Bob Graham Center for Public Service

In recent years, bitter partisan disputes erupted over health care reform. Democrats and Republicans continue to fiercely contest issues such as prescription drug coverage and how to finance Medicare to absorb the baby boomers. On Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora, Jonathan Oberlander, professor and chair of Social Medicine and professor of …

Dan Barker is co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and co-host of Freethought Radio. After 19 years as an evangelical minister, Dan "saw the light" and announced his atheism in 1984. His first public appearance as an atheist was on Oprah Winfrey's "AM Chicago." Since that time he has traveled extensively, defending atheism. On …

The forum was held Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Martin Levin Advocacy Center in the University of Florida Levin College of Law (2500 SW 2nd Avenue, across from the President's House). WUFT News Anchor Marie Edinger and editorial page editor Nathan Crabbe will moderated the debate. All candidates who officially qualified were extended an invitation to participate …

Dov Waxman, a professor of political science, international affairs and Israel studies at Northeastern University, discussed his book “Trouble in The Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel” on Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora as part of the annual Shorstein Lecture Series. During his public address, Waxman presented the central thesis of his book: …

Dr. Michael Jeffries, associate professor of American Studies at Wellesley College, spoke about his latest book, Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America. Dr. Jeffries approaches Obama's election and administration as common cultural ground for thinking about race. He uncovers contemporary stereotypes and anxieties by examining historically rooted conceptions of race and …

Dr. Fredrick Harris, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center on African American Politics and Society at Columbia University, spoke about his latest book,The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Fall of Black Politics. In the book, Harris puts Obama's career in the context of decades of black activism, showing …

The "school-to-prison pipeline" refers to policies and practices that push school children, especially at-risk children, out of classrooms and into the criminal justice system.  This pipeline reflects the prioritization of incarceration over education. On March 10 at 6 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora, ABA President Paulette Brown explored how inadequate resources, ineffective discipline policies …

Celebrating 100 years of excellence in journalism and the arts, the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida hosted Paul Tash, chairman and CEO of the Times Publishing Company, on March 14 at 6 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora as part of the Pulitzer Prize Centennial Celebration. The Tampa Bay Times is …

Special guest Rev. Gary Mason of Belfast, Ireland, spoke at the Bob Graham Center on Tuesday, March 29, at 6 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora. Rev. Mason shared his experiences with leading the reconciliation process with those involved in sectarian conflict. A Methodist minister, Mason directs a conflict transformation organization based in Belfast called "Rethinking …

Dr. Benjamin Justice, an associate professor and historian of education at Rutgers University, presented his talk The Hidden Curriculum of Justice: How the American Criminal Justice System Educates, and Miseducates Citizenson Thursday, March 31, at 6 p.m. in Norman Hall's auditorium. For an increasing number of Americans, the criminal justice system plays a powerful and pervasive …