Speaker Series
Springfield Public Forum is best known for our speaker series, where we bring enlightening and insightful speakers to Springfield to speak about our most pressing issues. Over the years, these issues have included climate change, international conflicts, institutional racism, and scientific discoveries. All speakers are highly sought-after experts in their own right. This year’s series is outstanding, by any measure.
NEA Big Read Pocumtuck Valley: Station Eleven
Author Emily St. John Mandel
NEA Big Read Pocumtuck Valley: Station Eleven What can a 2014 novel set in a dystopian post-pandemic world tell us about the value we place on the arts, the grace of everyday life, and our current real-life pandemic? An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big[…]
THE FIRST 100 DAYS
A Conversation with NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith
The First 100 Days of the Biden Presidency Tamara Keith has been a White House correspondent for NPR since 2014 and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast, the top political news podcast in America. She covered the final two years of the Obama presidency, and during the 2016 presidential campaign she was assigned to cover Hillary[…]
Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR
Journalist Lisa Napoli
Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR A group biography of four beloved women who fought sexism, covered decades of American news, and whose voices defined NPR In the years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, women in the workplace still found themselves relegated to secretarial positions[…]
Improving Health Equity: Changing the Odds
Journalist Lisa Napoli
/ Virtual
Improving Health Equity: Changing the Odds How does race, class, wealth, education, geography, and employment impact public health? Dr. Tony Iton is a Lecturer of Health Policy & Management at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. He is also a Senior Vice President for Healthy Communities at The California Endowment. He has asserted that in[…]
Empowering Youth Mental Health
Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble
EMPOWERING YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH During the pandemic, there was a 31% increase in the numbers of young people in the younger age group showing up in emergency rooms for psychiatric or mental health concerns. The biggest issues were remote schooling, and the isolation and loneliness experienced during the pandemic compounded by the normal pressures of[…]