Civility: And Justice for Whom?
Schedule of Events: 2009-2010
Rescuing our Bankrupt Health Care System:
Looking for answers around the world
Friday, November 13
Student Life Center's Board of Trust Meeting Room
11 AM - Lecture - T.R. Reid
Did you know that in 2007 it was estimated that nearly 60% of all bankruptcies in America were a result of medical bills? In contrast, The United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland did not report a single bankruptcy connected to medical care costs.
T.R. Reid acknowledges this statistic and many others when investigating foreign health care systems for an answer to American Health Care Reform. In his most resent book, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care, Reid uncovers the popularized myth that universal coverage must be achieved through “socialized medicine”. Reid looks to fellow affluent, free market democracies that successfully (according to public surveys) provide health care coverage to all. Moreover, Reid discovers during his research that other countries consider health care to be an essential human right. These and many other issues will be discussed during his upcoming talk.
T.R. Reid is a reporter for the Washington Post, a frequent contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, host of the popular documentary Sick Around the World, and a bestselling author. After attending Princeton University, Reid served as a naval officer before becoming a journalist and correspondent.
Sick Around the World.
Sick Around the World: "A Just Health Care System"
Wednesday, November 11
Sarratt Cinema
5:30-7:30pm
5:30-6:30pm there will be a viewing of the Frontline documentary Sick Around the World. This film, hosted by T.R. Reid, chronicles four countries who have adopted universal health care coverage and unveils how they successfully accomplish the seemingly impossible.
6:30-7:30pm Panelists Ellen Clayton, Sten Vermund, Rep. Jim Cooper, and Michael Burcaham will take on the issue of Justice in the Health Care debate. Is Health Care a human right? How should the legislative process mediate ethics surrounding this issue? (Moderator: Scott Hagen)
Civility in Decline?
The View from the American College Campus
Thursday, September 24
Sarratt Cinema, 6 PM
Lecture - Dr. Pier Forni
Dr. P.M. Forni, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, co-founded the Johns Hopkins Civility Project in 1997. An aggregation of academic and community outreach activities, the JHCP aimed at assessing the significance of civility, manners and politeness in contemporary society. The JHCP has been reconstituted as The Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins, which Dr. Forni now directs.
The traditional rules of manners, civility and politeness are a time-proven, very effective code of relational skills. A cornerstone Dr. Forni's talks is that being civil is both the decent thing to do and the expedient one. Civility and good manners are areas of human behavior where altruism and self-interest merge. Social skills are a precious asset: They allow us to enjoy harmonious social interactions as they strengthen social bonds. Strong social bonds are necessary for the building and maintenance of social support and also crucial to success at work. Building upon the notion that life is an experience in relating and connecting, my talks aim at improving the quality of both personal and professional lives.
Free and Open to the Public.
VUCast article
Strong, Smart and Nice
Friday, September 25
Branscomb Rec. Room, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Workshop - Dr. Pier Forni
lunch provided
Restricted to Vanderbilt students, faculty & staff
Dr. Forni will present in a more interactive way the fundamental information conveyed in his lecture. However, attendance at his lecture is not required for the workshop.
This workshop will be geared toward the dynamics of workplace and campus interaction. Dr. Forni believes that quality of service depends on the quality of life of those providing the service, and that a civil workplace improves the quality of life of its workers. Crucial questions are: How do you respond to incivility in the workplace? How do you minimize the opportunities for incivility to happen in the first place? Whan can organizations do? Being civil is a necessary part of the cognitive and emotional kit of today's successful professional. Relational competence is of the essence for leaders in the age of management by consensus and in our increasingly diverse workplace.
Dr. Forni sees our daily existence as defined by the encounter of Self and Other. The presence of others around us shapes our identities, gives us meaning and purpose, and determines—for better or worse--the quality of our lives. If life is indeed relational, it follows logically that to thrive we need relational skills. What these skills are, what they can do for you, and how to put them to use is all the intent of this workshop.
More events coming soon for this year's Project Dialogue!
Office of the Dean of Students | Vanderbilt University
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