Events

Seattle City Council Turns Over a New Leaf: New Members Chart the Future for Our Innovative City

Journalist Joni Balter and Dr. Larry Hubbell, professor and immediate past director of Seattle University's Department of Public Affairs and Nonprofit Leadership, discussed what is planned for our city with the newest Councilmembers Rob Saka (District 1), Joy Hollingsworth (District 3), Maritza Rivera (District 4), Cathy Moore (District 5), and Robert Kettle (District 7) on February 13, 2024.

Congressman Adam Smith and Dr. Umair A. Shah, Secretary of Health, Washington, discussed the intersection of individual mental health issues and how they affect the broader political dialogue. Dr. Larry Hubbell and Joni Balter moderated the first of the “Conversations” for 2023-24 on October 14, 2023.

WA Governor Jay Inslee visited Seattle University on April 14, 2023 in our latest installment of the "Conversation Series." He talked with hosts Larry Hubbell and Joni Balter and Public Affairs students Anna Smalley and Gabby Batinich about climate change in front of a packed house of SU students, faculty, and staff.

We hosted a fascinating installment of "Conversations" on February 24, 2023 with a rare afternoon sit-down with Washington's own U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the new congresswoman who staged the biggest upset of the 2022 fall congressional elections.

The first of our 2022-23 events was held on October 20, featuring Dr. Vin Gupta, public health physician, professor, health policy expert; incoming Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz; and Seattle City Councilmember Sara Nelson, who has taught women's studies classes at the University of Washington. They talked about managing anxiety and other difficulties in stressful times with Dr. Larry Hubbell. Watch now, presented by the Seattle Channel.

Seattle University’s “Conversations” series continued May 16, 2022, with General Barry R. McCaffrey, USA (Ret.), a national security and terrorism analyst for NBC News, and Gary Locke, former US Ambassador to China and former Washington State governor. They were interviewed by professor Larry Hubbell and journalist Joni Balter. Watch the program on the Seattle Channel.

The inaugural episode of our "Conversations" in a new partnership with Seattle Channel. Mayor Bruce Harrell, after his first months in office, describes plans for turning the city around. We talked about all of it -- public safety, downtown revitalization, housing and overall well-being of the city. Harrell is interviewed on stage Larry Hubbell, professor, and Joni Balter, journalist, and graduate students Mandela Gardner and Camille Rochester.

Homelessness is perhaps the No. 1 issue facing our city. “Compassion Seattle,” a proposal that offered a different approach to homelessness, did not make the November ballot. Many people are asking, “What now? Is there a better idea? How can we make progress on this complicated problem? What are our best chances for a solution– or, solutions?” Panelists include: Marc Dones (they/them), CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority; Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (she/her); Tiffani McCoy (she/her), advocacy director for Real Change News; and Jon Scholes (he/him), president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association. The event was moderated by Larry Hubbell, professor at Seattle University, and Joni Balter, contributing columnist and lecturer at SU.

In the third installment of Seattle University’s 2020-21 “The Conversations,” we hear from former U.S. ambassador to China and former Washington Governor Gary Locke, CEO of Treehouse Lisa Chin, and interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz. Journalist Joni Balter and Dr. Larry Hubbell, longtime previous director of the Seattle University Institute of Public Service, moderate an honest discussion with Locke, Chin, and Diaz about the possible causes of this disturbing trend—and offer suggestions on how we can make change around a problem that has a long legacy of harming our communities. With student questions led by Asian Studies Program Director Dr. Yitan Li, you won’t want to miss this essential and urgent conversation. Produced by Town Hall Seattle and Seattle University Institute of Public Service

We debuted a new quarterly livestream event on January 17, 2023 highlighting the latest faculty research and demonstrating how it applies directly to the workplace and career development. Join Dr. Rashmi Chordiya, Assistant Professor, and Mr. Bobby Humes, executive and leadership coach with a wide range of human resources and organizational strategy/culture experience, for this conversation.