Right Angle Club (RAC) Monthly Member Newsletter
for
June, 2021
Upcoming Zoom Speakers & their Presentation Topics
June 4, Susan Glassman, Executive Director, Wagner Free Institute of Science, a natural history museum at 1700 West Montgomery Avenue in north Philadelphia. Susan will explain how a natural history museum founded in 1855 remains relevant and a rare surviving example of a Victorian era scientific society, with a museum, research center, library, and educational facilities.
June 11, Karen Tibbals will speak on the topic of “Can Business Be a Unifying Force?” She brings to this topic her experience in the pharmaceutical industry as well as an intensive study of psychology and theology. She holds an MBA in Marketing from Rutgers University and an MA in Religion from Earlham School of Religion. She is the author of two books on political polarization: Marketing Landmines: The Next Generation of Emotional Branding and Persuade, Don’t Preach: Restoring Civility Across the Political Divide.
June 18, Brendan J. O’Malley, Chief Deputy Attorney General for Gun Violence for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, will talk about what is being done at the state level to combat the rise of gun violence in Philadelphia and elsewhere in the state.
June 25, Renee Hykel Cuddy, Esquire, principal and founder of Hykell Law with a mission of helping foreign immigrants to enjoy the same freedoms, aspirations and opportunities enjoyed by U.S. citizens will give her perspective on the state of immigration policy and assess President Biden’s immigration reform proposals.
New Member
The Board unanimously accepted the application of Bernadette (Bonnie) Mueller for membership
Previous Month’s Speakers’ Presentations Summarized
(prepared by Bob Haskell)
May 7, 2021. Scott Ordway, composer, conductor, writer, and Assistant Professor of Music Composition in the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, talked about “The Wisdom of Crowds”: his recent work in creating large-scale, multidisciplinary, crowd-sourced musical compositions inspired by architecture, landscape, and the lives of cities. His work has been called “exquisite” by The New York Times, “a marvel” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, and “an American response to Sibelius” by The Boston Globe. After listening to his talk and music, we agree with these reviews. Crowd-sourced music is serious work, created in direct collaboration with the public. The disconnects that often exist between composer and performer, creators and audience, contemporary culture and ancient music, and creation and interpretation are resolved. The music emerges from the context of connection to time, place, and community. The ordinary becomes whimsical by the scale of contribution from a large number of creators. The invisible becomes visible by exposing something about the inner lives of the participating public/community. In general, the public is asked to contribute audio, text (in response to a framing question), and short videos. An overarching theme is usually suggested. This material is analyzed and synthesized with the help of computer algorithms. The task of the music composition is to create harmony and counterpoint that match the synthesized input. Several examples were presented. 1) Brotherly Love (2015) (https://www.scottordway.com/
May 21, 2021. Jonathan Zimmerman, Professor of History of Education in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, talked about his newest book Free Speech, and Why You Should Give a Damn, which is sprinkled throughout with a few political cartoons of prior speaker Signe Wilkinson. In summary, one cannot improve on Ben Franklin’s comment on the importance of this topic: “Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.” Although it can hurt and offend, free speech is the best vehicle for righting the wrongs of society. Jonathan makes four claims in the book for what free speech should do (but hasn’t for most of history). 1) Free speech allows us to criticize our leaders. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Civil War (1861-1865) censorship, Espionage Act of 1917, Sedition Act of 1918, and Viet Nam War protest restrictions are examples of how free speech has suffered in the past, particularly in times of war. There is a natural resistance by government to prevent citizens from saying anything that might help the other side. However, free speech allows the legitimacy of government to be tested and decided. 2) Free speech allows racial minorities, women, LGBTQ, and working-class Americans to challenge their oppression. It is the only weapon they have. People with the least advantage will suffer if free speech is banned, because their plight will not be heard. Abolitionism (John Quincy Adams, Frederick Douglas), women’s suffrage (Margaret Sanger), gay rights (through publications that connect everyone), civil rights (speaker and writer DuBois, NAACP) are all examples of free speech making a difference. 3) Free speech allows us to create and enjoy the art, film, and literature of our choice. We enjoy Signe Wilkinson’s political cartoons. Many books we call classics today (e.g., D. H Lawrence, Hemingway) were initially censored in the US. Every state created censorship boards for films. Recently, we are censoring material that might offend minorities or will harm young minds. For example, the controversial George Washington mural at a San Francisco high school was painted over because it was considered racist for its depiction of black and Native American people. 4) Free speech allows students and teachers to speak their minds at school. Students had no free speech rights until the Tinker vs. Des Moines Supreme Court decision, which ruled in favor of Mary Beth Tinker, who wore a black armband to school to protest the Viet Nam War. If a school wants to censor free expression today, it must show material disruption to learning, not just a suspicion of disruption. The Court ruled that armbands did not interfere with the educational process. Also, the Supreme Court is now considering a case of 10th grade student who was suspended because of a profanity-laced social media post outside of school. If the school district wins the case, we may be able to censor anyone, anywhere. There were 23 participants.
Carter Broach
Corresponding Secretary
broach@udel.edu
