Sunday Forum
Educate. Elucidate. Excite.
Sunday Morning Forums
Every Sunday morning, we hold our Sunday Forum, a lecture series that showcases provocative – sometimes controversial – speakers discussing topical issues of the day: the arts, politics, the environment, health issues, education and more. The Forum begins at 9:45 a.m. and lasts about one hour. Speakers give a thirty minute presentation followed by questions and brief comments from the audience.
Join us: Sundays at 9:45 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. in Max Otto Hall on our second floor. Coffee is served. Childcare is available.
Forums are scheduled from September through May with a short break during the holidays.
Forums are currently on hiatus and will return on January 15.
Winter-Spring 2012 Forum Schedule (pdf)
January 15
CAN YOU DIG IT? MILWAUKEE IS A LEADER IN URBAN AGRICULTURE
Bruce Wiggins
Urban Agriculture is growing all across the U.S., and Mil-waukee is among the leaders – for multiple reasons. Any serious plan to address climate change and sustainability must reform our food system. Bruce is Executive Director of Milwaukee Urban Gardens.
Moderator: Mark Gill
January 22
THE U.S. ROLE IN GLOBAL WARNING
Benjamin Campbell, Professor of Anthropology, UWM
Global warning? Ben Campbell believes we are in imminent danger of irreversible environmental degradation and social collapse. The earth is a single ecosystems, yet the United States thus far has been unwilling to make the needed sacrifices for a world-wide solution.
Moderator: Christian Becker
January 29
JUSTICE FOR MILWAUKEE’S CHILDREN: WHAT MUST WE DO?
Bob Peterson, President, Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association
Bob will talk about how educators, parents, and community members must work to ensure justice for Milwaukee’s children. He will explain the campaign to “Reimagine and Reinvent” the Milwaukee teachers’ union. Peterson, a 30-year veteran teacher, co-founder of the magazine Rethinking Schools and the innovative two-way bilingual public school, La Escuela Fratney, was elected President of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association in June of 2011.
Moderator: Thallis Drake
February 5
WISCONSIN’S NEW VOTER ID LAW
Mary Kae Nelson and Carolyn Castore
The League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County is a grassroots, nonpartisan, political, multi-issue organization. Mary Kae Nelson, President of League of Women Voters, Milwaukee; and Carolyn Castore, legislative committee member, will share information about Wisconsin’s new Voter ID law.
Moderators: Janet Nortrom & Sharon Munson
February 12
WILL MILWAUKEE BECOME THE NEXT HOLLYWOOD?
Steve Boettcher
Boettcher is the Milwaukee area co-producer of the PBS series “Pioneers of Television,” which recently received its second Emmy nomination. He will speak about how he and partner Mike Trinklein began their career 20 years ago. Today, by employing 120 actors, musicians, editors, designers, sound and craft service people, they are able to create a mini Hollywood studio right here in Milwaukee and can compete on a national stage.
Moderator: Chris Schmidt
February 19
MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
Kevin Kane and/or Robert Kraig from Citizen Action of Wisconsin
The national health reform law, the Affordable Care Act, has been law for over a year. Proposed changes to Medicare and actual changes to BadgerCare/Medicaid make it hard to know where we stand on keeping our citizens healthy. Learn what it means for you as a health consumer and citizen. Learn about how pre-existing condition discrimination will be eliminated and how you will have access to the same insurance as your congressperson.
Moderator: Ruthe Ann Bowen
February 26
UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER — HELPING EVERY GENERATION REALIZE THEIR POTENTIAL
Pascual Rodriguez, Principal, Bruce Guadalupe Community School
The United Community Center is a comprehensive social service agency serving the families of Milwaukee’s south side. Programs range from education to elder programs, meeting the needs of three year olds to 93 year olds and everyone in between. Mr. Rodriguez will speak about the roots of the UCC in the community, the services provided to the entire family, and the school philosophy that helps
make Bruce Guadalupe a unique model of urban success.
Moderator: Jo Ann Bachar
March 4
SUCCESSFULLY EDUCATING AT-RISK CHILDREN
Dr. Dan Grego
Dr. Grego is the executive director of the TransCenter for Youth. The TransCenter operates three high schools in Milwaukee for students that have been identified as being at-risk for not graduating from high school. He will reveal to us the teaching methods used to motivate his students to successfully complete their high school education, with a surprising number moving on to college.
Moderator: Jerry Fredrickson
March 11
IF POLITICS ISN'T A CIRCUS, WHY ALL THE CLOWNS?
Rick Horowitz
Rick Horowitz, the Emmy-winning commentator for Milwaukee Public TV's “InterCHANGE,” offers his entertaining take on the latest political battles in Washington and Wisconsin. He may even try to answer “InterCHANGE” viewers’ age-old question, “What's with that chubby guy way over on the right?”
Moderator: Linda Presto
March 18
YRUU MISSION TRIPS: BUILDINGS FROM BAGELS
First Church YRUU Youth Group Members
You’ve been eating bagels for months, now come join us and hear how your fund-raising donations have helped the YRUU youth attend past, present and future YRUU Mission trips… straight from the YRUU youth!
Moderator: Kris Hubatch
March 25
FRIENDSHIP FORCE OF GREATER MILWAUKEE
David Kalan
David Kalan is a recent Board Member of Friendship Force International, and founder and past President of Friendship Force of Greater Milwaukee. Join us to discover the “people-potential” for peace by personally experiencing multi-cultural friendships in places as diverse as Nepal, Morocco, Brazil or Japan. You can be a host or be an “ambassador” for a fascinating and enlightening week’s home stay through Friendship Force in over 60 countries!
Moderator: Mary Goeks
April 1
FIGHTING FOR THE PLANET: AN UPDATE ON CITIZEN ACTION AGAINST THE TAR SANDS PIPELINE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Madeleine Para, Citizens Climate Lobby
Climate activists took things to a new level in 2011 when 1252 protestors were arrested in front of the White House over two weeks to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The protests sparked 2 months of sustained pressure on the President until he delayed the pipeline. What’s happening now, and how do we stop these environmentally destructive fossil fuels?
Moderator: Terry Wiggins
April 8
Easter Sunday — NO Forum
April 15
MAKING A WILD PLACE IN MILWAUKEE’S URBAN MENOMONEE VALLEY
Nancy Aten ASLA, Landscapes of Place, LLC
Nancy will share some of the detective work in understanding the buried landscape of the Menomonee Valley, and how the framework for ecological restoration helped determine a possible future wild place in the city — with plan details that are incremental, adaptive, deal with some challenging conditions, and think 100 years out — and particularly focus on the questions of how to develop a restoration plan that enables deeply participatory restoration on such a scale and scope.
Moderator: Jo Ann Bachar
April 22
CHANGE ALERT!!! Jon Richards will NOT speak at the Forum on April 22 as previously announced; Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa will speak instead. “The Wisconsin Legislative Process: Beyond the Protests,”
JoCasta Zamarripa, 8th District Assemblyman
Described by many as a rising star in the Wisconsin Assembly, Rep. Zamarripa led the opposition to the Republican re-districting plan for her 8th Assembly District. She also worked against the implementation of the Wisconsin Voter ID law. Currently, she is the only female Latina representative in the Wisconsin legislature.
Moderator: Christian Becker
April 29
TRANSFORMING THE WAY STUDENTS EXPERIENCE LEARNING
James Rickabaugh
Mr. Rickabaugh is a former superintendent at Whitefish Bay Schools and is currently the Director of the Institute at CESA #1 (Cooperative Educational Service Agency). He will share with us his ideas, that some may consider radical, for transforming K-12 education as we now know it.
Moderator: Jerry Fredrickson
May 6 (originally scheduled for May 13)
COMMON GROUND AND THE IAF (INDUSTRIAL AREAS FOUNDATION)
Keisha Krumm
Keisha is the lead organizer of Common Ground of SE Wisconsin. Several members of First Church belong to Common Ground. She will present a video history of the IAF — President Obama used IAF-style organizing methods when he organized in Chicago — and reveal how using IAF methodology has led to the recent successful campaigns of Common Ground of SE Wisconsin.
Moderator: Jerry Fredrickson
May 13 (originally scheduled for May 6)
HOW BIG OF A PROBLEM IS COAL?
Emily Miota of the Sierra Club, Madison Office
A bluff spilled into Lake Michigan. And coal ash is reported to constitute the fill that many other parts of the city are built on. How much coal ash are we dealing with, and how toxic is it? What other impacts does coal have on our community? What action should we be taking to protect ourselves and the public’s health?
Moderator: Mark Mueller
