Upcoming Events

Open Source Higher Education

February 7, 2012, 10:00am – 11:30am

Open CourseWare and other open educational resources are beginning to draw the attention of higher education policymakers and other leaders. Why? These web-based educational tools hold the promise of both reducing the cost of high education and helping learners to complete their degrees by providing access to top quality course materials and instruction.

By radically reducing the costs of course content, delivery of instruction, textbooks and related materials these open resources can make college more affordable. Further, by enabling “learning from-anywhere” for students who have work and family obligations, the same technologies provide expanded access to higher education for millions of non-traditional learners.

But how do they work and are they for every kind of student? Does current policy encourage the use of these tools?

Please join the Center for American Progress and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning to explore these and other questions about Open Source Education Resources and how they can impact college affordability and access.

RSVP for this event

Open Innovation

February 8, 2012, 9:00am – 10:00am

President Obama appointed Aneesh Chopra as the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer in May, 2009, to spur innovation and collaborative processes to solve problems and grow the jobs and industries of the future. Along with a growing team of leaders across the Federal Government, Chopra has worked to increase the potential of open innovation in areas like health IT, learning technologies, and smart grid. He has also championed the role of the White House as an “impatient convener” of public- and private-sector parties to tackle grand challenges.

As Chopra wraps up his tenure this month as the first U.S. CTO, please join him and a panel of innovation experts for a discussion of progress made and lessons learned—and for the unveiling of a new “Open Innovator’s Toolkit” that will facilitate wider use of these strategies across government, including at the state and local level.

RSVP for this event

Massachusetts’ Health Care Success Story and Why the Affordable Care Act is Constitutional

February 8, 2012, 11:00am – 12:00pm

Please join Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley for a conversation about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act and the success of the Massachusetts health care law it is modeled on.

Attorney General Coakley worked to implement the successful Massachusetts health care reform law that former Gov. Mitt Romney signed in 2006, which allowed the state to achieve near-universal health coverage, even as coverage declined throughout the rest of the country. Drawing on her experience in Massachusetts, Coakley will explain how the Massachusetts framework that provides full access to insurance, ensures that individuals will take responsibility for their health care, and makes health care affordable to all individuals played an essential role in successfully providing unparalleled access to health care coverage for Massachusetts residents.

Attorney General Coakley and Tanden will discuss why the Affordable Care Act’s adoption of the Massachusetts framework fits comfortably within the United States’ constitutional authority.

RSVP for this event

Perceptions of Turkey in the Middle East

February 9, 2012, 10:30am – 12:00pm

Turkey operates in a unique space between Europe and the Middle East and has dramatically expanded its influence in recent years throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. Understanding Turkey’s changing role in the region is critical to U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring. “The Perceptions of Turkey in the Middle East 2011” is a regional public opinion survey conducted in late 2011 in 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Including Egypt, Iran, Libya, Syria and Tunisia, the survey is the third annual poll of regional public opinion conducted by TESEV. The study sheds light on general trends in the region, perception of the Arab Spring and the region’s future, as well as the role of Turkey, including regional opinion of the protests of the last year in all countries, including Syria, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Iran; the role of international actors in the events of 2011; perspectives on security; and perceptions of the Turkish model and what makes Turkey valuable in the eyes of the region.

Please join the Center for American Progress and the TESEV Institute as we host a presentation and discussion of “The Perceptions of Turkey in the Middle East 2011”, a new study by the TESEV Institute on perceptions of Turkey by its Middle East neighbors on the Arab Spring, Iran, and Turkey.

RSVP for this event

Love Free or Die

February 13, 2012, 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Special Location: Landmark E Street Cinema, E Street between 10th and 11th Streets, NW, Washington, DC

"Love Free or Die" is about a man whose two defining passions are in direct conflict: his love for God and for his partner Mark. Gene Robinson is the first openly gay person to become a bishop in the historic traditions of Christendom. His consecration in 2003, to which he wore a bullet-proof vest, caused an international stir, and he has lived with death threats every day since. The film follows Robinson from small town churches in the New Hampshire North Country to Washington’s Lincoln Memorial to London’s Lambeth Palace, as he calls for all to stand for equality—inspiring bishops, priests, and ordinary folk to come out from the shadows and change history.

The Center for American Progress, in partnership with AFI SilverDocs, GLAAD, Groundswell, Integrity USA, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the Institute for Welcoming Resources, and St. Thomas Parish, presents a special screening of "Love Free or Die," followed by a panel discussion and Q&A session featuring Bishop Gene Robinson, director Macky Alston, and ThinkProgress culture blogger Alyssa Rosenberg.

RSVP for this event