the frontlines of PPE shortages and the spread of COVID-19 at Coler.
Jennilie Brewster, project lead of OPEN DOORS sharing the challenges faced by community supporters in advocating on behalf of Coler residents as COVID-19 patients are being transferred to Coler and mixed in with the 500 residents who already lived there
Niti Parikh, Creative Lead of the MakerLAB @ Cornell Tech discussing her efforts to develop face shields and distribute them to hospitals who need them
Bios
OPEN DOORS is an arts-and-justice initiative on Roosevelt Island, based in the long-term care facility where many members live. OPEN DOORS is also a creative community that ripples out across New York City and beyond. At the center of this network are the Reality Poets—black and Latino men who use wheelchairs largely due to street violence and who work to save lives through art.
Gabriel Winant is a historian of the social structures of inequality in modern American capitalism. His work approaches capitalism as an expansive social order—not confined to the market alone but rather structurally composed of multiple, heterogeneous spheres. He focuses on the relationship between economic production and formal employment on the one hand, and the social reproduction and governance of the population on the other. Broadly, he is interested in transformations in the social division of labor and the making and management of social difference through this process.
Vince Pierce Seven years ago, he was robbed at gunpoint. The bullet put him in a wheelchair, and he wound up at Coler. Vince joined OPEN DOORS two years back, and told them his ambition was to produce music. They found a great producer who came in every Friday to teach him.
“Now I’m paying it forward. I got a grant to start a music school. I'm working with kids who don’t have the money for studio time, teaching them how to produce and that they're bigger than what their environment expects them to be.”
Jennilie Brewster is an artist who works in various forms. Her writing has appeared in Catapult, The Rumpus and Armchair/Shotgun and her paintings and installations have been shown in museums and galleries around the country. She has received fellowships from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the UCROSS Foundation, and the Headlands Center for the Arts, among others. In 2019 New York State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright honored Jennilie as a "Woman of Distinction" for her work with the arts-and-justice initiative OPEN DOORS, which Jennilie founded in 2016. She lives on Roosevelt Island in New York City.
Niti Parikh is a designer/maker currently leading the MakerLAB at Cornell Tech. She has over 10+ years of experience in the field of Interior Architecture and Sustainable Manufacturing.
Credit: Elias Williams
I was in jail at Rikers Island for drug possession. Eight days after my release, I got drunk, blacked out, and fell. I wound up in the hospital with a broken neck, paralyzed.
Before I joined the Reality Poets two years ago, I was doing nothing. Now I’m a motivational speaker and a poet. My most important message is stay away from drugs. Be a leader. Some of my friends didn’t make it to 25. Drugs destroy your families and relationships and can take your life.
I have a friend who moved from Harlem to Queens. Some guy offered him drugs when he was just a kid. He had enough sense to say no and keep it moving. I wish I’d had that much sense.
— Roy
Have questions or suggestions? Email us: WeBeImagining@gmail.com
Apr
6
2:30 PM14:30
Money and Politics
The nearly yearlong Challenges and Opportunities in 2020 Election Series is a forum for academics, journalists, and others to comment on the issues at stake in the 2020 presidential election, and related topics front and center in American politics and society. The series fosters interdisciplinary conversations that explore undercurrents and themes affecting the upcoming election and the integrity of—and trust in—our democratic institutions.
This panel discussion is free and open to the public. Registration required.
Organizations from the nonprofit community will also have tables at the event to help attendees learn more about ways to get involved.
Panelists
ANDREA BERNSTEIN is a Peabody and duPont-Columbia award–winning journalist and Co-Host of the Trump, Inc. Podcast. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling-book American Oligarchs: The Kushners, the Trumps, and the Marriage of Money and Power (Norton, January 2020). A long-time and regular contributor to NPR, she has covered six national elections including the 2016 election, and her beats have included government, politics, transportation, environment, housing, and policing.
RICHARD BRIFFAULT is the Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation at Columbia Law School. His research, writing, and teaching focus on state and local government law, legislation, the law of the political process, government ethics, and property. He has written more than 75 law review articles and is author of “Dollars and Democracy: A Blueprint for Campaign Finance Reform,” (a report of the New York City Bar Association’s commission on campaign finance reform).
ALEXANDER HERTEL-FERNANDEZ is Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is a political scientist who studies the political economy of the United States, with an emphasis on the politics of organized interests and public policy. He is the author of State Capture (Oxford University Press, 2019) and Politics at Work (Oxford University Press, 2018).
MICHAEL G. MILLER is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. His work applies quantitative methods to questions in American elections and political behavior. He is author of more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles and of the book, Subsidizing Democracy: How Public Funding Changes Elections, and How It Can Work in the Future (Cornell University Press, 2014). He is also coauthor of Super PAC! Money, Elections, and Voters After Citizens United (Routledge, 2014).
Moderator
ESTER R. FUCHS is Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science and is the Director of the Urban and Social Policy Program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She served as Special Advisor to the Mayor for Governance and Strategic Planning under New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg from 2001 to 2005. Professor Fuchs serves as Director of WhosOnTheBallot.org, an online voter engagement initiative for New York City.
About the Event Sponsors
THE AMERICAN ASSEMBLY fosters public conversations that lead to more just, equitable, and democratic societies. It does so by bringing research to bear on public problems, by creating new resources for public understanding, and by strengthening the forms of trust and deliberation that make democracy work. For more information, visit: www.americanassembly.org
THE ACADEMY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, founded in 1880, promotes nonpartisan, scholarly analysis of political, social, and economic issues by sponsoring conferences and producing publications. Published continually since 1886, the Academy’s journal, Political Science Quarterly, is edited for both specialists and informed readers with a keen interest in public and international affairs. For more information, visit: www.psqonline.org.
With additional support from the Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE).
Apr
5
8:00 PM20:00
We Be Imagining: Science on Sundays (SOS) #1
We Be Imagining + Word2RI Presents
Science on Sundays (SOS)
Sunday, April 5th 8:00-9:00pm Join us by clicking this Zoom link
Featured Guest: Mass General Oncologist Dr. Aparna Parikh
Dr. Parikh will share her experience of being quarantined due to testing positive for COVID-19 and her analysis on how physicians are responding to the pandemic.
Word2RI + We Be Imagining will share opening commentary + upcoming events
Opening Performance by Advocate of Wordz, award-winning writer, educator, performer, curator, and resident artist at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café
SOS Host, J. Khadijah Abdurahman will be in conversation with Dr. Aparna Parikh followed by a moderated QA session with the audience
Bios
Dr. Aparna Parikh is a medical oncologist with a focus on gastrointestinal malignancies at the Massachusetts General Hospital and faculty at Harvard Medical School. She has a robust clinical practice and is also involved with drug development and translational research, including work with liquid biopsies and the PI of a first of its kind national trial, funded by Stand up 2 Cancer using liquid biopsies in Stage III colon cancer. Despite academically focused on translational research, she has had a long standing commitment to efforts in enhancing the patient experience across all patient populations and particularly for enhancing access to care for otherwise marginalized patient populations. One such effort has been the launching of a training program called POETIC, for sub-Saharan African oncologists to enhance their local training. Trainees come to Boston for an intensive program designed to give them tangible clinical and research skills they can use locally but also to foster connections that will enhance their ability to care for patients in low- and middle-income countries. She also enjoys teaching and mentoring and runs the training program for GI oncology for the Dana Farber/Mass General Cancer Center Oncology fellows at MGH.
Advocate of Wordz is an award winning writer, educator, performer, curator, and resident artist at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café. He has been featured in/covered by many major publications including CNN, The Los Angeles Times, PBS, and Univision. His work ranges from the seriousness of social awareness, culture, and relationships, to the mundane irreverence of social awareness, culture, and relationships. His program “Poetry in Performance,” has been a part of the 7th grade curriculum at Bank Street for Children’s School for ten years and he is a proponent of teaching kids how to talk their way out of detention.
Interested in being a guest? Have questions or suggestions? Email us: WeBeImagining@gmail.com
Feb
22
6:30 PM18:30
"We Be Imagining" Launch Party
In collaboration with Art Start, The American Assembly, is throwing a launch party and open mic to celebrate the beginning of our innovative public programming series, We Be Imagining. No Cover. Free and open to the public.
This event takes place inside the The Art Start Portrait Project, SEE ME BECAUSE: a multimedia exhibition and platform for youth of color to ask the world to see them as they choose to be seen.
For more information, and to register for the event, click below:
Feb
14
2:00 PM14:00
Iowa, New Hampshire, and What's Next
The nearly yearlong Challenges and Opportunities in 2020 Election Series is a forum for academics, journalists, and others to comment on the issues at stake in the 2020 presidential election, and related topics front and center in American politics and society. The series fosters interdisciplinary conversations that explore undercurrents and themes affecting the upcoming election and the integrity of—and trust in—our democratic institutions.
This panel discussion is free and open to the public. Registration required.
Organizations from the nonprofit community will also have tables at the event to help attendees learn more about ways to get involved.
Panelists
CHRISTINA GREER is an Associate Professor of Political Science and American Studies at Fordham University (Lincoln Center Campus). Her primary research and teaching interests are racial and ethnic politics, American urban centers, presidential politics, and campaigns and elections. Her additional research interests include transportation, mayors, and public policy in urban centers. Professor Greer is currently conducting research on the history of all African Americans who have run for the executive office in the United States. She is a frequent political commentator on several media outlets.
DAVID P. REDLAWSK is the James R. Soles Professor and Chair of Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa for the past 6 months, studying the 2020 Iowa Caucus campaigns. Dr. Redlawsk's research focuses on campaigns, elections, the role of information in voter decision making, and on emotional responses to campaign information. He is coauthor of Why Iowa?: How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating Process (2010).
DANTE SCALA is professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, and a faculty fellow at the university’s Carsey School of Public Policy. He is the author of two books on the presidential nomination process: The Four Faces of the Republican Party (2015, with Henry Olsen) and Stormy Weather (2003). He also has written numerous articles and book chapters on U.S. campaigns and elections, political geography, and the country’s urban-rural divisions. Scala is a veteran observer of half a dozen presidential primary seasons in New Hampshire, and national and international media regularly seek his insight.
WALTER SHAPIRO is a fellow at the Brennan Center and an award-winning journalist. He is a staff writer for the New Republic, a columnist for Roll Call, a frequent contributor to the Guardian, and a lecturer in political science at Yale University. Shapiro was a White House speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter.
About the Event Sponsors
THE AMERICAN ASSEMBLY fosters public conversations that lead to more just, equitable, and democratic societies. It does so by bringing research to bear on public problems, by creating new resources for public understanding, and by strengthening the forms of trust and deliberation that make democracy work. For more information, visit: www.americanassembly.org
THE ACADEMY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, founded in 1880, promotes nonpartisan, scholarly analysis of political, social, and economic issues by sponsoring conferences and producing publications. Published continually since 1886, the Academy’s journal, Political Science Quarterly, is edited for both specialists and informed readers with a keen interest in public and international affairs. For more information, visit: www.psqonline.org.
With additional support from the Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE).
Feb
10
to Feb 21
The Next Louisville: Civic Assembly
The American Assembly has partnered with with 89.3 WFPL News in Louisville, Kentucky for the second installment of our Civic Assembly Initiative.
The Civic Assembly is a pilot process for strengthening the feedback loops between citizens, civic groups, elected leaders, and local media in communities. The Assembly is built around a novel ‘self-generating’ online survey methodology called Polis, in which survey participants respond to statements made by one another, resulting in dynamic opinion groups. A successful Pol.is survey produces a statistical portrait of the concerns and priorities of a community. Unlike conventional surveys, this process often leads in unpredictable directions. The results of our previous Assembly, held in Bowling Green, Kentucky, are reported here.
The Next Louisville: Civic Assembly will feature a 12-day Virtual Town Hall, followed by a series of community conversations to discuss the results. More information on the assembly, taking place from February 10-21, 2020, can be found here.
Jan
29
1:00 PM13:00
Fake News and Civic Education: Engaging the Next Generation of Voters, Readers, and Media-Makers
The nearly yearlong Challenges and Opportunities in 2020 Election Series is a forum for academics, journalists, and others to comment on the issues at stake in the 2020 presidential election, and related topics front and center in American politics and society. The series fosters interdisciplinary conversations that explore undercurrents and themes affecting the upcoming election and the integrity of—and trust in—our democratic institutions.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration required.
Join an interactive afternoon with presentations on:
Lamboozled! | A news literacy game for adolescents.
Ioana Literat, Assistant Professor of Communication, Media, and Learning Technologies Design at Teachers College, Columbia University
Podcasting and Translating Research | Stemming the tide of misinformation about issues that impact civic engagement.
Lalitha Vasudevan, Professor of Technology and Education Director, Media and Social Change Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University
Media Literacy and Younger Children | Curricular perspectives.
Haeny Yoon, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at Teachers College, Columbia University
Detra Price-Dennis, Assistant Professor in Elementary Inclusive Education at Teachers College, Columbia University
Discussant
Todd Gitlin, Professor of Journalism and Sociology and Chair of the Ph.D. program in Communications at Columbia University
Nonprofit media literacy organizations will have volunteer tables at the event to help attendees learn more about ways to get involved.
About the Event Sponsors
THE AMERICAN ASSEMBLY fosters public conversations that lead to more just, equitable, and democratic societies. It does so by bringing research to bear on public problems, by creating new resources for public understanding, and by strengthening the forms of trust and deliberation that make democracy work. For more information, visit: www.americanassembly.org
THE ACADEMY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, founded in 1880, promotes nonpartisan, scholarly analysis of political, social, and economic issues by sponsoring conferences and producing publications. Published continually since 1886, the Academy’s journal, Political Science Quarterly, is edited for both specialists and informed readers with a keen interest in public and international affairs. For more information, visit: www.psqonline.org.
With additional support from the Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics (INCITE).
Oct
9
12:00 PM12:00
Social Network Interventions (with Nicholas A. Christakis)
When: Wednesday, October 9th, 12:00-1:30p.m.
Where: Sockman Lounge, Interchurch Center Lobby, 475 Riverside Drive
Social Network Interventions
Human beings choose their friends, and often their neighbors and co-workers, and they inherit their relatives; and each of the people to whom we are connected also does the same, such that, in the end, we humans assemble ourselves into face-to-face social networks. Why do we do this? How has natural selection shaped us in this regard? What role do our genes play in the topology of our social ties? And how might a deep understanding of human social network structure and function be used to intervene in the world to make it better? Here, after reviewing some of our work on how our evolution has shaped our social networks, I will review our research describing three classes of interventions involving both offline and online networks that can help make the world better: (1) interventions that rewire the connections between people; (2) interventions that manipulate social contagion, facilitating the flow of desirable properties within groups; and (3) interventions that manipulate the position of people within network structures. I will illustrate what can be done using a variety of experiments in settings as diverse as fostering cooperation in networked groups online, to fostering health behavior change in developing world villages, to facilitating the diffusion of innovation or coordination in groups. I will also focus on recent experiments with “hybrid systems” comprised of both humans and "dumb bots," involving simple artificial intelligence (AI) agents interacting in small groups. By taking account of people's structural embeddedness in social networks, and by understanding social influence, it is possible to intervene in social systems to enhance desirable population-level properties as diverse as health, wealth, cooperation, coordination, and learning.
Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. His work is in the fields of network science, biosocial science, and behavior genetics. He directs the Human Nature Lab and is the Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006; the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010; and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017.
This event is free and open to the public. Lunch and light refreshments will be provided. All are welcome!
This event is part of Networks and Time Workshop Series at INCITE (Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics), and is co-sponsored by The American Assembly.
Nov
15
to Nov 16
"Action Agenda for a National Movement,” Baltimore Working Group Meeting, Nov. 2017
The "Middle Neighborhoods: Action Agenda for a National Movement" meeting was held in Baltimore at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond between November 15th-16th, 2017, with support from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Healthy Neighborhoods Inc., a Baltimore-based community development organization leading the city’s middle neighborhood stabilization efforts.
Experts from varying disciplines and backgrounds, each familiar with the context of middle neighborhoods in cities across the United States, divided themselves into three working groups to advance discussions in policy, practice, and research. Among the participants were the Mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh; Philadelphia City Councilwoman Cherelle Parker; and two Congressional members, Dan Kildee (D-MI), and Dwight Evans (D-PA).
For a summary of conclusions, including highlights from each working group, and next steps, view the summary report here.
Learn more at middleneighborhoods.org.
Downloads:
Nov
13
to Nov 14
“Building Advocacy for the Middle Neighborhood Movement,” Cleveland Working Group Meeting, Nov. 2018
Themed “Building Advocacy for Middle Neighborhoods,” this convening, on November 13-14, 2018, will bring together the growing movement of practitioners, policymakers, and researchers dedicated to stabilizing “on the edge” neighborhoods around the country. Participants will share insights and learn about recent research efforts. The meeting will also provide practical information about how to mobilize support to better serve these communities.
Attendance is by invitation only; pre-registration is required for all working group participants.
To learn more and view the agenda, click here.
The meeting builds from several years of outreach activities organized to:
Help practitioners, policymakers, and advocates active in the fields of city governance, city planning and community development understand that improving neighborhoods is a distinct area of practice, research, and investment.
Build public awareness and understanding, including bipartisan support, around the important role middle neighborhoods play in stabilizing communities and the urban economy.
Create long-term initiatives and partnerships to advance the field of middle neighborhood improvement.
“Building Advocacy for Middle Neighborhoods” is the second national middle neighborhoods meeting, held nearly a year after our first national meeting in Baltimore, MD at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, where leading authorities and local advocates convened to understand middle neighborhoods. The meeting and a subsequent report, "Middle Neighborhoods Action Agenda," follows the publication of On the Edge: America’s Middle Neighborhoods (2016), an authoritative book combining research, case studies, and essays edited by Paul C. Brophy and published by The American Assembly and The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Partners for the Cleveland working group meeting include The American Assembly, The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, NeighborWorks America, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation with support from Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations and Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs.
Sponsors for the panel discussion and reception on November 13 include the George Gund Foundation, Cleveland Foundation, and Third Federal Savings & Loans.
If you have questions or would like to attend the working group meeting, contact Stephanie Sung at ss4336@columbia.edu.
To join the middle neighborhoods mailing list, email Mark Leneker at ml2307@columbia.edu.
Click here to view the summary report from the first meeting in Baltimore (Nov. 2017).
Publications:
Oct
20
12:30 PM12:30
Open Syllabus Applications for Public Libraries
On October 20th, 2017, The Assembly helped organize an 'Ideathon' to explore applications of the Open Syllabus Project (OSP) for public libraries. The meeting brought together partners at the New York Metropolitan Library Council, Project Information Literacy, and seven area public libraries to discuss the role of lifelong learning programs in the public library system and how data from the OSP could strengthen those programs.
Project and Partner Sites
Sep
27
to Sep 29
The Fifth Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest
The Fifth Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest brought 450 researchers, activists, policymakers, and business stakeholders to Washington DC on September 27-29, 2018 for a wide-ranging discussion of forms of knowledge governance. Major themes included the role of IP regulation in shaping access to knowledge and medicine, the balance between the rights of users, internet companies, and rightsholders in online speech and expression, and the convergence of regulatory conversations around trade, data protection, e-commerce, and platform regulation. The Assembly is a founder and co-organizer of the Congress, together with the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) at American University and Health Action International.
For more information, click here.
Jul
30
2:00 PM14:00
Joe Karaganis and Evelin Heidel: Shadow Libraries @ MIT Press Bookstore
The MIT Press Bookstore welcomes Joe Karaganis and Evelin Heidel to the bookstore to discuss their book, Shadow Libraries: Access to Knowledge in Global Higher Education.
Shadow Libraries explores how students get the materials they need as opportunities for higher education expand but funding shrinks. From the top down, the book’s contributors examine the institutions and policy battles that have shaped the provision of educational materials. From the bottom up, the contributors to Shadow Libraries explore how students get the materials they need–from informal student networks and Facebook groups to downloading from unauthorized sources and the ubiquitous practice of photocopying.
Links:
Jun
22
to Jun 23
Shadow Libraries wrap-up in Rio
Our partners at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro held a conference on access to knowledge, which doubled as a launch event for Shadow Libaries.
Nov
23
to Nov 24
Monitoring Politically Exposed Persons
"Politically Exposed Persons" refers to individuals who play important public roles, such as politicians, judges, or prominent businesspeople. How to monitor the activities of politically exposed persons has become an important subject of anti-corruption research and journalism. In the era of social networks and large datasets, this work often requires new methods for understanding complex financial and political relationships.
"Monitoring Politically Exposed Persons" was a workshop conducted in late 2017 by the Engine Room, an NGO dedicated to technical training and capacity building among journalists and civil society groups. The work was sponsored by The American Assembly's Influence Mapping project, which worked to build capacities to analyze and share large social network datasets for research and investigative work.
Sep
21
to Sep 22
Tools for Investigative Journalism
The growth of 'data journalism' has introduced a wide range of new methods into investigative work, from the analysis of social networks to the datamining of large collections of documents. With these new methods come new challenges, including access to data, the quality and usability of analytical tools, and strategies for sharing data across projects. Solving some of these problems will require a new generation of software. Others will require different ways of working together.
The Tools for Investigative Journalism workshop brought together thirty journalists and developers to advance the state of the art around these tools, including social network mapping and datamining tools. The group met at City University in London, September 21st-22nd, 2015. Participating organizations included OpenCorporates, Poderopedia, OCCRP, Overview, Littlesis, the Guardian, and the BBC.
The workshop is part of the Influence Mapping project organized by The American Assembly.
Links:
Dec
15
to Dec 17
The Fourth Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest
The Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest is a semi-annual gathering for scholars and policy advocates working on intellectual property from a public-interest perspective. Its main purpose is to help re-articulate the public-interest dimensions of intellectual property policy by supporting research on the intersection of knowledge systems, regulation, and globalization.
The theme for the 2015 Congress was "Three Decades of Openness; Two Decades of TRIPS," reflecting the maturation of many of the pivotal ideas and forms of governance in the sector and the need to assess their performance and potential for the years ahead. Individual tracks were organized around "Openness," "Users Rights," "Development," and "Access to Medicines."
The fourth Congress attracted 400 participants to New Delhi between December 15th-17th, 2015, and was hosted by the Center for Internet and Society, a leading Indian NGO on information, the internet, and innovation policy issues.
Jun
6
to Jun 7
The Open Syllabus Project First Workshop
The OSP Workshop & Hackathon was held between June 6th-7th, 2014, at the Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University and Studio@Butler. The event was the first all-hands gathering of the OSP community to discuss and address the next set of social, institutional, legal, and technical challenges for the OSP. The event focused on four broad issues:
The legal, social, and institutional challenges of building and maintaining a huge corpus of syllabii.
Working with syllabi as complex documents: authoring, versioning, XML, and metadata extraction.
A roadmap for short, medium, and long-term application development for the OSP.
How to expand participation and make the project sustainable.
The Hackathon on day two was an opportunity for incoming researchers and coders to become familiar with our workflows and architecture. Collectively, the group made a lot of progress on entity extraction, refining of syllabus crawls, development of the API, and long run architectural issues..
Dec
9
to Dec 13
The Third Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest
The Third Global Congress was held in Cape Town, South Africa, December 9th-13th, 2013. Over 250 researchers, practitioners, and policymakers discussed new work and policy developments around users' rights and development-centered IP policy. The event was held jointly with the capstone conference for the OpenAIR project, which brings together researcher on innovation policy in Africa.
The American Assembly is a founder and co-organizer of the Global Congress, which provides a forum for discussing and advancing evidence-based, public-interest intellectual property policies that balance the needs of creators and the public. The third Congress was funded by IDRC, the Open Society Foundation, GIZ, and contributions from partnering organizations.
Publications:
The Third Global Congress Research Survey
Dec
15
to Dec 18
The Second Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest
The Second Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, held between December 15th-18th, 2012, brought 250 researchers and activists from 40 countries to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event promoted the development of a "positive agenda" for public-interest intellectual property policy. Major themes included the expanded use of 'open access' materials in education, the defense of due process in copyright enforcement, and the expansion of limitations and exceptions to allow for greater developing-country flexibility in IP law to meet domestic development needs.
The conference was hosted by the Center for Technology and Society at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. Co-sponsors included The American Assembly, American University in Washington, DC, Open A.I.R., The Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, and The International Centre for Trade and Sustainble Development in Geneva.
Links:
Aug
25
to Aug 28
The First Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest
The First Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest was held in August 25th-28th, 2011, at the American University in Washington, DC. The primary goals of the Congress were to articulate a positive agenda for IP policy reform and to strengthen international capacities for evidence-based policy making. Some 200 participants from over 30 countries over 3 days, leading to the drafting and signing of the Washington Declaration on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest.
Co-sponsors included The American Assembly, The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at American University, the Center for Technology and Society at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil), and the Center for International Trade and Sustainable Development (Geneva).
Publications:
The Washington Declaration on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (Sept. 2011)
