Panel Discussion & Reception
The topic of moral competence is generally neglected in the study of public management and policy, yet it is critical to any hope we might have for strengthening the quality of governance and professional practice. What does moral competence consist in? How is it developed and sustained? These questions are addressed in this book through close examination of selected practitioners in Asian countries making life-defining decisions in their work. The protagonists include a doctor in Singapore, a political activist in India, a mid-level bureaucrat in central Asia, a religious missionary in China, and a journalist in Cambodia – each struggling with ethical challenges that shed light on what it takes to act effectively and well in public life. Together they bear witness to the ideal of public service, exercising their personal gifts for the well-being of others and demonstrating that, even in difficult circumstances, the reflective practitioner can be a force for good.... Read more about Ethics in Public Life: Good Practitioners in a Rising Asia

Speakers:

Kevin Rudd
Prime Minister of Australia, (2007-2010, 2013)
Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Anthony Saich
Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Meghan L. O’Sullivan
Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Graham T. Allison (moderator)
Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
... Read more about U.S.-China Under Xi Jinping: From Strategic Collision to Common Purpose?

Ash Center Student Speaker Series 

Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, PhD Student, Harvard University Department of Government
Belén Fernandez Milmanda, PhD Candidate, Harvard University Department of Government
Tomer Perry (moderator), PhD Candidate, Stanford University Department of Political Science

About the Event
Political observers have long worried about the threat that powerful economic interests present to democracy. But how much power do businesses actually possess in the policymaking process, and what are the specific ways in which firms exercise that power? This panel will present research on important -- but previously under-appreciated mechanisms -- for business influence in both developed and developing democracies.... Read more about Business Power and Democracy: How Employers Engage Workers in Politics

The Harvard Kennedy School Indonesia Program (HKSIP) and Harvard University’s Department of South Asian Studies and are pleased to offer two language class options for learning Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia).... Read more about Free Indonesian Language Classes Offered at the Ash Center

This discussion will feature the following panelists:

• General Frank Grass, Chief, National Guard Bureau
• Admiral Paul Zukunft, Commandant, United States Coast Guard
• Lt. General Michal Dubie, Deputy Commander, United States Northern Command, and Vice Commander, United States Element, North American Aerospace Defense Command
• Juliette Kayyem (moderator), Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School; Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

LOCATION: Starr Auditorium, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA

Cosponsored by the Program on Crisis Leadership (Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Taubman Center for State and Local Government) and Executive Education, Harvard Kennedy School

For the first time in more than 200 years, a non-Western power, China, will have the largest economy in the world, changing the world order. What are the priorities of Chinese leaders? What impact have American policies had on China? Will China behave as America does when China becomes number one?... Read more about What Happens When China Becomes Number One?

Leah Wright Rigueur, Assistant Professor of Public Policy
Artur Davis, Former U.S. Representative and current Republican candidate for Mayor of Montgomery, AL
Lisa McGirr, Respondent, Professor of History, Harvard University
Alex Keyssar, Moderator, Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy

Co-sponsored by the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, The Harvard Journal of African American Policy and the HKS Black Student Union.

About the Event

Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor of Public Policy Leah Wright Rigueur, Former U.S. Representative Artur Davis and Harvard University Professor of History Lisa McGirr will discuss Professor Wright Rigueur’s new book, The Loneliness of the Black Republican in an event moderated by Alex Keyssar, HKS Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy. Covering more than four decades of American social and political history, The Loneliness of the Black Republican examines the ideas and actions of black Republican activists, officials, and politicians, from the era of the New Deal to Ronald Reagan’s presidential ascent in 1980.... Read more about The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power

Light food and refreshments will be served

RSVP: ichseminar.eventbrite.com
First-come first-served

About the Event:
Come and learn what it meant to be a young female physician running for a seat in the Indonesia’s House of Representatives, and eventually serving as one of 101 woman legislators. Indonesia, with its burgeoning democracy, is a developing country with the world’s largest Muslim population and is still striving for an equal gender representation in politics. Find out how she survived all the challenges, threats, and opposition as a Member of Parliament to finally advance the Indonesia’s Law on Mental Health to cease shackling (pasung) practices and improve mental health service in Indonesia.... Read more about Seminar on Women, Politics, and Mental Health Law in Indonesia

Ash Center Student Speaker Series

Philip Dy (MPP ’15) and Tori Stephens (MPP ’15), Harvard Kennedy School; and Martha Pym (MUP ’15), Graduate School of Design
Moderated by Arnold M. Howitt, Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership, and Executive Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation

Co-sponsored by the Program on Crisis Leadership and the Crisis Management Student Group, Harvard Kennedy School.

Lunch will be provided

About the Event
Responses to major natural disasters often involve a multitude of actors – not only from the affected country and surrounding region, but from the international community as well. This raises a number of questions regarding inter-governmental and inter-organizational coordination, as well as about the norms and standards applied to the response and recovery processes. Join us for a discussion with HKS and GSD graduate students, who will report on their fieldwork – conducted with Ash Center support – examining issues revolving around the intersection of local and global actors in post-earthquake Haiti and the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan.... Read more about Coordination in Crisis: International Systems and Standards in Disaster Response and Recovery