National Perspectives, Local Issues

The Murphy Institute at Tulane University is kicking off its public policy fall lecture series on Thursday (Sept. 30) with a talk on immigration by Brookings Institution senior fellow Audrey Singer. She is the first of four public policy experts for the series, called “National Perspectives on Local Issues.”

Audrey Singer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, will lead off the public policy fall lecture series by the Murphy Institute on Thursday (Sept. 30). (Photo from the Brookings Institution)

Experts from government, think-tanks and academia will speak on topics that resonate both locally and nationally, says Steven Sheffrin, executive director of the Murphy Institute.

“Today, New Orleans and Louisiana face many challenges: reforming education, delivering medical care, managing energy production and the environment, and integrating immigrants into our labor force and culture,” says Sheffrin, a professor of economics. “While these issues have a local flavor, they are also the same issues that we are grappling with nationally.”

The first free, public lecture will be at 4 p.m. on Thursday in the Lavin-Bernick Center, Stibbs Room. Singer, who is with Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program, will speak on “Immigration, Local Reception and the Prospects for Federal Reform.” She is an expert on international migration, race and ethnicity, U.S. immigration policy and demographic trends in metropolitan areas.

Other lectures in the series are:

• Oct. 21, 3:30 p.m., Rogers Memorial Chapel. David Figlio, Orrington Lunt Professor of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, talks on “The Consequences of Accountability and Choice for Urban Schools.”

• Nov. 4, 4 p.m., LBC, Stibbs Room. Gilbert E. Metcalf, professor of economics, Tufts University, lectures on “Climate Change Policy and Oil Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico: What's the Connection?”

• Nov. 15, noon, LBC, Stibbs Room. Dr. Mark McClellan, director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, Brookings Institution, on “Health Policy.” He is the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and was White House senior director for healthcare policy.

For more information on each of the lectures, contact Meg Keenan at 504-862-3236.