Resources for Teachers and Students
We are pleased to offer the following online resources to encourage teachers and students to enhance their engagement with the Lowell Humanities Series. We encourage you to adopt our speakers' most recent book as well as shorter essays and contextual material as part of your syllabi. Additionally, the resources below can be paired or used separately to fit a single class or a longer unit. These links allow students to watch a Youtube video, or read a short essay or interview, before or after one of our events. Teachers might also consider using these resources in conjunction with evening reflection activities, or opportunities for reviews/reports during or beyond class-time. For speakers book titles, please see their bios. Articles in academic journals are available to members of the BC community through the library webpage.

Carl Hart
Drug Use for Grownups: A Human Rights Perspective
November 14, 2019
7:00 p.m. • Gasson Hall, Room 100
Presented by the Lowell Humanities Series and cosponsored by the Park Street Corporation Speaker Series.
Website:
Interviews/Public Intellectualism:
- “Carl Hart: ‘Swiss policy on drugs is inspiring’” https://www.invivomagazine.com/en/mens_sana/interview/article/234/carl-hart-swiss-policy-on-drugs-is-inspiring
- “The Rational Choices of Crack Addicts” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/science/the-rational-choices-of-crack-addicts.html
- “This Professor Teaches About Drug Use, Including His Own” https://www.wnyc.org/story/professor-drug-use-addiction-students/
- “Deal With the Pain That Leads to the Drug Problem” https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/03/17/lowering-the-deadly-cost-of-drug-abuse/deal-with-the-pain-that-leads-to-the-drug-problem
- “The Real Opioid Emergency” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/opinion/sunday/opioids-drugs-race-treatment.html
- “Reefer Madness, an Unfortunate Redux” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/opinion/reefer-madness-an-unfortunate-redux.html
Reviews:
- “High Price: Drugs, Neuroscience, and Discovering Myself by Carl Hart—review” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/05/high-price-carl-hart-review
- “‘High Price’ by Carl Hart”https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2013/06/16/book-review-high-price-carl-hart/ktS67xhIRXA2Lvzj5VnLIK/story.html
Videos:
- “Let’s quit abusing drug users” TEDMED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9HMifCoSko

Mary Robinson
Climate Justice - Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
7PM | Gasson Hall, Room 100
Website:
Mary Robinson Foundation—Climate Justice: https://www.mrfcj.org/
Podcast:
Mothers of Invention: https://www.mothersofinvention.online/
Available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and other podcasting platforms.
Recommended episodes: All Rise, The White Man Stole the Weather, Specialsode: Displaced with Mary Robinson
Interviews/Profiles:
- “Mary Robinson on climate change: ‘Feeling “This is too big for me” is no use to anybody’”: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/12/mary-robinson-climate-change-former-president-ireland-ipcc-report
Reviews:
- “Climate Justice review: Irish sins cloud inspiring stories”: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/climate-justice-review-irish-sins-cloud-inspiring-stories-1.3643596
- “Climate Justice by Mary Robinson review—power to the people”: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/14/climate-change-hope-resilience-fight-for-sustainable-future-mary-robinson-review
- “In dispatches from the front lines of global warming, a former president pushes for humane climate policies”: https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2018/08/27/climate-justice/
Videos:
- “Mary Robinson: Why climate change is a threat to human rights”
https://www.ted.com/talks/mary_robinson_why_climate_change_is_a_threat_to_human_rights
Related:
- "Women's Crucial Role in Combating Climate Change": https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/us/womens-crucial-role-in-combating-climate-change.html
- “Women on the Move in a Changing Climate”: https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/Women%20On%20The%20Move%20In%20A%20Changing%20Climate%20report.pdf

Kiese Laymon
“Heavy”
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
7PM | Gasson Hall, Room 100
Website:
Interviews:
- “A Reckoning is Different than a Tell-All: An Interview with Kiese Laymon”: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/10/18/a-reckoning-is-different-than-a-tell-all-an-interview-with-kiese-laymon/
- “Kiese Laymon: ‘I Didn’t Want to Be a Silent Survivor of Moral Failure Anymore’”: https://www.guernicamag.com/kiese-laymon-i-didnt-want-to-be-a-silent-survivor-of-moral-failure-anymore/
- "The Fucked-Up Thing Is You Don't Know You're Burning: A Conversation with Kiese Laymon" https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-fucked-up-thing-is-you-dont-know-youre-burning-a-conversation-with-kiese-laymon/
Reviews:
- “In ‘Heavy’, Kiese Laymon Recalls the Weight of Where He’s Been”: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/books/review-heavy-american-memoir-kiese-laymon.html
- “Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon review—bodies and the legacy of slavery”: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/01/heavy-an-american-memoir-review-kiese-laymon
- “‘Heavy’ Brilliantly Renders The Struggle To Become Fully Realized”: https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/657824190/heavy-brilliantly-renders-the-struggle-to-become-fully-realized
- “‘Heavy” by Kiese Laymon may be the most important memoir you read this year”: https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-laymon-heavy-20181012-story.html
Teachable Short Stories/Essays:
- “What I Pledge Allegiance To” https://www.thefader.com/2016/09/19/my-mississippi-pledge-kiese-laymon
- “What Bill Cosby Taught Me About Sexual Violence and Flying” https://lithub.com/what-bill-cosby-taught-me-about-sexual-violence-and-flying/
- “The Worst of White Folks” https://gawker.com/the-worst-of-white-folks-882334097

Bryan Stevenson
Just Mercy
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
7PM | Conte Forum, Gate C
Websites:
- https://eji.org/bryan-stevenson
- https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.biography&personid=20315
Interviews:
- “Bryan Stevenson On What Well-Meaning White People Need To Know About Race” https://psmag.com/magazine/bryan-stevenson-ps-interview
- “Breaking Bonds of Silence: An Interview with Bryan Stevenson” https://nationsmedia.org/bryan-stevenson/
- “Bryan Stevenson Wants the U.S. to Face Its History” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/magazine/bryan-stevenson-wants-the-us-to-face-its-history.html
Reviews:
- “‘Just Mercy’ by Bryan Stevenson” https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/books/review/just-mercy-by-bryan-stevenson.html
- “One Lawyer’s Fight For Young Blacks and ‘Just Mercy’” https://www.npr.org/2014/10/20/356964925/one-lawyers-fight-for-young-blacks-and-just-mercy
- “Book Review: ‘Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption’ by Bryan Stevenson” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-just-mercy-a-story-of-justice-and-redemption-by-bryan-stevenson/2014/10/23/5d590580-3f67-11e4-9587-5dafd96295f0_story.html?utm_term=.7333c170d60d
Videos:
- “We need to talk about an injustice” TED
https://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice?language=en
Shorter Pieces/Teachable Texts:
- “Book extract: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/01/just-mercy-extract-bryan-stevenson-ian-manuel
- “Excerpt from Just Mercy” https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/224792/just-mercy-by-bryan-stevenson/9780812984965/excerpt

Michael Witmore
Civic Shakespeare
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
7PM | Gasson Hall, Room 100
Website:
https://www.folger.edu/staff/dr-michael-witmore
Lectures:
- “The Wisdom of Will” (Transcript) https://www.folger.edu/michael-witmore-the-wisdom-of-will-transcript
Interviews:
- “Q&A: Michael Witmore, Director” https://collation.folger.edu/2011/09/q-a-michael-witmore/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheCollation+%28The+Collation%29
- “Q&A with Michael Witmore” (Video and Transcript) https://www.c-span.org/video/?325662-1/qa-michael-witmore, https://www.c-span.org/video/transcript/?id=47064
Videos:
- “The Scholars: Michael Witmore” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOd-hhsQQL0

Carl Hart
Drug Use for Grownups: A Human Rights Perspective
November 14, 2019
7:00 p.m. • Gasson Hall, Room 100
Presented by the Lowell Humanities Series and cosponsored by the Park Street Corporation Speaker Series.
Website:
Interviews/Public Intellectualism:
- “Carl Hart: ‘Swiss policy on drugs is inspiring’” https://www.invivomagazine.com/en/mens_sana/interview/article/234/carl-hart-swiss-policy-on-drugs-is-inspiring
- “The Rational Choices of Crack Addicts” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/science/the-rational-choices-of-crack-addicts.html
- “This Professor Teaches About Drug Use, Including His Own” https://www.wnyc.org/story/professor-drug-use-addiction-students/
- “Deal With the Pain That Leads to the Drug Problem” https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/03/17/lowering-the-deadly-cost-of-drug-abuse/deal-with-the-pain-that-leads-to-the-drug-problem
- “The Real Opioid Emergency” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/opinion/sunday/opioids-drugs-race-treatment.html
- “Reefer Madness, an Unfortunate Redux” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/opinion/reefer-madness-an-unfortunate-redux.html
Reviews:
- “High Price: Drugs, Neuroscience, and Discovering Myself by Carl Hart—review” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/05/high-price-carl-hart-review
- “‘High Price’ by Carl Hart”https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2013/06/16/book-review-high-price-carl-hart/ktS67xhIRXA2Lvzj5VnLIK/story.html
Videos:
- “Let’s quit abusing drug users” TEDMED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9HMifCoSko

Kwame Anthony Appiah:
Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers
December 5, 2019
7:00 p.m. • McGuinn Hall, Room 121
Website:
Interviews/Public Intellectualism:
- “The blinding power of nationalism” https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2018/01/29/anthony-appiah-interview
- “Stories about People and Communities: Talking to Kwame Anthony Appiah” https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/interviews/stories-people-communities-talking-kwame-anthony-appiah/
- “Philosopher and New York Times Magazine Columnist Born England, Raised Ghana 2017 ‘Great Immigrant’: In His Own Words” https://www.carnegie.org/multimedia/great-immigrants-kwame-anthony-appiah/
- “Socrates Questions, a Contemporary Philosopher Answers” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/theater/socrates-democracy-public-theater.html?searchResultPosition=1
- “Go Ahead, Speak for Yourself” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/opinion/sunday/speak-for-yourself.html
- “There is no such thing as western civilisation” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/09/western-civilisation-appiah-reith-lecture
Reviews:
- “Myths that shape our notion of reality” https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/myths-that-shape-our-notion-of-identity/2018/08/23/46d3430a-969a-11e8-a679-b09212fb69c2_story.html?utm_term=.211757d49dee
- “Book Review: The Lies That Bind” https://haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/book-review-lies-bind
- “The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/23/the-lies-that-bind-rethinking-identity-kwame-anthony-appiah-review
- “In ‘The Lies That Bind’ Kwame Anthony Appiah Takes On Identity Politics” https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/05/in-the-lies-that-bind-kwame-anthony-appiah-takes-on-identity-politics/
Videos:
- “Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question) TED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOd-hhsQQL0
- “Kwame Anthony Appiah: Exploring Questions of Ethics and Identity” Goldman Sachs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yao9zb7PD2I