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3-day conference. Participants: Bruce Ames, Ron Bailey, Jim Chatters, Napoleon Chagnon, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Jonathan Entine, Mike Fitzpatrick, Frank Furedi, Sarah Glazer, Joseph Ledoux, Kenan Malik, Steven Pinker, Ullica Segerstrale. Sponsored by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs in association with the Institute of Ideas in London as part of the British Council and Foreign Commonwealth Office festival "UKinNY."

Topics include: What Is It To Be Human?; Who's Afraid of Science?; Folklore vs. Scientific Lore; The Future of Progress; The Ethics of Progress; Local Wisdom vs. Scientific Universalism; Cognitive Science, Evolutionary Psychology, and Their Limitations; and Is the Future Human?

Inscription: Science, Knowledge, Humanity / 10/26-28/01.

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Public discussion. Participants: Debra L. Schultz, Blanche Wiesen Cook, Dorothy M. Zellner.

Inscription: Going South / Ad Sp / org. / 11/27/01.

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Panel discussion. Evan Wolfson, Fellow of the Wolfson Center for National Affairs, moderator. Panelists: Lisa Duggan, Josh Gamson, Richard Goldstein, and Suzanna Danuta Walters.

Typified by the public outing of Ellen DeGeneres and news coverage of the vicious murder of Matthew Shepard, gay lives have definitely become part of American public life, visible everywhere, from the White House and Congress to Disney's Magic Kingdom. But are gays seen without being known? Is the new visibility a sign of social acceptance or mere window dressing that obscures the dogged persistence of discrimination? Professor Walters, the author of All the Rage and Materials Girl: Making Sense of Feminist Cultural Theory, leads a critical discussion of the meaning of gay visibility in contemporary American life.

Inscription: Gay Visibility / original / 12-6-01.

Scope and Contents Censorship exercised on behalf of children, from removing Huckleberry Finn and Harry Potter from the school library to v-chips and Internet filters, assumes that they need to be protected from certain kinds of information—works of art, literature, websites, etc. But where did this assumption arise, and is it true? Two decades of experience as a First Amendment lawyer persuaded Marjorie Heins that this issue requires a dispassionate debate. In her recent book, Not In Front of the Children, she discusses the history and current political minefield of censorship for the purpose of protecting youth. From Plato's Republic to Victorian obscenity laws to contemporary conflicts in the United States over sex education and media violence, the impulse to guard young people from "immoral" or "dangerous" thoughts and impulses has always been with us. Heins asks whether there are not less censorious ways to address society's...

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Introduction by Harper's magazine editor Lewis H. Lapham. Moderated by Brian Lehrer. Panelists: Hafez Al-Mirazi, Kurt Anderson, John Podhoretz, John R. MacArthur. Presented by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs in conjunction with Harper's magazine.

Inscription: Civil Obedience / Dec 12, 2001. / orig.

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Moderator: Jerome D. Levin. Speakers: Mark Epstein and Abraham Twerski.

Inscription: Interrogations / Ad Spec / (orig) / Mar. 7, 2002.

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Panel on the politics and public image of the gay rights movement. Panelist include Richard Goldstein (then President and CEO of The New Republic), Carmen Vazquez (then public policy director for the Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual Community Center), Andrew Sullivan (conservative political commentator), and Norah Vincent (journalist).

The event was held in The Auditorium designed by Joseph Urban. Sponsored by Wilson Center for National Affairs at The New School.

Inscription: Great Gay Debate / Ad Spec. Prog / orig. / 6-27-02.

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Lecture by Gary Hart. Bob Kerrey, moderator. [information on this event was found in George Calderaro Records, Box OSx-4, folder Fall 2002 (August 2002), bottom of the page, NYT, August 25, 2002][found also in spreadsheet NS07_2, with different title and Bob Kerrey Is also mentioned there as a participant] Inscription: Hart and Kerrey / Save the Republic / Sept. 26, 2002.

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Lecture by Eric Foner on the cost of freedom. Presented by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs and the Institute for Retired Professionals in celebration of the IRP's 40th anniversary.

Inscription: Eric Foner (1 of 1) / VLC / orig. / 10-10-02.

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One of the foremost practioners of opinion research leads us in a reflection on 9/11 that emphasizes learning from the multiplicity of viewpoints. Daniel Yankelovich asks the audience to join him in testing and practicing dialogue as a method of understanding that is distinct from other forms of discourse. Speaker: Daniel Yankelovich. Presented by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs and the World Policy Institute.

Inscription: D. Yonkelovich / AD Special / 10/17/02 / orig.