The Bicentennial Symposium – Schedule

12-1 p.m. – Registration/kickoff lunch reception

(Skillman Library, Gendebien Room)

1-2:30 p.m. – Faculty Panel I: Lafayette College and Democracy: From the Archives

(Skillman Library, Gendebien Room)

• Rachel Goshgarian (history) – “Lafayette in Persia and the Archive as Democratic Classroom”
• Chris Phillips (English and environmental studies) – “What Are We Doing Here?: Reflections on a 200-Year-Old Answer”
• Mathieu Smith-Perrot (language and literary studies) – “Seen From Both Shores: Lafayette College in the American and French Press”
• Elaine Stomber (Special Collections and College Archives) – “Civic Movements and Institutional Reform: A History of Student Activism From the Lafayette College Archives”

Related items from the archives can be found in the Simon Room in Skillman Library.

2:45-4:15 p.m. – Faculty Panel II: Democracy and Higher Ed

(Skillman Library, Gendebien Room)

• Sarah Appelhans (engineering studies) – “‘No Innovation Without Representation’: How to Save the Soul of Engineering Education”
• Gabrielle Kelenyi (English) – “‘Strong People Don’t Need Strong Leaders’: Illuminating the Relationship Between Leadership, Expertise, and Writing”
• Abu Rizvi (economics) – “Colleges, Democracy, and Responsibility”
• Jenn Rossmann (mechanical engineering) – “Technological Citizenship”

4:30-6:45 p.m. – Related exhibits

(Williams Center for the Arts and Skillman Library)

• The Spy Who Brought Surrender
• Engineering Artifacts: Past, Present, & Future
• Adaptations of College Hill: A Bicentennial Exploration Through Rephotography
• Lafayette 200: A Bicentennial History of Lafayette College
• We’ll Gather By the Twilight’s Glow: 200 Years of Community at Lafayette College
• This Incomparable Site: From College Edifice to College Hill
• And more!

7-8:30 p.m. – Hèléne Landemore: “Politics Without Politicians: Democratic Renewal in an Age of Polarization and AI” plenary address followed by reception and book signing

(Colton Chapel)

8:15-9 a.m. – Registration/Light breakfast reception

(Skillman Library, Gendebien Room)

9-10:15 a.m. – Faculty Panel III: Democracy, Data, and Decision-Making

(Skillman Library, Gendebien Room)

• Adam Biener (economics) –”Lean Budgets: The Role of Government in Patients’ Access to and Financing of GLP-1s for Weight Loss”
• Caleb Gallemore (international affairs) – “The Shape of Advocacy in Open and Closed Political Systems”
• Sofia Serrano (computer science) – “Using Language Models to Study Government”

10:30-11:45 a.m. – Faculty Panel IV: Histories and Narratives of Democracies

(Skillman Library, Gendebien Room)

• Dennis Johannßen (language and literary studies) – “Language and Resistance During the Weimar Republic”
• Ilan Peleg (government and law and Jewish studies) – “The Global Decline of Democracy: Corrupt Populism, Autocratization, and Resistance”
• Katherine Stafford (language and literary studies) – “Perpetrator Studies and Democracy: The Case of Spain”

12-2 p.m. – Akhil Reed Amar: “America at 250: From ‘All Men Are Created Equal’ in 1776 to the Birth Equality Idea in the 1860s and the Birthright Citizenship Debate Today” plenary address and lunch followed by book signing

(Pfenning Alumni Center, Wilson Room)

2:15-3:30 p.m. – Faculty Panel V: Democracy Around the Globe

(Skillman Library, Gendebien Room)

• Anna Callis (government and law) – “Labor Organizations and Democratic Engagement: The Political Effects of Union Decline in Peru”
• Ernest Nkansah-Dwamena (environmental studies) – “The Global Land Rush and Squeeze: The Hidden Battle for Africa’s Soils”
• Seo-Hyun Park (government and law) – “Democracy and Nationalism in East Asia”

3:45-5 p.m. – Faculty Panel VI: Democratic Deliberation and Participation

(Skillman Library, Gendebien Room)

• Chetan Cetty (philosophy) – “Ideal Institutions and Complexity”
• Stephanie Chan (government and law) – “Creative Citizenship”
• Joaquín Gómez-Miñambres (economics) – “Reasoning Together: The Behavioral Economics of Belief in a Democratic Society”

5-5:30 p.m. – Closing Reception

(Skillman Library)