Project SEARCH

09/25/2024 - Representative Marjorie Smith

Where is the line between the rights of personal privacy and the power of the state to set limits on those rights? Representative Smith will focus her discussion on a bill recently before the legislature addressing end of life.

Marjorie Smith earned the degree of master of public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and focused her professional and personal activities on public policy, working in federal, state and local government, and not-for-profit organizations.

She is currently running for her fourteenth term in the New Hampshire House, representing Durham. She has chaired the House Finance and Fiscal Committees as well as the House Judiciary Committee. She also served on the Public Higher Education Advisory Committee and the board of the University System of New Hampshire.

She was the first chair of the board of the New Hampshire Women’s Policy Institute (NHWPI). Before her election she was the national executive director of WAND (Women’s Action for New Directions), an organization committed to reordering federal priorities and to increasing women’s involvement in elective office.

Smith worked in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and chaired, for many years, the Maryland Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She worked on the President’s Appalachian Regional Commission, and was assistant to the first chair of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission., and chaired the board of the Maryland Committee for Day Care, and subsequently served on the staff, advocating for availability of and standards for quality child care.

She was the first chair of the Durham Public Library, planning the transition from UNH, and served on several Durham Master Plan committees. She is the treasurer of the Durham Historic Association.

10/09/24 - Dante Scala

10/23/24 - Jill Thorson

Jill is an Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of New Hampshire and received her PhD from Brown University in 2015 in Cognitive Science. She studies how children learn language, looking at the melody and rhythm of speech (called prosody) and how it impacts successful communication. Jill also explores how language acquisition varies in children with autism spectrum disorder and children with childhood apraxia of speech. This work aids in earlier diagnosis and improved assessment and intervention. She is Director of the Communication, Acquisition, and Translational Studies Laboratory (CAT Lab) at UNH where she works with undergraduate and graduate students in running studies that examine language development in young children.

You can check out the Dr. Thorson’s CAT Lab here! https://mypages.unh.edu/catlab/home

11/06/24 - TBD

11/20/24 - Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki

Bringing fresh energy to Celtic music, Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki is an award-winning fiddler/singer who grew up playing dances and folk festivals around New England. He was first recognized as part of New Hampshire’s culture at the age of 12, when he was the youngest member of the delegation representing the state at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He has toured nationally with bands in various genres, performed across Ireland, and released multiple recordings of Celtic music that have aired on radio stations around New England and in the British Isles. He has also written soundtracks for audiobooks and television (including the New England Emmy-nominated theme music for NH Chronicle) and appeared as a guest on over 100 albums. In 2013 he was awarded the title of “Master Artist” by the NH State Council On The Arts, and named “Best Fiddler 2016” by NH Magazine. These days he performs primarily with his own band, the Jordan TW Trio, a group that has won multiple awards for its wedding performances as well as recognition for its unique take on Celtic music in concert. Jordan’s lifelong passion for history helps bring to life the traditional music around which he built his career. Tour dates and more info at www.JordanTWmusic.com
 

12/11/24 - TBD

01/22/25 - TBD

02/12/25 - Lawrence Hamilton

Who believes in conspiracies such as the Earth is flat, NASA faked the Moon landings, or vaccines implant microchips? And conversely, who recognizes scientific facts such as the Earth is billions or years old, and orbits around the Sun? UNH sociology professor Larry Hamilton studies public knowledge and perceptions about science, on topics that have ranged from the environment and climate change to basic geography, or far-fetched conspiracies like the flat Earth. Dr. Hamilton’s survey research provides some answers on who believes what; social media explorations help to understand why conspiracy-based worldviews have drawn in so many people over the past few years.

03/05/25 - Laura Brown

Laura Brown began Fox Point Oysters in 2012. The two acre oyster farm is located in Little Bay in NH, and raises the Eastern oyster for sale in the surrounding community. The farm serves to raise not only a healthy food source, but to educate the public to the important role of oysters in the bay, to partner with scientists exploring oysters and their habits, and to help restore native oyster reefs in Great Bay.

03/26/25 - TBD

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