CLASSACT NEWS

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Monday, February 23, 12:00 - 1:00pm ET on ZOOM

Beginning in 1978 Jim Engell AB '73 taught literature and then also environmental issues at Harvard. He retired in 2024 as Gurney Research Professor of English and Comparative Literature. For 20 years he taught a course on rhetoric, too. Its online HarvardX version, "Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking,” has enrolled more than 900,000 learners. In that course he includes writing op-eds and speeches and has published op-eds in major and local newspapers. He believes that education in writing and speaking should include a sense of civic engagement.

Jim will present pointers on writing and submitting an op-ed and a letter to the editor. These pointers are not specific to a particular issue, they are applicable to almost all issues. You’re able to submit an op-ed or letter to the editor of many newspapers and publications, not your local ones only. There will be ample room for questions.

On Monday, January 26th, ClassACT HR73 hosted our first Culture Counts Forum, The Arts and Humanities in Our Time. Panelists included world-renowned multimedia artist Laurie Anderson; award-winning playwright and educator Mfoniso Udofia; socially engaged comedian Hari Kondabolu; and visual artist/environmental activist Alexis Rockman. The forum was moderated by renowned jazz guitarist and bassist Jerome Harris ’73. If you missed it, check out the video and topical resources gathered from panelists and attendees below!

CLICK FOR RESOURCES FROM THE FORUM

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Highlights Include:

-Voices of Democracy: Our Classmates and Friends, Fred Bartenstein '73

-ClassACTion Alert: Act Now to Support Local Non-Profit Journalism

-Save the Date // 1/26 Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time Forum

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Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time

Monday, 1/26 7:00 - 8:30pm ET on ZOOM

As museums and libraries scramble for funding, and binge-watching supplants reading, ClassACT HR73 has stepped into the void to launch its newest focus group on culture. The classmates who have joined this committee have begun to consider challenges like our society’s emerging anti-humanistic strains, as well as the algorithmization of our personal cultural choices, a trend that threatens to separate us all from each other.

To begin the conversation about what the humanities and arts mean in a time when tech lords and influencers seem to talk over us all, the committee will present the online forum “Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time.”

Culture Counts is honored to include the world-renowned multi-media artist Laurie Anderson as a panelist. Anderson’s musical compositions and performances, her stage presentations, and her drawings, videos and sculptures have expanded the frontiers of the arts. In 2021 she gave the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard, and in 2024 she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The forum’s panel also includes the award-winning playwright, storyteller and educator Mfoniso Udofia, whose plays have been produced by San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater and the Huntington Theater in Boston, and whose screenwriting credits include Pachinko and Lessons in Chemistry. Joining her will be the socially-engaged comedian Hari Kondabolu, who has written for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell and has appeared regularly as a panelist on NPR’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” Visual artist and environmental activist Alexis Rockman, whose paintings and drawings depicting the effects of climate change have been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, completes this extraordinary panel.

Moderating the forum and heading the new Culture Counts working group is renowned jazz guitarist/bass guitarist Jerome Harris ’73. Jerome has published scholarly essays, toured on six continents, recorded with klezmer clarinet virtuoso David Krakauer, and worked with three NEA Jazz Masters including the legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. 

-By Jacquelyn Swearingen '73 and Jerome Harris '73

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WEDNESDAY, 2/4, 7:00 - 8:00PM ET, ON ZOOM.

Meet Our Bridges is ClassACT HR73’s way to introduce our classmates and extended community to our Bridge Partners by letting them create awareness of their mission as well as solicit volunteer help and/or donations.

On February fourth, join us for a behind-the-scenes preview of the United Nations Association of Greater Boston and their 2025 Annual Report, featuring an inside look at how UNAGB empowers more than 5,000 students each year through Model UN and global education programs. During this session, UNAGB will walk participants through each of its core bodies of work, including youth leadership development, curriculum-based global learning programs, and community partnerships, while sharing new impact insights, student outcomes, and stories from across Greater Boston. The webinar will also highlight UNAGB’s vision for continued program growth and broader regional reach leading up to 2030, as the organization deepens its commitment to cultivating the next generation of globally minded leaders and civic changemakers.

Founded to advance understanding of the United Nations and its mission at the local level, UNAGB engages students and community members in learning experiences that build skills in diplomacy, negotiation, public speaking, and collaborative problem-solving, all grounded in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants will gain a firsthand look at how Model UN programming fosters empathy, cross-cultural awareness, and civic responsibility, and how UNAGB is expanding access to these transformative educational opportunities across diverse school and community settings.

Missed our 12/9 Meet Our Bridges webinar introducing KidsCareEverywhere? You can watch the recording (edited by Rick Brotman '73) here, and view Ron Dieckmann '73 and Margie Hogan's slides from the webinar here. 

December 2025 ClassACTions Newsletter

Highlights Include:

-Voices of Democracy: Our Classmates and Friends, with Ryan O'Connell '73 and Peter Olney '73

-Environment & Climate Change Working Group Updates

-Save the Date: 1/26 Culture Counts: The Arts and Humanities in Our Time Forum

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In case you missed our Forum last week titled “The Changing Role of the US Military," we enlisted three military experts to discuss the normative aspects of US military history, current deviations from those norms, and ways in which military and non-military citizenry alike can champion the US armed services’ commitment to their founding principles. 

We write with some materials from the forum, which include:

1. Recordings from the forum, a full version and an 11 minute version, edited by Rick Brotman '73. We encourage you to share with your friends!

2. Panelists' calls to action from the forum (you can scroll down the linked webpage to access these).

3. Resources from the Forum: we asked our panelists to provide us with links pertinent to their talks, and additionally gathered material from our audience in the webinar chat. We have organized these materials by topic and provide links to them all here.