What They Said - at Sarah Lawrence last semester

November 2, 2006 "The Political Economy of Earth, Irritated: Ruminations on the Lethal Economics of Climate Change," part of the Colloquium on Climate Change sponsored by the Science and Mathematics program

All of our institutions are based in part on weather. A problem we have at the global level is that most of the people on this planet are poor. Economic poverty is the lack of capital to achieve certain functions, an inability to protect yourself from the weather-storms, drought, heat, and disease. Climate change presents the following problem for these folks: They will be affected even though the vast majority did not experience any benefits from the greenhouse gases that killed them, or made them sick, or made them poor.

Dr. Andrews is a professor of economics at CUNY, senior fellow for economic research in Washington D.C., and author of two books, The Political Economy of Hope and Fear and The Intelligent Radical's Guide to Economic Policy.

November 3, 2006 "Global Compassion in Action," sponsored by the Child Development Institute

It takes time to build character that isn't primarily concerned with our needs and wants. Educating compassion at the grassroots level, to me, means we have to grab the kids and teach them hands-on so that when they think about helping, they'll know firsthand that they can do something other than throw up their hands at the idea of not being able to make a difference.

Kip Longinotti-Buitoni is the president and co-founder of Global Compassion in Action, a nonprofit organization that promotes access to quality health care and increases public awareness of health needs in global communities.

November 8, 2006 Nonfiction craft talk, part of the Graduate Writing Program Reading Series

The process of writing is organic. The work has demands it asks of you; some will take you back, some will push you forward. You have to be able to follow the demands of the writing work rather than force your will on it. The middle of the long work can seem like a swamp, because you've done so much you can't abandon it, but you can't see the end either. The question in writing is always what to leave in and what to leave out, but nothing becomes a distraction if the writer inserts it well.

Jane Brox is a nonfiction writer and essayist whose second book, Five Thousand Days Like This One, was a 1999 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in nonfiction. Her first book, Here and Nowhere Else, won the 1996 L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award.

January 23, 2007 "Civil Rights in Multiracial America: Mark One or More," part of the Complexities of Race in Contemporary American Society lecture series sponsored by the Donald C. Samuel Fund for Economics and Politics

There are about 30 multiracial organizations in the United States. When I first started my research I decided I was going to travel to the most politically oriented ones and capture membership variation between different cities and states. I thought I'd find more Asians, Hispanics, and multiracial people, but no matter where I went across the country, all the people in these groups were black and white couples. I asked them why, and they said, "Well, we're the most ostracized." The organizations started out as support groups and then expanded into politics because they were concerned about school forms. "We want to be able to mark more than one race, but the school board said, 'Sorry.'" The organizations realized they had to go to Washington to make a change, even on local school forms.

Kim Williams is associate professor of public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and author of Mark One or More: Civil Rights in Multiracial America.