How have the arts been impacted by the pandemic? What have been the challenges and the triumphs?
Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director of the Mass. Cultural Council is joined by Catherine Carr Kelly, Executive Director of Central Square Theater and collaborator on the Starlight Square project. Why are the arts a key asset to the economy? How much do they contribute to its economy?
Recorded 12/21/2021
Cambridge Forum’s purpose is to inform, explore, entertain and challenge preconceptions on a wide range of current and timeless subjects. Forums are recorded live with audience participation, and freely distributed to the world through NPR, GBH Forum Network, and CF podcasts.
Benjamin Zander, renowned conductor of the Boston Philharmonic orchestra and Boston Youth Philharmonic orchestra, and co-author of The Art of Possibility. Zander considers the everyday miracles that can happen despite catastrophe.
Recorded 12.14.2021
Cambridge Forum’s purpose is to inform, explore, entertain and challenge preconceptions on a wide range of current and timeless subjects. Forums are recorded live with audience participation, and freely distributed to the world through NPR, GBH Forum Network, and CF podcasts.
As the latest Covid variants continue to reveal themselves, COVID-19 has proved to be the biggest global public health and economic challenge in history. Although it has posed the same threat across the globe, countries have responded very differently and some are faring better than others.
Peter Baldwin, Professor of Comparative History at UCLA, has written books on a variety of topics including 19th century European public health policies and the global response to AIDS.
In his latest book is “FIGHTING THE FIRST WAVE: How the Coronavirus was tackled differently across the globe”, Baldwin shows that how nations responded depended above all on the political tools available – how firmly could the authorities order citizens’ lives and how willingly would they be obeyed?
Professor Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health where he is a faculty member at the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics joins conversation.
In Asia, nations quarantined the infected and their contacts. In the Americas and Europe they shut down their economies, hoping to squelch the virus’s spread. In some countries, like England, there were fines for disobeying lockdown limits. Others, above all Sweden, responded with a light touch, putting their faith in social consensus over coercion. Some countries have now changed strategy due to recent surges in the Delta variant in Australia, Canada, Europe and elsewhere.
This forum is part of our TRANSFORMATIONS series, which has been examining the various ways in which the pandemic has acted as an agent of change. We are grateful for the generous support of the City of Cambridge
Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today.
Despite the damage and carnage, the pandemic accelerated our ingenuity and innovation and good things happened. Multi-disciplinary collaborations took place across continents, Zoom partnerships developed and vaccine production took off at record speed. Peloton sales exploded, home offices and gyms sprung up in garages, people gardened and baked bread. And according to psychologists, 10% of us will undergo PTG (post traumatic growth).
Sharon Peacock is a clinician scientist who’s worked in microbiology in the UK and SE Asia for the past 25 years. She is also founding director of COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium. Peacock is busy staying on top of the latest Covid hybrids and mapping genomes, she has generated half a million to date!
Amy Canevello is an Associate Professor in Health Psychology at UNC, Charlotte.
Canevello’s research integrates social psychology, close relationships and trauma to understand how people attain optimal functioning even under adversecircumstances
Douglas Alexander is former UK Shadow Foreign Secretary, Chair of UNICEF (UK) and Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s “Future of Diplomacy” Project.
Alexander knows all about long international negotiations on and off Zoom!
This forum is part of our TRANSFORMATIONS series, which has been examining the various ways in which the pandemic has acted as an agent of change. We are grateful for the generous support of the City of Cambridge
Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today.
The pandemic was a lethal litmus test for relationships of all kinds. A motley assortment of people found themselves locked down together. Some saw the deaths of family or friends. Others were deprived of seeing neighbors, co-workers, school friends or they lost the support of community groups like choirs. As we emerge from the Covid cocoon, a significant number of relationships have cemented or ended but several million Americans have also acquired pets.
Recorded 6/8/2020
What relationships did you acquire or lose in the past year? Has your emotional life shifted irrevocably? Will things return to pre-pandemic conditions or are these new work/life changes here to stay? Join our discussion and tell us about your experiences over the past year – for better or worse?
Rich Slatcher is Professor of Psychology at the University of Georgia. His research and teaching focusses on understanding the effects of people’s close relationships on their health and well-being. He currently oversees the Love in the Time of COVID project to examine the global effects of the pandemic on people’s social relationships.
Andrés Holder is Executive Director of the Boston Children’s Chorus. He has over ten years of experience in performing arts management through his work with Gala Hispanic Theatre, Arena Stage, and The Washington Ballet.
Mark Cushing is a lawyer and author of Pet Nation, an inside look at how over the past 20 years, pets have become treasured members of the American family.
Has America’s love affair with pets resulted in a cultural transformation?
This forum is part of our TRANSFORMATIONS series, which has been examining the various ways in which the pandemic has acted as an agent of change. We are grateful for the generous support of the City of Cambridge
Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today.
how will the pandemic affect your work, life, home?
Some people can’t wait to get back to the office but 80% don’t want to or would prefer a hybrid schedule, according to a recent Harvard survey. Many more workers however, have no such attractive options. But all of us must consider the future of our workplaces going forward.
Will things return to pre-pandemic conditions or are these new work/life changes here to stay? Some people miss having a separate workspace and live interaction with colleagues. What do you think? Join our discussion and tell us about your experiences over the past year – for better or worse.
Guest speaker, Nick Bloom, a professor of economics at Stanford University specializing in management practices and uncertainty, will be discussing his research which shows that balance between work, life and home is key.
Our second guest is Dr. Brad Harrington, Executive Director of the Boston College Center for Work & Family (BCCWF) and a research professor in the Carroll School of Management
RECORDED 5/18/2021
TRANSFORMATIONS: End of the Office 1TRANSFORMATIONS: End of the Office 2
If you are an employer or employee looking for information to navigate the pandemic, look at this COVID-19 page from the BCCWF.
This forum is part of our TRANSFORMATIONS series, which has been examining the various ways in which the pandemic has acted as an agent of change. We are grateful for the generous support of the City of Cambridge
Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today.
Join the conversation. Support our ongoing Zoom and in person events and radio series. Sign up to receive our free newsletter. Contribute $100 or more and receive invitations to special Cambridge Forum events.