Will COVID change everything? Will it change how we work, educate, govern, and play?
Political strategist Roger Fisk leads a discussion with climate change expert Mark Boyer, economist Daron Acemoglu, human rights advocate Shareen Hertel, and pollster David Paleologos to explore what may come next as the pandemic progresses. In addition to considering the future of climate, politics, economics, social justice, and popular mobilization, they examine who may emerge from this massive inflection point as winners or losers. Finally, they explore the concept of crisis as an opportunity to fundamentally re-imagine and address some of the massive issues we face as a community, a nation, and a global society.
This Suffolk University lecture series, presented with the Ford Hall Forum and WGBH Forum Network, is designed as a broad examination of the themes of interest to political scientists and public policy experts. The series is part of a novel online course offered to incoming Suffolk students and made available to the public.
Follow the course: Week 9 Assignment
Listen:
How green will Europe’s economic revival be?
Pascal Canfin, the chair of the European Parliament’s environment committee, outlines what MEPs want to see from the EU’s recovery plan. Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron outlined their vision for that plan this week but how does the Parliament think the money should be raised and spent, particularly to help the EU meet its climate goals?
Imagining the New 9-5
Read:
Michael Osterholm, Mark Olshaker. “Chronicle of a Pandemic Foretold: Learning from the Covid-19 Failure – Before the Next Outbreak Arrives.” Foreign Affairs. 5/21/2020. (PDF)
The RAND Blog: Relaxing COVID-19 Restrictions Presents Stark Health and Economic Choices
Project Syndicate: How to Reset the US Pandemic Response
Project Syndicate: Time for a Great Reset
Project Syndicate: The Post-COVID State
Civic Engagement Activity & Reflection
Engage in at least one civic / political event of your choice during the course and document this with a short reflection essay. Try a virtual town or city hall meeting with local or state representatives, a meeting of an activist group, etc. The reflection should draw on readings from assignments and your own additional research. Members of the public who wish to share their reflections should post a link on Twitter and tag @GBHForumNetwork and @supolscilegal.
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BIO: Daron Acemoglu
Daron Acemoglu is a Professor of Economics at MIT. In 2005 he received the John Bates Clark Medal, given to economists under age forty judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge, in 2012 he was awarded the Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in economics for work of lasting significance, and in 2016 he received the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in economics, finance, and management for his lifetime contributions.
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BIO: Mark Boyer
Mark Boyer teaches environmental and climate change science at the University of Connecticut. His areas of research interest include globalization, climate change, global-local linkages, and political ecology.
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BIO: Roger Fisk
Roger Fisk is a global communications and marketing strategist who played a key behind-the-scenes role in the back-to-back electoral victories of President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Since 2012, Fisk has been applying those tools and lessons to private sector clients all over the world, from insurance companies in Asia, to European cities bidding to host global sporting events, and Fortune 100 companies looking to rejuvenate their messaging culture.
Fisk has a deep understanding of 21st century presidential politics, political campaigning and the unprecedented power of information, relationships and marketing. He helps clients engage millions of people in sustained marketing and promotional strategies, using the internet and social media networks to great effect along with older tools like radio, TV and newspapers.
During Obama’s campaigns, Roger Fisk initially served as Director of Special Events, where he was directly responsible for coordinating and managing the media’s coverage of over 150 events across the country. He was also in charge of many key Obama media appearances including: 60 Minutes, The Daily Show, Good Morning America, Saturday Night Live, and the historic Race Speech in Philadelphia in 2008.
Image: Public Domain
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BIO: Shareen Hertel
Shareen Hertel is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, jointly appointed with the Human Rights Institute at UConn. Her research focuses on changes in transnational human rights advocacy, with a focus on labor and economic rights issues. Hertel has served as a consultant to foundations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies in the United States, Latin America and South Asia. She has conducted fieldwork in factory zones along the US-Mexico border, in Bangladesh’s garment manufacturing export sector, among NGO networks in India, and in the multilateral trade arena. Hertel is editor of The Journal of Human Rights, serves on the editorial boards of Human Rights Review as well as Human Rights and Human Welfare, and is co-editor of the International Studies Intensives book series of Routledge.
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BIO: David Paleologos
David Paleologos is the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center (SUPRC), where he has worked since 2002 conducting statewide polls and bellwether survey analyses in Massachusetts and elsewhere. SUPRC presidential primary polls have predicted outcomes in many key battleground states. SUPRC’s cutting-edge survey research has gained both national and international attention for its high degree of accuracy. SUPRC results have been reported on by hundreds of major news organizations on television, radio, in print, and online. The SUPRC bellwether model, authored by David, is designed to predict outcomes, not margins of victory. Used both locally and nationally, the model has an 85% accuracy rating in predicting straight-up winners.
In addition to his duties as director of the research center, David is also a lecturer in the College of Arts & Sciences’ Government Department, where he teaches Political Survey Research. In this intensive, immersive course, students create, implement and analyze their own survey during the semester, and experts in the field, including campaign staffers, candidates, fundraisers, and media luminaries, frequently guest lecture.
Before beginning his career in academia, David was one of the Bay State’s most sought-after pollsters and field operatives. He is a frequent guest lecturer on the political survey process at a number of New England-area schools and institutions. A graduate of Tufts University, David is a member of the American Association of Public Opinion Research and the Northeast Political Consultants Association, and sits on the board of the Rappaport Center for Law & Public Service at the Suffolk University Law School.
