Past Lectures

Past Lectures

The Bollens-Ries-Hoffenberg Lecture Series

2017
Fiction When Truth is Stranger Than Fiction: Hollywood in The Trump Era
Franklin Leonard

2017
Too Many Governments: How Local, State and Federal Jurisdictions Can Clash or Collaborate
Sheila James Kuehl

2015
Reflections on 40 Years in L.A. Local Government and Where We Go From Here 
Zev Yaroslavsky

2013
The Passions & Politics of Ed Edelman
Ed Edelman

2012
26th Annual Bollens-Ries-Hoffenberg Lecture
Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of the City of Los Angeles

2011
The State of California and its University
Dr. Charles E. Young, Chancellor Emeriti
Watch the lecture here.

2010
How Congress is Helping to Meet the Challenges of Our Time
The Honorable Henry A. Waxman

2009
The National and State Economy, with Comments on the Budget Process
The Honorable Thomas J. “Tom” Campbell

2008
California Government: What’s Wrong & How to Fix It
Bill Boyarsky, George Skelton, and Bill Stall
Master of Ceremonies – Edmund D. Edelman
Lecture Moderator – Bill Parent

2007
Million-Dollar Murray: The Costs of Homelessness in America
Malcolm Gladwell

2005 – 20th Anniversary Lecture
How Can California Government Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century?
Former Governors Jerry Brown, Gray Davis, George Deukmejian
Moderator – Kevin Starr, Professor, History, University of Southern California, and California State Librarian Emeritus

2003
California’s Crisis: Budgeting in a Strait Jacket
Robert M. Hertzberg – Speaker Emeritus, California State Assembly, and Partner, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw

2002
Borough, Si! Secession, No!: Or, It’s Time to Start Thinking about a Borough System for Los Angeles
Kevin Starr, Ph.D. – California State Librarian

2001
The State of Los Angeles: How Can Our City be Improved?
Genethia Hayes – President, Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education
Angela Oh – Member, Los Angeles Human Relations Commission

2000
Budgets, Taxes, and Spending: The Promise and the Challenge in California
Elizabeth G. Hill – Legislative Analyst, State of California

1999
Can the Rainbow Hold Together?: Racial and Ethnic Coalitions in a Diversifying Nation
Jennifer L. Hochschild – Professor, Government, Princeton University

1998
Politics and Ethnicity
James Q. Wilson – Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, UCLA

1997
Government’s Role in the Arts: What Is It? What Should It Be?
Andrea Rich – President and CEO, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

1996
Should We Hate the Media?: The Responsibility of the Press in the Decline of Public Life
James Fallows – Washington Editor, Atlantic Monthly

1995
The Current Health of State and Local Government in California: What Prescriptions are Needed?
Edmund D. Edelman – Former Member, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

1994
Economic Security in a World of Change: Can We Have Both?
Michael Dukakis – Former Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

1993
Building and Rebuilding Los Angeles: How the City’s Development Agencies Shape Regional Growth
Steven P. Erie, Ph. D. – Professor, Political Science, University of California, San Diego

1992
End of the Cold War: New Challenges for Governing
Walter F. Mondale – Vice President, United States of America

1991
New Directions for California
Carl Covitz – Secretary, Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, State of California

1990
Some Promising and Dismal California Political Participation Trends
Mervin Field – President, Field Institute, and Director, California Poll

1989
Military Spending vs. Social Spending: Can We Afford Both?
Dale Bumpers – United States Senator, State of Arkansas

1988
The Welfare State and Local Government
Dr. Theodore J. Lowi – John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions, Cornell University

1987
Plebiscitarian Democracy in California: The Initiative Process
Dr. William Hamm – Vice-President, World Savings

1986
State and Local Government: Where the Action Is
Dr. Hale Champion – Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

1985 – Inaugural Lecture
Strategic Decisions That Molded Los Angeles: Could They Be Made Today?
Dr. James Q. Wilson – Professor, Graduate School of Management and Department of Political Science, UCLA