Dialogue Across Difference

Program: A lot can be learned from how we use the internet. Our viewing patterns offer insights into our health, behavior, and our democracy. Social scientists are pioneering new collaborations with Facebook to get access to its data, under the banner “Social Science One”. As efforts progress toward developing partnerships questions have been raised about safeguards for privacy, ethical conduct, a...

Program: Presidents of the United States are the most powerful figures in America and, arguably, the world. The First Lady receives far less attention but exerts influence within the White House and stars in Washington’s shrouded political theatre.   Novelist Curtis Sittenfeld joins us for a conversation about the public visibility and private dramas of the First Lady – from Laura Bush to Michelle...

Program: Professor Hahrie Han will examine the opportunities and substantial hurdles facing community organizers. Professor Han studies the way political and community organizations make the civic participation of ordinary people "Possible, Probable and Powerful." Her work explores how to increase grassroots power and capacity rather than short-term mobilizing. Kara Carlisle of the McKnight Founda...

Professor Theda Skocpol of Harvard University is among America’s most acclaimed scholars of American politics. Her conversation will cover topics ranging from her new research on community responses to President Trump and her continuing research on the Tea Party and conservative networks. Theda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University. She has ser...

Since the 1970's conservative donors, activists, and business have been building networks to influence the state policy process. Professor Alexander Hertel-Fernandez from Columbia University will visit the Humphrey School to talk about why conservatives have been successful using organizations like ALEC to influence policy making while progressives have lagged behind. Alexander Hertel-Fernandez is...

The US Constitution mandates that the government -- which includes state universities -- should not discriminate against speakers based on their viewpoints. Should university panels include diverse perspectives, including conservatives who may unsettle students and faculty? What about advocates for extreme nationalist viewpoints whose presence invites large protests that impose substantial costs o...