OLLI at the University of Michigan is sharing their lectures!

OLLI's live stream offerings next week- we are trying to provide links with a little more lead time! Happy Friday everyone

No registration is needed for OLLI-UM’s online lectures which are now FREE to all (please share with a friend!) while our OLLI-UM in-person programming is suspended.

Tuesday, June 16 10-11:30 am EST online

The Personhood of the Corporation
Andrew Hoffman, Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, UM Ross School of business and UM School for Environment and Sustainability

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United versus the Federal Election Committee, a controversial decision that President Obama declared "reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections." When he stated these words during his 2010 State of the Union Address, Justice Samuel Alito famously shook his head, mouthing “not true.”

To understand the Citizens United decision, it helps to understand the string of cases that preceded it and the underlying questions that center on the “personhood of the corporation.” Since the 1880s, courts have wrestled with questions like: Are corporations the same as “human persons”? Do they have rights, such as the right of free speech guaranteed under the first amendment to the US Constitution? Does money equal speech? Does money corrupt? Is there a “compelling state interest” in curtailing money as speech? These are all questions that the Supreme Court considered in rendering its Citizens United judgment. This session will attempt to make you more conversant in the Supreme Court’s reasoning, both in the supporting majority and the dissenting minority, and help you understand the deeper issues affecting our democratic processes.

Professor Hoffman’s research uses organizational behavior models and theories to understand the cultural and institutional aspects of environmental issues for organizations. He has published over 100 articles/book chapters, as well as 16 books, which have been translated into six languages.

Professor Hoffman recommends the following articles on the topic:

Duignan, B. (2019) Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Encyclopedia Brittanica
Linzey, T. (2019) “Filling the democracy gap,” Orion, Autumn
Dunbar, J. (2018) “The ‘Citizen’s United’ decision and why it matters,” The Center for Public Integrity, May 10.
Levy, G. (2015) “How Citizens United has changed politics in 5 years,” US News and World Report, January 21.
Casleton, S. (2018) “It’s time for liberals to get over Citizens United,” Vox, May 7.
Smith, B. (2020) "Celebrate the Citizens United decade," Wall Street Journal, January 20.
DeSilver, D. and P. Van Kessel (2015) "As more money flows into campaigns, Americans worry about its influence," Pew Research Center.

Link to Andrew Hoffman's lecture: https://umich.zoom.us/j/93428645363
US: +1 646 876 9923 or +1 301 715 8592
Webinar ID: 934 2864 5363

Thursday, June 18 10-11:30 am EST online

Not a Drop to Drink? Water Quality in Michigan —The 2nd lecture in the OLLI Summer Lecture Series
PFAS in the Huron River Watershed
Daniel A. Brown, Watershed Planner, Huron River Watershed Council

This talk will cover common sources of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals to the environment, the associated health risks of exposure, and their status in the Huron River watershed. The recent history of how major sources of PFAS were discovered in the river and its fish, along with what is being done to prevent human exposure, will be discussed.

Daniel Brown is a Watershed Planner with the Huron River Watershed Council. His work focuses on emerging contaminants, dam removal, the coordination of the Huron River Water Trail, and addressing the effects of climate change. His background is in climatology, and before working with HRWC, he helped institutions and governments across the U.S. and Canada find solutions to environmental challenges.

Link to Daniel Brown's lecture: https://umich.zoom.us/j/95753482948
US: +1 646 876 9923 or +1 301 715 8592
Webinar ID: 957 5348 2948