Winter 2023 Programming - Week 3
Brain Drain in the 21st Century: Current Trends in Developing and Developed Countries
Monday, February 13
7-8:30 p.m.
Jefferson Educational Society
Featuring Anjali Sahay, Ph.D.
The emigration of talented individuals or 'brain drain' is not a new phenomenon and has bemoaned the developing world since the immigration laws overhaul in the developed world since the mid-1960s. The loss of the 'best and the brightest' to the developed world has resulted from various push factors such as political instability, poor quality of life, limited access to health care, and a shortage of economic opportunity. Currently, the jargon on brain drain has taken on a new direction to include emigration from various developed countries as well with push factors such as financial crises, wars, and other political upheavals. In this lecture, current brain drain trends, brain gain opportunities, and the changes in global migration corridors will be discussed.
Important to Note:
- Location: Jefferson Educational Society-- 3207 State St. Erie, PA 16508.
- Date/Time: Monday, February 13 @ 7 p.m.
- Admission: $10/person or $15 with a guest
Robert Frost, John F. Kennedy, and the Purpose of Poetry in a Democracy
Thursday, February 16
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Jefferson Educational Society
Featuring Robert Bernhard Hass, Ph.D.
Robert Frost held a special place in President Kennedy's intellectual pantheon. He accepted Kennedy's commission to compose the nation's first, and well received inaugural poem, "Dedication". His remarks after the Cuban Missile Crisis, that America is too liberal to fight communism, were not well received. Regardless, Kennedy held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Robert Frost Library in 1963 reminding us that the poet in a free society is the last champion of the individual mind. Using this inaugural case as an occasion to discuss the poet's role in a democratic society, Dr. Hass argues that Kennedy's description of the poet as lone dissenter who has the courage to challenge imperial power is an excellent role model for the artist in our own age of authoritarian peril.
Important to Note:
- Location: Jefferson Educational Society-- 3207 State St. Erie, PA 16508.
- Date/Time: Thursday, February 16 @ 7:00 p.m.
- Admission: $10/person or $15 with a guest
Bridging Erie County's Urban and Rural Divide - Infrastructure, Resources, and Services
Friday, February 17
12 - 1:30 p.m.
Jefferson Educational Society
Featuring Representatives from the Jefferson Civic Leadership Academy 2022 cohort
The purpose of this Group Action Project for the Jefferson Civic Leadership Academy 2022 Cohort is to assess Erie County's urban-rural divide in consideration of infrastructure, resources, and services. The cohort spent seven months visiting, learning about, and researching nine municipalities across Erie County, which ties directly to this project. Putting a pen to paper they had to first define infrastructure, resources and services clearly as well as rural and urban services. Nine subcategories were assessed - broadband, economy, education, energy and utilities, healthcare and emergency services, housing, public transportation, recreation, and social services - and how they are considered throughout the nine municipalities. This action project will showcase where the county is and where the cohort want to see it go.
Important to Note:
- Location: Jefferson Educational Society-- 3207 State St. Erie, PA 16508.
- Date/Time: Friday, February 17 @ Noon
- Admission: FREE, optional $5 lunch (must pre-register for lunch)
Satellite Programming
The ComplEAT History of Bread
Wednesday, February 15
6 - 7:30 p.m.
PennWest University - Edinboro
Alexander Music Hall
Featuring Eric Pallant, Ph.D.
For at least 6000 years, people have summoned sourdough starter seemingly out of the air and combined it with milled wheat, water, and a dash of salt to produce The Staff of Life: Bread. In a 50-minute, 6,000-year journey through history, we will see why bread was the greatest invention of all time, not the slicer. We will meet ancient Egyptian pyramid builders, bygone Roman bakers, medieval housewives, Gold Rush miners, and historical celebrities like Plato, Pliny the Elder, and Marie Antoinette.
Then we will watch bread fall into deserved disrespect at the end of the twentieth century. Commercial yeast will displace sourdough as bread's primary leavening agent, machines will replace hands as the tools of manufacture, and monetary efficiency will take the place of flavor as pale squidgy loaves march forth by the millions looking and tasting like they were made by a photocopier. Finally, we will consider the rise of a new artisanal bread culture and see how modern bakers are remaking our bread economy and repurposing our fundamental human connection with food.
A Book sale and signing will follow this presentation!
Important to Note:
- Location: PennWest University - Edinboro - Alexander Music Hall - 110 Kiltie Rd., Edinboro, PA 16444
- Date/Time: Wednesday, February 15 at 6:00 p.m.
- Admission: FREE
