USM Public Affairs

Charles Colgan, professor of public policy and management in USM’s Muskie School of Public Service, gives his 2008 economic forecast for Maine. A former state economist, Colgan serves as a research fellow at the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and chairs the Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, which prepares an economic outlook report for state budget preparation. Colgan shares his predictions for 2008, based on his analysis of employment trends, income, retail sales, and a range of other indicators.

View Professor Colgan’s Slide Presentation

1.09.08 Charles Colgan
This lecture was given at a breakfast meeting hosted by the USM Corporate Partners.

The former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson speaks on the topic of globalization, ethics, and human rights. As the head of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, Robinson campaigns for equitable trade with developing countries and works to protect the rights of migrants, AIDS victims, and others who do not have the economic means or political power to defend themselves.

As the first woman president of Ireland (1990-1997), Robinson also was a champion of the rights of the poor and of women. In 2005, Time magazine included her among the World’s 100 Most Influential People. She served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002. Before her election as president of Ireland, Robinson served as a senator for 20 years. She serves as the honorary president of Oxfam; a member of the UN Global Commission on International Migration; vice president of Club of Madrid, an independent organization of current and former heads of state dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world; and as the chair of the Council of Women World Leaders.

4.13.07 Mary Robinson
This address, the keynote of the 2007 Douglas M. Schair Memorial Lecture on Genocide and Human Rights, was sponsored by The Hudson Foundation with The Academic Council for Post-Holocaust Christian, Jewish, and Islamic Studies at the University of Southern Maine.

What does the Koran really say about “jihad”? What is the difference between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam? What does the Muslim faith teach about the role of women?In his lecture “What Americans Need to Know about Islam,” Afis Ayinde Oladosu, Ph.D., a visiting Fulbright scholar at Southern Maine Community College, answers these questions and addresses misconceptions about the rapidly growing Muslim religion and its communities of practice in Maine and around the world. The visiting scholar co-founded the Interfaith Initiative at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where he is a lecturer in the Department of Arabic and Islamic studies, and recently initiated an international conference on Islam, Terrorism, and African Development.

12.4.06 Afis Ayinde Oladosu
This lecture was made possible thanks to SMCC, USM Interfaith Chaplaincy, USM Multicultural Student Affairs, the USM Religious Studies Program, and Interfaith Maine.

This research scientist, whose interest in research was sparked while at USM, discusses the work he’s done to help those with PKU, botulism, and e-coli infections, among other health concerns. A 1986 graduate of the USM Department of Chemistry, he is a leading scientist at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., internationally recognized for its discoveries related to autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. Ray’s life was transformed dramatically thanks to now-retired USM Chemistry Professor John Ricci who recognized and cultivated the young undergraduate’s talents.

9.29.06 Ray Stevens ’86
This lecture kicked off USM’s 2006 Homecoming celebration.

This nationally known public leader and former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration offers his keen insight on global economic conditions.Robert Reich offers an analysis of the national and global economic pictures, providing insight into the issues of today: offshoring of domestic jobs, the impact of technology on the workforce and the advantages—and dangers—of the new global economy. In a humor-infused “call-it-like-I-see it” presentation, Reich brings his experience and analytic prowess to bear on the conventional economic wisdom, reaching insightful conclusions others simply can’t.

9.29.06 Robert Reich
This was the keynote lecture at the USM School of Business 2006 Executive Forum.

The first American to ever complete a single-handed, nonstop lap of the planet shares stories from his life-changing adventure. Crossing the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, just after 08:00 GMT, Bruce sailed into the history books as the first American ever to complete the grueling Vendee Globe.

9.28.06 Bruce Schwab
This lecture was held as part of the USM Center for Continuing Education’s Evenings at Abromson lecture series.

The independent journalist discusses what he saw in Iraq, which is contrary to what he calls the “corporate media” reporting of the situation there.Dahr Jamail was living in Alaska when he decided to quit his job, as he says, to buy a laptop computer, camera, and a plane ticket to Iraq, where he reported from the war zones in the Mideast for more than a year. He speaks passionately about the effects of the U.S. occupation on Iraqi men, women, and children and about his view of what he calls the “corporate media’s” reporting of what is happening in the war-torn country.

Listen to WMPG’s Interview with Dahr Jamail

9.27.06 Dahr Jamail
This lecture was sponsored by a number of organizations, including Women’s Studies and the School of Social Work

Paul Rusesabagina, the man whose story inspired the film Hotel Rwanda, tells his gripping personal story, including what he calls “the most difficult decision of his life,” which was to send his wife and children to be evacuated, while he remained behind. The decision to save his family did not work as expected and his family was not evacuated after all. The family remained together throughout the ordeal in which their very survival—and the survival of their friends and neighbors—was in question.In the end, Rusesabagina saved the lives of his family and over 1,200 people during the 1994 Rwandan genocide when an estimated 800,000 members of the Tutsi ethnic group and moderate Hutus were massacred in just 100 days by extremist Hutu soldiers and civilians. His heroism earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civil award.

His message is one of how global passivity allows atrocities of the magnitude of the Rwandan genocide to continue. “The shame is to see,” Rusesabagina has stated, “that Rwanda was never a lesson. We should have taken the Rwandan situation to be a kind of wake-up call to remind us what is going on all over Africa. It’s a shame to mankind that we did not.”

4.5.06 Paul Rusesabagina
The event, entitled “Never Again? Genocide and Indifference,” marked the official commemoration date of the Armenian genocide in 1915, in which more than a million Armenian men, women, and children were murdered. The event was organized by USM’s Academic Council for Post-Holocaust Christian, Jewish, and Islamic Studies with the assistance of many corporate and community cultural organizations.