Harvard Speaker to Discuss Future of Health Policy

Harvard University Professor Theda Skocpol, an expert on social policy, will give a talk, “The Future of Health Policy,” at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8. The talk is free and open to the public, and will be held at the University Club on the second floor of UMaine’s Fogler Library. Skocpol is director of the Scholars Strategy Network and is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard. Her research focuses on health reform and social policy and civic engagement amidst the shifting inequalities in American democracy. Skocpol’s current projects include tracking the implementation of health reform in the U.S. states; analyzing the dynamics of local Tea Party groups; and probing how the Democratic Party has handled — and mishandled — political battles over taxes and public revenues. Skocpol has met with groups of congressional Democrats and attended White House sessions that included the president during the Clinton years. The University of Maine Departments of Political Science and Sociology, and the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, are sponsoring Skocpol’s talk, which will be followed by a reception with refreshments.

Contact: Amy Fried, (207) 581-1797