The Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics has a full lineup of events this spring as it closes out its two-year “Science, Policy, and the Public” theme of inquiry.
Additional events will give participants the opportunity to delve into data privacy rights with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and discuss the need for economic democracy with an all-star panel.
All events take place online and are free.
“One silver lining to the pandemic is that the Wayne Morse Center is able to host via Zoom amazing public intellectuals, scientists, scholars, and advocates who might not otherwise be able to come out to Oregon,” said Wayne Morse Center co-director Rebecca Flynn. “We’ve also gotten feedback from alumni and other Wayne Morse Center fans in Portland, Bend and around the country who appreciate being able to join us virtually."
Click on the link to register for each webinar, or watch live on Facebook, where events will remain available to watch. To watch past events, check out the Wayne Morse Center’s YouTube channel.
Genetic Tests and Human Futures: A Panel Discussion
Thursday, April 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
The panel will explore questions associated with genetic tests, including when such tests are used and what information they can and cannot offer. Panelists include authors Alice Wexler and George Estreich, and Kathryn L. Murray, of the Center for Genetics and Maternal Fetal Medicine. Moderated by Judith Eisen, professor of biology and Wayne Morse Center distinguished scholar.The event is part of the Wayne Morse Center's 2019-21 theme of inquiry, “Science, Policy, and the Public” and part of the Lorwin Lectureship on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
A Democracy Worth Fighting For: A Conversation with Erica Smiley, Lisa Hubbard, and Margaret Hallock
Tuesday, April 13, noon-1:30 p.m.
In this conversation, longtime social and economic justice organizer Erica Smiley will explore how the pandemic has left millions of people behind, especially women and people of color, while wealth grows even more concentrated in the hands of the few. She will explain why more political and economic democracy is necessary to lessen poverty and racism. Smiley and respondents Margaret Hallock and Lisa Hubbard will discuss achieving worker power through organizing “whole people” in their communities. The event is part of the Wayne Morse Center's Margaret Hallock Program for Women's Rights and is funded by the Lorwin Lectureship on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Co-sponsored by the UO Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Labor Education and Research Center, and Center for the Study of Women in Society.
Fundamental Rights, Data Privacy, and the Power of Tech Companies, a conversation with Senator Ron Wyden
Friday, April 16, noon-1 p.m.
In this conversation, Wyden will address how the internet interacts with the freedoms guaranteed under the First and Fourth amendments (for example, law enforcement's use of personal location data to arrest U.S. Capitol insurrectionists), regulation of tech companies, issues surrounding data privacy, and the costs and benefits of reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The conversation will be moderated by Wayne Morse Law Fellow Shiwanni Johnson, founder and president of the UO Technology and Law Club.The event is part of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics' Public Affairs Speaker Series and is co-sponsored by the UO School of Law, UO Technology and Law Club, Information Security Systems Associations, Technology Association of Oregon, UO Cybersecurity Club, and Lewis & Clark Law School Data Privacy Group.
The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome, with Alondra Nelson
Thursday, April 29, 1-2:30 p.m.
Alondra Nelson is deputy director for science and society in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She is also president of the Social Science Research Council and the Harold F. Linder Chair and Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. She was previously a professor of sociology at Columbia University, where she served as the inaugural dean of social science.The event is sponsored by the Wayne Morse Center’s “Science, Policy and the Public” theme of inquiry and co-sponsored by UO Black studies and minor program. It is part of the African American Workshop and Lecture Series and the Lorwin Lectureship on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.