080608_Educate08Falltrue1334586686108acckfpUniversity Relations - Press ReleaseHofstra University, University Relations, Media, Press Release, Public Relations, Educate, '08, presidential, debateA presidential campaign manager, prominent journalists and key political advisors are among the nationally known speakers coming to Hofstra this fall as part of the university’s Educate ’08 series leading up to the October 15 debate at Hofstra and the November presidential election. Two-time presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards kicks off the series September 8, followed over the next two months by former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo; former White House press secretaries Dee Dee Meyers and Ari Fleisher; George Stephanopoulos, journalist and advisor to President Bill Clinton; and Edward J. Rollins, Mike Huckabee’s national campaign manager. /Hofstra_Main_Site/Home/News/PressReleases/Archive/080608_Educate08Fallprpsdv1218048847796jrnfar1220639693886Press Release Sub TitleCommunity Town Hall Meetings, Lectures and Academic Programs Lead Up to October 15 Presidential Debate at Hofstra Press Release TitleDee Dee Myers & Ari Fleischer, George Stephanopoulos, Paul O’Neill & Robert Rubin, Mario Cuomo Headline Hofstra's Educate '08 Fall SpeakersPress Release Date2008/08/06Stu VincentUniversity RelationsHofstra Hall516-463-6493516-463-5146stuart.vincent@hofstra.edu/Register, or see the full Educate '08 schedulehttp://www.hofstra.edu/educate08/Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – A presidential campaign manager, prominent journalists and key political advisors are among the nationally known speakers coming to Hofstra this fall as part of the university’s Educate '08 series leading up to the October 15 debate at Hofstra and the November presidential election. The series will feature former White House press secretaries Dee Dee Meyers and Ari Fleisher; former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo; George Stephanopoulos, journalist and advisor to President Bill Clinton; and Edward J. Rollins, Mike Huckabee’s national campaign manager.

Educate '08 is an educational effort that engages not only students and faculty but also the public in a yearlong series of conferences, events and lectures about the 2008 election, politics and presidential history. The series will also include community town hall meetings, panel discussions, debate watch programs and special performances related to the presidential debate and election. Tickets for most events are free and open to the public but registration is required. For a complete schedule of events and to register go to www.hofstra.edu/educate08

Among the speakers and events at Hofstra this fall:

Sept. 9 – Former U.S. Treasury Secretaries Paul O'Neill and Robert Rubin, and Floyd Norris, chief financial correspondent, The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune.

Sept. 10 - Shashi Tharoor, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Sept. 15 – George Stephanopoulos, ABC chief Washington correspondent and former advisor and communications director for President Bill Clinton.

Sept. 16 - Edward J. Rollins, national campaign manager for the Mike Huckabee 2008 presidential campaign, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Goodwin and Robert Zimmerman, a partner in Zimmerman Edelson Public Relations and Marketing of Great Neck, who worked on Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign.

Sept. 18 – "International Scene Lecture Series: Media and the War," a lecture by Amy Goodman, award-winning investigative journalist and co-host of Democracy Now.

Sept. 23 –Roundtable with American foreign policy experts, including Nancy Soderberg, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations ('97-'01); Jay M. Parker, Ph.D., visiting associate professor in Georgetown University's Department of Government; and Peter Beinart, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations and Washington Post columnist.

Sept. 24 – "Day of Dialogue VI: Facing the Future Together." A multi-perspective, one-day conference on public issues facing the nation designed to help Hofstra students become informed voters and encourage dialogue between people of differing views.  The conference will look at both domestic and foreign policy issues. Foreign policy events include a program on returning soldiers’ views of the Iraq war; a panel on the United States policy on Iran; and a guided dialogue about issues facing Israel and Palestinian. Domestic events include Heritage or Hate, a documentary film by Hofstra University Professor of Journalism Gregory Smith, Ph.D., about differing views on the meaning of the Confederate Flag; and a program on how debates such as John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon can shape electoral politics, with Diana Carlin, professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas and DebateWatch founder.

Sept. 25 – "Mending the Nation’s Broken Health Care System," A community town hall meeting with Richard J. Umbdenstock, president, American Hospital Association; Mark T. Bertolini, president, Aetna Inc.; Michael J. Dowling, president & CEO, North Shore-LIJ Health System, and chairman, National Center for Healthcare Leadership; Sara R. Collins, Ph.D., assistant vice president, Program on the Future of Health Insurance, The Commonwealth Fund; and David M. Weiss, Ph.D.,  professor, Health Professions Family Studies Dept., Hofstra University.

Oct. 2 - Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Oct. 15 – Third and final 2008 Presidential Debate at Hofstra University.

Oct. 28 - Dee Dee Myers and Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretaries for, respectively, Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Educate ’08 was launched in February 2008 to coincide with the Super Tuesday presidential primaries. It includes academic courses offered this summer and in the fall and the Washington Center program under which four Hofstra students will study and participate as interns at the two major political party nominating conventions the Democratic National Convention, August 17-
29, 2008, in Denver, Colorado, and the Republican National Convention, August 24-September 5, 2008, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Meena Bose, Ph.D., Hofstra’s Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies and director of its Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency, will give lectures for a non-partisan course in conjunction with the Republican Convention.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from more than 140 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, our professors teach small classes averaging 22 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. Hofstra offers a faculty whose highest priority is teaching excellence. The University also provides excellent facilities with state-of-the-art technology, extensive library resources and internship programs that match students’ interests and abilities with appropriate companies and organizations.  The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.

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