In this lunchtime discussion series, Paul Diduch and Alex Priou will co-lead discussions Mondays, 12:15-1:15 pm every three weeks (10/2, 10/23, 11/13, 12/4), on excerpts from great works on the question of liberty and education. Food and drinks will be provided.

NOTE: the 12/4 discussion is cancelled due to a scheduling conflict for faculty. We hope you enjoyed the fall series!

10/2, 10/23, 11/13, 12/4
12:15-1:15
Benson Center suite (Kittredge Central, 2nd Floor)
Food and Drinks will be provided

Potential thinkers to be discussed:

1.     Plato
2.     Aristotle
3.     Rousseau
4.     Mill
5.     Kant
6.     Tocqueville
7.     Adams
8.     Nietzsche
9.     Strauss

Register Here

In our first reading (Oct.10), Socrates presents an image of democratic politics, in which we, the powerful but blind people, unwittingly reward the incompetent and malign the decent.  Socrates' humorous allegory portrays political life as filled with self-serving grifters flattering the people, while the ship of state drifts aimlessly on dangerous seas.  The passage's dense imagery admits of multiple applications and thus illuminates much of our political life.

In the second week's reading (Oct. 23), Aristotle begins his inquiry into the human good with a note of optimism and pessimism.  We all want to live well, and that means finding a meaningful place in our community and even in the world.  But we also sometimes worry that our pursuit of a good life will only ever remain a pursuit.  What's the immediate goal of our actions and choices?  And what's the ultimate goal?  How do we get from one goal to the other?  That is, how do our present choices contribute to our living the good life?  And can we ever get there? Students are invited to review Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

For the third week's reading (Nov. 13), It's rare for two short paragraphs in a philosophic work to have world-historical importance, but that's the case with Chapter 15 of Machiavelli's Prince.  There Machiavelli sets forth his critique of all prior thought and lays out his new understanding of truth and causality, as well as its impact on how we understand politics and morality.  Machiavelli promises us greater freedom from necessity than had ever been promised before, a freedom gained only by a new understanding of the world.  Inspired by Machiavelli's revolution, later thinkers reshaped the natural sciences and political life into their present form.  In this seminar, we'll discuss Machiavelli's project and legacy. Prince Chapter 15

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This event took place on April 13, 2023 | 4 p.m. | Chancellor’s Hall, CASE Building, 4th Floor | 1725 Euclid Ave | In-person and Virtual | 

The Campus Liberty Tour returns to the CU Boulder campus with a compelling debate on immigration policy featuring Julio Rosas, Senior Writer at Townhall, Michael Anton, Lecturer in Politics and Research Fellow at Hillsdale College, Dr. Benjamin Waddell, Associate Professor of Sociology at Fort Lewis College, and Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist, Acclaimed Filmmaker & Immigration Advocate. They will be addressing the following resolution: "Illegal crossings of the U.S.-Mexico border are increasing at record levels; the U.S. government must secure the border immediately." Virtual audience will watch with a private link with the ability to participate in pre & post debate polling, as well as be able to submit questions to the debaters!

Moderated by Hadley Heath Manning, Vice President for Policy, Independent Women’s Forum; Tony Blankley Senior Fellow, Steamboat Institute. 

General Information

Parking information: Short term, paid parking is available on campus in lots 205, 203, or 324. Visit the CU campus map for other parking options, or find more info about short-term parking at CU. Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions.

Please note that masks are currently optional on the CU Boulder campus.

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The Benson Center is excited to host a private screening of The Coddling of the American Mind on March 21, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. in Wolf Law 204. Registration is required.

Synopsis

Based on The New York Times bestselling book—Kimi is a Ugandan immigrant. Lucy just left a locked psych ward. Both teenagers begin new lives as they enter college. They’re full of promise but quickly succumb to paranoia and misery. Kimi is on the brink of homelessness and Lucy is convinced people want to murder her simply because she’s autistic. 

The women are part of a global mental-health mystery that threatens an entire generation. Beginning in 2012, anxiety, depression, and suicide shot up among young people, and nobody knew why. The answers emerged from an unexpected source—a man named Greg and his own brush with suicide.

Run time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
45 minute Q&A with the film directors following the screening.

Parking Information

Paid parking is available in lots 415, 406, 404 and 306. Visit the CU campus map for parking options or find more info about short term parking at CU parking services website. Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions.

Student Event Information

Student Meet and Greet with Ted Balaker on March 22, 2023, Noon-1 p.m. at Kittredge Central, North Wing, 2nd Floor, N221 Benson Center Suite. Register Here   

Attendance to the screening is not required. 

Come have lunch with Ted Balaker an award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and founding partner of Korchula Productions, a film and new media production company devoted to making important ideas entertaining. Pizza and Drinks will be provided. Students only and registration is required.

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This event took place on March 16, 2023 from 5:30 - 7 p.m. in Kittredge Central Conference Room N114D. In person and livestreamed.

About the Lecture

We are told that we must transition to a renewable energy economy that runs on wind and solar if we mean to stave off the end of the world and perhaps even human extinction. Climate science aside, where did this vision for the future come from? Is it realistic? What would its fulfillment mean for the infrastructure upon which daily life depends? This lecture will put the "energy transition" into some historical context, walk through what it means for society, and look to the American canon for how we ought to proceed. 

About the Speaker 

Emmet Penney is the editor-in-chief of Grid Brief, a contributing editor at Compact Magazine, and the host of the Nuclear Barbarians podcast. His work has appeared in The Spectator, Americans Affairs, and The American Conservative.

Parking Information

Nearby lots include 404, 406, 306, or 319. Visit the CU campus map for parking options or find more info about short term parking at CU. Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions.

Public Safety

Please note that masks are optional at CU Boulder.

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This event took place on March 7, 2023 from 5:30 - 7 p.m in Kittredge Central Conference Room N114 D. No Video Available.

About The Speakers

• William Kuskin holds a joint appointment in English in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Herbst Program for Engineering, Ethics & Society in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. He is the Associate Dean for Digital Education in CU Engineering. Dr. Kuskin served in the Office of the Provost from 2014-2019, ultimately as Vice Provost for Academic Innovation. In that role he created the Office of Academic Innovation and the Office of Global Engagement. Prior to that, he was Chair of the Department of English.
   
• Jennifer Smith (PhD, UCLA) is an Associate Professor of English, Coordinator and founder of the Digital Humanities Minor, and the Associate Director of the Center for Faith and Learning at Pepperdine University. In her time there, she has received an award for excellence in teaching as well as a major grant to develop a Christian pedagogical app called The Vineyard. Her scholarly research focuses on the language and theology of late medieval English bishop, Reginald Pecock. She has published a translation of his last polemical volume, The Book of Faith (UCLA-CMRS, 2020), and is currently working on a major project which seeks to sequence and situate the entirety of his corpus. She is also serving as the Media Officer for the Medieval Association of the Pacific.

About The Event

Please join J.A.T. Smith, Visiting Sabbatical Research Fellow with the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization, and William Kuskin, Associate Dean for Digital Education and Professor of English, for a conversation about reading, technology, and cultural change in the fifteenth century. 

Parking Information

Nearby lots include 404, 406, 306, or 319. Visit the CU campus map for parking options or find more info about short term parking at CU. Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions.

Public Safety

Please note that masks are optional at CU Boulder.

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This event took place on Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5:30 – 7 p.m in CASE E422. In person and livestreamed. 

About the Lecture

Police unions have been part of the interest group landscape of American localities for decades. However, ever since George Floyd's killing by police in Minneapolis in 2020, they have been the subject of national controversy. For some, they protect bad cops, encourage violence against civilians, block reforms that would improve police departments, and undermine public trust in the police. For others, they protect officers doing a tough job, improve police performance by giving officers a say about working conditions, and thereby enhance public trust in the police. This talk will assess our knowledge of the effects of police unionization on American local democracy and provide an analysis of their impact on public trust in the police.

About the Speaker

Daniel Disalvo is professor and chair of political science in the Colin Powell School at the City College of New York–CUNY and a senior fellow at the . His scholarship focuses on American political parties, elections, labor unions, state government, and public policy. He is the author of Engines of Change: Party Factions in American Politics, 1868–2010 (Oxford 2012) and Government Against Itself: Public Union Power and Its Consequences (Oxford 2015). His articles have appeared in Political Science Quarterly, Policy Studies Journal, and American Political Thought among others. Disalvo also writes frequently for popular publications, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic Monthly, National Affairs, City Journal, American Interest, The Weekly Standard, Los Angeles Times, and the New York Daily News. He was previously the co-editor of  and serves on the editorial board of the . He has held visiting appointments at  and the CUNY Graduate Center.

Parking Information

Nearby lots include 205 (parking garage), 203, and 324. Visit the CU campus map for parking options or find more info about short term parking at CU. Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions.

Public Safety

Please note that masks are optional at CU Boulder.

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This event took place on Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 5:30 – 7 p.m in CASE E422. 

About the Lecture

The concept of the rule of law is recognized as foundational to the individual freedom and economic prosperity in the West. But this broad consensus obscures important debates over the meaning of the rule of law and the cultural and institutional preconditions for its emergence in the West and continued maintenance over time. As concept of the rule of law have come under increasing attack, it is important to rediscover the meaning of the rule of law, the historical and institutional preconditions for its emergence in the West, and its continuing relevance to the maintenance of individual freedom and economic prosperity.

About the Speaker

Todd J. Zywicki is George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and a Research Fellow of the George Mason Law & Economics Center. From 2015-2017 he was Executive Director of the George Mason Law and Economics Center. From 2020-2021 he served as Chair of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law and from 2003-2004 he served as the Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission. He is also a Senior Fellow of the F.A. Hayek Program for the Advanced Study of Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at George Mason University and a former Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute and the Goldwater Institute. In 2021 he was inducted to the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.
 
Professor Zywicki clerked for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and worked as an associate at Alston & Bird in Atlanta, Georgia, where he practiced bankruptcy and commercial law. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia, where he was executive editor of the Virginia Tax Review and John M. Olin Scholar in Law and Economics. Professor Zywicki received an M.A. in Economics from Clemson University and an A.B. cum Laude with high honors in his major from Dartmouth College. He has taught at Vanderbilt University Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Boston College Law School, Mississippi College School of Law, and China University of Political Science and Law.
 
Professor Zywicki is the author of more than 130 articles in leading law reviews and peer-reviewed economics journals. He is one of the Top 10 most-cited law professors in the field of Commercial Law and one of the Top 25 law professors on Twitter as measured by engagement levels.  He has testified multiple times before Congress on issues of consumer bankruptcy law and consumer credit and is a frequent commentator on legal issues in the print and broadcast media, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Nightline, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Neil Cavuto Show, Fox & Friends, Smerconish, Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream, Fox Business, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg News, BBC, The Ingraham Angle, The Diane Rehm Show, Dennis Prager Show, Mike Smerconish Show, Lou Dobbs Show, Mike Gallagher, and The Laura Ingraham Show.

Parking Information

Nearby lots include 205 (parking garage), 203, and 324. Visit the CU campus map for parking options or find more info about short term parking at CU. Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions.

Public Safety

Please note that masks are optional at CU Boulder.
 

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This event took place on Thursday, February 2, 2023. 

About the Lecture

Political polarization and extremism is a major challenge in today's America. Join us for a panel of community leaders who are working to address these challenges in Colorado. The panel will explore topics such as: How polarization and extremism manifest in communities around Colorado, what the panelists' groups are doing to address these issues, and what opportunities exist for students and faculty to get involved in these efforts and understand CO communities better.

About the Panelists

• Laureen Boll (Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism), "The racial reckoning of the Summer of 2020 had a profound impact on me. It seemed that my values of casting aside stereotypes and treating people the same regardless of their skin color were suddenly outdated.Both my workplace and my kids’ schools were embracing a movement of prioritizing group identity, and it felt like my moral code was being impinged upon. It quickly became clear that I could not sit on the sidelines and watch my community succumb to an illiberal and divisive ideology. In 2021 I retired from a 23-year career as an employee benefits strategist and began a new role as a volunteer ‘advocate of liberal democracy’. I now lead the Douglas County chapter of FAIR, a community-focused grassroots movement that promotes individual dignity and excellence in our K-12 education system. We are standing against the encroachment of an intolerant and racist ideology in our schools, and encouraging parents, teachers and kids to reject learned helplessness and grievance in favor of resilience and gratitude. I’m also the state coordinator for FAIR, where I aim to share FAIR’s pro-human approach with leaders in business, healthcare, and the arts.”
• Bernie Buescher (Restore the Balance), is “Of Counsel” with the law firm of Ireland Stapleton Pryor and Pascoe, P.C.  A lifetime resident of Grand Junction, Bernie practiced law in Grand Junction with Williams Turner and Holmes for 14 years, and served as President and CEO of West Star Aviation from 1986 through 1995.  He served two terms in the Colorado General Assembly and for two years served as Secretary of State for Colorado. For four years Bernie was a Deputy Attorney General, managing the State Services Section of the office.  He has served on approximately 40 non-profit boards. In 2022 he was one of the founding members of Restore the Balance which fights extremism in politics.
• Martín Carcasson (Director of Colorado State University's Center for Public Deliberation), is a professor in the Communication Studies department of Colorado State University, and the founder and director of the CSU Center for Public Deliberation. His research focuses on helping local communities address “wicked problems” more productively through improved public communication, community problem solving, and collaborative decision-making. The CPD is an impartial resource dedicated to enhancing local democracy. Martin and the CPD staff train students to serve as impartial facilitators, who then work with local governments, school boards, and community organizations to design, facilitate, and report on innovative projects and events on key community issues.
• Leah Sprain (Director of CU’s Center for Communication and Democratic Engagement), is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder where she also directs the Center for Communication and Democratic Engagement. Her research focuses on  how specific communication practices facilitate and inhibit public action. Outreach and praxis are crucial to democratic engagement; thus, much of her research is collaborative and focused on the practice-theory interface. 
• Moderated by Matthew Burgess (Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies and Benson Center Faculty Fellow).

Parking information

Nearby lots include 404, 406, 306, or 319. Visit the CU campus map for parking options or find more info about short term parking at CU. Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions.

Public Safety

Please note that masks are optional at CU Boulder.

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This event took place on January 24 , 2023. 

About the Lecture

Why is so much public discourse unproductive and mean-spirited? One reason is that people grandstand: we use discussions about morality and politics for self-promotion. By understanding what grandstanding is, why we do it, and how it harms public discourse, we can see how to build a healthier public square.

About the Speaker

Brandon Warmke is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University. He has written widely on forgiveness, moral responsibility, public discourse, and politics. With Justin Tosi, he is the author of Grandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk (Oxford, 2020). He also co-edited Forgiveness and Its Moral Dimensions (with Dana Nelkin and Michael McKenna, Oxford, 2021). He is currently writing two books: Why It’s OK to Mind Your Own Business (with Justin Tosi); and Conservatism: The Basics. He has written for CNN and MarketWatch, and his work has been featured by The Atlantic, New York Times Magazine, HuffPost, Scientific American, Forbes, Vox, Commentary Magazine, and The Guardian. He received his PhD in philosophy from the University of Arizona.

Parking Information

Nearby lots include 205 (parking garage), 203, and 324. Visit the CU campus map for parking options or find more info about short term parking at CU. Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions.

Public Safety

Please note that masks are optional at CU Boulder.
 

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This event took place on October 19, 2022. 

About the Lecture

In this lecture, Avramenko invokes the great 19th century observer of American social and political life, Alexis de Tocqueville, to talk about the centrality of the study of law for tempering the harms of radical egalitarianism.

About the Speaker

Richard Avramenko (Ph.D. Georgetown, 2005) is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin, where he is also the Director of the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy, and the Editor-in-Chief of the Political Science Reviewer. He is the author of Courage: The Politics of Life and Limb, and the editor of Friendship and Politics: Essays in Political Thought, Dostoevsky’s Political Thought, Aristocratic Souls in Democratic Times (volume I and II), and Canadian Conservative Political Thought. He has published on a variety of topics and thinkers, including Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, St. Augustine, Dostoevsky, Tocqueville, Nietzsche, Voegelin, Heidegger, Canadian identity politics, suicide, ambition, and mortgage and housing policy. He is currently spending his sabbatical as the Busch Family visiting professor at Notre Dame University, where he is completing a new book that he plans to call, The Crush of Democracy: Tocqueville and the Egalitarian Mind

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