Spring 2010 Newsletter
vol. 15, No. 3 - Spring Term 2010
On the web at: http://rockefeller.dartmouth.edu
In my last “Direct Line,†I discussed my motivation for teaching my new course, Public Policy 48, “Policy Analysis and Local Governance,†during the winter 2010 term. With the term now completed and as I finish grading the students’ campaign platforms for local office and grant applications to local nonprofits, I would like to take this opportunity to share what I learned in my first foray into local public policy. These assignments are described more fully in the course syllabus.
First, the diversity in student backgrounds contributed positively to the learning environment through the students’ use of their hometowns as extended case studies. Name a divide and we crossed it—racial, ethnic, political, urban/rural, suburb/city, and rich/poor. There are fascinating stories of local struggles within and between communities across America, and they were as embodied in the experiences of my students as in any book or article we read for the course. Every student had the opportunity to learn from and empathize with every other student in the course, and I was proud of their sincerity and their civility in the way they conducted class discussions.
Second, there were tremendous learning opportunities from guest speakers in the class. In addition to Stephanie McHenry ’84, the president of Shorebank, Cleveland region, who provided some inspiration for the course, we welcomed Joshua Young, who works as the legislative liaison and deputy director of community coordination at Boston ABCD; Karen Liot Hill ’00, former mayor and current member of the Lebanon (N.H.) City Council; and Brian Langdon, former president and CEO of FSW Inc., one of the largest social service agencies in Connecticut; Langdon is now leading the effort to take the Workshop in Business Opportunities program national through the Alliance for Children and Families. When Dartmouth students interact with smart people who are making worthwhile careers out of building coalitions to solve local public policy challenges, they are inspired to get engaged themselves. Our guests' experiences span a range my own simply cannot match.
Third, among the issues addressed in the course, concentrated poverty and public education stood out in their importance to the students. At the local level, there is often a vicious cycle that comes into play: a shock to the local economy weakens the tax base and increases the demands on social services; crime increases as licit employment opportunities disappear and police resources are cut; schools deteriorate in the face of lagging budgets and greater demands; higher-income families flee the declining social services and higher tax burden, exacerbating the strain on local budgets and starting the cycle anew. It has gotten so bad in some cities that the mayors are simply looking to bulldoze uninhabited parts of the city.
The students came to understand that it is their responsibility to lead their communities out of this vicious cycle. They displayed this through their choice of grant applications for projects they might do in their hometowns in a leave term or after graduation: case management and expanded services for homeless individuals, prisoners reentering the community, or children with parents in prison; entrepreneurial training programs to promote economic self-sufficiency; and all manner of private supplementing of public education, whether through early interventions, after-school programs, or assistance in transitioning to college. With the term over, I now look forward to helping my students make some of these projects a reality.
The Great Leadership Literature
During the fall term of the 2010 academic year, Dartmouth College will welcome Barbara Kellerman, the James MacGregor Burns Lecturer in Public Leadership at Harvard’s University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She will be on campus as the visiting professor of leadership at the Rockefeller Center. As a political scientist who has pioneered the academic study of leadership, Kellerman has lectured and written extensively on the subject. Her most recent books include Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters (2004); Followership: How Followers Are Creating Change and Changing Leaders (2008);and Leadership: Essential Selections on Power, Authority, and Influence (2010). She has been ranked by Forbes.com as among the top 50 “most influential management gurus†(2009) and by Leadership Excellence in the top 15 of 100 “thought leaders in management and leadership†(2008–09).
Her appointment covers a variety of responsibilities that will enhance students’ exposure to and understanding of the study of leadership, including teaching a new public policy course on the foundations of leadership. In addition to this course, she will be presenting a session in the Rockefeller Center’s Leadership Fellows program, delivering a public lecture, and teaching a Tuck School of Business mini-course on “Women and Leadership.â€
The study of leadership has been Kellerman’s great intellectual passion for the past twenty-five years. In recent years, she has paid particular attention to what she considers the leadership canon: the great works in human history that consider matters of dominance and deference. At the Kennedy School, Kellerman teaches a course on leadership literacy that draws on many classic thinkers, including Lao Tzu, Vladimir Lenin, Sigmund Freud, Niccolò Machiavelli, John Locke, and Betty Friedan—individuals whose great seminal ideas continue to influence public life.
Another expertise of Kellerman’s is the study of followership, something she considers every bit as important as leadership. She defines “followership†as the relationship between subordinates and superiors and the response of the former to the latter. As the demands of followers increase, a leader's performance also must be altered.
Dartmouth students who take Kellerman’s undergraduate leadership course may expect to be intellectually challenged to see the patterns of leadership that emerge as one examines this body of knowledge in leadership. They will be asked to consider how these materials relate to their own experience and can be used in examining leadership and followership in the twenty-first century.
We hope that Kellerman's course will be an important element of the way Dartmouth students begin to understand a lifetime of responsible leadership.
Learn more about Barbara Kellerman
PRS Students Study Self-Represented Litigants in New Hampshire State Courts
As part of the Rockefeller Center’s Policy Research Shop (PRS) activities, Visiting Assistant Professor David Glick is guiding a team of students researching litigants who represent themselves in civil cases in New Hampshire’s state courts. The study will be conducted during the spring term.
People who choose to represent themselves in divorce, landlord-tenant, and small claims cases, for example, pose a number of potential issues for state court systems. If individuals representing themselves cannot find adequate information about the legal process, they may become a burden to the court staff, causing delays, costing the state money, and putting judges and other attorneys in difficult positions. They may also fare worse than they otherwise might and end up dissatisfied.
The PRS study aims to examine the usability and effectiveness of the web resources that the New Hampshire court system offers to assist these self-represented litigants. The study will assess two general areas of concern: Are the current web resources adequate in providing easily accessible information to those who know what they are looking for? And are uninformed users of the information able to achieve a basic level of competency to represent themselves, understand the information presented in court, or ask the right questions?
Approximately one hundred Dartmouth students will take part in the study, serving as surrogate self-represented litigants. They will be asked to research a realistic legal situation (e.g., a plausible small claims dispute) provided by court staff. Half the students will search online resources provided by the New Hampshire courts, and the other half will use resources provided by the court system in Hennepin County, Minn. The latter is widely regarded as a leader in these areas. After having time to research, the participants will answer questions to assess their knowledge and competence. The PRS team will analyze how well participants did and how they used the sites. The results of the study will provide valuable feedback about the relative strengths and weaknesses of New Hampshire’s web resources. Additionally, this comparison will help identify easy additions/improvements to the New Hampshire site.
Learn more about the Center’s Policy Research Shop
Brian Langdon on Public Policy and Change
On Tuesday, February 23, Brian Langdon was the guest speaker at Professor Andrew Samwick’s public policy class, “Policy Analysis and Local Governance.†The course is focused on analyzing the public policy challenges that local communities face.
Langdon is the director of Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) a training program designed to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with the basic skills required to start and successfully run their own businesses. There currently are seven active WIBO programs in New York City, and the home branch is in Bridgeport, Conn. Langdon is a visionary leader and community builder, employing a holistic, integrative service-delivery model of behavioral health, youth services, budgeting and financial education, literacy services, job training, and social enterprises to help low income families become economically self-sufficient.
Langdon described how he began his academic career as a psychology major and realized he wanted to be a more active participant in changing the world. This led to a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan and a beginning career as a social worker in Maine.
Throughout his career, Langdon has sought concrete approaches to deal with the social services challenges that communities face. He stressed the need for collaboration and focus on helping the people served by his agencies. This approach is evident in his management of WIBO. He was awarded the 2009 Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award for his efforts.
Later in the day, Langdon met with representatives from a number of student groups, including Club of Dartmouth Entrepreneurs (CODE), Women in Business Organization of Dartmouth, Dartmouth Black Business Association, Dartmouth Business Journal, Dartmouth Society of Investment & Economics, and the International Business Council, as well as public policy students. Throughout his meetings with students, he stressed his message that the measure of success is not always about money, but rather the ability to see beyond your own personal vision and advocate for change—being in a position to influence public policy, which is both a statement of support and at the core of any mobilizing action.
WIBO Background
WIBO was founded in 1966 as a private nonprofit organization that is committed to assisting men and women with the drive to become successful entrepreneurs. WIBO Bridgeport makes it possible for aspiring and current entrepreneurs in the greater Bridgeport area to obtain the startup business skills they need in a comfortable, accessible, productive, interactive, professional environment. In 2008, Michael C. Jackson ’62, a former chair of the Rockefeller Center Board of Visitors, provided a generous gift to fund WIBO internship opportunities.
The Rockefeller Center sent its first intern, Alicia Modeen ’10, to WIBO in winter 2009. She has since written and spoken eloquently about her WIBO experience. She was followed by intern Steven Cheng ’10 during spring term 2009. Together, they produced a Policy Research Brief [0809-11], entitled, “Participant Outcomes of the Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) Program,†which provides a full report on their experiences.
“Slaveownians†Abroad: Proslavery Confederates on the Global Stage
In 2009, Robert Bonner, associate professor of history, was awarded a Rockefeller Center faculty research grant. His ongoing project, “‘Slaveownians’ Abroad: Proslavery Confederates on the Global Stage,†examines how Confederate partisans of a “White Atlantic†aggressively vindicated racial supremacy just as U.S. bondage was being toppled. Bonner recently returned from a three-month stay in London, where he researched foreign commentary on the American Civil War at the British Library and a number of smaller archives.
Bonner explored Southern proslavery arguments in his earlier scholarly work but is breaking new ground in this current focus on the international context of Confederate partisanship. He notes that when viewed in a global setting, the South’s “slavery aggressions†of the 1850s and 1860s had few, if any, modern counterparts. He is particularly interested in tracing those transnational networks in which this Southern zealotry attained both international influence and international notoriety.
His research in London resulted in several discoveries, which he is now incorporating in a series of scholarly publications. Among the most interesting to him was the charge made by Europeans that Confederates might not simply perpetuate slavery but resurrect the slave trade from Africa, thus “turning back the clock†to before 1807, when Great Britain and the United States both outlawed this practice.
Bonner is often asked why not simply consign proslavery ideologues to “the dustbin of historyâ€? After all, those Britons who fought for the slave trade in the 1790s had “flickered in the socket, died out, stank in the dark for a brief season, and were remembered no more, even by the smell,†to use Abraham Lincoln’s memorable description of the 1850s. Yet he has found that forgetting is not the most effective way to express an understandable sense of moral outrage. It takes some work, he notes, to lay bare the pernicious logic of proslavery efforts and to explore “the unusually self-conscious nature of America’s ‘master class’ and the especially systematic nature of Southern proslavery polemics.â€
Bonner will be giving a faculty presentation on his work later in the spring term.
SPRING EVENTS AT THE ROCKEFELLER CENTER
Learn more about Upcoming Programs
Public Lectures
A Moderated Panel Discussion on "Great Issues in Energy Symposium, The Nuclear Option"
Panel
Dr. Ernest Moniz,Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Director of the Energy Initiative, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Joe Romm, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress
Dr. Alex Glaser, Assistant Professor, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University
Co-moderated by Lee Lynd, Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering Design, and Andrew Samwick, Professor of Economics and Director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center
3:00–5:15 PM • Spanos Auditorium, Thayer SchoolA Thayer School of Engineering event
Learn More
Russell Muirhead, Robert Clements Associate Professor of Democracy and Politics, Dartmouth College
“What Good Citizens Should Know: Civics for the 21st Centuryâ€â€¨Thursday, April 15 

4:30 PM• 3 Rockefeller Hall

Co-sponsored with The League of Women Voters
Ezekiel Emanuel, Chair, Clinical Center Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health; Special Advisor on Health Policy to the Director of OMB, Executive Office of the President of the United States of America
“How to Think Through Ethical Dilemmasâ€Friday, April 16,
4:30 PM• 3 Rockefeller Hall
Co-sponsored with Dartmouth College Hillel, The John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, and The William Jewett Tucker Foundation
Mary Woolley, President, Research!America
“Global Health is America's Health: Your Role in Connecting Research to Policyâ€Monday, April 19
4:30 PM • 3 Rockefeller Hall
Co-sponsored with The John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding
John Mott ’81, Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia
“Hate Crime and Civil Rights Violations in the United States -- the Law Enforcement Responseâ€Thursday, April 29
4:30 PM• 3 Rockefeller Hall
The Stephen R. Volk ’57 Lecture – Honoring “Law Dayâ€
Co-sponsored with the Dartmouth Legal Studies Faculty Group and the Dartmouth Lawyers Association
Learn more about Law Day Events
Robert Putnam, The Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University 
Director, The Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement, Harvard Kennedy School
“E Pluribus Unnum: Immigration, Diversity, and Communityâ€Friday, May 7
7:00 PM • Filene Auditorium, Moore Hall
Co-sponsored with the Vermont Humanities Council
James Reynolds, BBC Foreign Correspondent
“Stuff Them or Shoot Them? - The Future of the Foreign Correspondentâ€Thursday, May 13
4:30 PM • 3 Rockefeller Hall
The Bernard D. Nossiter ’47 Lecture
James O’Connell, President, Boston Heath Care for the Homeless
“Dispatches from the Streets: Lessons Learned During 25 Years of Caring for Boston’s Rough Sleepers.â€Monday, May 24
4:30 PM • 3 Rockefeller Hall
Faculty Workshops
(for the most up-to-date information about Faculty Workshops see the Center's Calendar)
Wednesday, March 31, 3 PM - International/Foreign PolicyWednesday, April 14, 3 PM- International/Foreign Policy
Friday, April 30, 3 PM - International/Foreign Policy
Friday, April 30, 3:30 PM - SPRIG
Monday, May 3, 12 PM - Health Policy
Tuesday, May 4, 12 PM - SPRIG
Wednesday, May 12, 3 PM - International/Foreign Policy
Thursday, May 27, 4 PM - Environment/Development
Tuesday, June 1, 12 PM- SPRIG
Learn more about Faculty Workshops
MLDP Special Sessions
April 9 3:30-5:30 PM Funding for the Future: Success by the MillionsApril 10 1-3 PM Excel
April 10 3:30-5:30 Leadership 2.0 – Social Media Tools for the Next Generation of Leaders
April 23 3:30-5:30 PM Ethics and Leadership
April 26 5-7 PM Global Leadership: Navigating Cultural Differences
Learn more about MLDP
Upcoming Deadlines
click on the link to find out more about each program
First Year Fellows -Applications due April 8, 2010.
RLF - Applications due April 9, 2010
Summer 2010 Internships-Applications due April 28, 2010.
Civic Skills Training- Applications due May 5, 2010..
Discussion Leaders & Student Assistants - Applications due May 12, 2010.
Fall 2010 MLDP- Applications due May 17, 2010.
Sr. Honors Thesis Grants - Applications due May 28, 2010.
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