Past Events

Jim Laurie is an American journalist and broadcaster. As director of the media consulting firm, Focus Asia Productions Ltd., Mr. Laurie divides his time between Hong Kong and Washington, DC. He was a global correspondent for ABC News and NBC News and is the winner of two Emmy Awards, a Peabody, and an Overseas Press Club Award. He has interviewed many historically influential Asian leaders including the Dalai Lama. Since 2004, Mr. Laurie has specialized in the development of global…

Elliot Engel is an author, writer, and literary scholar. He has been a freelance lecturer on humanities topics for more than 30 years. Dr. Engel has written ten books published in England, Japan, and the United States, including A Dab of Dickens & A Touch of Twain, an edited collection of several of his well-known lectures. His mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS television stations across the country. He has lectured throughout the United States and on all…

Catherine Sanderson is the Manwell Family Professor of Life Sciences (Psychology) at Amherst College. Known on campus as the “Professor of Happiness,” she teaches full time and is among the most popular teachers. She received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a specialization in Health and Development from Stanford University, and received both masters and doctoral degrees in Psychology from Princeton University. Professor Sanderson’s research examines how personality and social variables influence health-related behaviors, the development of persuasive messages and…

Denise Kiernan has been working as a writer for nearly 20 years. Her most recent book, The Girls of Atomic City, is a New York Times, LA Times, and NPR bestseller. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Village Voice, Ms. Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Discover, and many more publications. She has also worked in television, serving as head writer for ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” during its Emmy award-winning first season, and producing for ESPN…

Chuck Underwood is one of the founding scholars who pioneered the field of generational study. As founder/principal of The Generational Imperative, Inc., he travels throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe for consulting assignments, training seminars, research, and keynote speaking engagements. He also authors magazine and newspaper columns, guest lectures at colleges, and is regularly interviewed for generational news stories by national magazines, newspapers, radio, and network television. Mr. Underwood is the creator and host of the national television PBS series,…

Rochelle Pennington is an award-winning newspaper columnist and is the author of ten books including Highlighted in Yellow (available in four languages; co-authored with H. Jackson Brown), The Historic Christmas Tree Ship (featured on national television), and An Old-Fashioned Christmas (a Midwest Booksellers Choice Award nomination for outstanding non-fiction, 2009). Her work has been included in multiple bestselling series over the past two decades. Ms. Pennington has worked as a consultant providing story and quotation recommendations to several of the…