Forum History: The Nineties

Perils of the Persian Gulf: The United States in the Middle East
September 11, 1990  

Colonel Charles Scott spent thirty years in the Army and was appointed Chief of the Defense Liaison in the United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran. He was one of the American citizens held hostage for 444 days during the Iran hostage crisis.

Sex and the First Amendment
September 18, 1990  

The Honorable Jessica Lucy Mitford, born an English aristocrat, was an English author and investigative journalist. She wrote and spoke about public funding of the arts and the over-arching issue of censorship in a democratic society.

The Changing Face of America
October 2, 1990  

Henry Cisneros is a politician and businessman who, at the time, was one of America’s leading Hispanic political figures. He served as the mayor of San Antonio from 1981-1989 and was, at the time of his lecture, the Chair of the National Civil League. He was also a former member of the Kissinger Commission on Central America.

Education Reform in America: What We Need to Do
October 9, 1990  

At the time of his lecture, Albert Shanker was the president of the American Federation of Teachers and was appointed by President Bush to serve as a member of the President’s Education Policy Advisory Committee.

America’s War on Drugs
October 30, 1990  

Michael Levine is a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent and one of the world’s foremost experts on international drug trafficking and the efforts to stop it.

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
November 6, 1990  

At the time of his lecture, Dr. John Allen Paulos was at the forefront of the effort to upgrade the nation’s math and science educational programs.

The S&L Crisis: Why It Happened and What It Is Going to Mean for America
January 29, 1991  

At the time of his lecture, H. Joe Shelby was working to deal with the savings and loan crisis of the era. He served as the Senior Deputy Comptroller of the Currency, became the executive vice president and director of Regulatory Affairs, Federal Home Loan Bank. He investigated fraud.

This was the second Boardman Business Forum and was co-sponsored by the College of Business Administration.

Performance
February 11, 1991  

The Rascher Saxophone Quartet was founded by Sigurd Rascher in 1969 and is based in Germany. At the time of this performance, Harry Kinross White, a USM grad/Honors College, was a part of the ensemble. 

Jews, Blacks, and Quotas: The History of Affirmative Action in America
February 26, 1991 

Dr. John Blassingame was a scholar, historian, and writer who was a pioneer in the study of American slavery. He was the editor of the Fredrick Douglass Papers at Yale University where he was, at one time, the chairman of the African American Studies program.

This event was co-sponsored by the Black History Month Committee.

Tropical Forests: Their Future and Our Future
March 19, 1991  

Norma Myers is a British environmentalist specializing in biodiversity who, at the time, was a consultant in environment and development working in England. He is the author of several books on conservation of threatened species and rainforests and was a consultant to World Bank, the European Economic Community, and others.

The Women’s Rights Movement Today and in the Future
March 26, 1991  

Betty Freidan was one of the most important figures in the feminist movement of the 1960s. She was the author of The Feminine Mystique, founder and first president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and shared her views on the women’s movement of the 90s and the goals it should produce for the future.

Freidan’s visit was co-sponsored by USM’s Committee on Services and Resources for Women.

Under God: Religion and Politics in America
April 2, 1991  

Garry Wills is an author, journalist, and historian who specializes in American history, politics, and the church. His lecture discussed the relationship between church and state.

Economics and Regional Development
September 17, 1991  

William Winter was the governor of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984.

Growing Up Female in the South 
September 24, 1991  

Peggy Prenshaw was the former dean of the USM Honors College and a scholar of southern literature who wrote about Eudora Welty and Elizabeth Spencer.

Faulkner and Mississippi 
October 8, 1991  

Dr. Polk was, at the time, a professor of English at USM and a recognized scholar of William Faulkner.

The Nature of the Mississippi Supreme Court 
October 22, 1991  

Justice Michael Sullivan was a member of the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1984.

The Choctaws of Mississippi
October 29, 1991  

Chief Phillip Martin was, at the time, Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

 

Race and Politics in Mississippi and the South
November 19, 1991  

Dr. Leslie Burl McLemore was the founding chair of the Department of Political Science at Jackson State University, a participant in the Civil Rights movement, and served two terms as the President of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.

The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Ecological Legacy
January 28, 1992 

Kirkpatrick Sale is an author who has written about politics, the environment, luddism, and technology. He spoke about Christopher Columbus and his voyage, translated documents from Spanish, and focused on information that others hadn't (such as Columbus’ obsession with gold and how he did expect to find new lands in Asia).

The Crisis in the Former USSR
February 4, 1992 

At the time of this lecture, Sturua was one of the Soviet Union’s most acclaimed journalists and wrote for Isyestia. His father was one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party in Russia and served as the president of Georgia. However, his father’s political disgrace inspired Sturua to become a journalist and he accompanied Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and Gorbachev on their foreign tours. He won the Soviet equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize, the Vorovsky Prize.

 

On My Native South Africa
February 18, 1992 

Maki Mandela is the oldest daughter of Nelson Mandela and a political activist and anthropologist. During her lecture, she spoke about the apartheid and the ongoing struggle to bring about a reform in South Africa.

 

Women in Higher Education in the 1990s
March 17, 1992 

Dr. Stimpson is a feminist scholar who was a leading figure in American higher education and women’s studies at the time of her lecture. She is a former president of the Modern Language Association.

Dr. Stimpson’s visit was co-sponsored by the USM Committee on Services and Resources for Women.

AIDS and Human Viruses of the Late Twentieth Century: Medical Science at a New Crossroads
March 24, 1992 

At the time of his lecture, Dr. Gallo was the Chief of the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology at the National Cancer Institute. He has received acclaim for his achievements in pioneering the field of human retrovirology, including retroviruses linked to the cause of human leukemia. He also received recognition for assisting in the discovery of the fact that AIDS was caused by a new human retrovirus, HIV, and for the development of the blood test to detect that virus.

Dr. Gallo’s lecture was co-sponsored by USM’s Center for Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.

Salomon Brothers and the Search for Moral Imagination
April 7, 1992

At the time of her lecture, Dr. Werhane was a business professor at Loyola University of Chicago. This was the third annual Boardman Business Forum and was co-sponsored by the College of Business Administration, the Fairchild Lecture Series, and the Honors College.

Media Coverage of the Presidential Election: Whose Side Are They On?: A Debate
September 22, 1992

Jeff Cohen: Jeff Cohen is the found of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a progressive media watchdog organization. He is a former ACLU attorney and, at the time of his appearance, was a frequent guest on Crossfire. His argument was that most media institutions are owned and controlled by conservative corporate interests that impose a republican and establishmentarian bias.

Cliff Kincaid: Cliff Kincaid is an author and conservative political analyst who, at the time of this Forum, was the director of Policy and Communications for the Freedom Alliance, the national education foundation headed by Oliver North. Kincaid was, at one time, the editor of The Free American and formerly the director of media analysis for the conservative watchdog group Accuracy in Media. His argument was that most media organizations are staffed by liberals and reporting tends to reflect an anti-military, anti-business, left or center bias.

 

Popular Culture and Democracy: MTV and the ‘Choose or Lose’ Campaign
October 13, 1992 

Tabitha Soren is a photographer and former reporter who, at the time of her appearance, worked for MTV News. She was famous at the time as the face of MTV’s Choose or Lose campaign which focused on encouraging young adults to vote. She was also famous for her two-hour interview with Bill Clinton (George Bush declined the invitation).

Soren’s appearance was co-sponsored by UAC

Greenpeace
October 20, 1992 

Christopher Childs was, at the time, a former actor who began working with Greenpeace in 1987.

Childs’ appearance was jointly sponsored by UAC

It Goes Without Saying
October 27, 1992 

John Barth is an author who is an important figure in American literature. He is best known for his postmodernist fiction and was elected to both the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Matter in the Universe: The ‘Big Bang’ Theory’
November 10, 1992

Robert Krishner is an astronomer who, at the time of his appearance, was the chair of Harvard University’s Astronomy Department. Krishner was the principal investigator for the observations of Supernova 1987A, among others.

 

The American Judicial System: A British Perspective
December 1, 1992

Rosalyne Helen Mandil-Wade was, at the time, a barrister practicing in London.

Mandil-Wade’s lecture was the first of the American judicial system lectures sponsored by the South Central Mississippi Bar.

The Destruction and Rebuilding of Society and State in Somalia
January 26, 1993 

Dr. Abdi Ismail Samatar is a Somali scholar, writer, and professor of geography who lectured about Somalia.

Violinist, with the USM Symphony Orchestra
February 2, 1993 

Alexandre Brussilovsky is a Ukrainian violinist and conductor who spent a week at USM, sponsored by the Honors College, the College of the Arts, the College of International and Continuing Education.

 

Malcom X: The Man and His Legacy
February 9, 1993 

Betty Shabazz was an educator and civil rights activist who was also married to Malcom X’s. Her appearance was co-sponsored by the UAC and the Committee on Cultural Diversity.

The Reunification of the United States
February 16, 1993

Dr. Clarence Page is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who participated in the 1972 Chicago Tribune Task Force series on voter fraud.

His lecture was the inaugural Armstrong Branch lecture.

Gender and Genre in Popular Culture
March 9, 1993 

Dr. Lynne Layton lectured on issues of gender in familiar forms of pop culture.

Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools
April 20, 1993

Jonathan Kozol is an educator and activist who, at the time of his lecture, was one of America’s leading writers on education and social justice.

Hot and Cold Running Dinosaurs
September 21, 1993

Dr. Robert Bakker is a paleontologist who is the author of The Dinosaur Heresies and helped reshape how we view dinosaurs. He served as a consultant to Jurassic Park and was cited as a scientist who helped guide the novel by author Michael Crichton. 

The Birth of Freedom: Shaping Lives and Societies in the New Eastern Europe
October 5, 1993

Andrew Nagorski is a journalist and author who was, at one time, the Newsweek Eastern European correspondent.

Aristophanes' Wasps
October 19, 1993

Aquila Productions was an English production company who performed two plays, Coriolanus and Wasps, during their visit to USM. Their visit was sponsored by the Honors College, the College of the Arts, the College of International and Continuing Education, the College of Liberal Arts, and the English department.

Al-Islam in America
November 2, 1993

At the time of his lecture, Imam W. Deen Mohammed was the head of the American Muslim Mission and a member of the World Supreme Council of Mosques. His father was the founder of the Nation of Islam but Imam W. Deen Mohammed was credited with leading Malcom X toward the “true” Islam in the later part of his life.

UAC and the Muslim Student Association partnered for this lecture.

Law and Justice
November 16, 1993

Roy Noble Lee retired as the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court shortly before his lecture.

Justice Lee’s lecture was the second in an annual series of Forum lectures on the American judicial system sponsored by the South Central Mississippi Bar Association.

Violent Crime and American Society
November 30, 1993

At the time of his lecture, Robert K. Ressler was a top expert on serial killers and sought to understand why serial killers behaved the way that they did. He was a criminologist and was the director of the Virginia-based Forensic Behavioral Sciences and one of the founders of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime at the FBI. Ressler helped pioneer the computerized VICAP as made famous in Silence of the Lambs and interviewed serial killers such as Charles Manson and John Wayne Gacy.

How to Find Nonviolent Solutions in a Violent World
January 25, 1994  

Dr. Gandhi is a socio-political activist and was the founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for the Study of Nonviolence in Memphis. He is the fifth grandson of Mohandas Gandhi.

His appearance was organized by the Center for Social Unity and he served as the keynote speaker for the symposium, “Common Ground,” which was sponsored by USM organizations seeking interracial and inter-religious harmony.

Freedom Summer 1964: A 30^th Anniversary Celebration
February 8, 1994  

Dr. John Dittmer is a historian who focused on the Civil Rights Movement.

Judy Richardson is a documentary filmmaker and a civil rights activist who served as the advisor and researcher for the documentary Eyes on the Prize. She was also highly involved in Freedom Summer as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the early 1960s. She was also the founder of Drum & Spear Bookstore in Washington, DC.

This was the second Armstrong-Branch and was co-sponsored by the UAC.

The Role of Government in the Economy and Society
February 22, 1994  

Dr. Williams is an economist and commentator who, at the time of his lecture, was a professor at George Mason.

His lecture was the annual Boardman Business Forum and was co-sponsored by the College of Business Administration.

 

Reel Women: Pioneers of the Cinema
March 22, 1994  

Ally Acker is a filmmaker and writer who focused on the roles that women have played in the film industry since its inception.

Health Care and the American Dream
March 29, 1994  

Daniel Callahan is a philosopher who helped develop the field of biomedical ethics and co-founded The Hastings Center, the world’s first bioethics research institute, in 1969.

Fractals
April 18, 1994  

At the time of his lecture, Dr. Stanley was the director of the Center for Polymer Studies at Boston University and is a leading physicist who has made numerous contributions to statistical physics and introduced the concept of fractals to the Forum audience.

Surfing on the Internet: A Nethead’s Adventures On-line 
September 6, 1994  

J.C. Herz is a former New York Times columnist, a former rock critic, and a former tech writer. She released a book, Surfing on the Internet: A Nethead’s Adventures On-Line, and spoke about that.

Cuba’s Special Times’: Changes in the Cuban Economy and Society and the Prospects for the Future
September 13, 1994  

At the time of his lecture, Dr. Durán was the dean of the College of Economics at the University of Havana.

This lecture was co-sponsored by the College of Business Administration.

The Piano and Western Culture
October 18, 1994  

David Dubal is a pianist, author, critic, and painter who, at the time of his lecture, was a faculty member at Julliard.

Dubal’s appearance was co-sponsored by the College of the Arts.

Community Inclusion: A New Era for Americans with Disabilities
October 25, 1994  

At the time of his lecture, Commissioner Robert Williams was the commissioner of the Administration of Developmental Disabilities, as appointed by President Clinton in 1993.

Williams’ visit was hosted by USM’s Institute for Disability Studies

Off the Wall: The Life and Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman
November 1, 1994  

Ann Timmons performed a one-woman show based on the life and works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

 

Peacekeeping in the New World Order
November 29, 1994  

Major General Lewis MacKenzie is a Canadian retired general who is best known as the former chief of staff of the fourteen-thousand member UN peacekeeping force in Bosnia.

The Law: The Transformation of the Legal Profession Since World War II
January 24, 1995  

Lincoln Caplan is a lawyer, investigative journalist, author, and authority on contemporary legal affairs.

His visit was co-sponsored by the South Central Mississippi Bar Association.

African American Political Leadership, Past and Present
February 7, 1995  

Manning Marable was a historian, author, and political activist who wrote Along the Color Line, a nationally published newspaper column.

His appearance was co-sponsored by the Black History Month Committee

Jupiter: The Collision of the Century
February 21, 1995  

David Levy is an astronomer who, at the time, was one of the foremost amateur astronomers. He co-discovered the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 which crashed into Jupiter in July of 1994. He also discovered eighteen comets on his own.

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women
March 7, 1995  

Susan Faludi is a feminist, journalist, and author. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1991, wrote Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women, and spoke about the assault on the women’s rights movement that began in 1980. She also addressed widespread misconceptions about feminism and the status of women at the time.

The Newly Dead, the Nearly Dead, and the Living Dead: Societal Ambivalence Toward Death and Dying
April 4, 1995  

At the time of his lecture, William J. Winslade was a leading authority on human values, medical ethics, and privacy in medical care. He addressed the right to die issue and was, at the time, co-director of the UCLA program in Medicine, Law, and Human Values. He was also the director of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute’s Legal/Ethical Consultation Service. Winslade was a consultant on privacy and confidentiality to the President’s Commission on Ethics in Medicine and Biobehavioral Sciences in 1980-82.

Democracy and Economic Development
April 11 or 18, 1995  

Amaryta Kumar Sen is an economist and philosopher who was, at the time of his lecture, president of the American Economics Association. He presided over the International Economic Association, the Econometric Society, and the Indian Economic Association. He was renowned for his work on poverty and the mathematical basis of consumer and producer choices that affect the distribution of wealth in the global economy.

This lecture was a Boardman Business Forum lecture and was co-sponsored by the College of Business Administration.

On Mexico
September 12, 1995  

Alma Guillermoprieto is a journalist who, at the time of her lecture, was a staff-writer at the New Yorker. She was a MacArthur Genius and spoke extensively about Latin America.

Lethal Viruses, Ebola, and the Hot Zone
September 19, 1995  

Lieutenant Colonel Nancy Jaax and Colonel Jerry Jaxx were, at the time of their appearance, among the world’s leading specialists in viral and biological disasters. The pair of them formed the true-life model for the novel and movie Outbreak. They were also the Department of Defense’s official experts in matter related to medical, biological, and chemical warfare. They also served as consultants to the US Surgeon General.

The British Monarchy: Is There A Future?
October 10, 1995  

Tony Banks was a British Labour Party politician who, at the time of his lecture, was a prominent leader within the party. He was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe and the Western European Union. He represented Newham North West in London.

His appearance was co-sponsored by the college of International and Continuing Education.

Using the Law Like a Sword
October 17, 1995  

Morris Dees is an attorney who is best known as the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He has worked to fight hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and uses civil litigation to hold these groups accountable for their actions.

Dancing in the Distraction Factory: MTV and American Popular Culture
November 14, 1995  

At the time of his lecture, Andrew Goodwin was an expert on cultural studies. His lecture was on American popular culture.

America: One Huge Indian Reservation
November 28, 1995  

Russell Means was an activist for the rights of American Indian people and a prominent member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). He was also an actor and musician who appeared in The Last of the Mohicans as well as Pocahontas

Tiananmen Square and Beyond
January 30, 1996  

Li Lu is an investor and hedge fund manager who chaired the meeting of the leaders and served as the official press spokesperson of the Democratic Reform movement in China during the Tiananmen Square student protests. He was married in the Square in a wedding seen by thousands and was, at the same time, a spokesperson for the Alliance for a Democratic China.

 

The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance
February 6, 1996  

Joe Nash, Dr. C. S’thembile West, and Dr. Peter Wood were all key members of the national touring project of the Duke University based American Dance Festival.

This Forum served as the 1996 Armstrong Branch Lecture and was co-sponsored by the African American History Month Committee.

 

Redefining Progress: If the Economy is Up, Why is America Down?
February 27, 1996  

Ted Halstead is an author and policy entrepreneur who founded Redefining Progress, a public policy organization.

His lecture was a part of the Boardman Business Forum and was cosponsored by the College of Business Administration.

The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
March 19, 1996  

Stephanie Coontz is an author, historian, and an authority on family studies. She spoke about family values of the day and our tendency to idealize the past, something that makes it more difficult to create policies for the world in which we actually live.

Title Unknown
April 2, 1996  

Sylvia Earle is a marine biologist, author, and explorer who was the first female chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1990-92). She was the founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, an organization to further advance marine engineering.

On Interpreting the Constitution
April 9, 1996

Antonin Scalia was, at the time of his visit, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. This was Scalia’s first visit to USM and he spoke about his interpretation of the Constitution. 

This Forum was sponsored by the South Central Mississippi Bar Association. 

Tobacco Wars: Legal Strategies for Confronting the Tobacco Interests
October 8, 1996

At the time of his lecture, Mike Moore was the Attorney General of Mississippi. He established a white-collar crime unit to investigate public officials, implemented legal strategies for confronting tobacco interests, and, in 1994, filed a suit against 13 tobacco companies seeking to recover state expenses for treating smoking related costs in the state’s Medicaid funds, making Mississippi the first state to do such.

 

Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy
October 15, 1996

James Fallows is a writer and journalist who was, at the time of his lecture, the news editor of US News & World Report. He was also a regular commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition and served as President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter from 1977 to 1979. In his lecture, he discussed the media’s irresponsible use of its power and offered his thoughts on how to improve the situation. He also discussed press coverage of the 1996 presidential election.

 

Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths
October 22, 1996

Karen Armstrong is an author and commentator who focuses on world religions. She spent seven years as a Roman Catholic religious sister and has written about comparative religion.

The Great War and the Birth of Modernism
November 12, 1996

Sandra Gilbert is an influential literary critic who, at the time of her lecture, was the president of the Modern Language Association. Her lecture was the keynote address for a symposium on World War I, sponsored by USM’s Institute for the Study of Modern Life.

United States Relations with Pacific Asian Nations and the Effect on America’s Economic Future
November 19, 1996

Yoshiro Tsurumi is an economist who, at the time of his lecture, was the president of the Pacific Basin Center Foundation. He is a recognized scholar in the fields of economic development, industrial policies, business strategies, and international transfer of technology.

This lecture was the annual Boardman Business Forum, co-sponsored by the College of Business Administration.

 

The Gravest Show on Earth: America in the Age of AIDS
December 3, 1996

Elinor Burkett is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, an author, and a social historian who wrote The Gravest Show on Earth: America in the Age of AIDS. Her lecture was in recognition of AIDS Awareness Day. 

Poetry and Public Life: When Poetry Did Matter
February 4, 1997   

Dana Gioia is a poet, critic, editor, translator, and former businessman who worked as a corporate vice president for Kraft Foods before leaving corporate America to become a full-time writer.

Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality
February 25, 1997   

At the time of his lecture, Dr. Robert Bullard was a professor of sociology and environmental justice at Clark Atlanta University. He is known as the father of environmental justice and focuses his research on urban land use, housing, community development, and environmental quality. He was, at the time of his lecture, the chair of the Health and Research Subcommittee of the United States Environmental Protection Agency NEJAC and was one of the planners of the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit.

The Evolution of Monogamous Marriage: A Darwinian-Feminist View
March 18, 1997   

Dr. Gowaty is an evolutionary biologist who, at the time of her lecture, worked in the area of the behavioral ecology of nonhumans.

Birth Control in 2011: The Role of Contraceptives in the Future of the World
April 1, 1997

Carl Djerassi was a chemist, novelist, and playwright who is best known for his contribution to the development of oral contraceptive pills. He spoke on the topic of population control.

 

Native American Values for the 21^st Century
April 8, 1997   

Richard West was the founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and has spent much of his life serving the American Indian community.

Richard West’s lecture was a part of the Fairchild Conference.

International Business Crime
April 29, 1997  

Richard Thornburgh is a lawyer, author, and politician who served as the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987 before serving as Attorney General of the United States under Presidents Reagan and Bush. He was also the Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and played a leading role in the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also worked to eradicate white-collar crime.

This lecture was co-sponsored by the South Central Mississippi Bar Association.

 

Women in America Today: A Personal Assessment
September 16, 1997   

Gloria Steinem is a prominent figure in the feminist movement as well as a journalist and political activist who was a recognized leader and spokeswoman for the feminist movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Steinem’s visit was co-sponsored by UAC.

Hong Kong in Transition
September 23, 1997   

James McCall Smith was part of the Hong Kong Transition Project and spoke about the transition of Great Britain formally relinquishing control over Hong Kong back to China.

National Standards, School Reform, and Student Achievement
October 21, 1997   

At the time of his lecture, Dr. Warren Simmons was a leader in American educational reform. He was, at one time, the executive director of the Philadelphia Education Fund and the director of Implementation and Equity Initiatives for the New Standards Project. He focused on standards-based reform in United States schools and its implications for addressing racial and ethnic differences in achievement.

Dr. Simmons’ lecture was co-sponsored by the Hattiesburg Area Education Foundation.

Assisted Suicide: A Debate
October 28, 1997   

Mary A. Hallan was the opponent. She served as the director of Respect Life for the Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Chicago and oversaw pro-life activities in the city.

John Westover was the proponent and served as president of the Hemlock Society USA.

The Diversity of Life
November 4, 1997   

Dr. E. O. Wilson is a biologist, theorist, and naturalist who is known as the father of biodiversity or the father of the field of sociobiology. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes, a National Medal of Science, an International Prize for Biology, and a gold medal from the World Wildlife Fund. In his lecture, he discussed the known status of global variety of life, the continuing discovery of new life, the accelerating extinction of habitats and species through human activity, and what could be done to make fuller use of existing biodiversity.

The Power of Photography to Change Lives   
December 2, 1997   

Ted Jackson is a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist based in New Orleans.

Sex, Censorship, and the First Amendment: Legal Issues Surrounding the Internet
February 3, 1998       

At the time of his lecture, Roger K. Newman was an author and a leading authority on constitutional issues. He is known for writing a biography of Hugo Black as well as for being the co-author of Banned Films: Movies, Censors, and the First Amendment.

Newman’s lecture was co-sponsored by the South Central Mississippi Bar Association.

Cultural Continuity and Political Change in Africa’s Experience: the Passions and the Politics
February 10, 1998   

Dr. Ali Mazrui was a professor and a political writer who, at one time, served as a consultant to the United Nations on the Organization of African Unity. He produced a documentary, The Africans: A Triple Heritage, that aired on PBS and the BBC.

Dr. Mazrui was the 1998 Armstrong-Branch Lecture and his visit was co-sponsored by the African American History Month Committee.

The Future of Work and Wages in America
February 17, 1998   

Daniel Hammermesh is an economist who, at the time of his lecture, taught at the University of Texas Austin. His research concentrated on labor demands, special interest programs, and unusual applications of labor economics to issues such as suicide, sleep, and the allocation of time and the economics of beauty.

This forum was the annual Boardman Business Forum and was co-sponsored by the College of Business Administration.

How to Get a Job Like Mine
March 3, 1998  

Kurt Vonnegut was a writer best known for his works such as Slaughterhouse Five. In his lecture, he discussed his work, commented on current issues, offered his philosophy on everything from family to censorship, and gave advice.

Welfare and the Transformation of America?
March 17, 1998   

At the time of her lecture, Frances Fox Piven was a leading authority on welfare policies. She is a professor of political science and sociology who was the co-founder of SERVE (Service Employees Registration and Voter Education) and wrote Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare.

Title Unknown
April 21, 1998   

Samuel Adler is a composer, conductor, author, and professor whose catalogue includes over 400 published compositions.

Adler’s visit was co-sponsored by the College of the Arts.

What’s Southern About the South?
September 8, 1998   

John Shelton Reed is a sociologist who was, at the time, the director of the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Millennium Crisis: What It Is and How to Survive It
September 22, 1998   

At the time of his lecture, Dr. Paul Cox was a leading authority on the subject of Y2K.

Guns, Kids, and Violence: A Debate
September 29, 1998   

Josh Sugarmann is a gun control activist who, at the time, was the executive director of the Violence Policy Center, a non-profit that conducted research on firearms. He was also the former communications director for the national Coalition to Ban Handguns and a press officer to the national office of Amnesty International USA.

David Hardy is an attorney who, at the time of this debate, was an attorney for the National Rifle Association.

Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice
October 13, 1998   

Mark Plotkin is an ethnobotanist who documented his work with the Amazon’s medicine men. He spoke about the race to document plants and harvest them before the Shaman abandoned their practices or before rainforests were destroyed.

European Monetary Union: Its Role, Future, and Implications for the American People
November 13, 1998   

Ray Wiltshire argued for the single currency for the European Union members, the Euro. His visit was the annual Boardman Business Forum and was co-sponsored by the Colleges of Business Administration and International Studies.

Co-Sponsored by Business Administration & College of International Studies.

What Color is the Future? A Guided Tour of Young, Multi-Racial America
December 8, 1998  

Farai Chideyi is a journalist and author who was, at one time, a correspondent for ABC News. She was also the National Affairs editor for Vibe magazine and a political analyst for the 1996 presidential election.

Beyond Pirouettes: Exploring Social Issues and Narratives Through Dance
January 19, 1999   

Jane Comfort is a choreographer, dancer, and director who is the founder of Jane Comfort and Company, a New York based dance troupe.

Can There Be Environmental Justice for All?
January 26, 1999   

Jan Schlichtmann is a lawyer who is best known for the case of Anderson v. Cryovac. The story of this case was made into a book, A Civil Action, and later adapted into a film of the same name starring John Travolta.

Killing Cool: Igniting the Soul of Society
February 2, 1999

Derrick Ashong is a producer, an actor, and a composer who has worked with figures such as Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey. He was a founding member of the Harvard Black Alumni Society and founded the Black Men’s Forum.

Ashong was the 1999 Armstrong-Branch Lecture.

Cloning and the Future of Medical Genetics
February 23, 1999   

Dr. Campbell was a professor of animal development at the University of Nottingham and a biologist who was part of the team that cloned Dolly the sheep.

Dr. Campbell’s visit was co-Sponsored by Forrest General, the College of Science and Technology, and the Center for Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.

The Presidency in Crisis: From Watergate to the Clinton White House
March 2, 1999   

Carl Bernstein is an investigative reporter and author who worked on the Watergate scandal, setting the standards for modern investigative reporting. Bernstein has focused on the use and abuse of power and uncovered a secret agreement between the United States, Egypt, China, and Pakistan to supply arms to the Mujahadeen rebels in Afghanistan when he was an ABC correspondent and also revealed a secret alliance between Reagan and Pope John Paul II that had kept Poland’s solidarity movement alive and hastened the fall of communism in Europe.

Women’s Rights in the New Millennium: An International Perspective
March 30, 1999 

Dr. Nawal el Saadawi is an Egyptian feminist, physician, and psychiatrist who is an activist for women’s rights in the Arab world. She founded and edited Health magazine and was the Director General of Public Health in Egypt until 1972.

War Crimes Tribunals, Past and Future: From Nuremberg to Yugoslavia
September 21, 1999

At the time of his lecture, Jonathan Bush was a law professor and an authority on law and war crimes trials.

Bush’s lecture was sponsored by the South Central Mississippi Bar Association.

Explaining the Elegant Universe
October 5, 1999

Brian Greene is a theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist who served as a consultant on Third Rock from the Sun.

Cuba Facing the Year 2000
October 12, 1999

Estenoz is a Cuban diplomat and politician who discussed the challenges facing Cuba entering 2000 and the prospects for improved relations between the US and Cuba.

Estenoz’s visit was co-sponsored by the College of International and Continuing Education.

 

Tibet: Politics, History, and Culture
October 26, 1999

Robert Thurman is a Buddhist author and academic who taught at Columbia and became the first westerner to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk, ordained by the Dalai Lama. He also founded the Tibet House in New York.

 

Cults, Militias, and the Threat They Pose for America
November 9, 1999

Rick Ross is a deprogrammer and cult specialist who was consulted by the ATF and the FBI during Waco.

 

Greatest Works of Art of Western Civilization
November 30, 1999

Thomas Hoving was a museum executive and a former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He invented the blockbuster exhibition and was president of Hoving Associates, Inc.

Dr. Hoving’s visit was co-sponsored by the College of the Arts and the USM Museum of Art.

Responsible Global Capitalism
January 18, 2000

Ralph Nader is a political activist, author, and attorney who is noted for his work in consumer protection and environmentalism. This was Nader’s second Forum lecture.

Nader’s lecture was the annual Boardman Business Forum and was co-sponsored by the College of Business Administration.

Dentist of Auschwitz: Memoir of a Survivor
February 8, 2000

Benjamin Jacobs was a Polish dentist who was sent to a concentration camp in 1941. As he was a dental student before his capture, he carried his dental tools and became known as “the dentist.” Following his release, he traveled the United States and other places to speak about his experience. 

Mississippi, Opening the ‘Closed Society’: Turning Points in the life of a Spiritual Activist
February 29, 2000

Victoria Gray Adams was a civil rights activist from Hattiesburg who played a large part in the movement. She was one of the founding members of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

This was the 2000 Armstrong-Branch Lecture and was co-sponsored by the African American History Month Committee.

All Roads Lead to Rome
March 21, 2000

This was Macaulay’s second Forum lecture. His first was in 1989. 

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
April 4, 2000

Jared Diamond is a geographer, historian, and author who was, at the time of his lecture, the U.S. regional director of the World Wide Fund for Nature. He explored how wealth and power became the way they are now distributed. He also explored the idea of “genetic superiority” instead of racism.

The Novelist as Political and Social Commentator
April 11, 2000

Margaret Drabble is an English novelist who is known for her realistic descriptions of figures stemming from her own personal experiences.

Her visit was co-sponsored by the College of international and Continuing Education.