University Research and the American Agenda
The Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise at Clark University will host its inaugural conference to consider how universities can increase the impact of their research in addressing critical public issues.
This conference, which will take place the week after this fall's elections, will bring together leading practitioners and scholars to share their perspectives on such important and timely questions as:
- How can we improve outcomes for America's urban public school students?
- How can we get spiraling health costs under control and simultaneously improve quality of and access to care?
- What are the policy implications of increasing demand for energy while our climate is already exhibiting the harmful effects of carbon emissions?
As we consider what impact university research can have in addressing these important national issues, some of the kinds of questions we will explore include the following:
- Are there examples of past studies that have had an impact on public policy practice? What can we learn from them?
- What are the gaps in our knowledge about critical current issues and problems that universities should investigate?
- Are there new ways that researchers and practitioners may be able to collaborate productively?
Highlights of the conference will include:
- Clark President's Lecture by Michael S. Dukakis, former Governor of Massachusetts and Professor at Northeastern University
- Mosakowski Institute Keynote Address by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania
- Plenary Session Address by Jeffrey Henig, Professor of Political Science and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
Other confirmed participants include:
- Charlie Baker, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Jennifer Davis, Massachusetts 2020
- Barbara Kates-Garnick, former Vice President, Keyspan Energy
- Nicole St. Clair Knobloch, Duke University
- Peter Levine, Tufts University
- John Mecklin, Miller-McCune
- Shelley Metzenbaum, University of Massachusetts
- Ricardo Millett, former President, Woods Fund of Chicago
- Dolores Mitchell, Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission
- Susanne C. Moser, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Rev. Kenneth S. Robinson, MD, former Tennessee Commissioner of Health
- Paul Rosenberg, Partner, The Bridgespan Group
- Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute
- Warren Simmons, Brown University
- Brian Stern, Rhode Island Governor's Office
- B.L. Turner, Arizona State University
- Gary Yohe, Wesleyan University
The conference schedule will also allow ample time for "offline" conversation, for socializing with friends old and new, and for enjoying the many cultural and culinary delights that Worcester and Boston have to offer.