Speakers (Humanities and Contemporary Issues-Ethics)

VI. The Humanities and Contemporary Issues

A. Ethics, Law and Democracy

The Constitution: Past and Present
By George Watson
This presentation traces the development of the U.S. Constitution in three periods:

From 1776 to 1791 -- This is an overview of the time between the Declaration of Independence and the ratification of the Constitution. The program explains the original focus and purposes of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
From 1971 to 1991 -- This traces the evolution of the Constitution over a 20-year period. How does the document reflect the tremendous changes that have taken place?
From 1991 into the Future -- This questions Constitutional viability for future years, speculating on possible outcomes of recommended reforms and future amendments.

Dangerous Words: Freedom of Speech
By Bette Novit Evans
Most of us grew up hearing that "sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." When we think of the First Amendment's protection of freedom of speech and press, we often make a distinction between "only words" and "real action." This talk undermines that distinction by discussing some of the most dramatic First Amendment cases that have reached the Supreme Court.

Four Reasons Our Taxes Go Up
By State Sen. Lowen Kruse
Focusing on Nebraska, Lowen Kruse investigates four reasons that taxes go up. He looks at drug use, education, Medicaid and prisons.

Human Rights and Indian Rights: Las Casas to Standing Bear
By Robert Haller
Bartolome de las Casas appears over the east door of the Nebraska State Capitol in a panel showing him pleading before the King and Queen of Castile for recognition of the dignity of the Native American peoples. Judge Dundy, like Las Casas, based the claim for the humanity of Indians on the integrity of the alien culture and on the emotional sympathy evoked by the victimized peoples in the famous trial of Crook vs. Standing Bear (1879). This illustrated talk finds parallels in the career of Las Casas with the events leading up to the trial of Standing Bear. It discusses the interrelation of our ideas of human rights, religious belief, legal entitlement, international law, and cultural integrity.

Native American Values For the 21st Century
By Wynema Morris
This presentation provides a cultural analysis of the world view of Native American people, the historical roots and traditional Indian ways that are present in Omaha people today and a discussion, based on ethics and philosophy, of non-Indians' understanding of these differences. Concepts that may be discussed in this presentation in terms of differing cultural understanding include time, nature, sharing and acquisition, work, cooperation and competition, teaching and learning, acceptance of change, religion, aging, power and recognition and law.

Religious Freedom: What is It?
By Bette Novit Evans
The First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion, but it remains a source of controversy. The problem is that the clause means both a little less and a great deal more than it says. No one—our politicians, our best constitutional scholars or our courts—can agree on what it means for government to inhibit those practices or when governmental interference might be justified. This talk focuses on several contemporary controversies related to freedom of religion, illustrating the complex issues with stories about recent cases.

Resurrection of the Pre-Emptive Strike Doctrine in International Law
By Michael J. Kelly
This program looks at the United States current broad interpretation of the Pre-Emptive Strike Doctrine. The program also investigates how the doctrine has been interpreted and challenged in the past and how the U.N. responded.