Northeastern University's Open Classroom Series will feature “Campaign 2012: Policy Advice to the President.” to be held every Wednesday evening from Sept. 5 through Dec. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., ...]]> Beyond the deluge of campaign ads and Super PAC propaganda, the upcoming months promise some more thoughtful political events in New England. Consider ...

Northeastern University's Open Classroom Series will feature “Campaign 2012: Policy Advice to the President.” to be held every Wednesday evening from Sept. 5 through Dec. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the university's West Village F. Moderators will include: Barry Bluestone, founding dean of Northeastern's School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs; Massachusetts state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz; Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo; former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for president in 1988 and a professor of Political Science at Northeastern; and Newton, Mass. Mayor Setti Warren. (Admission is free.)

The New England Council's Congressional Roundtables will feature a breakfast discussion with U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) on Monday, Sept. 10, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., at Boston's Hampshire House. Future roundtables convened by the regional business group will include: U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) on Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Providence Biltmore Hotel in Providence, R.I.; U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Monday, Sept. 24, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Burlington Hilton in Burlington, Vt.; and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) on Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at PretiFlaherty, One City Center, in Portland, Maine. (Free to New England Council members.)

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College will host a variety of speakers through the academic year, starting with former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) on Monday, Sept. 17, at 4:30 p.m. in Dartmouth's Silsby Hall. Other speakers in the series will include Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution on Thursday, Oct. 18. The series will culminate in a panel discussion on Thursday, Nov. 8, exploring "What Now? Post-Election Opportunities & Challenges." (Admission is free.)

Charles Gibson, former "ABC World News" anchor, will deliver the lecture, "The (Im)Balance of Power in Washington: How Things Went Off the Rails and How They Can Be Fixed," on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Burt Kahn Court on Quinnipiac University's Mount Carmel Campus. (Admission is free.)

Author and political commentator Michael Barone will deliver the keynote address, "Election 2012 and the American Experiment," at Pioneer Institute's 2012 Better Government Competition Awards ceremony on Monday, Sept. 24 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Boston. Barone is senior political analyst at The Washington Examiner, a Fox News contributor, and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, which is published biennially by National Journal. (Tickets begin at $150.)