WHERE IS NEW ENGLAND HEADED?

The Joseph W. Martin Institute for Law and Society will host a conference on the state of New England on Friday, March 28.

Community officials, professionals, and academics from prestigious programs all over New England will discuss political trends, challenges facing local municipalities, the issue of a regional brain drain, and the implications behind changing ethnic and demographic patterns.

Peter Ubertaccio, director of the Martin Institute, will host the event and James Millikan, associate professor of Political Science at Stonehill, will chair a roundtable discussion.

The program begins at 8:30 a.m., and the registration fee is $50 (graduate students: $30; undergraduates: $20).

• New England’s Political Culture
  Session one will explore the traditional political culture of New England, the region’s particular brand of liberalism, and a political profile of Massachusetts Catholics. The overriding question: Will the region ever again be a national political trendsetter?

• Issues Facing New England Municipalities
  in session two, a panel of professionals will discuss issues facing the region’s municipalities. Also on the agenda for examination: campaign finance for municipal elections, the reluctance of municipalities to rely on managers, and urban waterfronts as “spectacles of post-modern leisure.”

• The State of New England’s Democracy
  Session three is a luncheon lecturing featuring Professor Frank Bryan, the John G. McCullough Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. Bryan will discuss “New England, Democracy, and America: The Road not Taken.”

• Is New England Experiencing a Brain Drain?
  In session four, economists, policy analysts, and academics will probe the possibility that New England is losing its trained professionals to other parts of the country -- and the world. What are the causes and how can Massachusetts hold onto its professional population?

• Ethnic New England
  Session five will explore ethnicity in New England. Participants will discuss the Latino influence in Lawrence, Mass.; Cambodian political incorporation in Lowell, Mass.; and will ask if the U.S. strategy for refugee self-sufficiency is flawed.

• The Work of the Massachusetts Business Tax Study Commission of 2007
  In session six, policymakers, lawyers, and state executives will discuss issues, differences, and recommendations regarding the work of the Massachusetts Business Tax Study Commission of 2007. Karl Fryzel, partner in the law firm of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, will discuss the state’s streamlined tax agreement. 

Dinner and an evening roundtable discussion with panelists will follow the sessions.

For a complete conference line up and schedule, please click here. 

Issued 03/14/08