World Affairs Seminars

Munley Law: Choose Carefully

All seminars are from Noon to 1:30pm
Luncheon Seminar Fees: $25 per per person 

* Please note that this seminar has been moved to FULLY REMOTE ON ZOOM

Thursday, February 10 

Our Common Home: Vatican and Multifaith Engagement on Environment
and Climate Justice

Rabbi Daniel Swartz of Scranton’s Temple Hesed and Executive Director of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, recently traveled to the Vatican to take part in an ongoing multifaith effort to address climate change. Join us to hear highlights of that work and to discuss the role of faith traditions to protect the environment and promote the common good.

Rabbi Daniel Swartz, Spiritual Leader, Temple Hesed and Executive Director, Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) 

 Noon to 1:30 p.m.; remote link will be emailed  

 RSVP Here

* Please note that this seminar has been moved to FULLY REMOTE ON ZOOM

Friday, February 18

Is Liberal Democracy Already History? 

What is the state of democracy today, at home and abroad? Why have illiberal democracies evolved, particularly in eastern European countries and a drift toward illiberalism in the US? What has become of the peaceful revolution associated with the fall of the Berlin Wall? This talk will address the factors that made possible the societal hope that took root, the factors that facilitated unprecedented setbacks, and the factors that now sustain the promise of reclaiming democracy while addressing the issues of broader social justice.

Elzbieta Matynia, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Liberal Studies and Director of the Transregional
Center for Democratic Studies at the New School for Social Research

Noon to 1:30 p.m.; remote link will be emailed

RSVP Here

Thursday, March 3

Linneaus’ Legacy: Corrupting Color to Serve Discrimination and Exploitation 

Why did Hitler have a color-coding system in concentration camps? Why are color names like yellow and red associated with racial slurs? Arguably it started with Swedish botanist, zoologist, and taxonomist Carl Linneaus (1707-1778), who formalized a system of naming organisms still used today. Bowles traces Linneaus’ legacy and its relationship to morally bankrupt views about race and gender through examples found in material culture. 

Kathy Johnson Bowles, Executive Director of the Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science,
and Art

Brennan Hall, Rose Room, 509 • Noon to 1:30 p.m.; remote link will be emailed

RSVP Here

Monday, March 14

A Remarkable Tale of Law, Politics, and Religion: The Making of Kiryas Joel,
a Hasidic Town in Upstate New York

This talk will explore the fascinating story of Kiryas Joel, a legally recognized municipality in New York made up entirely of strictly Orthodox Hasidic Jews. How did this town come into being? Does it grate against the separation of religion and state in American politics and law? Or is it of a piece with strong, often religious communities that have found their place on the landscape on this country. The story of Kiryas Joel should be of interest to anyone interested in the place of religion in American society.

Copies of American Shtetl: The Making of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic Village in Upstate New York will be on sale.

David N. Myers, Ph.D., Sady and Ludwig Kahn Professor of Jewish History at UCLA, where he serves as the director of the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy.
Nomi Stolzenberg, Founder and Co-director of the USC Center for Law, History and Culture

Brennan Hall, Rose Room, 509 • Noon to 1:30 p.m.; remote link will be emailed

RSVP Here

Thursday, March 24      

A New Cold War? How To Think About the Struggle in Ukraine

What are the geopolitical implications of the war in Ukraine? And what does the struggle tell us about the role of individual leaders in shaping history? Join us a Harvard historian Fredrik Logevall considers the crisis and its meaning.

Fredrik Logevall, Ph.D., Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard University

Brennan Hall, Rose Room, 509 • Noon to 1:30 p.m.; remote link will be emailed

RSVP Here

Friday, April 22

Russia and the Post-Truth Society

During the Cold War, the U.S.S.R. tried to convince the world that communism was the future of humankind. The U.S. tried to convince the world that democracy and capitalism gave people a better life. Today, propagandists still try to convince but, more and more, try to confuse - to overwhelm their target audiences with a firehose of mis- and dis-information. Jill Dougherty, former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief, currently teaching a course in “Information Wars” at Georgetown University, explores the new paradigm, what it means for Russia, and what it could mean for America.

Jill Dougherty, was CNN’s Moscow Bureau Chief for almost a decade. A Russia expert, she is now
an adjunct Professor at Georgetown University and a CNN on-air contributor

Edward Leahy Hall, Kane Forum, 235 • Noon to 1:30 p.m.; remote link will be emailed  

 RSVP Here

Saturday, September 14, University For A Day, An Environmental Immersion

Matthew Meyer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Philosophy, The University of Scranton
Listen to the Lecture Here

Timothy D. Searchinger, Ph.D., Research Scholar, Princeton University and Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute
Listen to the Lecture Here

Michael C. Cann, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, Chemistry Department, The University of Scranton, Director, Delaware Highlands Conservancy
Listen to the Lecture Here

Diane Burko, Artist
Listen to the Lecture Here

Thursday, October 1, Artistic Manifestations of Life Transitions
Harmar Brereton, M.D.
Listen to the Lecture Here

Friday, October 23, The Politics of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of Israel/Palestine
Christine Leuenberger, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in the Department of Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University
Listen to the Lecture Here

Thursday, October 29, Code Red: How Progrressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save the Country
E.J. Dionne, syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, a regular contributor on MSNBC and NPR, university professor at Georgetown and visiting professor at Harvard University
Listen to the Lecture Here

Thursday, November 5, What Democracy Requires: The 2020 Election in Historical Perspective
Fred Logevall, Ph.D., Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard University
Listen to the Lecture Here

Friday, November 20, Antisemitism Past, Present and Future
David N. Myers, Ph.D, Sady and Ludwig Kahn Professor of Jewish History, UCLA, and President, New Israel Fund
Listen to the Lecture Here