In the Community

Every facet of American life—health care, education, finances, community, housing, public safety, culture, you name it—is changing. It's overwhelming and bewildering. The What's Next Speaker Series goal is to help make sense of it all.

Born out of a plan to bring notable leaders in the field of social change under a single theme, the What's Next? Speaker Series has blossomed into a forum that introduces students, residents, community leaders and decision-makers in North Central Massachusetts to innovative thinkers and doers from around the country and world. The goal is:

• to show change is possible,
• to spark creative problem-solving,
• to inspire action.

The main criteria for the selection of the speakers: Do they have a “What's Next” idea to offer? Have they taken a creative approach to a social problem? Can their work inspire action elsewhere? The 2006-2007 speaker series, now in it's third year, focuses on "The Many Faces of Poverty."

For additional information, send an e-mail expressing your interest in the speaker series to whatsnext@mwcc.mass.edu.

What's Next Speakers

• October 6, 2006 - Panel Discussion: "The Many Faces of Poverty" Moderated by Charlotte Kahn, Director of the Boston Foundation's Boston Indicators Project
• November 17, 2006 - Addressing Poverty Among Disadvantaged Youth - Featuring Jack Foley, Vice President for Government and Community Affairs and Campus Services at Clark University
• February 12, 2007 - "Ethical Visions of Education: Philosophies in Practice" - Featuring David Hansen, Editor. Developed by the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century. Published by Teachers College Press (Winter/Spring 2007)
• March 13, 2007 - Addressing Poverty from a Global Perspective - Featuring Paul Dudley Hart, Director at Large of the Mercy Corps
• Poverty Symposium - In honor of the Montachusett Opportunity Council's 40th Anniversary, MOC is sponsoring a symposium in collaboration with MWCC, FSC and MASSCAP. This speaker series will serve as a precurser to this much larger-scale event focused on the many different facets of poverty to this region. Click here for registration information.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2006 FROM 12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. IN THE NORTH CAFE AT MOUNT WACHUSETT COMMUNITY COLLEGE'S GARDNER CAMPUS

DAVID HANSEN - "Ethical Visions of Education: Philosphies in Practice"

In the third session of the speaker series for the 2006-2007 academic year, David Hansen will discuss the new book, "Ethical Visions of Education: Philosophies in Practice", commissioned by the Boston Research Foundation for the 21st Century, being released this winter.

This multi-author book, edited by David Hansen, brings together in a single text the ideas of some of the twentieth century’s most dynamic and courageous educational philosophers from a diversity of cultural and historical perspectives. The book’s framework encompasses essential educational concerns and explores those concerns in light of the tension that often exists between socio-political goals and the human potential of each child. The philosophies explored in this book bring to life educational ideas and possibilities that have had an enduring legacy, even though they once seemed inconceivable. From the lives and thought of such extraordinary figures as Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner, Albert Schweitzer, Jane Addams and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, we learn how to render human affairs more just, more peaceful, and more fulfilling.

David Hansen is Professor and Director of the program in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. He has taught at several levels, including high school, and received his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. Before taking up his present position, he served as director for ten years of a secondary teacher education program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Hansen has been particularly interested in the moral dimensions of teaching and teacher education. That interest is part of a larger project to re-imagine the humanistic roots of education in an era that all too often reduces education into a mere means to an end. Hansen has written widely on this theme, including in The Call to Teach (1995), Exploring the Moral Heart of Teaching: Toward a Teacher’s Creed (2001), and in a review chapter in the Handbook of Research on Teaching, published in 2001 by the American Educational Research Association, entitled “Teaching as a Moral Activity.” He lives in New York City with his wife, Elaine V. Fuchs, who is a molecular biologist at Rockefeller University. In their spare time they enjoy friends, classical music and opera, walks in NewYork’s Central Park, and traveling abroad.

Due to limited space, registration is required no later than Friday, February 2nd. To register, contact Eveliz Rivera at (978) 630-9324 or via email at: whatsnext@mwcc.mass.edu. Complimentary lunch will be provided, courtesy of the Center for Democracy and Humanity at Mount Wachusett Community College

2005-2006 What's Next Speaker Series