Forum for Questioning Minds
The Forum for Questioning Minds is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational organization dedicated to providing a forum for less heard voices of interest to Utahns.  We meet in the fourth floor conference room of the Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 East 400 South, from 1:45 PM to 4:00 PM on the second and fourth Sundays of each month from September through May, except major holidays.

The links below provide detailed descriptions of upcoming and previous programs.  Upcoming programs become better defined closer to the date of the program.  Please bookmark this page and check back to see the latest lineup.

 

Programs for the 2009/2010 Season

April 25, 2010
"TBA"
by Chilbli Mallat

April 11, 2010
"Salt Lake Film Center"
by Geralyn Dreyfous

March 28, 2010
"Feminist Theology"
by Marie Vandenbark

March 14, 2010
"Sweatshop Ethics: The Debate over Global Labor Standards"
by Gunseli Berik

Günseli Berik is professor of Economics at the University of Utah. Her research and teaching is in the areas of labor and economic development. She is coeditor of the journal Feminist Economics and is part of research communities that seek to transform economics and economic policy towards ones that promote equitable wellbeing. Her recent research is on trade, employment, and working conditions in developing countries with a focus on China and Bangladesh. She is also interested in the broader metrics of economic welfare that address the shortcomings of GDP and is currently involved in a project estimating the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Utah. She has coedited Social Justice and Gender Equality: Rethinking Development Strategies and Macroeconomic Policies (Routledge 2008); Gender, China and the WTO (Routledge 2009), also published in Chinese (Economic Science Press, Beijing 2009), and the Inequality, Development and Growth special issue of Feminist Economics (2009).

"Sweatshops in developing countries appear on and off in the US news media. Reporting is frequently accompanied by commentary that assures us that their existence is an inevitable, if painful, step in the development process of countries, one that the U.S. and other rich countries left behind. We are reminded that worrying about working conditions is a luxury poor countries can ill afford. Is leaving improvement of working conditions to the market forces the only option for developing country workers who work in sweatshop conditions? This presentation will examine working condition problems, the processes that generate them, and assess the potential and viable responses to these conditions, namely, the use of trade policy, the corporate codes of conduct, the ILO’s decent work agenda."

References and Resources:

International Trade and Labor Standards: A Proposal for a Linkage, by Christian Barry and Sanjay Reddy, Columbia University Press, 2008.
The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage, by Alexandra Harney, Penguin, 2009. 
Towards Full and Decent Employment, by Jose Antonio Ocampo and Jomo K.S. eds,  Zed Press, 2007. 
Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights: Codes of Conduct in the Global Economy, by Rhys Jenkins, Ruth Pearson and Gill Seyfang, eds., Earthscan 2002.
China Blue (videorecording), Bullfrog Films, 2005.


February 28, 2010
"History, Archeology, and One Event of the Walker War"
by Ronald Rood

Ron Rood is the Assistant State Archaeologist for the state of Utah. He has a BA in anthropology from Fort Lewis College and a MA in anthropology / archaeology from Wichita State University. In his job he manages the Human Remains Recovery Program for the Utah Division of state History. In addition, Rood works with avocational archaeological groups like the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society on preservation, research and public outreach projects throughout Utah.

The summer and fall of 1853 was a violent period in Utah Territory. The “Walker War” consisting of a series of guerrilla attacks by pioneers and Native Americans along the Wasatch Front and beyond had prompted many settlers to “fort-up”. On October 2nd, 1853 several Native American men and boys were killed in Nephi Utah at the hands of the militia. The events leading up to their death and descriptions of their death are known in the historic record. However, through an inadvertent discovery of a mass grave during the construction of a new house in Nephi, the dead now have a chance to speak and through archaeology, their story can be told.


January 24, 2010
"The Global Imperative for the Local Garden"
by Fred Montague

Fred Montague is currently Professor (Lecturer) of Biology at the University of Utah. He teaches courses in wildlife ecology, environmental science, the literature of ecology, global environmental issues, and ecological gardening. He earned his Ph.D. in wildlife ecology from Purdue University in 1975 and taught there until joining the faculty of the University of Utah's Biology Department in 1993.

He has since been selected as the outstanding academic adviser at the University (1999) and "Professor of the Year" in Biology in 2000 and 2002. His service-learning course, Global Environmental Issues, enlists the work of students in ecological restoration and community garden projects in the Salt Lake Valley and was selected as the "Service-Learning Course of the Year (2004). In that same year, he was awarded the "Students' Choice Award" for instruction in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Utah. He is the recipient of the 2008 "Distinguished Teaching Award" at the University of Utah.

He is also a wildlife illustrator, the author of numerous self-published books, and a "homesteader" in the sagebrush and boulders of eastern Summit County, Utah where he grows food in his garden and greenhouse, heats his house with nuclear fusion energy (solar), and prints woodcuts and books on a 1913 letterpress. His latest hand-lettered manuscript is entitled Gardening: An Ecological Approach.

“In today's world of population growth, global change, biodiversity loss, pollution, resource depletion, competition, and conflict—thoughtful citizens seek activities and actions that promote sustainability and justice. The immense worldwide issues seem overwhelming and intractable. However, in Fred Montague's thinking, several million local gardens would begin to address our most troubling modern problems of environmental quality, human health, wilderness preservation, and sustainability.

And the way we get the first million gardens is to begin with the one you plant this spring.

This presentation provides the global imperative and the ecological rationale for gardening to become one of the most effective environmental actions anyone undertakes and is based on the principles and concepts outlined in Fred Montague's new hand-lettered book—Gardening: An Ecological Approach (to human health, community health, and global health)."

www.mountainbearink.com is a link to Fred's website.  His book "Gardening, an Ecological Approach" is available for purchase there.

 

January 10, 2010
"Depolarizing Conflict within Iraq and Other Hard Places"
by Hiram E. Chodosh

THIS MEETING ONLY, MAIN-FLOOR AUDITORIUM.

Hiram E. Chodosh was appointed the new Dean of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah in July 2006. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Joseph C. Hostetler - Baker & Hostetler Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Dean Chodosh received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A. from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Dean Chodosh is considered one of the world’s leading experts in global justice reform, with a particular focus on the reform of judicial systems. He has recently began publishing the Law Across Borders book series with Aspen Publishing and has authored over 25 major articles or book chapters with leading journals and publishers, and over 30 reports on reform challenges and strategies in judicial systems throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In this presentation, Dean Chodosh will draw on a wide range of field experience with legal reform in the Middle East (e.g., Iraq) and Asia (e.g., India) to make critical observations about the underlying nature of different types of conflict in the world today. These range from daily conflicts over limited resources, e.g., water, energy and land to cross-border conflicts in an era of globalization, and even to high conflict resulting from sectarian violence. Dean Chodosh will assess our collective capacity for managing these conflicts and set forth the communication, negotiation, and legal strategies and principles (at local, national, and international levels) that hold the greatest promise for resolving them.

Suggested Reading:

Book - GLOBAL JUSTICE REFORM: A COMPARATIVE METHODOLOGY. (NYU Press, 2005).
Article - The 18th Camel: Mediating Mediation Reform in India, 9 GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 251 (2008) 
Article - Globalizing the U.S. Legal Curriculum: The Saja Paradigm, 37 U.C. DAVIS LAW REVIEW 843 (2004) 
Article - Local Mediation in Advance of Armed Conflict, 19 OHIO STATE JOURNAL ON DISPUTE RESOLUTION 213 (2003)
Short Essay - From Zero-Sum Conflicts to Federalism: Iraqis Offer the International Community a Way Forward, DAILY STAR (July 9, 2009) (also published in G8 MAGAZINE, August, 2009)
Short Essay - The Justice Capacity Gap, G8 MAGAZINE (July 2008) (with James Holbrook)

 

December 13, 2009
"Whose Land is your Land? Whose Land is my Land?"
by Dorothy Kocks

Writer and editor Dorothee Kocks is the author of Dream a Little: Land and Social Justice in Modern America. Her varied career includes teaching environmental history at the University of Utah, editing the Utah arts and outdoors magazine Wasatch Journal, and performing “Accordion Monologues” at the Utah Arts Festival. Currently, she is at work on a historical novel.

“In the 19th century, the U.S. parceled out its vast land holdings in hopes of guaranteeing an honorable subsistence living for all. Today, we are in the midst of heated debates about whether our remaining common lands should be preserved or developed to stimulate the economy. Join writer and historian Dorothee Kocks for a lively discussion on how this homestead tradition–arguably the first federal economic stimulus package–might give us courage today.”

Suggested Reading:

 

November 22, 2009
"Immigration Myths, Misconceptions, and Moving Forward"
by Karen McCreary, Executive Director of the ACLU of Utah and Mark Alvarez, Immigration Attorney

Karen McCreary’s professional legal experience includes over a dozen years as associate and senior associate general counsel for the University of Utah. She has also worked as general counsel for the Western Governors University, has been an associate attorney at a private law firm, and a judicial law clerk for Federal Court Judge David Winder. In addition to her legal career, McCreary has been involved in a variety of service activities, including international relief work in Africa and India, migrant worker education and advocacy in Alabama, and instruction and counseling for at-risk youth. Among other volunteer positions she has held, she is a past-president and current board member of the Salt Lake City chapter of Amigos de las Americas, an elder and deacon at the Wasatch Presbyterian Church, and a trustee of Prescott College in Arizona. McCreary, who grew up in Colorado, received an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, a master of arts from the University of Denver Graduate School of International Studies, and a law degree from the University of Utah. She has called Utah home for over twenty-five years.

Mark C. Alvarez has degrees in law and economics. He has practiced immigration law in Maryland and Utah. In 2003, the Utah State Bar named Mark the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. Mark has written articles in English and Spanish for publications including The Selective Echo, The Salt Lake Tribune, El Mundo Hispano and La Prensa Times. In 2005, Mark received a Telly Award as a co-writer of El Sueńo Americano, a 50-minute Spanish-language film dealing with what new Americans should know about immigration and the police. From February 2004 through December 2006, Mark worked as Administrator of Minority Affairs for Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. Mark lived in Mexico City from June 2007 to April 2009.

Karen and Mark will be discussing many aspects of Utah’s immigration debate, and pulling apart some of the common myths and misconceptions that arise within that debate. Karen will be discussing, in particular, some of the serious civil liberties implications of ill-conceived anti-immigration policies and legislation (such as potential invasions of privacy for citizens), as well as the legal precedents that establish constitutional rights for non-citizens. Mark will discuss how some of the actions we take as communities to curb or punish illegal immigration can actually negatively impact public safety and economic development, rather than improve our communities. Karen and Mark will also touch upon the prospects for future federal comprehensive immigration reform, the impacts of Utah’s omnibus anti-immigration law SB81, and where Utah fits into the national landscape of anti-immigration efforts.

The Pew Hispanic report on attitudes toward learning English can be found at http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/20.pdf  The idea that immigrant parents do not want their children to learn English is deceptive and false.  The fact sheet provides excellent evidence for that..

A summary of Mark's comments at this event is here.

 

November 8, 2009
"The American Family: Continuities, Transformations, and Variations"
by Mark Rubinfeld

Mark Rubinfeld is a professor of sociology at Westminster College. His advanced degrees include a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from the University of Massachusetts and an M.S.W. from the University of Connecticut. In addition to serving as chair of the sociology and anthropology program at Westminster College since 2003, Mark is also the author of Bound to Bond: Gender, Genre, and the Hollywood Romantic Comedy and the forthcoming American Pop: Exploring the Sociology of Popular Culture.

“This presentation explores the modern American family—examining the traditions, roles, functions, representations, changes, and controversies surrounding the social institution of the family. Among other things, the presentation will touch on: a) the family from an historical and social perspective; b) the gender roles and relationships within families; c) the class, ethnic, racial, and lifestyle variations between families, and d) the effects of single parenting, cohabitation, divorce, and remarriage on family members.”

Suggested Reading:

Cherlin, Andrew J. Public and Private Families: An Introduction. Fifth Edition. 2008. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Coontz, Stephanie. "What’s Love Got to Do With It?" 
Coontz, Stephanie. “Where are the Good Old Days?”
Deutsch, Francine. “Equality Works.”
Edin, Kathryn. “Few Good Men: Why Poor Mothers Stay Single.”
Galston, William A. “Divorce American Style.”
Gross, Jane. “Our Parents, Ourselves.”
Gross, Jane. “What I Wish I’d Done Differently.”
Gross, Jane. “How Many of You Expect to Die.”
Hays, Sharon. “The Mommy Wars: Ambivalence, Ideological Work, and the Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood.”
Meezen, William and Jonathan Rauch. "Gay Marriage: Same-Sex Parenting, and American Children"
Pipher, Mary. “Then and Now.”
Popenoe, David. “A World without Fathers.”
Rodgers, Sussner and Charles Rodgers. “Business and the Facts of Family Life.”
Schwartz, Pepper and Virginia Rutter. “Teenage Sexuality.”
Silverstein, Louise B. and Carl F. Auerbach. “Deconstructing the Essential Father.”
Skolnick, Arlene. “The Life Course Revolution.”
Talbot, Margaret. “Love American Style.”
Wilkerson, Isabel. “Angela Whitiker’s Climb.”

 

October  25, 2009
"The Anatomy of an Apology"
by Jay Jacobson, M.D., M.A.C.P.

This program is provided by the Utah Humanities Council's Public Square

Dr. Jay Jacobson is Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and Retired Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities at LDS Hospital and the University Of Utah School Of Medicine. Trained in internal medicine and epidemiology, Dr. Jacobson eventually extended his interests to include the emerging discipline of medical ethics. He spent a year at the University of Chicago's Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. He returned to Utah and established a new Division of Medical Ethics with colleagues from the University of Utah College of Law, College of Humanities, and the School of Medicine. He has served on the American Medical Association's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs and the American College of Physicians Ethics and Human Rights Committee. He has participated in local hospital Ethics Committees and chaired the School of Medicine's Institutional Review Board, which safeguards the rights and welfare of human subjects. Dr. Jacobson has authored or coauthored peer reviewed articles, invited articles, book chapters, and the recently published book, The Patient as Victim and Vector: Ethics and Infectious Diseases.

“We will encounter a patient and family who have experienced a series of medical complications as a consequence of medical errors. Like others who have been hurt or offended, their pain and anger are magnified by the lack of an apology. We will discuss the important but often difficult art of apologizing. Like all of us, doctors make mistakes and must learn how to apologize for them. Because I am a doctor and because I teach young physicians I’ve tried to learn what is involved in an effective apology and discovered the profound effects it can have, both for the offended and the offender.This presentation and discussion will focus on the elements of an apology and the potential that apologies have to liberate and heal us.”

        An outline of Dr. Jacobson's talk is located here.

Suggested Reading:

 

October  11, 2009
"Words, Meanings and Feelings"
by Hande Torgul of the Inclusion Center

Hande Togrul has been the Adult Program Director at the Inclusion Center for Community and Justice since July 2009. She recently received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Utah where she taught multidisciplinary classes such as feminist economics, gender and development, poverty and inequality, and urban economics from 2004-2009. During 1999-2004, Hande worked for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, headquarters in NYC) as a research fellow and program officer. She was a professional team handball player in her native country Turkey from her teens until she moved to the USA in 1992. When not working, she plays team sports and enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities. She finds energy, peace, and justice in the outdoors. The outdoors is one of the reasons why she settled in Salt Lake City. Hande is married to Colin Thacker, a scientist and musician who keeps her grounded. They share their house with three cats.

“Current conversations on multiculturalism are often seen as little more than an attempt at Political Correctness or a quick fix to addressing cultural differences. Because of this, a deeper message that pertains to all of us is often missed. The goal is not to learn the buzz words of the day, or for one group to teach another. It is about building Human Relations—process not a result. Engagement that requires self reflection coupled with an authentic desire to understand others and relate to them as human beings in the complex content of social, economic, and political reality.”

“Inclusion can materialize when allowing an individual to preserve their personal identity while being part of a larger whole—the community. We often appear to be vastly different in our opinions or traditions, or on two opposite “sides.” In the end however, we share our common humanity, and find we can work together to build respectful and safe communities, thus remaining on the same side. Inclusion is acknowledging and honoring our individuality, while moving towards unity. Due to the lack of opportunities for people to meaningfully interact with individuals from diverse backgrounds, the Inclusion Center for Community and Justice (ICCJ) begins by bringing ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse groups together and provide a healthy environment to engage in frank dialogue, learn new perspectives, and develop skills that promote inclusion. With eighty years of experience, ICCJ assesses the needs of each client and create tailored solution. The ICCJ assists individuals with crucial leadership concepts such as cultural competency, understanding oppression, prejudice reduction, conflict resolution and strategic planning.”

THIS MEETING IS IN THE FOURTH FLOOR MEETING ROOM

Suggested Reading:

  • Dewey, John (1929), The Quest for Certainty, New York: Capricon Books.

  • Harding, Sandra (1986), The Science Question in Feminism, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

  • Kuhn, Thomas, S. (1962), The Structure of Scientific Revolution, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

  • http://www.inclusioncenter.org

 

September  27, 2009
"The Modern Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Movement"
by Cathy Martinez of the U of U GLBT Resource Center

Cathy Martinez, MSW, LCSW and currently Director of the LGBT Resource Center has spent over ten years in the field of social work. She received both her B.S. and M.S.W. from the University of Utah. In addition to her position at the LGBT Resource Center she has a limited private practice where she specializes in LGBTQ issues. When not at work, she enjoys traveling with her partner and their son, biking, hiking, running and home improvement projects.

“Everyone…regardless of their color, ethnicity, religion, SES, education, or sexual orientation…deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. During my presentation, I will go over the terminology currently used by and for the LGBT community, describe the modern LGBT movement and report on the status of the LGBT community in Salt Lake City.”

September  13, 2009
"The International Crisis: The Pivotal Dimension of the Crisis"
by Korkut Ertuk

Korkut Erturk is a professor of economics at the University of Utah where he was tenured in 1999 and acted as department chair from 2002 to 2008.  He holds a Bachelor Degree from New York University and a PhD from the New School for Social Research, both in economics.  He has been a consultant to various UN agencies over the years and the author of numerous articles in academic journals.

“While reviving banks and stimulus spending are both important, neither addresses directly the main source of deflation, which is that the global trade imbalances are no longer being recycled effectively.  The basic problem is not the trade imbalances per se, but the unsustainable way financial deregulation and neoliberal global order absorbed and recycled them.  The speculative boom with all its sins has helped the US recycle these global trade imbalances for as long as that could last, but that can no longer be revived.  Thus, it would be a mistake to try to go back to business as usual by shoring up the US capacity to borrow and continue to finance overspending by substituting the sovereign credit of the US government for private credit that is now in shambles.  What needs to be done instead is to revive the recycling of global imbalances on sound footing, by using development finance rather than consumption booms as the target of credit expansion.”

This event will take place in the main auditorium.

Speaker Recommended References & Resources:

 


Previous Programs

May  17, 2009
"Chaos: How Mathematicians Caused the Global Economic Meltdown"
by Richard Wellman, PhD

April  26, 2009
"Memory, Story, Self"
by Monisha Pasupathi, PhD

March 22, 2009
"New Directions in Residential Design"
by Anne G. Mooney

March 8, 2009
"The Second Great Depression? A Historical Perspective"
by John Watkins

February 22, 2009
"The Past, Present and Future of the Middle East"
by J. Bonner Ritchie

February 8, 2009
"Recycling in Utah"
by Insa Riepen, Executive Director, Recycle Utah

January 25, 2009
"Religion, Culture, and Nature"
by Rt. Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish, Tenth Bishop of Utah

January 11, 2009
"Wallace Stegner at 100: A Communtiy Conversation"
by Stephen Trimble

November 23, 2008
"Poverty in Utah"
by Heather Tritten

November 9, 2008
"Population, Resources and the Environment - The Sustainability Imperative"
by Fred Montague, Ph.D.

October 26, 2008
"Utah’s Demographic Transformation - Implications for Education and Workforce"
by Pamela S. Perlich, Ph.D.

October 12, 2008
"The Blessings of Music for the Dying"
by Ann Dowdy, CM, Th

September 28, 2008
"Listening to Family Health Stories: the First Step to Personalized Medicine"
by Vickie Venne, MS

September 14, 2008
"Human Rights Atrocities: Individual Responsibility, Solutions, and Means"
by Rocky Anderson

April 13, 2008
"Great Salt Lake and Mars"
by Bonnie Baxter

April 27, 2008
"Fire Issues in Utah and the West"
by Jeremy Bailey

March 9, 2008
"Thinking about the Unthinkable & Talking about the Tough Stuff: Making Sense of Nuclear Weapons & Other Big Issues That Confront Us"
by George Cheney with Lou Borgenicht, Mary Dickson, Danielle Endres and Annette Rose

February 24, 2008
"Conversation on Immigration"
by Tony Yapias

February 10, 2008
"Harm to Home in 2007:  Resettlement of Refugees in Utah by the International Rescue Committee"
by Patrick Poulin

January 27, 2008
"Health Reform in Utah: Where Are We Headed and Are We on the Right Road"
by Judi Hilman and Elizabeth Garbe

January 13, 2008
"Forgotten Victims of Domestic Violence: Male and Same-Sex Victims"
by Tracy Hernandez

December 9, 2007
"Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment"
by Dr. Brian Moench

November 18, 2007
"Climate Change and Utah"
by Jim Davis

October 28, 2007
"Beyond Capitalism - A Vision to Guide and Inspire Us Now"
by Michael Albert

October 14, 2007
"Does God Exist? A Debate"
by Mark Hausam and David Keller with Deen Chatterjee as moderator

September 23, 2007
"A More Genuine Democracy - Teaching Political Literacy to Rejuvenate America"
by Jeffrey Nielsen

September 9, 2007
"Transportation Planning & Stronger Communities"
by Keith Bartholomew, University of Utah College of Architecture & Planning

 

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