The Ostrich Paradox

Our ability to predict certain types of natural catastrophes has never been greater. Yet, people consistently fail to heed warnings and protect themselves and their communities, with devastating consequences. Robert Meyer, PhD, Co-Director of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, and co-author of The Ostrich Paradox: Why We Underprepare for Disasters discussed this contradiction, and what government authorities and individuals can do to improve disaster preparedness.

College in Prison

Daniel Karpowitz, PhD, is Director of Policy and Academics for the Bard Prison Initiative, and author of College in Prison: Reading in an Age of Mass Incarceration. Prof. Karpowitz explained how and why Bard College has provided hundreds of incarcerated men and women across the country access to a high-quality liberal arts education. He said inmate students are expected to meet the same requirements as students on a traditional campus. He added that, while education does reduce the rate at which convicts return to prison, higher education should never be measured in that manner.

Girls and Vitamin D

Kendrin Sonneville, ScD, RD, LDN is a Research Scientist, and Clinical Nutrition Specialist at Children\'s Hospital, Boston. Dr. Sonneville conducted a study that found that teenage girl athletes with the highest levels of vitamin D in their diets were half as likely to suffer a stress fracture. She said vitamin D deficiencies in teen girls are common. She explained which activities are most commonly associated with stress fractures and recommended ways to get enough vitamin D.

Daniel B. Karpowitz

Daniel B. Karpowitz is Director of Policy and Academics for the Bard Prison Initiative and Lecturer in Law & the Humanities at Bard College. Karpowitz has served as a faculty member, director, and leader of BPI since 2001. He has been responsible for major curricular and academic design and decision-making. Karpowitz was the co-founder of the Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison, an organization dedicated to supporting college-in-prison programs throughout the country. He also works as a higher education and criminal justice policy consultant to develop governmental reform proposals. Karpowitz has written and spoken extensively on criminal justice and the benefits of higher education in prison. He was a Soros Justice Fellow at the Open Society Institute, a Fellow at the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a Fulbright Fellow in Kathmandu, Nepal.


Karpowitz holds a J.D. with Honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a Public Interest Law Fellow. He also earned a B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

The Bard Prison Inititive