May 2024 Lectures
LOCATION
The first four May lectures will be held online via Zoom and will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 AM. The fifth lecture will be on Friday, May 31 at 1:30 PM, and in-person.
RESERVATIONS
No registration is required to attend online lectures. The Zoom link will be sent to all those subscribed to the OLLI newsletter the morning of the lecture. If you do not receive the OLLI newsletter and would like to attend, please email [email protected].
Reservations are required to attend in-person lectures. Registration will open at 10:00 AM on the Friday prior to each in-person lecture. Registration is via an event on the OLLI website events calendar. The direct registration link will be included in the Friday newsletter the week prior to each lecture. Lectures are free and open to the public, but you must have an OLLI account to register. If you do not have one, you can create an account when going to register. Each registrant may reserve one seat. Your name must be on the list of registrants to enter the lecture and you must be in your seat five minutes before the lecture starts to guarantee your seat.
LECTURES
Brian Hughes, Building Resilience and Preventing Radicalization—Prevention Practices at the Cutting Edge
Tuesday, May 21
10:30 AM
Online via Zoom
Dr. Brian Hughes is a Research Assistant Professor in the American University School of Public Affairs, program of Justice, Law, and Criminology. He is also the co-founder and Associate Director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), an applied research lab that develops studies and interventions to build community resilience and reduce the risk of radicalization to extremism. Dr. Hughes's scholarly research explores the impact of communication technology on political and religious extremism, terrorism, conspiracy, and fringe culture. His writing has appeared in the CTC Sentinel at West Point, the International Journal of Communication, Lawfare, and the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right. His expert statement on the role of social media in the January 6th Insurrection is included in the Select January 6th Committee’s record. Dr. Hughes is a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur.
Jeff Faux, The Case for a Progressive American Isolationism
Thursday, May 23
10:30 AM
Online via Zoom
Jeff Faux founded the Economic Policy Institute in 1986, and made it into the country’s leading think tank on the political and economic issues that working Americans face. In 2003, he stepped down as EPI’s president. Faux has studied, taught, and published on a wide variety of economic and political issues from the global economy, to neighborhood community development; and from monetary policy to political strategy. He is the author or co-author of six books, the latest being, The Servant Economy: Where America’s Elite is Sending the Middle Class (Wiley, 2012).
Faux worked as an economist in the Departments of State, Labor, and Commerce; a manager in the finance industry; a blueberry farmer; and a member of a municipal planning board in the State of Maine. He’s been an advisor to governments, trade unions, businesses, political campaigns, and community organizations. He’s lectured in Europe, Latin America, and Asia; sits on the boards of several of non-profit institutions and magazines; has written articles for numerous newspapers, magazines, and journals; has testified before Congress; and has appeared many times on television and radio.
Marian Flaxman, Food as Medicine—What, Why and How?
Tuesday, May 28
10:30 AM
Online via Zoom
Marian Flaxman’s passion for health advocacy began when her first daughter was born with nearly a dozen life threatening food allergies. As a very young first-time Mom, Marian felt intuitively that there was something going on within the food and healthcare systems that was contributing to the exponential rise in food allergies and inflammatory illness. For the next decade, Marian threw herself into the work of studying health, nutrition, and the food industry. She became a certified holistic health counselor at the age of 21, was elected to the board of an organic food co-op at 23, and opened her first gluten-free, organic café at 24. She then went on to open another bar and restaurant before moving into management for the corporate natural food restaurant chain, True Food Kitchen. During her time in management, Marian developed her passion for systems and organization, policy development, and personnel management. After the birth of her third daughter, Marian left the world of restaurant management for a Director of Sales position, where she rebuilt the internal structures of the company’s sales and marketing department, and further sharpened her skills for managing people and systems. She also spent a year working on and around The Hill, working as a lobbying assistant for the Kombucha Brewers Trade Organization, KBI.
After more than a decade in the professional world, Marian returned to academia, studying Public Health at American University in Washington, DC. She worked as a research assistant in the lab of Nutritional Neuroscience, studying the impact of diet on neurotransmission. Marian then went on to complete a Master of Science in Biomedical Science Policy and Advocacy at Georgetown University. Her master’s project explored the role of the human microbiome in health and disease and proposed policy solutions to protect and promote a healthy microbiome, reduce chronic disease risk, and lower healthcare expenditures. Marian currently works as a health and nutrition policy consultant, helping both individuals and organizations tackle complex health problems with data driven solutions. Above all, Marian cherishes her role as the mother of three amazing, healthy girls who inspire the work she does every single day.
Jill Lordan, Using Sweat Equity to Make Housing More Affordable
Thursday, May 30
10:30 AM
Online via Zoom
Jill Lordan is the Self-Help Housing Director for NeighborGood Partners. Jill has been with NeighborGood Partners since 1994, serving as a Self-Help Housing Specialist and a Consultant prior to becoming the Director. Before working with this agency, she was the Marketing Director for a retirement community in Baltimore, Maryland. Jill has a BA in Communications from Shepherd University in West Virginia and has had a Delaware Realtor’s license.
In the USDA self-help housing program, an association of 4 to 10 families works together to build their own homes. Organized by a nonprofit and assisted by a skilled staff, these families provide at least 65% of the labor necessary to build their homes. Most use a USDA rural homeownership loan for financing. The families generally save $10,000 to $30,000 in housing costs using this sweat equity method.
Stuart Eizenstat, The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements That Changed the World
Friday, May 31
1:30 PM
IN-PERSON at OLLI (Room A on the first floor)
Ambassador Eizenstat is a senior member of Covington & Burling LLP’s international practice. His work at Covington focuses on resolving international trade problems and business disputes with the US and foreign governments, and international business transactions and regulations on behalf of US companies and others around the world.
During decades of public service in five US administrations, Ambassador Eizenstat has held a number of key senior positions, including chief White House domestic policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981); U.S. Ambassador to the European Union; Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade; Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs; and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration (1993-2001). He also served as a member of the White House staff for President Johnson (1967-1968).
Ambassador Eizenstat has received nine honorary doctorate degrees from universities and academic institutions. He has been awarded high civilian awards from the governments of France (Legion of Honor), Germany, Austria, Israel, and Belgium, as well as from Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers. In 2007, he was named "The Leading Lawyer in International Trade" in Washington, DC by Legal Times. His articles appear in The New York Times, The Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy magazine, Foreign Affairs magazine, The Hill and Politico on a variety of international and domestic topics. Ambassador Eizenstat grew up and was educated in the public schools of Atlanta. He is a Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where he now has a chair in his name, The Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat Chair of Modern Jewish History) and of Harvard Law School. He was an Adjunct Lecturer at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government from 1982-1991. He and his late wife, Frances Eizenstat, have two sons and eight grandchildren.