Democracy Past, Present and Future: The Bicentennial Symposium

Democracy: Past, Present, and Future

Sept. 10-11, 2026, Lafayette College will host a Bicentennial Symposium centered on the theme of Democracy: Past, Present, and Future. The two-day event will feature more than 20 Lafayette faculty members, from over 10 departments and programs, across every academic division, who will present their scholarly work in a series of interdisciplinary and wide-ranging panel discussions.

The Bicentennial Symposium will feature plenary talks by two leading scholars of democracy:

• Hélène Landemore, Professor of Political Science at Yale University, a distinguished research fellow at the Institute for Ethics in AI, and an expert in democratic theory, political epistemology, and technology ethics, will deliver a keynote address on Thursday evening. 
• Akil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, and an expert on constitutional history, the origins of the American legal system, and the evolution of civil rights, will offer a keynote talk at the symposium lunch on Friday afternoon. 

Together with the expansive scholarship of our faculty, these speakers will provide a rich intellectual foundation to reflect on democracy’s current challenges and imagine a more just and equal future.