William S. Cohen Papers | The Promise and Problems of Transparency

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Joyce Rumery, Dean of Libraries
Mike Hastings, Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs    Link to the transcript of the introductions

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Cary Coglianese, Deputy Dean and Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania Law School.  In his presentation, The Politics of Open Government, Professor Coglianese delivered many of the of the points from his paper, "The Transparency President?  The Obama Administration and Open Government," originally published in Governance, volume 22, number 4, pages 529-544 (October 2009).  (Full text is available through the Worldwide Political Science Abstracts database.)

PANEL ONE : Meeting the Mandate -- National and Statewide Perspectives
Mark Woodard, former Editor-in-Chief, Bangor Daily News, moderator
Amanda Wood, Director of Governmental Affairs, the office of U.S. Senator Susan Collins
Kelly Hokkanen, General Manager, InforME, a partner of Maine.gov
Tarren Bragdon, Chief Executive Officer, The Maine Heritage Policy Center

LUNCHEON PRESENTATION
Sunny Skye Hughes, Assistant Professor, UMaine Communication & Journalism Department, moderator
Jim Campbell, Board Member of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, Chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Maine Library Association, and host of Notes from the Electronic Cottage for WERU-FM Community Radio

PANEL TWO :  Transparency Trends -- Getting Beyond the Buzzword
Irwin Gratz, MPBN, moderator
Amy Fried, Associate Professor, UMaine Department of Political Science
Carolyn Ball, Associate Professor, University of Maine Department of Public Administration
Joline Blais and Jon Ippolito, Associate Professors, UMaine New Media Department

PANEL THREE : Trust and Truth in Documentary Filmmaking
Aron Gaudet, Director, Gita Pullapilly, Producer, and cast members Bill Knight, Joan Gaudet, and Jerry Mundy 
of the film, The Way We Get By.
Aron and Gita shared their perspectives on the subjectivity of journalism and filmmaking, and how they tried to balance respecting the privacy of those featured in THE WAY WE GET BY with capturing documentary film footage.  Bill, Joan, and Jerry let us know what it was like to make their lives relatively transparent.  Our discussion was informed by:
Documentaries (in Name Only) of Every Stripe, by A.O. Scott, New York Times, October 13, 2010
Documentary Filmmakers Decide How to Present Compelling Evidence, by Michael Rabiger, Nieman Reports, Fall 2001