Speakers at Marquette – Page 23 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Give Attention to Concerns About Privacy Close to Home, Author Suggests

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:April 12, 2018
Post category:Privacy Rights Public Speakers at Marquette

Yes, the furor over data from millions of Facebook users being used for political purposes is important. But just driving down the street raises important privacy issues also. And whether you can make sense of the Facebook issues, you could and probably should give attention to high-tech monitoring of your daily life.

That was the thrust of an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program Thursday in Eckstein Hall featuring Cyrus Farivar, author of a new book, Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech. Farivar is also a regular contributor to Ars Technica, which covers news related to technology.

Gousha introduced Farivar by saying that talking about technology and privacy is “a conversation that is perfect for our times.” In the week when great attention focused on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifying at length before congressional committees, Farivar agreed.

Playwright Aims to Prod Thinking About the Aftermath of Ferguson

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:March 22, 2018
Post category:Public Race & Law Speakers at Marquette

Dael Orlandersmith says she does not have the right to speak for the people who were affected when a police officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on a street in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9, 2014.

But she can speak about them, and she does want people to think about themselves, their own communities, and the issues that were raised by the Ferguson incident and its powerful aftermath. The St. Louis Repertory Theater invited Orlandersmith, a well-known poet, playwright, and performer from New York City, to create a play focused on Ferguson. That led her to interview dozens of people in Ferguson and to write “Until the Flood,” a play that includes eight characters she sees as composites of people she interviewed.

Orlandersmith is currently performing “Until the Flood” as a one-woman show at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. She described her approach to the play – and more broadly, to her artistic work – in an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Eckstein Hall on Thursday.

Prominent Sociologist Spotlights Community Organizations’ Role in Crime Reduction

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:March 7, 2018
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Lubar Center Milwaukee Milwaukee Area Project Public Speakers at Marquette

America’s cities overall have experienced a remarkable decline in crime that began in the 1990s and that has brought improvements in civic life in some surprising ways.

But the strategies that played a significant part in reducing crime – including stop and frisk policing and mass incarceration – are fading, and different approaches are needed to sustain safety improvements.

And the strategies that should be pursued include building up the number and resources of community organizations that serve in many different ways to increase the quality of life in neighborhoods and doing as much as possible to encourage residents to take roles in helping that quality of life.

A leading figure in American thinking on how to improve the quality of life in urban areas presented that provocative perspective at a conference at Eckstein Hall on Wednesday. Patrick Sharkey, a professor of sociology at New York University, told an audience including leaders of many Milwaukee non-profit organizations that research and data back-up his assertion that such organizations are valuable. There is “really strong evidence” to show the value of community organizations, he said.