Dialogues Lecture Series

The Dialogues Lecture Series, hosted by Lynn University Distinguished Professor of American History Dr. Robert Watson, is a non-partisan series that welcomes public figures who are committed to solving pertinent issues in our community.

Former guests include politicians, community activists, journalists, film directors, and other public figures.

The Dialogues Lecture Series are educational events that are open to the general public.

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2024-2025: America's Tumultuous but Triumphal History in Preserving and Promoting Democracy

Lynn University

Video of Dr. Robert Watson, distinguished professor of American history, discussing pivotal moments in America's history, entitled, "America's Tumultuous but Triumphal History in Preserving and Promoting Democracy," on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 10:30 a.m. in the Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall. Free event.
2024-2025: Media Panel on the 2024 Elections

Lynn University

Dr. Robert Watson interviews three guests and discusses press coverage of campaign 2024, criticisms of the news media, the challenge of civility in a hyper-partisan campaign and predictions for the elections.

Media panel guests:
- Antonio Fins, editor, Palm Beach Post
- Michael Williams, senior anchor, WPTV 5 NBC
- Caitie Munoz, director, WLRN/NPR
Date and time: Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, 12 p.m. EDT
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center
2023-2024: Mariela Shaker

Lynn University

Mariela Shaker | Violinist and Keynote Speaker
Date and time: Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, 10:30 a.m. EST
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center

Join us for a discussion with Mariela Shaker, founder and director of Highams Park Music Academy in London. A world-renowned violinist and a Syrian refugee, Mariela believes that music is a tool that can be used to achieve peace. Currently, Shaker teaches the violin at Knox College and Monmouth College in Illinois. She strives to inspire her students to express themselves freely and to find their own unique voice as performance artists. Her engagements include an invitation by Cate Blanchett and the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, for performances in London and at the Beyond Borders International Festival in Scotland, respectively. On the invitation of the International Rescue Committee, Shaker performed for Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan.
2023-2024: Lee Asher

Lynn University

Lee Asher | Animal rescue advocate, founder of The Asher House, non-profit sanctuary in Salem, Oregon.
Date and time: Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, 12 p.m. EST
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center

Lee Asher is an animal rescue advocate turned sanctuary operator, influencer, and star of the Animal Planet series "My Pack Life." After quitting his day job in 2017 to pursue his passion for rescuing animals and helping people, Asher and his rescue dogs hit the road in a "Skoolie" bus, working with shelters across the nation to host meet and greets and adoption events.

When the pandemic grounded his travels, Lee refocused his efforts on taking in and rehabilitating as many animals as possible under his non-profit, The Asher House.
2023-2024: Kelsi Brown Corkran

Lynn University

Kelsi Brown Corkran | Supreme Court Director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP)
Date and time: Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, 12 p.m. EST
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center

Kelsi Brown Corkran, Supreme Court Director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP), discusses her dedication as a public interest litigator that specializes in defending constitutional rights before the nation's highest court.

Serving as the lead counsel in two of the most significant civil rights victories before the Supreme Court in 2020, Corkran shares her experiences arguing before the courts on behalf of clients facing critical civil rights issues. Immediately prior to joining ICAP, Corkran was the Head of the Supreme Court Practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. She also previously served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court and Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
2022-2023: Frank L. Culbertson Jr.

Lynn University

Frank L. Culbertson Jr. | Former naval officer, aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut
Date and time: Monday, March 27, 2023, 12 p.m. EDT
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center

Frank L. Culbertson Jr. (Captain, USN, Ret.) is a former naval officer, aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut.

During his career as an astronaut, Culbertson served as the commander of the International Space Station. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and a member of the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.
2022-2023: Gillian Sorensen

Lynn University

Gillian Sorensen | Former UN Assistant Secretary-General
Date and time: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, 10:30 a.m. EST
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center

Described by The New York Times as "the diplomat's diplomat," Former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations Gillian Sorensen has dedicated her career to working with organizations committed to peace, justice and human rights.

She currently serves as a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and on the board of the International Rescue Committee, where she is spearheading relief efforts in Ukraine. Sorensen is a Harvard University graduate and widow of Theodore C. Sorensen, who served as President John F. Kennedy's speechwriter.
2021-2022: Leadership Lessons from Lincoln with Harold Holzer

Lynn University

Harold Holzer | Writer & Lincoln expert
Date and time: March 3, 2022, 12 p.m.
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center

Harold Holzer is a prolific writer, frequent guest on television and one of the nation's leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Holzer served as vice president of The Metroplitan Museum of Art in New York, chair of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and chair of the Lincoln Forum. He has won numerous awards including the National Humanities Medal, Gilder-Lehrman Prize, Mark Lynton History Prize from Columbia University, Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard University, and Harry S. Truman Award. Holzer was appointed to two U.S. presidential commissions; served as the keynote speaker at the Gettysburg National Cemetery for the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address; and contributed words on Lincoln for the inauguration of Barack Obama.

"The nation's foremost expert on Abraham Lincoln reveals sides of the great president we never knew and offers some important lessons relevant for us today."
2021-2022: Gordon Wood: The Founders and the Constitution

Lynn University

Gordon Wood | Historian
Date and time: Feb. 15, 2022, 12 p.m. EST
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center

Gordon Wood is one of the nation's most celebrated historians, a prolific author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Bancroft Prize, John F. Kennedy Medal and the National Humanities Medal awarded by President Obama. He earned his Ph.D from Harvard and holds the title Alva O. Way University Professor at Brown.
2021-2022: Foster: A Discussion with Hollywood Filmmaker Deborah Oppenheimer

Lynn University

Deborah Oppenheimer | Film and Television Producer
Date and time: Jan. 25, 2022 at 12:00 p.m.
Location: Wold Performing Arts Center

Deborah Oppenheimer is a film and television producer whose many credits include the Academy Award-winning Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport and numerous popular television shows with Will Ferrell, George Lopez, Bernie Mac, Sandra Bullock and others. She was also an executive with Warner Brothers and part of the Downton Abbey production team. She'll discuss her latest film Foster, a revealing first-hand look at the foster care system as seen through the eyes of those who know it best.
2020-2021: Conversations with a Survivor: Trafficking Among Us

Lynn University

Katariina Rosenblatt | Author, federal consultant, trainer and international survivor leader, as well as the executive director of There Is HOPE For Me Inc.
Date and time: March 31, 2021, 12 p.m. EDT
Location: Virtual

Dr. Katariina Rosenblatt is an author, federal consultant, trainer and international survivor leader, as well as the executive director of There Is HOPE For Me Inc., a nonprofit survivor-to-survivor peer mentoring agency working in Florida and California to end human trafficking. A survivor herself of childhood abuse and trafficking, Dr. Kat has conducted research and worked on legislation related to the Safe Harbor Act, pornography, domestic minor sex trafficking within the school system, sexual assault on college campuses and domestic violence. In 2019, she received a Medal of Honor for Bravery from the FBI. Dr. Kat has written two books on human trafficking, including her memoir, “Stolen.” Dr. Kat is the only known U.S. survivor of human trafficking to be included in the National Museum for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.
2020-2021: Making Movies with Meaning

Lynn University

Josh Aronson | Academy Award-nominated filmmaker
Date and time: Feb. 12, 2021, 12 p.m. EST
Location: Virtual

Josh Aronson, an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker whose works are regularly seen on Netflix, PBS, Showtime, and television stations worldwide. He has directed several feature films, MTV videos, TV shows, and more than 500 commercials. His biography, “Orchestra of Exiles,” was published by Penguin Books and he is also a concert pianist who regularly performs chamber music in New York City and at the Telluride Musicfest. Aronson’s new film, “To Be of Service,” is a documentary about veterans with PTSD and service dogs, and has been nominated for awards and accepted at international film festivals.
2020-2021: Town Hall on the State of Politics

Lynn University

Description: A virtual public town hall on the election, COVID-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter and other vital issues to our community and the nation, including the leaders' agenda for 2021. Moderated by Dr. Robert Watson.
Date and time: Nov. 5, 2020, 12 p.m.
Location: Virtual

Participants:
- Congressman Ted Deutch: graduated from the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School. First elected to the Florida Senate in 2006, Deutch is now in his sixth term in the US House of Representatives where he is Chair of the Ethics Committee, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee and also Chair of the Middle East and International Terrorism Subcommittee.
- Senator Lori Berman: graduated from Tufts and both George Washington University Law and the University of Miami Law School. After serving in the State House of Representatives from 2010-2018, she was elected to the Florida State Senate in 2018, where she serves on the Education Committee, Environment and Natural Resources Committee and is Vice Chair of the Health Policy Committee.
- Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer: graduated cum laude from Harvard and received his law degree from Georgetown. First elected to the Boca Raton City Council in 2014, he was elected mayor in 2018 and reelected in 2020, both with the highest vote totals in the city's history.