Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023

Frank Bruni

"Discourse and Politics in Contemporary America"
 

Currently Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public  Policy in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Frank Bruni has an M.S. from  Columbia University (1998) and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  (1986). His career includes more than 25 years on the staff of The New York Times as a correspondent, restaurant critic, and op-ed columnist. He continues to contribute a newsletter to  The Times each Thursday.  Author of four best-selling books, the most recent of which is "The  Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found" (2022). Underway is a book about how grievance dominates America’s political and cultural discourse.

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Thursday, October 19, 2023

Dr. Reide Corbett
“Climate Change and the North Carolina Coast"

 

Dr. Corbett is Dean of Integrated Coastal Programs and a Professor in the Department of Coastal  Studies at East Carolina University (ECU). A native North Carolinian, he earned a Ph.D. in oceanography from Florida State University. At ECU he teaches courses in Coastal  Geoscience and Oceanography. The author of numerous articles, his research includes coastal change and geomorphic evolution across telescoping timescales. 

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Thursday, November 9, 2023

William E. Lucas

"The Mandela-DeKlerk “Miracle”: South Africa’s Transition from Apartheid to  Democracy"

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William Lucas served 33 years in the Foreign Service. His expertise regarding South  Africa and southern Africa derives from two tours of duty as a political officer in the U.S.  Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa (1981-83, 1988-91), service as a director in the African affairs office at the National Security Council (2006), and deputy director of the Department’s southern African affairs office (2000-02). Active following his retirement, he has lectured and promoted public service careers in global affairs at numerous institutions, including Duke University and  UNC-Chapel Hill.

 

Mr. Lucas holds M.A. degrees from Stanford University and Johns Hopkins  University’s School of Advanced International Studies (Africa concentration, 1978) and a B.A.  (English) from the UNC-Chapel Hill (1973). Current projects include a book on the transition from apartheid to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s based on interviews with key South African figures and American officials, as well as extensive de-classified documentation obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. He is currently the visiting scholar-in-residence at American  University’s School of International Service.

Thursday, March 21, 2024
Joseph Blocher

"America and the Right to Possess Firearms: The Past, Present and Future of the Second  Amendment"

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Mr. Blocher is the Lanty L. Smith ’67 Professor of Law at Duke University and Co-Director of the  Center for Firearms Law. Professor Blocher received his B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta  Kappa, from Rice University. He studied law and economic development as a Fulbright Scholar in Ghana and as a Gates Scholar at Cambridge University, earning an M.Phil in Land Economy.  He then earned his J.D. at Yale Law School. He clerked for the Hon. Guido Calabresi of the U.S.  Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Hon. Rosemary Barkett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. At Duke University, he teaches Constitutional Law, Urban Legal History,  and most relevant, Second Amendment: History, Theory, and Practice. He is co-author of "The  Positive Second Amendment: Rights, Regulation, and the Future of Heller" (Cambridge Studies on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties) and has published numerous articles on gun rights and other topics. 

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Thursday, April 25, 2024
Dr. Anne E. Weiss
¨Explore NASA: Sailing the New Cosmic Sea to Reveal the Unknown for the Benefit of Humanity¨

Dr. Weiss is a NASA STEM Engagement & Educator Professional Development Collaborative  (EPDC) Specialist at NASA’s Langley Research Center. In a quest to fulfill a lifelong dream of flying in space, Dr. Weiss originally trained as a neuroscientist, including research work at the  U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. For the past 23  years, she has merged her scientific training with her passion for education as a middle school,  high school, and undergraduate science educator. Since 2010, Dr. Weiss has also contributed to various NASA STEM Engagement (Education) projects, including the NASA Educators Online  Network (NEON), NASA/NSTA Teacher Learning Journeys (TLJ), and NASA’s Aerospace  Education Services Project (AESP). 

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