This report is the culmination of a year-long effort to study the efficiency of the nation's public education system and includes the first-ever attempt to evaluate the productivity of almost every major school district in the country. In the business world, the notion of productivity describes the benefit received in exchange for effort or money expended. Our project examines the academic achievement a school district produces relative to its educational spending, while controlling for factors outside a district's control, such as cost of living and students in poverty.

Our aim for this project is to kick start a national conversation about educational productivity and encourage states and districts to embrace approaches that make it easier to improve achievement and sustain educational efficiencies. Join us for a conversation about this groundbreaking report. We will talk with the researchers who created the report as well as with other experts in the area of school productivity.

Jobs, jobs, jobs; as the nation’s unemployment rate seems unable to move far from the 10 percent mark, many are asking where the jobs will be in the next decade. The answer—for a multitude of reasons—seems to be in health care. The shortages in many health professions make the imperative to focus on preparing workers for the health field even stronger.

Colleges and universities will be key players in meeting the needs in the health care professions and we should be fostering growth in health care education. For-profit schools have emerged as new and growing players in the education scene. But for a strong workforce ready to address the current and impending shortage, we need graduates with high-quality educations who choose to work in high-demand fields. That’s why it is important to understand the role that for-profit colleges play in training health care professionals and the quality of the services they provide.

For-profit colleges claim to be playing an important role in training the health care workers of tomorrow. But who are they training? Are students receiving a quality education from these schools?

Please join us for a discussion of these and other questions related to the role of for-profit colleges in training the health care workforce.

The Affordable Care Act provides an opportunity to create integrated, cost effective, high quality health care systems for Medicare recipients—and eventually all Americans—through the creation of Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs. One of the most challenging questions facing ACOs is how to provide integration without sacrificing competition and the decreased cost and increased quality it produces. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice have already been carefully scrutinizing these issues. Will some ACOs threaten competition and eventually raise costs for consumers? To what extent can ACOs overcome the barriers set up by current antitrust regulation? How should the lessons from health care reform educate the role of antitrust enforcement and regulation? How should we approach health care antitrust issues in an era of ACOs?

Please join us for a discussion of these and other questions related to implementing the Accountable Care Act in a way that enhances competition, provides better care, and lowers costs.

EVENT POSTPONED: Due to inclement weather this event has been postponed to a future date. We apologize for any inconvenience.

On Thursday, January 27, 2011, the Center for American Progress will host a discussion that explores politicians’ recent promises to restore civility to policy debates, and delves into the harm caused by heated rhetoric on Capitol Hill and across the United States.

Too often, immigrants, Muslim Americans, gays and lesbians, African Americans, Arab Americans, and others are portrayed as alien and dangerous to our democracy and society. Such bombasts inflame a toxic political environment and thwart pragmatic policy solutions. The assassination attempt against Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords jarred the political class, forcing public officials to commit to more comity across political party lines. Yet a return to their legislative arenas reminded them that past attempts at civility failed because compromising on contentious issues is seen as political weakness rather than a statesmanly reach for solutions.

Panelists will challenge the stereotypes against whole groups of people, provide historical perspectives of current attempts to restore civility, and suggest how to move forward on unresolved issues.

In his new book Kabuki Democracy, Eric Alterman, CAP Senior Fellow, asks why President Barack Obama has been unable to deliver on some of the promises of his 2008 campaign. He argues that while Obama's compromises have disappointed many of his supporters, his failures are primarily due to a political system that stymies democracy when voters choose progressive change.

Blending incisive political analysis with a clear agenda for change, Kabuki Democracy cuts through the clichés of conservative propaganda and lazy mainstream media analysis to demonstrate that genuine transformation will come to America only when enough people care enough to challenge the system.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a provocative discussion with the book's author.

Copies of Kabuki Democracy will be available for purchase at the event.

EVENT FULL: This event is now full and we can no longer accept RSVPs. Please watch the live webcast here.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama signed the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 into law—the first major government performance reform in 17 years. The law requires all departments and agencies to set high-priority goals, develop a plan to accomplish each goal, and regularly adjust the plan as they go along so the goals are more likely to be met. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) was one of the key architects of the bill and will discuss the implementation phase of the legislation at this event.

CAP will also launch a major new report titled "The Secret to Programs that Work" at the event. With the input of more than 200 experts over six months, the Doing What Works team has developed tools and processes to ensure that essential questions of likely success are asked early in the program design process. The report will also present tools and a new process to evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs.

Please join the Doing What Works project as Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) discusses implementation of the new law and next steps in improving government performance. Following the interview, a panel of government performance experts will discuss and respond.

On December 16th, 2010, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethics released its first report entitled “New Directions: The Ethics of Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies.”

President Obama requested that the commission study synthetic biology following a major breakthrough in the field announced in May 2010 by researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute. The Venter Institute copied and modified an entire genome of a small bacterial cell, inserted it into a living cell of another species, and by doing so created a new, synthetic organism.

Recent years have seen unprecedented federal resources directed through School Improvement Grants to fix the nation’s least-successful schools. But school districts mediate the intervention and the extent to which they apply coherent strategies to support struggling schools may moderate its success. Coherent, outcome-oriented work is not easy for most organizations and it is especially challenging for school districts accustomed to input-based, compliance-oriented management. Accountability for improving student achievement, however, has changed the incentives.

This panel will present evidence that shows how and why families are an essential support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT youth and their well-being. The federal policy and program implications of this work will also be discussed. For too long, programs and policies that support LGBT youth have not addressed or even considered the role that families can play in supporting these youth. New research shows family reactions to a gay or transgender teen have a compelling impact on their physical and mental health, including issues such as substance abuse, depression, suicide attempts, self-esteem, and risk for HIV. This panel will discuss how family-level interventions offer highly effective, inexpensive, and culturally appropriate ways to improve the lives and life chances of LGBT youth.

Higher education is in crisis across the nation. America's colleges and universities are strapped for resources, students and families are faced with eye-popping tuition increases, and we are falling behind other developed nations in postsecondary attainment.

Many experts and policymakers are asking if the business model of higher education is broken. We need a new way of thinking about how colleges can fulfill their role in society without breaking the bank. Clayton Christensen offers an explanation of the changes in higher education through the lens of disruptive innovation, showing how new technologies like online education are forcing colleges and policymakers to rethink the way they deliver education.

To advance this policy discussion, the Center for American Progress, in collaboration with Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn, has published a new paper, "Disrupting College: How Disruptive Innovation Can Deliver Quality and Affordability in Postsecondary Education." Join CAP, Dr. Christensen and a panel of experts to discuss "Disrupting College."

Following in the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita before it, the Deepwater Horizon oil catastrophe beginning in April 2010 exposed the vulnerability of the Gulf Coast environment and economy to natural and man-made disasters—alongside the incredible resilience and determination of its residents as they fought to recover from yet another setback. The federal government took notice. President Barack Obama launched the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, including leaders like  task force executive director John Hankinson, White House Domestic Policy Council chair Melody Barnes and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Dr. Jane Lubchenco who will join us, along with a group of Gulf Coast business, conservation and nonprofit leaders, for a conversation about the opportunities and challenges towards restoring the coast, sparking innovation, creating jobs, and protecting communities.

Oxfam America and CAP will also release a report analyzing the vulnerability of the economy and ecology of the Gulf region as both a challenge and an opportunity. The report provides recommendations for a regional ecosystem restoration plan to help coastal communities recover their past strength, promote the growth of new industries, and build a foundation for a new economic future.

Two and a half years after the Russia-Georgia war, Georgia remains the locus of three unresolved, interrelated conflicts: two secessionist and one inter-state.

This event will mark the release of a Center for American Progress report titled "A More Proactive U.S. Approach to the Georgia Conflicts."

The report’s authors, Samuel Charap and Cory Welt, will present the main findings. Two leading experts on the region will then respond. Damon Wilson, executive vice president at the Atlantic Council, worked on Georgia in a variety of capacities during his distinguished government career, including as special assistant to the president, and senior director for European affairs at the National Security Council from December 2007 to January 2009. Professor Alexander Cooley of Columbia University has published extensively on post-Soviet Eurasia and U.S. policy toward the region, including "After the August War: A New Strategy for U.S. Engagement with Georgia" (co-authored with Lincoln Mitchell) released by the Harriman Institute last year.

State governments have a significant stake in reducing hunger, food insecurity, and obesity. Together, these interrelated problems significantly reduce the productivity of a state's workforce and increase states' share of health-related costs. Moreover, states have a significant role to play in reducing hunger and obesity as administrators of a number of federally funded nutritional safety-net programs.

Yet, very few states have comprehensive strategies to effectively tackle this complex and interconnected web of interests. This particular event will focus on how states can use Food Action Plans to achieve the best possible outcomes for low-income families while also benefiting other consumers, boosting private industry, and spurring economic development.

Given the fiscal challenges currently facing states, heavy emphasis will be placed on the smart use of existing federal resources. Also, model food-planning efforts can inform approaches aimed at other antipoverty goals. This event will feature a new paper authored by Joel Berg and Joy Moses.

Over the past decade, states and international organizations have shifted a surprising range of foreign policy functions to private contractors. But who is accountable when the employees of foreign private firms do violence or create harm? Outsourcing War and Peace: Preserving Public Values in a World of Privatized Foreign Affairs, a new book by Laura Dickinson, foundation professor of law and faculty director of the Center for Law and Global Affairs at Arizona State University, explores the threat that services that are now delivered by private contractors pose to core public values of human rights, democratic accountability, and transparency. She offers a series of concrete reforms that are necessary to expand traditional legal accountability, construct better mechanisms of public participation, and alter the organizational structure and institutional culture of contractor firms.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a provocative discussion with the book's author.

Copies of Outsourcing War and Peace will be available for purchase at the event.

While the importance of effective teachers to students’ learning has received a great deal of attention in recent years, the role principals play in ensuring that students have access to excellent teaching has received much less consideration. Principals play a critical role in developing a strong teaching workforce within a school by hiring teachers, assigning them to specific positions, evaluating them, and providing growth opportunities for them.

In addition, as states and districts reform teacher-related policies and programs, principals will be crucial actors in ensuring their success. For example, principals play a vital role in implementing more rigorous evaluation systems and providing teachers with feedback to improve their performance.

Join us for a conversation with experts in research, policy, and practice to discuss how principals fulfill their critical role as a manager of educator talent and the opportunities and constraints that they face in their work. We will launch the conversation with a paper by Morgaen Donaldson that provides findings from a study of 30 principals in two northeastern states about how they perceive their roles.

On February 16, 2011, President Barack Obama announced the first details of his 21st century conservation and recreation strategy, the America’s Great Outdoors initiative. This vision was shaped by hundreds of thousands of Americans who participated in an unprecedented national conversation about the best future for our water, wildlife, and historic cultural landmarks.

Throughout four centuries of American history, our relationship to the land has been central to the development of our national character, our economic well-being, and our governance. According to new statistics from the U.S. Census, we are at the highest proportion of developed land in U.S. history. The core strategy for the America's Great Outdoors initiative is to target resources to the needs identified by local communities. In addition, the plan will make it easier for Americans to get jobs working on conservation efforts by lowering obstacles to working with federal agencies. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and historian Doug Brinkley will discuss the initiative and what role it may play in the administration’s legacy.

EVENT FULL: This event is now full and we can no longer accept RSVPs. Please watch the live webcast here.

Latinos constitute the second-largest group in the United States today and it is expected that by the year 2050 they will make up one-third of the U.S. population. Spanish-dominant voters, traditionally swing voters, have played a pivotal role in increasing the political participation of Latinos and were a key segment to drive up turnout in the 2008 and 2010 elections.

Spanish-language media has an unprecedented reach and influence into this segment of the population and as such will keep this community informed as Congress considers legislation that deeply affects the Latino community. Whether it is job creation, education and health care reform, or immigration-related legislation, Spanish-language media holds a front seat to the political and policy debate and through them the Latino community will be privy to the optics, discourse, and substance of the issues.

Please join us to discuss the role of Spanish-language press in reaching out to the growing Latino community and the issues that are moving this community in 2011 and beyond.

Please join the Center for American Progress as we host Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski to discuss the new Poland-Russia relationship and European and global security issues after after the ratification of New START.

For the past several decades, most of the benefits of economic growth have gone to those at the very top and have largely bypassed average workers. Wages for most workers have been nearly stagnant and income inequality in the United States is now at levels not seen since the Great Depression.

On March 2, the Center for American Progress will host a panel to address potential options – including a proposal by Freeman, Blasi, and Kruse - to ensure that, as we slowly emerge from the current economic downturn, the benefits of economic growth are more broadly shared by workers.

Following the panel discussion, the conversation will be open to audience questions. We hope you will be able to join us for this timely and thought-provoking event.

The United States is the world's largest economy and the largest exporter and importer of goods and services. But today, America's workers and businesses are facing many economic challenges. There is a need to create more well-paying, sustainable jobs for our country's workforce. In light of these challenges, what is the Obama administration's trade policy? How can trade policy help promote competitiveness, broad-based economic growth, and good jobs? Please join the Center for American Progress in a conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to address these pressing questions.

The Great Recession and tentative recovery have brought into sharp focus the complexity of preparing workers for employment opportunities in the 21st century. The sheer volume of unemployed and underemployed workers seeking the next good employment opportunity presents challenges to public policies and institutions ranging from the Workforce Investment Act to community colleges. Which sectors will grow? What skills will be necessary? How can we deliver instruction in ways that make sense for workers’ live? How can we use multiple funding streams to utmost effect in tough fiscal times? These are all key questions that must be answered if we are to help workers acquire the skills that will promote both national competitiveness and broader prosperity.

To respond to these and other questions, the Center for American Progress, in collaboration with the Rutgers University School of Management, is sponsoring a discussion of the policy and politics of workforce development systems today and into the future.

We will have a panel discussion of the findings of academic research on workforce development programs published in the most recent annual research volume of the Labor and Employment Relations Association titled, "Transforming the U.S. Workforce Development System: Lessons from Research and Practice."

Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act of 1965 is the largest school program operated by the Department of Education. Title I began as an antipoverty program whose funds were meant to ameliorate the educational disadvantages of growing up in concentrated poverty. This goal has evolved into a broader responsibility around equity—closing achievement gaps. And Title I has become the pivot point for an education reform movement aiming to bolster U.S. economic competitiveness by promoting higher overall levels of academic achievement.

Through statutes, regulations, and guidance, Title I guides school districts’ and state educational agencies’ behavior. There are undoubtedly ways to align incentives embodied by the program to serve better the complex purpose of Title I.

Please join us for a conference featuring seven new papers that examine fiscal requirements and other provisions around the expenditure of and accounting for Title I funds. The papers draw on existing evidence to develop recommendations for policymakers.

On his visit to Turkey in April 2009, President Barack Obama chose the term "model partnership" to describe Turkish-U.S. relations and stressed that economic cooperation between the two countries reinforces the common security interests that Europe and the United States share with Turkey. Even though U.S.-Turkish economic exchanges have nearly doubled over the past decade, there is still opportunity for further growth—especially given Turkey's role as a regional hub connecting the Middle East with Europe and other parts of the world. The efforts of President Obama to revitalize U.S.-Turkish relations more broadly offer a tremendous opportunity for both countries to work together to craft a new and lasting relationship that will be beneficial to both sides.

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke will discuss the future of U.S.-Turkish trade relations and its importance for strategic partnership between the two countries.

EVENT FULL: This event is now full and we can no longer accept RSVPs. Please watch the live webcast here.

Imminent threats to federal and state budgets have the potential to severely harm a broad range of groups, including African-American men who have long faced barriers to accessing adequate social services. Those living in poverty disproportionately experience negative outcomes related to such areas as employment, education, incarceration, and mental and physical health. Despite the economic and social progress by significant numbers of black men and the symbolism of having an African-American male in the White House, far too many continue to face difficult barriers on the road to well-being and success for themselves and their families. Systems and policies that could help often don't account for their varying needs or completely fail to reach the population.

This discussion will be led by well-respected scholars and social workers, including contributors to the book, Social Work with African American Males: Health, Mental Health, and Social Policy (Oxford University Press, 2010). Panelists will highlight quality research on black males and suggest necessary system and policy reforms.

Copies of Social Work with African American Males: Health, Mental Health, and Social Policy will be available for purchase at the event.

The day after his inauguration, President Barack Obama committed his administration "to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government." For this event during Sunshine Week—a yearly event to raise awareness of the importance of open government—OpenTheGovernment.org and the Center for American Progress are bringing together transparency experts from inside and outside government to discuss how far the administration's efforts have moved us, two years into the effort, to that goal. The event will assess progress from both a policy and a technical standpoint, and what more we can and should expect the administration to do to meet its goal. Panelists will also take questions from the live and viewing audience.

The first panel will cover the policy aspects of the administration's Open Government Initiative. During the second panel, panelists will discuss the effect of technology on the way people get and use information, how the government is trying to fill that need, and the strengths and limitations of the administration's approach.

EVENT FULL: This event is now full and we can no longer accept RSVPs.

Official Selection 2011 Sundance Film Festival

In October 2008 a humbled Alan Greenspan admitted to the U.S. Congress that he had been mistaken to put so much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and that he had failed to anticipate the self-destructive nature of wanton mortgage lending and the housing and credit bubble it generated. Taking for its title Greenspan's description that he'd found a flaw in his model of how the world worked, "The Flaw" attempts to explain the underlying causes of the crisis in more depth than any documentary to date.

Made by international award-winning documentary maker David Sington, "The Flaw" tells the story of the credit bubble that caused the financial crash.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a provocative discussion immediately following the film.

In a speech in Kabul on March 21, Afghan President Hamid Karzai will mark the official inauguration of the transition process endorsed by NATO allies in November 2010, a process set to culminate in 2014 with the full transfer of security responsibilities to Afghan lead. What political and diplomatic preparations are being made for an Afghan political settlement that can be sustained absent large-scale international military and financial investment in the country, and what shifts need to take place in advance of transition?

Please join the Center for American Progress for the first event in a monthly series of discussions through this summer which will focus on issues related to the evolving transition and realignment of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Future scheduled events in this series:
• April 19, 2011 - Debating Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan
• May 4, 2011
• May 24, 2011
• June 23, 2011

Joseph Romm, Senior Fellow at CAP and author of the award-winning blog Climate Progress, will discuss the future of energy and climate policy in the United States and the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear crisis.

Turkey operates in a unique space between Europe and the Middle East and has dramatically expanded its reach in recent years throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. Understanding how Turkey is changing itself and its region is critical to U.S. foreign policy, particularly as political upheaval continues to unfold across the Middle East and North Africa.

Please join the Center for American Progress and the TESEV Institute as we host a presentation and discussion of The Perspectives of Turkey in the Middle East, a new study by the TESEV Institute on perceptions of Turkey by its Middle East neighbors on democracy, Iran, and Turkey’s role and influence in the region. We will discuss the implications of these findings for U.S.-Turkey relations.

On March 25, 1911, a catastrophic fire broke out at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City. Trapped inside the upper floors of a 10-story building, 146 workers—mostly young immigrant women and teenage girls—were burned alive or forced to jump to their deaths to escape an inferno that consumed the factory in just 18 minutes. It was the worst workplace disaster in New York state until 9/11.

The tragedy changed the course of history, paving the way for government to represent working people, not just business, for the first time, and helped an emerging American middle class to live the American Dream.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a panel discussion immediately following the film.

Conservative legislators in Congress and across the states have launched a quiet assault on women's health and reproductive rights while the nation is consumed by economic and budget battles. The conservative vision for American women is stark, from restrictions on access to abortion and family planning to attempts to redefine rape and cut funds for low-income women and children.

What are conservatives trying to pull off with this assault on women?  What are the real threats and what are distractions?  How should progressives work together to stop these efforts and protect women's health and rights?  What are the opportunities for progressives to turn this assault into new activism on behalf of women's rights?

Join us for an important discussion about policy choices facing progressives with Amy Dacey, executive director of Emily's List, one of the nation's most important pro-choice advocacy organizations.

On the first day of the 112th Congress, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives seeking to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to "clarify" which classes of U.S.-born children are citizens of the United States at birth. Representative King's bill reflects his assertion that the 14th Amendment does not guarantee citizenship at birth for U.S.-born children of temporary or undocumented immigrants.

On March 31, 2011, the American Constitution Society and the Center for American Progress will bring together leading thinkers to discuss current challenges to birthright citizenship and provide historical perspective to the debate about what the 14th Amendment guarantees.

EVENT FULL: This event is now full and we can no longer accept RSVPs. Please watch the live webcast here.

The conflict in Libya has raised several questions about the Libyan opposition - Who is leading the movement? What are their goals? What are the opportunities and risks for U.S. policy in engaging the opposition leaders?

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion with Ali Aujali, the official representative to the United States of the Transitional National Council of the Libyan Republic. After a brief presentation, Ali Aujali will answer questions about the role of the Transitional National Council and its plans for the future.

No doubt, historians will still be arguing about the achievements and failures of the Obama administration well into the next century. But as President Obama has moved into his third year in the White House, the Center for American Progress and the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University are hosting a symposium to review the president's first two years—what was accomplished, what was left undone, and what problems emerged that may influence events in the remainder of this term and the president's prospect for a second term.

Much of the discussion will focus on analysis provided by a recently published book, Obama in Office, edited by Professor James Thurber of American University and contributed to by Senior Fellow Scott Lilly of the Center for American Progress.

Copies of Obama in Office will be available for purchase at the event.

Too often, immigrants, Muslim Americans, gays and lesbians, African Americans, Arab Americans, and others are portrayed as alien and dangerous to our democracy and society. Such bombasts inflame a toxic political environment and thwart pragmatic policy solutions. The assassination attempt against Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords jarred the country, forcing public officials to commit to more comity across political party lines. Yet a return to their legislative arenas reminded them that past attempts at civility failed because compromising on contentious issues is seen as political weakness rather than a statesmanly reach for solutions. Notwithstanding calls for more civilized public discourse, Kansas State Rep. Virgil Peck suggested that hunters could control illegal immigration as they control wild swine—by shooting them from helicopters. In Orange County, CA, councilwoman Deborah Pauly called a fundraiser of the Islamic Circle of North America “pure, unadulterated evil,” adding, “I know quite a few Marines who will be willing to help these terrorists to an early meeting in Paradise.”

Five years ago, the commonwealth of Massachusetts passed An Act Providing Access to Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care, groundbreaking legislation which became a model for the 2010 national health care reform bill. While national health care reform is not to be fully implemented until 2014, we can learn from the Massachusetts experience that has resulted in 98 percent of residents with coverage and 76 percent of employers offering health insurance.

Please join the Center for American Progress as we welcome Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. He will reflect on the lessons from the state’s experience in expanding coverage and current efforts to address health care costs. His remarks will be followed by a panel representing members of the Massachusetts business community and the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation which monitors the state budget.

More than three months into the popular uprisings in the Middle East, the Obama administration faces a complicated balancing act in supporting human rights and democracy along with managing its strategic security interests. How well is the United States doing in responding to the popular uprisings and turmoil in the Middle East? What are the risks and opportunities presented by the intervention in Libya? And how are events likely to unfold in the Middle East in the coming months and years?

Join us for a discussion of these questions with Tom Malinowski, Washington Director of Human Rights Watch, and Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow and Middle East expert at CAP.

In tight fiscal times, resource allocation is frequently a challenge for districts and states. Human capital resources can be stretched as schools try to meet state requirements for teacher qualifications and class sizes. At the same time, fiscal constraints can also present opportunities to reimagine new ways of human capital allocation.

The popular uprisings in the Middle East have brought the question of political Islam to the center stage of America’s policy debate. How do Islamist thinkers view the political transitions underway in Egypt and Tunisia, and what are they saying about the turmoil in places such as Libya and Yemen? What role will Islamist political groups play in countries opening up to democratic reforms, and what are the implications for U.S. policy in the Middle East.

As the second event in the Center for American Progress's monthly series of discussions on issues related to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, this event will have two related yet distinctive focuses. The first panel will focus on U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan. The second, co-sponsored with the Century Foundation, will explore the viability of a negotiated political settlement in Afghanistan.

Millions of people remain out of work, underpaid, and burdened by debt and diminishing economic opportunities. Yet the political class from Madison to Washington continues to debate forced austerity measures that will sharply impact working families and the poor. An economic crisis that originated in the misdeeds of the financial sector has turned into a conservative assault on government, unions, the social safety net, and public investments created by progressives in the 20th century.

With the battle lines sharpening between Rep. Paul Ryan and President Barack Obama over how best to address the nation's budget deficits, how do progressives ensure their priorities are met in these fights? What do state-level budget fights, especially in terms of the role of labor, tell us about the best way to mobilize to meet the conservative assault?  What would a truly progressive approach to deficit reduction look like? What about the critical need for employment measures and long-term investments in our economy and people?

Join us for an important discussion of our nation's economic priorities with Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute.

In 1970, 18 out of every 100,000 workers were killed on the job—a total of nearly 14,000 dead. That same year, President Richard Nixon signed legislation creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

As OSHA celebrates its 40th birthday this month, we also celebrate safer and healthier workplaces. Workplace fatality, injury, and illness rates are down more than 65 percent since 1970, thanks in large part to OSHA's efforts.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a conversation about the agency's past and future. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, will talk with workers about changes they have seen on the ground. He will also talk with experts from labor and business about OSHA’s latest policies and actions.

As America inches its way out of the Great Recession and looks forward into the future, the need for a new policy framework to guide our economic growth is clear.

Join the Center for American Progress and PolicyLink as we bring together some of the nation’s top economists, policy analysts, and thought leaders to discuss the relationship between economic inclusion, long-term economic growth and competitiveness, and policy changes that can create an economy that works for all Americans.

Tony & Janina's American Wedding is a feature-length documentary that gets to the heart of the broken, red-tape-ridden U.S. immigration system. After 18 years in America, Tony and Janina Wasilewski's family is torn apart when Janina is deported back to Poland, taking their 6-year-old son Brian with her. Set on the backdrop of Chicago, and featuring Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez , a leading champion of immigration reform, this film follows the Wasilewski's three-year struggle to be reunited. With a fresh perspective on the immigration conversation, this film tells the untold story of post-9/11 America and the obstacles that many immigrant face in their struggle to move from newcomer to new American.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a provocative Q&A immediately following the film.

Foreign policy analysts in think tanks and academics in universities have long debated "American exceptionalism," but the term is now emerging in America’s political debates, most recently among some conservative critics of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. What does the phrase “American exceptionalism” actually mean? How do ideas about America’s special role in the world shape foreign policy decisions on a range of current issues including the Middle East uprisings, relationships with emerging powers, climate change, and global economic policy? And how might the American exceptionalism debate play out in the 2012 presidential elections?

Please join the Center for American Progress for an in-depth panel to discuss these questions.

The growth of Islamophobia and rising hate rhetoric aimed at ethnic minorities and immigrant communities has become a significant feature of right-wing politics in both Europe and North America. This new politics of hate and fear represents a concerted political strategy on the part of a new right, one which presents a significant challenge to those wishing to create prosperous, tolerant, and diverse societies. It cannot remain unchecked.

The Center for American Progress, in cooperation with Searchlight, will host a transatlantic conversation on the rise of identity politics and its consequences for the future of progressive politics. Bringing together leading analysts and activists from either side of the Atlantic to discuss how best to approach the rise of ultranationalist groups, the conversation will evaluate why Islamophobia and hate rhetoric are on the rise in the United States and the United Kingdom, and the panel will share lessons from their own experiences on the most successful tactics for combating the politics of hate and fear.

The Center for American Progress is pleased to welcome Atul Gawande—surgeon, professor, researcher, and prize-winning author—to offer his always-provocative perspective on health care costs.

Dr. Gawande served as a senior health policy advisor in the Clinton presidential campaign and White House from 1992 to 1993. He has been a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine since 1998. In 2006 Dr. Gawande received a MacArthur Award for his research and writing. He has written three New York Times bestselling books: Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2002 and is published in more than 20 languages; Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance was selected as one of the 10 best books of 2007 by Amazon.com; and The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right was selected as one of the best books of 2009 by Amazon.com. In 2010 he won a National Magazine Award, AcademyHealth’s Impact Award for highest research impact on health care, and selection by Foreign Policy Magazine and TIME magazine as one of the world’s top 100 influential thinkers.

Successful charter schools and the Charter Management Organizations that run them have grown significantly over the past decade but the limited supply of effective teachers and leaders is a key barrier standing in the way of more rapid growth. Recent studies have indicated that many charter schools have an inadequate pipeline of school leaders and face a looming shortage on the horizon.

Join us for a conversation with charter school leaders to discuss their strategies for overcoming human capital challenges. We will launch the conversation with a paper by Christi Chadwick that analyzes the pipeline-building approaches undertaken by the following six Charter Management Organizations: Green Dot Public Schools; IDEA Public Schools; High Tech High; the Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP; Rocketship Education; and YES Prep Public Schools. We will continue and expand on the discussion with a panel of distinguished charter schools and human capital experts.

Military health care costs have skyrocketed more than 300 percent in the past decade and now consume more than 10 percent of the baseline defense budget. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has publicly lamented that these “health care costs are eating the Department of Defense alive,” and in an attempt to begin to address this problem, he recently proposed small increases in the health care fees paid by military retirees. Gates’s modest adjustments, however, are unlikely to significantly diminish future cost growth in the Tricare military health system. As a result, the rising cost of military health care is likely to remain a controversial issue for the foreseeable future.

Join us for a discussion on how to balance the needs of the military retiree community and the American taxpayer. The panelists will critique a recent report by the Center for American Progress that maps out a set of recommendations to reduce health care expenses by $15 billion a year by 2015, enough to hold the military health care budget stable at 2011 levels. These recommendations ensure that active-duty troops will continue to receive health care at no cost and that military retirees will continue to have access to top-quality, affordable health care for life.

The 14th Amendment's provision that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States" has long been understood to guarantee automatic citizenship for all those born on American soil. Yet recently, some state and federal lawmakers have proposed changing the law to exclude children born to undocumented immigrants from what has come to be known as "birthright citizenship."

On Wednesday, May 11, 2011, the Center for American Progress and the American Constitution Society will bring together leading thinkers to discuss what our nation would look like and the impact on all Americans were the 14th Amendment's guarantee to be repealed.

One of the bigger stories coming out of the 2010 Census release of ethnic data was the fact that the Asian population in the United States has grown by nearly 50 percent over the past 10 years. Its growth has even outpaced the Latino community in a number of states including Texas, New Jersey, and Missouri. Moreover, projections indicate that this population will increase 150 percent by the year 2050. Yet in spite of their growing numbers and influence, the APIA community is often overlooked in the political and policy landscape.

To centralize the importance of APIA voters, please join us for a dynamic conversation with leaders from the APIA community.

From Afghanistan and Iraq to Pakistan, Somalia, and South Sudan, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is engaged daily in trying to help some of the most troubled nations on the planet make a lasting transition to stability, open markets, and democracy. Few areas of the agency’s work are more challenging or more controversial.

Join us for remarks by, and a roundtable with, the deputy administrator of USAID, Ambassador Donald Steinberg, in an unusual bipartisan discussion of the challenges facing the United States as it not only tries to help nations emerge from conflict but to prevent new conflicts and crises from arising around the globe. The conversation will touch on key issues, including the role of the private sector in postconflict settings, the importance of women in shaping enduring peace agreements, lessons learned since 9/11, the role of development in preventing conflict, and the future of assistance in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

By every measure of qualifications—certification, subject matter background, pedagogical training, selectivity of college attended, test scores, or experience—less-qualified teachers tend to be found in schools serving greater numbers of low-income and minority students. Studies in state after state have found that students of color in low-income schools are 3 to 10 times more likely to have unqualified teachers than students in predominantly white schools.

Please join the Center for American Progress for an event to discuss a new paper, "Speaking of Salaries: What It Will Take to get Qualified, Effective Teachers in All Communities." This paper examines how teacher salaries and teacher qualifications vary across districts, and how this variation is related to student achievement. The authors analyzed data from California and New York to assess the extent to which unequal salaries, and the district revenues that underlie pay and working conditions, may be at the root of the inequitable distribution of teacher talent. Their findings have relevance for state and district policymakers, as well as reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a keynote speech by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on the need for a clear plan for withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

In January, Sen. Gillibrand introduced legislation with three of her senator colleagues to implement the withdrawal of American combat forces from Afghanistan on July 1 of this year. Sen. Gillibrand will address America’s current interests in addressing the metastasized Al Qaeda network and the death of its leader, and securing the Afghan state itself.

A panel discussion will follow to debate the best balance of resources and priorities to advance our interests in Afghanistan, the prospect of a long-term strategic partnership with the Afghan government, and other issues. Please join the Center for American Progress for this latest discussion in a monthly series examining the transition and realignment of American engagement in Afghanistan.

One of the only events in Washington that emphasizes the first three letters in the word fundraiser, the 2011 Progressive Party is the signature annual fundraiser for American Progress. An evening cocktail reception featuring food, beverages, and great entertainment, this event invites our supporters and allies to discuss pressing challenges facing our country with today’s most respected and well-known policymakers and thought leaders. We will celebrate our shared accomplishments and re-dedicate ourselves to a promising, progressive agenda on behalf of all Americans—please join us!

Up to 60 percent of undergraduates seek to transfer credits into or across institutions in their learning journey. Articulation agreements are a key to facilitating this process. However, most colleges and universities in the United States do not possess articulation systems and processes that promote the type of transparency and ease-of-use that make transfer a help rather than a hindrance to student success in higher education.

Barriers to transfer cost students and taxpayers billions of dollars in student-paid tuition dollars, state subsidies to public institutions, student financial aid, and delayed tax revenue when students take longer to access higher-paying jobs that require college degrees.

There are upstart leaders in higher education who are blazing a trail of effective articulation policies. This session will take an in-depth look at these solutions at both the systemic and individual institution level. Please join us for this exciting event.

Increasing the minimum wage during hard times is good economics and widely popular according to cutting-edge research. Two recently released academic studies further strengthen 15 years of research showing that increasing the minimum wage boosts incomes without slowing job creation, even during weak economic periods. New public opinion findings demonstrate significant bipartisan support for raising the minimum wage at a time when job growth is concentrated in low-wage industries and boosting consumer spending is critical to the economic recovery.

Please join the Center for American Progress and the National Employment Law Project for a timely discussion of this new research on the minimum wage and its policy implications featuring the authors of this research as well as leading policy experts.

The economic engine that created unprecedented levels of wealth and prosperity in the United States is being challenged as never before as as companies, both large and small, are confronting nontraditional trade finance policies in emerging economies around the world. How the United States addresses the emergence of state-driven capitalism will have profound consequences for American businesses and competitiveness for years to come.

Are foreign governments intervening in markets to promote their own firms and thus distorting competition? Do these new models of capitalism threaten our position as the world’s dominant economy? What should the U.S. government's policies be? Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred Hochberg will address these questions with a focus on what he sees in the world of export finance and preview the agency’s annual competitiveness report being released later this month.

Sweden is known as a nation of high taxation and progressive labor and family policies, yet the World Economic Forum increased Sweden's rank to second in the world on their competitiveness index in 2010. Do the robust family and labor policies in Sweden point to a new model of economy growth grounded on the principles of full employment and strong two-wage-earner households that align social welfare and economic policies?

Please join CAP as we welcome Swedish Minister of Social Security Ulf Kristersson and our expert panel to explore the key elements of Swedish economic and social welfare policy and examine the options for replication of these policies in developing economies as well as their application to stabilizing and expanding America's middle class.

Have you ever looked at a phone bill and noticed additional charges that were placed inconspicuously without your authorization? That's called "cramming"—and it's illegal. These charges might be as small as 99 cents or as substantial as $19.99 per month. But because they are not clearly disclosed on the phone bill, they often go undetected for months or even years. Research suggests that only 1 in 20 consumers who are affected by "cramming" are aware of the problem, which likely costs Americans hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will deliver an announcement about cramming from the Center for American Progress on Monday, June 20. The chairman will also discuss his consumer agenda, including proactive steps that the agency is taking to help consumers avoid cramming.

On March 15, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, proposed the first-ever standards that would require coal-fired power plants to reduce their emissions of toxic air pollutants, including mercury, arsenic, and lead. The public health benefits of limiting these emissions have been well-documented by both scientists and medical professionals. But a lesser-known fact is the proposed rules are expected to create nearly 360,000 jobs and generate almost $200 billion in capital improvements by 2015. These standards are also achievable: 60 percent of all coal-fired boilers that submitted stack test data to the EPA are already achieving the proposed mercury limits.

Please join the Energy Opportunity program of the Center for American Progress for a timely discussion of this proposed rule and its implications for reliable and affordable electricity, job creation, capital investment, and the economy.

There’s a huge gap today between the legal needs of low-income people and the capacity of the civil legal assistance system to meet those needs. Less than 20 percent of poor Americans’ legal needs are being met, requiring unrepresented litigants to navigate complex and often unfriendly court systems. There’s also severe inequality among states in legal aid funding.

Please join us at this special program co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and Center for American Progress for a conversation with law scholars and legal aid experts about how we can overcome the access-to-justice gap at a time of rising need—and how policymakers should decide where to most effectively direct scarce resources. NPR host Michel Martin will moderate what promises to be a provocative subject that increasingly affects millions of low-income and moderate-income Americans.

As the Obama administration decides how many troops to withdraw as part of its transition to Afghan lead, a debate is raging among policymakers and the broader American public about desired outcomes and strategy in Afghanistan.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion with Reps. Walter B. Jones (R-NC) and Jim McGovern (D-MA), who are steering Congress in a new direction on U.S. policy toward Afghanistan. They will discuss their recent legislative efforts to press for more clarity on the transition planning process, the politics in Congress and beyond around Afghanistan, and U.S. policy towards Afghanistan more broadly. This will be the fourth panel in a Center for American Progress series: Transition and Realignment in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Almost every week, members of Congress are introducing bills to address new tracking technologies and the privacy challenges they pose. With the explosion of smartphone use and mobile apps, there is unprecedented information about “where you are”—your location information. With the spread of new types of “fingerprinting” of your computer, advertisers are gaining new details into “what you see” as you surf from website to website.

The same tracking techniques that pose privacy problems are also at the heart of numerous new apps and business models. Many observers worry that overly restrictive legal rules could harm innovation and economic growth, while also depriving consumers of tools that they wish to have.

This event will bring together leaders in the effort to protect privacy while also enabling the benefits of innovative technology. Speakers will discuss the technology, law, and policy of “what to do” about emerging tracking technologies, with special attention to the concerns of kids and families.

EVENT FULL: This event is now full and we can no longer accept RSVPs. Please watch the live webcast here.

Americans take for granted that when we flip a switch, the light will go on; when we turn up the thermostat, the room will get warm; and when we pull up to the pump, gas will be plentiful and relatively cheap. In The End of Energy, Michael Graetz shows us that we have been living an energy delusion for 40 years. Until the 1970s we produced domestically all the oil we needed to run our power plants, heat our homes, and fuel our cars. Since then, we have had to import most of the oil we use, much of it from the Middle East. And we rely on an even dirtier fuel—coal—to produce half of our electricity. Graetz describes more than 40 years of energy policy incompetence—from the Nixon administration's fumbled response to the OPEC oil embargo through the failure to develop alternative energy sources to the current political standoff over "cap and trade"—and argues that we must make better decisions for our energy future.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion on Graetz's new book, The End of Energy.

Copies of The End of Energy will be available for purchase at the event.

Over two years ago Christine Varney began her tenure as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. In this short period of time, under her leadership the Division has reinvigorated enforement against anticompetitive conduct and potentially problematic mergers. Moreover, the Division has worked closely with other arms of the Administration in addressing competitive problems in critical areas such as health care and agriculture. This approach to antitrust enforcement and engagement in competition issues across the government has contributed to the Administration's efforts to promote innovation, job growth through preservation of competitive forces in the market, and more efficient use of governmental coordination to spur economic growth.

Ms. Varney will address the critical challenges facing the Division and Administration in addressing competition issues throughout the economy.

Teacher effectiveness—the number one in-school factor determining student learning—is critical to education reform. In January 2010 the Illinois State Legislature passed a significant education reform law tying educators’ evaluations to improvements in student achievement (the Performance Evaluation Reform Act). Last month the legislature passed Senate Bill 7, incorporating performance into personnel decisions to ensure the most effective teachers are placed and remain in the classroom. S.B. 7 represents a bipartisan legislative package negotiated by legislators, the State Board of Education, education reform groups, teachers’ unions, and school management. This is an encouraging example of unions collaborating with management to support changes in teacher tenure, dismissal, layoffs, and strikes.

Join the Center for American Progress for a conversation of the process and collaboration involved in creating this major education reform legislation with key stakeholders. Discussants will consider implications and applications for federal policy. We will launch the conversation with a case study of the evolution and enactment of S.B. 7 by Elliot Regenstein, and will also release a new publication by Saul Rubinstein and John McCarthy on how six public school systems instituted reforms through union-management collaboration.

Central to the premise of health reform is the effort to simultaneously improve the quality of our health care and lower its costs. Meeting this challenge will require changing the way in which we use and pay for care. While accountable care organizations have received the lion’s share of public attention, the Affordable Care Act authorizes a pilot program to bundle Medicare payments around “episodes” of hospital care—paying collectively for the services that an individual receives during and after hospitalization. That is because many believe bundles have the potential to address two critical cost drivers in the health care system—volume and fragmentation. Between now and 2013, CMS is tasked with developing the most effective bundling pilots possible—building on experience from public- and private-sector initiatives to determine what works and what does not work.

Please join us for a discussion of the most effective design features for bundles that CMS should consider. We will also discuss lessons from the private sector.

In recent months, anti-Muslim forces have raised the specter of Sharia usurping the Constitution and destroying the American way of life. Bills have been introduced in more than two dozen states that would “ban” the practice of Sharia law—despite the fact that Sharia is not a collection of laws but a set of diversely interpreted guidelines for religious practice. In addition, no Muslim American leaders are calling for Sharia to override American laws. Banning religious freedom for Muslims is unconstitutional and would have serious consequences for international treaties and for religious expression in other faiths.

Join us for an enlightening discussion with a panel of experts who will explain the basics of Sharia, compare its precepts with those of Christianity and Judaism, dissect how it is being used as a wedge issue in political campaigns, and examine the the real impact on Muslim American communities.

EVENT FULL: This event is now full and we can no longer accept RSVPs. Please watch the live webcast here.

As a result of state and federal legislation promoting school reform, the role of the state education agency has grown, yet the agencies are still shrouded in mystery. How many people do they employ? What is the size of their budgets? Even less is known about the chiefs who lead these agencies.

Join us for a discussion tackling these important questions, as former and current chiefs will share firsthand knowledge of the limitations facing state education agencies and steps they took to overcome these challenges. The Center for American Progress, in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute, will release a report on perhaps the most extensive examination of state education agencies since the mid-1990s, featuring excerpts from in-depth interviews with 13 former and current agency chiefs from around the nation.

As the United States inches closer to the August 2 deadline to reach an agreement on the national debt limit, the president and Congress are facing the need to consider spending cuts even in previously untouchable areas of the budget. In order to make the tough choices needed to reduce the deficit and protect the long-term health of our economy, defense spending must be on the table, particularly since the Pentagon’s budget has done much to contribute to our current fiscal woes. Total U.S. defense spending (in inflation-adjusted dollars) has increased so much over the past decade that it has reached levels not seen since World War II, when the United States had 12 million people under arms and waged wars on three continents in order to deal with threats to our survival as a democratic nation.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion of the role of defense spending in deficit reduction. This event will serve as the launch for a new CAP paper, "A Return to Responsibility," which examines the defense budget choices of past presidents faced with mounting debts and transitions from war to peacetime budgets. The paper argues that previous defense spending cuts—which have historically been bipartisan in nature—did not compromise U.S. national security or create a hollow military despite claims to the contrary. These examples and our current high level of defense spending make it clear that Congress and the Obama administration are well positioned to make sensible defense cuts that will protect our vital security capabilities abroad while building a stronger economy at home.

As painful as the role reversal between parent and child may be for you, assume it is worse for your mother or father, so take care not to demean or humiliate them.

Avoid hospitals and emergency rooms, as well as multiple relocations from home to assisted living facility to nursing home, since all can cause dramatic declines in physical and cognitive well-being among the aged. Do not accept the canard that no decent child sends a parent to a nursing home. Good nursing home care, which supports the entire family, can be vastly superior to the pretty trappings but thin staffing of assisted living or the solitude of being at home, even with round-the-clock help.

Please join the Center for American Progress as author Jane Gross discusses her experiences with her own family in a discussion about her book, A Bittersweet Season.

Copies of A Bittersweet Season will be available for purchase at the event

School finance reform is a critical component of broader education reform. The U.S. Department of Education has recognized the importance of school finance by creating a new commission on Equity and Excellence, charged with making recommendations for restructuring school finance systems to achieve equity in the distribution of educational resources and further student performance. Since 90 percent of school funding is provided by state and local sources, state school finance systems are significant levers in any meaningful reform effort. The state of Rhode Island recently undertook the difficult process of reforming its school finance system and emerged with a new funding formula that incorporates many best practices in school finance. This case study is an encouraging example of stakeholder collaboration and provides valuable lessons for other states that are considering school finance reform.

Join the Center for American Progress for a conversation about the importance of school finance reform and its implications for achieving greater equity and increased student achievement. We will launch the conversation with comments by Christopher Edley, co-chair of the Equity and Excellence Commission. We will release a case study of the evolution and enactment of school finance reform in Rhode Island by Kenneth Wong, and will also release a new publication by Diana Epstein on measuring inequity in school funding.

Immigration reform opponents persist in leveling sensational—and often patently false—claims meant to scare the public about border violence and insecurity. The reality, however, is that surges in manpower, technology, and physical infrastructure have fundamentally enhanced the Border Patrol’s ability to prevent and intercept unauthorized migrants and smugglers.

Illegal immigration flows at our southern border have slowed dramatically and recent reports highlight that violent crime rates along the U.S.-Mexico border have been falling for years and that border cities of all sizes have maintained crime rates below the national average.

This panel of distinguished experts and officials will help separate fact from fiction in the debate over border security. The participants will discuss how far we’ve come since the border buildup began 18 years ago and what additional steps we need to take to enhance the integrity and safety of our border.

EVENT FULL: This event is now full and we can no longer accept RSVPs. Please watch the live webcasthere.

As 2012 approaches, much attention has been focused on the key parts of the coalition that swept President Barack Obama into office. Within that coalition, African Americans were seen as a reliable voting block on the left. But is that still true? With persistently high unemployment and continuing economic woes within the black community, is there room for the right to make inroads? How has the election of the nation's first black president changed the course of the civil rights movement? And as African Americans migrate from northern cities to states like Georgia and Texas, what will this reverse migration mean for 2012 and beyond? Will the increasing numbers of black immigrants and young biracial African Americans have a dramatic effect on the policy agenda of the black community?

Please join us for a dynamic conversation about the African American community and its importance and place in the electorate.

Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface and support a web of life so vast and unknown that a 10-year census effort completed in 2010 found 20,000 new species and estimated that at least 750,000 yet undiscovered creatures could dwell in the depths. Interactions with ocean species are fundamental to life on land as well, including human life. While sea creatures have sustained us for millennia, today we are failing dramatically in our responsibility to take care of them. Pollution, overfishing, and human-induced global climate change are destroying habitat, decimating populations, and causing extinctions of entire species.

We invite you to join the Ocean Program of the Center for American Progress to hear the stories and see the breathtaking images of the species that populate our oceans, thrill our souls, and help sustain life on this blue planet. We will hear from a panel of renowned ocean experts, each of whom has a new book about ocean life in various forms.

Copies of Demon Fish, Citizens of the Sea, and For Cod and Country will be available for purchase at the event.

While Latinos are often seen as a monolithic community that is Catholic and socially conservative, the reality is far more nuanced and complex. Unlike conventional wisdom, Latino Catholics tend to actually be more progressive than Latino evangelicals on key social issues such as LGBT equality and reproductive rights and justice. And while the majority of Latinos are Catholics, an increasing number are becoming evangelical. There are also marked generational differences as well as differing views depending on whether one is an immigrant or U.S. born. What are the policy and political implications of these differing identities and views? And what efforts are underway in the Latino community to examine these issues through a family values or moral/faith lens?

Please join the Center for American Progress for an insightful discussion with leadings scholars and practitioners to explore the diversity of the Latino community, their views on key social issues, and the impact these views have on the policy and political world.

Protecting U.S. national security in the 21st century will require all the tools of American power – military, diplomatic, development, and homeland defense. Our defensive and preventative programs, however, continue to be funded at a fraction of the Pentagon’s nearly $700 billion budget and are at risk of further cuts.

Please join keynote speaker Thomas R. Nides, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, for a discussion of the Obama administration's efforts to achieve a true national security budget for the United States. Deputy Nides has been at the forefront of pushing for new, innovative budget measures for State and USAID operations.

Following Deputy Nides' remarks, featured panelists Miriam Pemberton and Lawrence Korb will discuss a new report on the FY 2012 Unified Security Budget. This report argues that combining the budgets of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and State into one Unified Security Budget would enable us to rebalance our security portfolio and better protect American interests at home and abroad. CAP senior fellow Richard Verma will moderate the discussion.

The attacks of 9/11 left a permanent mark on the psyche of the American people. For those who were in middle or high school or just starting college in 2001, their lives and worldviews were changed by the attacks in a way that no other event could compare in the most formative years of their young lives. How do they view the role of America in the world? Did they see a change in the culture and temperament of this country? And did the attacks change what it meant for them to be an American? From the media they consume to the career paths they choose, the 9/11 Generation will shape American policy and identity in the coming decades, just as they were shaped by that fateful day.

Please join the Center for American Progress for an expert discussion of the potential and perils of the Obama administration's new initiative aimed at reducing the inventory of foreclosed homes for sale.

The administration's Request for Information expressed interest in one promising approach: fixing up and converting to affordable rental a large number of properties. The aim would be to improve the government's recovery of losses, help stabilize neighborhoods and local home values, and, where appropriate, increase the supply of affordable rental housing. The administration seeks responses by September 15. CAP experts have written before about many benefits to this approach, which could potentially also help address rising rental demand and even offer an opportunity to make a dent in reducing the energy consumption of our housing stock. But there are potential pitfalls as well. Sometimes investor ownership of single-family homes has been a detriment to communities. And "scattered site" rental housing has proven difficult to do at scale.

How can this approach be designed to realize the benefits and overcome the challenges? The Center for American Progress is bringing together a group of experts for a conversation about how this concept can be made to work.

Despite the successes of the Obama administration at the United Nations, the United States faces political and budgetary pressures that could restrict, diminish, or condition U.S. engagement in this crucial international institution. In the current climate, the need to maintain, leverage, and bolster our multilateral partnerships in order to advance U.S. interests and address a range of critical national security priorities couldn’t be more evident.

Please join keynote speaker Dr. Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary for International Organizations Affairs, for a discussion of the critical role the United States plays at the United Nations to ensure the organization can continue to address the broad and growing range of global challenges. Assistant Secretary Brimmer will also discuss ongoing administration efforts to ensure the United Nations and its institutions are more effective, efficient, and transparent.

There is an alternate universe where most of the Twentieth Century violates the Constitution—and a growing number of lawmakers live in it. Sen. Tom Coburn believes that Pell Grants, federal student loans and all other federal education programs violate the Constitution. Justice Clarence Thomas would strike down the national minimum wage and the ban on whites-only lunch counters. Senator Mike Lee believes that child labor laws, federal disaster relief, food stamps, the Food and Drug Administration, Social Security and Medicare are all forbidden.

Yet many of the same lawmakers who claim America is powerless to help students, workers, the jobless and the elderly imagine that the Constitution gives them sweeping power to trample on the rights of women and immigrants. In their vision, everything they oppose is forbidden, and much of what they support is mandatory.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion of how America will change if the Tea Party succeeds in implementing its constitutional vision, and of why their imagined constitution cannot be squared with the document itself.

Jezebel's sexual lasciviousness, Mammy's devotion, and Sapphire's outspoken anger—these are among the most persistent stereotypes that black women encounter in contemporary American life. Such representations force African American women to navigate a virtual crooked room that shames them and shapes their experiences as citizens. Many respond by assuming a mantle of strength that may convince others, and even themselves, that they do not need help. But as a result, the unique political issues of black women are often ignored and marginalized.

In this groundbreaking book, Melissa V. Harris-Perry explores black women's political and emotional responses to pervasive negative race and gender images. Not a traditional political science work concerned with office-seeking, voting, or ideology, Sister Citizen instead explores how African American women understand themselves as citizens and what they expect from political organizing. Harris-Perry shows that the shared struggle to preserve an authentic self and secure recognition as a citizen links together black women in America, from the anonymous survivors of Hurricane Katrina to the current First Lady of the United States.

Copies of Sister Citizen will be available for purchase at the event.

Millions of Americans have lost their homes since the start of the Great Recession. By the middle of 2010, 4.6 percent of U.S. home mortgages were in foreclosure, three times the rate seen at the height of the Great Depression. In light of proposed regulations and the president’s proposal to revive the housing market, the conversation about the critical needs for the industry and individuals is vital to turning knowledge into policy that will rebuild a system that preserves access to credit while ensuring lenders can continue to do business.

The Center for American Progress, Brookings Institution Press, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for Community Capital invite you to join an esteemed panel for a deeper exploration of how the relationships between the lending industry, government, and borrowers worked in the past decade and how it can be revived and reformed for coming generations.

America’s new arrivals have always been one of our nation’s greatest sources of strength and, at times, challenge. When newcomers arrive to a community, they bring great assets, but their presence can also cause tension within the receiving communities, particularly those who do not have the institutional support to facilitate integration.‬

‪Though widely experienced, the challenges of integration are largely ignored and too little attention is given to how local communities can help facilitate, or impede, the process of integration of new arrivals.‬

Please join us for a fascinating two-part event that breaks new ground in a phenomenon as old as our nation—how communities sometimes cower, but more often conquer fears and grow stronger by embracing differences. First, an abridged screening of a soon-to-be-aired PBS documentary entitled “Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness” that gives a clear-eyed view how the town of Patchogue, New York, reacted and rebounded after an immigrant was killed in a hate crime attack by local teenagers.‬

Following the screening, experts from across the nation will discuss the importance of focusing on what receiving communities can do to help integrate new arrivals, and what others can learn from communities that have taken the lead in creating a dynamic process of integration. The discussion will draw heavily from a two-day gathering of experts on integration and a soon-to-be-released CAP report.

Adult learners, mobile learners, and other nontraditional students often come to postsecondary education with learning acquired outside of the traditional classroom. They have learning that comes from noncredit programs, corporate or military training, workplace-based learning, volunteering, and other activities. But these students often end up paying for and taking courses in subjects that they already know—wasting both their money and time.

There are upstart leaders in higher education who are blazing a trail in the effective use of Prior Learning Assessments, or PLAs, which help students succeed in college by rewarding learning wherever it occurs. Our session will take an in-depth look at these solutions at both the systemic and individual institution level. How did they get started? How are they demonstrating effectiveness? What models do they suggest for best practice replication? Please join us for a lively discussion on these questions.

How can we close the achievement and opportunity gaps that plague our nation’s public schools? How can we improve the thousands of schools in high-poverty communities that are failing to prepare students for long-term success? Expanding learning time and redesigning the school day is one promising solution.

Join us for a discussion tackling these important questions, as Secretary Duncan, Commissioner King, and experts in the field of time and learning highlight successful models and outline how expanded-time schools across America are improving teacher quality, deepening and broadening instruction, and preparing students for high school, college, and workforce success.

Additionally, NCTL will release a new report, "Time Well Spent: Eight Powerful Practices of Successful, Expanded-Time Schools" at this event.

The Center for American Progress is proud to host Anya Kamenetz and other leading higher education policy experts for a panel discussion about Kamenetz's new e-book, The Edupunks' Guide. The discussion will focus on emerging strategies for students to acquire high-quality education and credentials outside of the traditional classroom. The session will also cover new educational models and technologies that could potentially transform the higher education industry. As Anya says in her e-book, "College takes time. College is expensive. College is exclusive. College is no longer the only way to get a great education."

This new e-book presents an ideal opportunity to bring together students, educators, researchers, and policymakers to continue our ongoing exploration of higher education policies that make it easier for nontraditional students to access high-quality education at a reasonable cost.

Please join keynote speaker William J. Lynn III, Deputy Secretary of Defense, for a farewell address on his last day serving in the Obama administration. As the Pentagon’s second highest ranking civilian, Secretary Lynn has been a key member of President Obama’s national security team for more than two and a half years. He will discuss how to keep our nation safe in a time of fiscal austerity.

Following Secretary Lynn's remarks, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Rudy deLeon, now the Center for American Progress' Senior VP for National Security and International Policy, will join Secretary Lynn in a conversation that will cover a wide range of national security issues, including cyber security, the future of war, and the effort to achieve a more unified national security budget.

"Safety and Services: Women of Color Speak about their Communities," a new report released by the Center for Family Policy and Practice, highlights the perspectives and needs of African American women living in low-income communities.

Based on a series of listening sessions with domestic violence victims, survivors, advocates, and community service providers, "Safety and Services" elevates women's experiences and perspectives on how they should be served.

This event marks the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and is co-sponsored by the Center for Family Policy and Practice, the Center for American Progress, and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.

This October marks another solemn 10-year anniversary, as a decade has passed since a series of letters containing anthrax spores infected 17 Americans and killed 5, and introduced the United States to the dangers of a biological attack. The anthrax was sent to news outlets and two congressional offices, including Sen. Tom Daschle’s office in Washington.

Much has changed in U.S. preparedness—including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security with primary responsibility for responding to biological threats—but many questions that Americans faced for the first time ten years ago still linger and require meaningful action. Policymakers need to ask: Are we better prepared today?

The United States is undergoing a tremendous demographic shift. According to the 2010 Census it is projected that by the year 2050, if not sooner, there will be no ethnic majority in our nation. That future has already arrived in various communities and states across our nation. What are the implications of this demographic shift? How are the communities that have experienced this shift in the last decade managing this change? What are the opportunities and challenges of a more diverse society? And most importantly what is our collective vision for the year 2050 and what do we need to do today to make that vision a reality?

Please join the Center for American Progress to explore these questions and to launch an exciting new project — Progress 2050 which seeks to explore and analyze the policy implications of the demographic change and work towards a more inclusive progressive agenda.

As with many issues, guns have been portrayed as deeply polarized—extremes on either side and no middle ground. In 2008 the Supreme Court found that there is a constitutional right to own guns, and it concurred that the government has the right—and responsibility—to protect its citizens with reasonable restrictions designed to keep Americans safe from gun violence.

In fact, for nearly 200 years federal and state laws have imposed conditions and restrictions on gun ownership with the support of gun owners and the National Rifle Association. Today Americans agree that some restrictions to keep them safe make sense. Meanwhile, for the last several decades (or since the 1970s), the leadership of the NRA has mounted vigorous opposition to any effort to restrict gun ownership and has had some success in weakening federal and state protections.

While the Court is clear that the government cannot arbitrarily restrict gun owners, Americans are increasingly concerned that terrorists and other potentially threatening individuals who may suffer from mental illness or addiction can easily purchase guns legally. Americans expect the government to protect them by making it impossible for these individuals to purchase, own, or carry a gun.

Can progress be made to increase the safety of Americans in light of NRA opposition? Please join the Center for American Progress for a lively discussion about these issues.

The Center for American Progress, Half in Ten, and the National Partnership for Women & Families invite you to a discussion on the growing momentum for paid sick days laws. Paid, job-protected sick days provide a critical workplace standard that promotes the economic security of U.S. workers and their families and safeguards the health of our communities.

Join us for a conversation with Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, who championed and signed the nation's first statewide paid sick days law, Seattle City Council Member Nick Licata, the champion of the paid sick days ordinance that recently made Seattle the third U.S. city with a paid sick days standard, and local restaurant owner Andy Shallal, who provides paid sick days to his employees.

We have entered what is called the “biological century,” and a new biopolitics has emerged to address the implications for America’s collective value system, our well-being, and, ultimately, our future.

Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Jonathan Moreno's new book, The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America, is the first book to recognize and assess this new force in our political landscape—one that fuels today’s culture wars and has motivated politicians of all stripes to re-examine their platforms. As Moreno explains the most contentious issues, he also offers an engaging history of the intersection between science and democracy in American life, a reasoned (and often surprising) analysis of how different political ideologies view scientific controversies, and a vision for how the new biopolitics can help shape the quality of our lives.

Copies of The Body Politic will be available for sale at the event, and Moreno will be available to sign books.

More than 2 million children in the United States have, to varying degrees, become collateral damage after decades of ideology, laws, and policies that hurt lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, people and families. To shine a light on this issue, LGBT, allied, and child welfare-focused organizations are, for the first time, releasing a comprehensive report that profiles and documents the experiences of the 2 million children with LGBT parents, the many ways that state and federal laws hurt and exclude them, and the common-sense policy solutions that can make things better.

Please join the Center for American Progress and Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler to discuss a new report, "All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families." "All Children Matter" was released by the Center for American Progress, the Family Equality Council, and the Movement Advancement Project, in partnership with COLAGE, The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and the National Association of Social Workers (with a foreword by the Child Welfare League of America).

While the history of the left is a long story of idealism and determination, it has also been, in the traditional view, a story of movements that failed to gain support from mainstream America. In American Dreamers, Michael Kazin tells a new history: one in which many of these movements, although they did not fully succeed on their own terms, nonetheless made lasting contributions to American society that led to equal opportunity for women, racial minorities, and homosexuals; the celebration of sexual pleasure; multiculturalism in the media and the schools; and the popularity of books and films with altruistic and antiauthoritarian messages.

With movements for economic and social justice rising globally and across America, please join us for us for a fascinating discussion of the origins, goals, and legacy of the American left. 

Nearly half of all Americans can be expected to go without coverage at least once over a ten year period. Even small bouts of un-insurance can have negative outcomes on individuals’ health and financial stability. Key triggers of loss of coverage include: unemployment, reduction in work hours, changing jobs, moving and divorce. COBRA benefits are currently the main option for people who lose job-based coverage, but take-up rates are low due to high costs at a time of reduced income. The new health insurance exchanges have the potential to provide seamless coverage for those who lose employer-sponsored insurance due to life transitions. Achieving this full potential will require action by the federal and state entities charged with implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

At this event, a panel of experts will present data from a new policy brief to be released at the event and provide recommendations for the federal government and the states on ACA implementation to maximize coverage after life transitions.

You are invited to a symposium celebrating the second anniversary of President Obama's White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI). UCLA will release a special issue of the AAPI Nexus Journal entitled, "Forging the Future: The Role of New Research, Data, and Policies for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders" to celebrate the second anniversary of the establishment of the White House Initiative which was created on October 14, 2009, when President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13515: Increasing the Participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Federal Programs.

The special issue features research originally presented at a WHIAAPI convening on research and data collection in December 2010. The policy briefs in the journal address the following five sectors: Civil Rights, Economic Development (including sustainable neighborhoods), Education, Health, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Through the generous support and commitment to AAPI communities of our co-sponsors, complimentary copies will be available.

As the work of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the super committee, comes to a head, the prospect for an agreement remains uncertain. On Tuesday, November 8 in an event co-hosted by the Center for American Progress and the American Action Forum, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will present his views on how Congress should address the pressing issues facing the committee, the economic implications that are at stake, and his ideas on how a pragmatic, growth-oriented consensus can be forged.

At some point over the next decade, the nation’s public school K-12 student body will have no one clear racial or ethnic majority, and students of color will constitute more than half of the student population. But the makeup of the nation’s teacher workforce force has not kept up with these changing demographics. At the national level, students of color make up more than 40 percent of the public school population. In contrast, teachers of color are only 17 percent of the teaching force.

The lack of diversity in the teaching force is troubling. Increasing the number of teachers of color is not just a matter of philosophical commitment to diversity in career opportunities. While there are effective teachers of many races, teachers of color have demonstrated success in engaging students of similar backgrounds. Teachers of color serve as role models for students, giving them a clear and concrete sense of what diversity looks like in the workplace. A recent review of empirical studies shows that students of color do better on a variety of academic outcomes if they are taught by teachers of color.

Join us for a conversation with leading thinkers on the importance of increasing teacher diversity in our nation’s schools. We will launch the discussion with a paper by Ulrich Boser that analyzes the scope of the teacher-student diversity differential across all fifty states. Saba Bireda will discuss the paper coauthored with Robin Chait, Strategies to Increase Teacher Diversity in the Workforce. We will be joined by a distinguished panel of advocates working to increase teacher diversity and ensure that all students have access to effective teachers.

Join us for an important discussion with Dean Baker and Jared Bernstein on how progressives can build a new economic order that is equitable, productive, and responsive to the needs of all Americans.

Tom Perez is the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and a lifelong public servant. Currently, he directs the Department’s work to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society. The Civil Rights Division enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, disability, religion, familial status and national origin.

In this intimate conversation between Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress, and Tom Perez on a wide array of civil rights issues, from voting rights, predatory lending and bullying to employment and disability discrimination – we will focus on some of our nation’s most pressing civil rights challenges.

Join us for an important discussion with Tobin van Ostern and Lindsay McCluskey, two leading youth organizers, about the values, goals, and issues that young people will bring in 2012.

This leadership roundtable will feature up-to-the-minute thinking from some of the nation's foremost entrepreneurs, executives, and policymakers working in the field of energy efficiency. The discussion will showcase what is working now to build markets and drive new capital investments in smart building practices and innovative energy-saving technologies to jumpstart the flagging building and construction industry. Long hailed as "low hanging fruit," cost-effective energy-saving investments nonetheless face real hurdles in reaching mainstream adoption in real estate and energy markets. At a moment when elected officials in Washington are at an impasse on new legislation, these national leaders will offer their insights on the path forward for changing energy efficiency policies and innovating in business models, as the first step toward wide-scale global deployment of the coming clean energy economy.

Students are the most important stakeholders in public-policy debates about higher education. And yet, they are often excluded from policy discussions that impact them directly. Students struggle to mobilize their collective strength to counteract the institutional interests that do not always share their priorities.

While students have historically been able to mobilize on issues such as financial aid and student debt, it is important to expand student voice to other issues that affect higher education. A strong student voice would be an important addition to discussions about issues that impact cost and quality including: online education, work-study, competency-based assessments, and many other issues that “hit a nerve” with students.

Today, the Center for American Progress releases our first issue brief that looks at student voice and how to improve it. Please join us to explore policies that can help students contribute to making policy discussions more practical and effective.

Two large forces will ultimately determine the outcome of the 2012 election: the shifting demographic balance of the American electorate and the objective reality and voter perception of the economy in key battleground states. Will the rising electorate of communities of color, the Millennial generation, professionals, single women, and seculars that pushed President Barack Obama to victory in 2008 be sufficient and mobilized enough to ensure his reelection in 2012? Or will the Republican Party and its presidential nominee capitalize on a struggling economy and greater mobilization from a conservative base that holds the president in deep disdain?

This panel will explore these and other issues surrounding the 2012 election as presented in an extensive new paper from Ruy Teixeira and John Halpin of the Center for American Progress.

Increasing teacher and teaching effectiveness is a paramount challenge facing public education. But what strategies work and are cost effective?

Do we achieve an effective teacher workforce through intensive supports to help teachers improve their performance? If so, are there sources of effective teacher professional development and training from which states and districts can choose? Despite major investments in professional development from federal, state, and local sources, research shows that most professional development in current use is ineffective.

Join us for an extended conversation involving two panels of leading thinkers on proven solutions that improve teacher and teaching effectiveness, and evaluation issues that are unique to high school teacher improvement.

Our nation’s youngest adults are at an historic disadvantage due to a generation of policy shifts away from the commitments that once built America’s strong middle class. Today's 20-somethings are the first Americans to face downward economic mobility compared to their parents' generation. Most young people today earn lower wages than their parents, yet pay more for education, health care, child care, and housing. In short, it has become significantly more difficult to work or educate one’s way into the middle class.

A new report entitled "The State of Young America," provides a comprehensive look at economic trends among young adults. An accompanying national poll of young adults reveals a population worried about their financial prospects and still reeling from the Great Recession. With the 2012 elections right around the corner, young adults identified key priorities for Congress and strong interest in making their voices heard at the ballot box.

Please join us for a conversation with policy experts and youth leaders about the economic challenges facing today’s young adults and the policy reforms that could help ensure our nation’s future middle class.

Join award-winning director Chris Weitz and star actor Demian Bichir in a special screening of A Better Life, a heart breaking tale of the lives of today’s immigrants.

From Chris Weitz, director of About a Boy, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Golden Compass, comes A Better Life – a poignant, multi-generational story about a father’s love and everything a parent will sacrifice to build a better life for his child. This highly acclaimed film puts on the silver screen the perils and tribulations that immigrants face every day across our nation.

Carlos Galindo (Demian Bichir) dreamed of good things for his wife and future son when they crossed the border into the U.S. But after years of hard work and little reward, Carlos’ only goal became to make sure his son Luis was given the opportunities he never had. After everything he’s worked for is suddenly taken away, father and son embark on a physical and spiritual journey where they discover something more important – that family is the most important part of the American dream.

The Center for American Progress, with special thanks to the Gala Hispanic Theater, presents a special screening of A Better Life, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A session featuring Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan, Chris Weitz, Demian Bichir, and Angela Kelley.

President Obama has something going for him that few pundits recognize—he's a Teflon president. Entering the presidential election year, the word "scandal" does not mar his presidency. Yes, there are the "birther" inanities, uproars over "policy czars," and empty allegations of corruption. But even the Solyndra affair seems to have fizzled without the mainstream press invoking the "s" word on a front page.

This lack of scandal is now drawing attention in Washington. In his new cover story for the Washington Monthly, Jonathan Alter steps back and asks why it is that Obama has turned out to be a Teflon president—and how, in a tight race, that could help his reelection. Please join Alter and Think Progress editor Faiz Shakir for a panel discussion on “The Teflon Presidency of Barack Obama", cosponsored by Washington Monthly.

We often discuss the American Idea in terms of economic opportunity, human rights, and our responsibility abroad. Creativity and innovation are critical drivers of the American economy and arguments for the American Dream, and they've been recognized as such since copyright was enshrined in the Constitution. But the rise of digital media—and with it, new norms about content consumption and content theft—pose new challenges to the creative economy, and raise key issues about the future of the internet and international trade.

Join us for a conversation with former Senator and Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America Chris Dodd about the future of the creative industries and the relationship between technology and intellectual property in a global and rapidly-evolving marketplace.