Amanda Cooley

Jodi Koberinski, a pioneer in food sovereignty in Canada, has reimagined agriculture and advocated for more equitable food systems. Colby's 2015 Oak Human Rights Fellow and a global leader in efforts to create sustainable, safe, and re food systems, Koberinski will give her formal address to the community as part of her Oak fellowship.

Contemporary American politics are highly polarized. Some blame social issues as the driver of polarization, while others point to economic inequality and class divisions. Building on his recent book, Mark Brewer, professor and interim department chair of political science at the University of Maine, will argue that disagreement over a much more fundamental matter lies at […]

J. Cherie Strachan, professor of political science and public administration at Central Michigan University, and Michael Wolf, associate professor of political science at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, will discuss how American politics has become increasingly polarized. Without dramatic change, rude politics is difficult to disrupt—and likely to characterize American politics for the foreseeable future.

The first of the Goldfarb Center’s Election Initiative Event series welcomes Erika Franklin Fowler, assistant professor and director of the Wesleyan Media Project, Wesleyan University. Outside-group advertising in elections skyrocketed after a series of campaign finance decisions by the Supreme Court, culminating in the seminal Citizens United case. What effect does this spending have on the electorate? This […]

Laura Maloney ’12, press secretary for U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn), began her career as deputy finance director for Elizabeth Esty for Congress (D-Conn), where she helped with fundraising of more than $2.7 million in the fourth most expensive congressional race in the country. She stayed on with Esty, serving first as a staff assistant, […]

The Goldfarb Center’s Education Reform Policy anchor event, with Angela Hardy, director of coaching at Great Schools Partnership. Hardy supports the coordination of the League of Innovative Schools and codirects the NextGen Personalized Learning initiative. She coaches in Maine and supports a team of senior associates as they work with schools and districts across the region and […]

Ari Berman, contributing writer, The Nation magazine, and investigative journalism fellow at The Nation Institute, charts both the transformation of American democracy under the Voting Rights Amendment and the counterrevolution that has sought to limit voting rights. The act enfranchised millions of Americans and is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. And yet, […]

Former U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell will recount some of his most compelling and enlightening stories from his recently released book, The Negotiator, including his instrumental work on clean air and water legislation, the Iran-Contra hearings, and healthcare reform, as well as life after the Senate, from leading the successful Northern Ireland peace process to […]

One of the most significant transformations in American society in recent decades is the growing ranks of women in the law and on the bench. In 1970, women made up less than five percent of the nation’s lawyers, a figure that has since jumped to 34 percent. Half of law school students today are women, […]

The Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College has selected Chief Justice of California Tani Cantil-Sakauye as the recipient of the 2016 Morton A. Brody Distinguished Judicial Service Award. The ceremony and award was established to honor Morton A. Brody, a former Maine U.S. District Court judge and friend of the […]

Seven years after his arrival in the U.S. Senate, George Mitchell came to national prominence with his performance in the 1987 televised congressional hearings that exceeded Watergate in viewership. By dramatically facing Lt. Col. Oliver North and describing anew the values of American patriotism, Mitchell wrote a new chapter in his growing legacy. Author Douglas […]

The elections of 2016 are being held during a period of deep voter unrest and general dissatisfaction with the presidential candidates, the political parties, and politics in general. The larger political environment undoubtedly will influence the tone and outcomes of some congressional elections. However, congressional campaigns have their own dynamics and idiosyncrasies. Paul Herrnson, professor […]

Join panelists E.J. Dionne, columnist for the Washington Post and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Eliana Johnson, Washington editor for National Review Magazine, and David Shribman, editor-in-chief for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for a discussion on the 2016 election, which in many ways has shattered the mold. This panel of experts will explore a host of topics: candidate strategy, voter attitudes […]

In conjunction with the Lovejoy Convocation program, three award-winning war photographers will display and discuss some of their most compelling work in the atrium of the Diamond Building. See the work of Nina Berman, documentary photographer, author, and educator; Andrea Bruce, documentary photographer and co-owner and member of NOOR Photo Agency; and Carol Guzy, American news photographer with […]

Alissa Rubin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times, will receive Colby College's Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for courageous journalism and will deliver the 2016 Lovejoy Convocation address at the ceremony. Lovejoy, Colby's valedictorian in 1826, became a crusading abolitionist editor and was murdered in 1837 for his anti-slavery editorials. He was […]

A poetry reading celebrating the intersection between the personal and the political in English and Spanish. Guatemala’s Regina José Galindo and Colby’s own Adrian Blevins will read from recent work. Regina José Galindo is a performance artist and poet from Guatemala. She is the author of two books of poems including Trentacuentos (2008) and most recently […]

How did Donald Trump win over blue-collar voters? Why didn’t they stick with the Democrats? Thomas Frank will share his take on what led to the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Frank is a best-selling author, political analyst, historian, journalist, and columnist for Harper’s Magazine. He has written several books, most notably What’s the […]

Camden-based digital entrepreneur and founder of Foodlack Arif Shaikh spent three months going to every local food market he could to find out how farmers connect with buyers. He learned that farmers spend a lot of time they don’t have literally knocking on doors, making endless phone calls, or sending mass emails. By creating Foodlack, Shaikh […]

Over the last couple of years, the Black Lives Matter movement has turned the nation’s attention to the too-often troubled relationship between black communities and the police. How do these encounters go so badly, so quickly? What role does race, gender, or bias play in these encounters? In this talk, Nikki Jones, associate professor of […]

The role of the media in the 2016 election was exceptional and will be studied for decades. Did the press underestimate Donald Trump’s support, or did it help fuel his ascent? The role of the press during the early stages of the Trump Administration has also become a hot topic. How will the press respond […]

In light of the turbulent 2016 presidential elections, as well as a broad array of other on-going transformations, many ponder the soundness of what Alexander Hamilton dubbed our “grand experiment.” Are citizen’s sovereign or largely powerless? Can future generations redeem a government of, by, and for the people? The 2017 William R. and Linda K. […]

In January 2013, Angus King was sworn in as Maine’s first Independent United States Senator, filling the same seat once held by storied Maine leaders Edmund Muskie, George Mitchell, and Olympia Snowe. Senator King is a member of the Armed Services Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the […]

The role of the media in the 2016 election was exceptional and will be studied for decades. Did the press underestimate Donald Trump’s support, or did it help fuel his ascent? The role of the press during the early stages of the Trump Administration has also become a hot topic. How will the press respond […]

Sally Yates served in the Justice Department for more than 27 years, quickly rising through the ranks to become the first woman to run the U.S. Attorney’s office. In her career, she has prosecuted a notorious bomber of abortion clinics and called for jailing white-collar criminals. Earlier this year, she was dismissed as Acting U.S. […]

Alec MacGillis, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for ProPublica known for his deep reporting on social issues and public policy, will be honored with Colby College’s Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for courageous journalism. The award recognizes MacGillis for his incisive reporting and informed questioning on a wide range of pressing policy issues, including the surging opioid crisis, […]