The Bicentennial Symposium – Schedule

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

(Farinon Student Center, Marlo Room)

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

(Farinon College Center, Marlo 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

(Farinon College Center, Marlo 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 and Student Panel

(Williams Center for the Arts and Skillman Library)

• Student Panel: On Practice-Based Research: Encountering Humanities through 3D Modeling and Experiential Learning (Williams Center for the Arts, Room 108)
• The Spy Who Brought Surrender (Williams Center for the Arts, Williams Center Gallery)
• Engineering Artifacts: Past, Present, & Future (Williams Center for the Arts, Kirby Art Study Center)
• Adaptations of College Hill: A Bicentennial Exploration Through Rephotography (Skillman Library, Lobby)
• Lafayette 200: A Bicentennial History of Lafayette College (Skillman Library, Simon Room)
• We’ll Gather By the Twilight’s Glow: 200 Years of Community at Lafayette College (Skillman Library, Reference Area)
• This Incomparable Site: From College Edifice to College Hill (Skillman Library, Lass Gallery)
• And more!

7-8:30 p.m. –  Hélène 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

(Farinon Student Center, Marlo Room)

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

(Farinon College Center, Marlo 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

(Farinon College Center, Marlo 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

(Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, Room 104)

• 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

(Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, Room 104)

• 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

(Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, Lobby)