Professor John Tomasi is Director of the Political Theory Project - a vibrant new research center at the University. The mission of the Political Theory Project (PTP) is to broaden and deepen the discussion of social and political issues at Brown University. He believes students at America’s colleges and universities need exposure to a full range of opinions and viewpoints to establish their own independent thinking about fundamental political questions. The PTP creates intellectual spaces on campus where students of good faith and diverse viewpoints can gather to debate one another, freely and passionately, about the most pressing political problems of our day.

Tomasi received his B.A. from Colby College, his M.A. from the University of Arizona, and his B. Phil., D. Phil. from Oxford University. He has had previous appointments at Princeton University and Stanford University. His specializations are political theory and ethics and public policy.

Watch video of Professor Tomasi’s remarks to the Brown Club of France on May 27, 2008.
(23 minutes)

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Darrell West has been at Brown since 1982 and recently left the University to become vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Professor West has been a valued presence in the Rhode Island media for many years with his insightful political commentary. In this talk, and subsequent conversation, he describes Election 2008 as an important turning point in American history and shares his prediction of the election results.

West was the Director of Brown’s Taubman Center for Public Policy and Department of Political Science and John Hazen White Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Political Science. West specializes in technology policy, electronic government mass media, and elections. He is the developer of the web site, InsidePolitics.org, which features in-depth information on state and national politics.

Watch video of Professor West’s remarks to the Brown Club of Rhode Island on June 4, 2008.
(44 minutes)

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Brown University researchers are creating a technology that will allow doctors and scientists to do the seemingly impossible: see inside living humans and animals and watch their bones move in 3-D as they run, fly, jump, swim and slither. This high-resolution, high-speed imaging system will contribute to better treatments for knee, shoulder, wrist and back injuries and help scientists understand the evolution of complex movements, from the flight of birds to the leap of frogs. Professor Elizabeth Brainerd is overseeing development of the new system.

Brainerd came to Brown in 2005. She has an A.B. in Biology and a Ph.D in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard.

Watch video of Professor Brainerd’s remarks to the Brown Club of Southern California on March 9, 2008 (62 minutes).

Please note, audio distortions in the beginning of this podcast are remedied after approx. 5 minutes.

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Professor Howard Chudacoff’s new book, Children At Play: An American History, has been featured twice in The New York Times and has generated considerable debate on radio talk shows across the country. Focusing on the tensions between what adults wanted children to do and what children wanted to do for themselves, Chudacoff traces the history of how children have played and raises questions about how much freedom children have had, and should have, in their play.

Chudacoff has been a member of the Brown faculty since 1970. He is now George L. Littlefield Professor of American History and Professor of Urban Studies. His other books include How Old Are You? Age Consciousness in American Culture; The Age of the Bachelor: Creating an American Subculture; and The Evolution of American Urban Society. He also is co-author of the U.S. history text, A People and a Nation, now in its 8th edition.

Watch video of Professor Chudacoff’s remarks to the Brown Club of Oregon on March 27, 2008.

Lecture (34 minutes):

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  (39 MB MP3)

Q & A (22 minutes):

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  (25 MB MP3)

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In this presentation, Professor Glenn Loury argues that Americans should recognize a kind of social responsibility for the massive expansion of the incarceration complex in American life over the past two generations. Society at large is implicated in the wrongful acts freely chosen by individual persons, because we have acquiesced in - perhaps actively supported, through our taxes and votes, words and deeds - arrangements which shape his consciousness and sense of identity in such a way that the choices he makes, which we may condemn, are nevertheless an entirely understandable response to circumstance.

Loury has contributed to a variety of areas in applied microeconomic theory: welfare economics, game theory, industrial organization, natural resource economics, and the economics of income distribution. His essays and reviews on racial inequality and social policy have appeared in journals of public affairs in the U.S. and abroad.

Watch video of Professor Loury’s remarks to the Brown club of Boston on March 13, 2008.

Lecture (55 minutes):

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  (63 MB MP3)

Q & A (20 minutes):

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  (23 MB MP3)

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Former Senator Lincoln D. Chafee ’75, distinguished visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, delivers a multifaceted discussion on his experiences over seven years in the U.S. Senate. The presentation includes Senator Chafee’s perspectives on the following major political occurrences during this seven-year period; the vote to go to war in Iraq, Bush’s tax cut program, the 2004 election and the return of Congress to a Democratic majority.

Chafee served two terms on the Warwick City Council, was elected Mayor of the City four times, and was appointed to fill the unexpired term of his father, the late Senator John H. Chafee. During his term in the U.S. Senate, he was a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.

Watch video of Former Senator Chafee’s remarks to the Brown University Club in New York on March 6, 2008.

Lecture (41 minutes):

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Q & A (18 minutes):

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  (21 MB MP3)

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In 2003, Brown University President Ruth Simmons appointed a Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice to investigate the University’s historical relationship to slavery and the slave trade. The committee was also charged to organize public programs that would help the Brown community reflect in a serious, sustained way about the complex historical, political, legal and moral questions that this history raises. The committee presented its final report to President Simmons and the Brown community in October 2006.

In this presentation, Professor James Campbell, who chaired the Steering Committee, discusses the committee’s findings and entertains questions, comments, criticisms, and suggestions about its work. The final report is available online, along with an archive of historical documents and video excerpts of committee-sponsored programs.

Campbell received a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a B.A. from Yale University. His research focuses on African American history and the wider history of the Black Atlantic. His most recent book, Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in History.

Watch video of Professor Campbell’s remarks to the Brown Club of Georgia on January 31, 2007.

Segment 1: Why the Committee was created; its goals (16 minutes)
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Segment 2: Overview of the Committee's work and discoveries (11 minutes)
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Segment 3: Voyage of the slave ship "Sally"; conclusions (19 minutes)
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