Category: Speeches and Presentations

On December 2, 2007, the Kluge-Ruhe Collection hosted a panel discussion: Sacred or Profane? The Australian Government’s Intervention in Aboriginal Communities. Panelists shared different aspects of the intervention and the changes already felt in Aboriginal communities. The audience was invited to participate in a Q & A following the panel presentations. Panelists included:

* Dr. Howard Morphy, Director of the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research at Australian National University
* Frances Morphy, Fellow at the Center for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research
* Josh Wheeler, Associate Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
* Will Owen, author of the blog Guv,!E”Aboriginal Art – An American EyeGuv,!Vkj
* Margo Smith, Director and Curator, Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, UVA

TIMELINE:

1:00 – Introduction from Margo Smith
17:44 – Dr. Howard Morphy
27:57 – Will Owen
43:20 – Frances Morphy
1:08:49 – Josh Wheeler
1:26:13 – Question and answer period

There are two ways to change the U.S. Constititution, according to Article 5.

First, Congress can propose amendments, which would then have to be ratified by two-thirds of the states. That’s been done 27 times since 1787. But, there’s also a provision for there to be a Constitutional Convention, something that can be done if two-thirds of state legislatures call for one. So far, that’s not been done, but U.Va Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato’s new book is perhaps the beginning of a call for one.

A More Perfect Constitution lays out 23 ideas to reform the Constitution, which Sabato says was never intended to stay static. Sabato recently appeared at the U.Va bookstore to talk about the work, which dates back his days teaching at Oxford.

Dr. Robert Solow, recipient of the 1987 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics,
gives a lecture on his recent work with the Russell Sage Foundation on the
economics of low wage workers in high wage countries.

Dr. Solow coordinated an international team of researchers looking at economic differences in five leading European nations with respect to their low wage earners. Among the more interesting findings Dr. Solow feels the study has uncovered are the wide variations in the percentages of low wage living in first world nations as well as great differences in these workers’ ability to move on to higher paying work. Smaller, more homogeneous nations such as Denmark were much more successful in transitioning their low wage workers to better employment compared to larger, more heterogenous nations such as France.

Perhaps the most interesting obesrvation Dr. Solow makes is how the United
States would exhibit the least amount of social mobility if compared to
these other nations. With careful discussion on productivity, education, and
economic theory Dr. Solow gives a serious and engaging speech on the state
of economic inequity in the 21st century.

Another write-up from this lecture is available at the U.Va Sentinel.

On Friday, September 14, The Jefferson Society hosted Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) Institute.

Dr. Shostak traces the development of computing alongside the development of extra-terrestrial research, claiming that because computing efficiency doubles every 18 months, SETI will find some proof of life by the year 2020. He also amusingly debunks conspiracies of alien abduction and government collusion with aliens, and offers thoughts about such the cultural importance of the alien figure/myth from the lenses of psychology, sociology, and evolutionary theory.