Reflect
2024-2025 SPEAKER AND EVENT SERIES
Our speaker series brings together scholars and practitioners with distinctive perspectives on the theme of Democracy in Troubled Times: democracy as it is currently practiced here and abroad; the impact of polarization on democratic politics; how campaigns and election media operate; ways in which students may get positively engaged in politics; the place of elections and other forms of participation in democracy; and how to empower positive action and resilience in the current political climate.
This is an event series designed to create intellectual conversation and community support for students, staff, faculty, and community members during what is sure to be an exciting, yet nerve-racking, election cycle. We envision that each speaker’s visit and related activities will generate opportunities for our community to come together to process and engage deeply with one another over the elections and what they mean for the fundamental concept of Democracy. The elections and related issues are an area where SBS has significant and unique expertise among faculty, and this is an opportunity for us to provide an important service by giving back to the entire university community and local community.
* – These events are organized by campus units and groups outside of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
FALL 2024 EVENTS
September 17: Constitution Day Event – Trust and Polarization with Marc Hetherington
11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Integrative Learning Center, Communication Hub (3rd floor)
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11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: Launch of Democracy in Troubled Times Initiative
12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Marc Hetherington – Keynote Speaker
Register to Attend Virtually
Co-author of Prius or Pickup: How the Answers to Four Simple Questions Explain America’s Great Divide, Marc studies the American electorate, with a particular focus on trust in government and the polarization of public opinion. In the book, two award-winning political scientists provide the psychological key to America's deadlocked politics, showing that we are divided not by ideologies but something deeper: personality differences that appear in everything from politics to parenting to the workplace to TV preferences, which would be innocuous if only we could decouple them from our noxious political debate.
Marc studies the American electorate, with a particular focus on trust in government and the polarization of public opinion. He has also authored or co-authored of a number of books over the years, including Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism (Princeton University Press, 2005), Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2009) (with Jonathan Weiler), and Why Washington Won’t Work: Polarization, Political Trust, and the Governing Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 2015) (with Thomas J. Rudolph).
Prius or Pickup: How the Answers to Four Simple Questions Explain America's Great Divide is available for purchase from HarperCollins Publishers. It is also available via the UMass Libraries in hardcopy and ebook formats.
1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.: Breakout Sessions: Can We Talk About Politics?
These 90-minute sessions will offer a facilitated conversation aimed at understanding the factors that inhibit citizen dialogue about and participation in democratic politics.
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Reception and Engagement Opportunities: Mobilize, Organize!
This reception will feature several student and community organizations working on voter registration, get out the vote, community organizing, union action, and much more. Come learn how you can get involved!
September 19: Preparing Ourselves for Challenging Times*
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., W.E.B. Du Bois Library , Room 600, 6th floor
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A facilitated discussion session that will explore how instructors make the decision to acknowledge (or not acknowledge) controversial topics in class and how they might approach the facilitation of challenging discussions with our students.
This event is organized and sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning.
September 23: Panel on Union Organizing and Political Activism Around the Elections with Professor Dean Robinson
12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Great Hall, Old Chapel
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Join us for a panel with Max Page (President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association) and Filaine Deronnette (Executive Vice President At Large of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO), moderated by Dean Robinson, Chair & Professor of Political Science. The panel will explore the multifaceted role of labor unions in the 2024 elections, their contribution to workplace democracy, and to a range of key economic policy debates. The panelists will discuss how unions engage in the political process through endorsements, campaign contributions, ballot initiatives (such as the upcoming question 2, MCAS ballot initiative), and voter mobilization efforts, while also discussing their historical influence on major legislative achievements. The panel will address unions' broader impact on political participation, including their ability to increase political engagement among members and represent working-class interests in policy debates. Challenges facing the labor movement, such as declining membership and legal obstacles, will be considered alongside emerging opportunities and organizing strategies. The discussion will also touch on how the Massachusetts Teachers Association engaged the political process in a way that won universal sick leave, the $15 minimum wage, universal paid family leave, and taxed the rich in order to secure funding for major new investments in public schools, colleges, and transportation, including the newly established policy of tuition-free community college in the Commonwealth.
September 24: Is Higher Education Good for Our Communities? Assessing the Past and Forging a New Path Forward featuring Davarian L. Baldwin*
6:00 p.m., Bowker Auditorium, Stockbridge Hall
With an eye to the University of Massachusetts, Davarian L. Baldwin will draw from his book In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower to discuss the "public good" of higher education as it has shifted from a service provider of education and research to acting as a major force of economic development and political governance in our communities. Today's universities are embroiled in the swirling forces of student debt, labor organizing, corporatization, campus protest and suppression, and a waning public confidence in higher education. Baldwin will explore how we got here, the costs and benefits of what he calls "UniverCities," and the possibilities for a more liberatory path forward.
This event is part of the 2024-25 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series.
September 26: Panel on Public Opinion, Current Events, and Migration
4:00 p.m., Great Hall, Old Chapel
In partnership with the UMass Poll and Professor Razvan Sibii in the Journalism Department, the Migration Working Group will hold a panel discussion on the following topics: What exactly is happening on the US/Mexico border? Is it accurate to characterize the current situation as a “crisis”? How are current events related to immigration being discussed in the news? What is the impact of this news coverage on voters and on campaigns in the 2024 election? Where do the candidates stand on immigration? In what ways are the party platforms and candidate positions similar and different? How central is immigration to this election? Which aspects of the immigration debate are most important to voters? What does public opinion polling tell us about these questions? In addition to panelist presentations of information, this session will also include ample time for Q&A.
September 27: Plenary on Law and Democracy*
3:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., UMass Campus Center, Marriott Center (11th Floor)
The Center for Justice, Law, and Societies at UMass Amherst will host the Northeast Law and Society Retreat on Friday, Sept. 27 at the Campus Center. Sponsored by the Law & Society Association (LSA), the event will bring together faculty members, graduate students and others who are interested in law and policy, both domestically and internationally.The afternoon plenary on law and democracy features public opinion and democratic institutions scholar Peter K. Enns, of Cornell University; human rights scholar Janice Gallagher, of Rutgers University-Newark; law and political economy scholar Amy Kapczynski, of Yale University; and social movements scholar Poulami Roychowdhury, of Brown University.
This event is organized and sponsored by the Center for Justice, Law, and Societies and the Law and Society Association.
September 30: Tara Setmayer – Our Voices, Our Vote: How Women Will Save Democracy in 2024
11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Old Chapel, Great Hall
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Tara Setmayer is the co-founder and CEO of The Seneca Project, a bipartisan superPAC, led by women, dedicated to mobilizing women voters in key swing states in support of Kamala Harris' election, with a focus on safeguarding women’s rights, healthcare access, and the preservation of democracy. Ms. Setmayer is a former CNN political commentator, contributor to ABC News and former GOP Communications Director on Capitol Hill. She currently serves as a University of Virginia, Center for Politics, Resident Scholar for the 2023-24 academic year. In collaboration with the Center for Politics, she narrated the Emmy-nominated 3-part documentary Dismantling Democracy, which aired nationally on PBS stations in September 2020 and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
October 8: Sharon Davies – Mapping Democracy’s Future in Gerrymandered Landscapes—Why Should We Care?
11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Commonwealth Honors College Events Hall
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A case study for the country in resistance to party-manipulated districts for political advantage is playing out in Ohio right now. Davies will describe the years-long battle against a gerrymandered Republican legislature there, which has culminated in a critical citizen-led ballot initiative in Ohio this November called Issue One. She will also discuss the challenges of how her nonprofit foundation walks a fine line in helping to educate the public about gerrymandering due to the ban against lobbying.
Sharon Davies is the President and CEO of the Kettering Foundation, which works to inspire and connect individuals and organizations to advance thriving and inclusive democracies around the globe. Davies’ career spans both academic and nonacademic fields. From 2017-2021, Davies was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Spelman College. She joined Spelman from The Ohio State University (OSU), where she was vice provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer. Davies was also a member of OSU’s Moritz College of Law faculty for 22 years, serving as the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. In addition, Davies directed the university’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity, an interdisciplinary engaged research institute known nationally for its work in social justice, equity, and inclusion. She also held an appointment to the Ohio Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Davies has an undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a law degree from Columbia University School of Law. Davies is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of the Campaign to Create the Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park, and a commissioner of the Council on Higher Education as a Strategic Asset. She was included among the Dayton Business Journal’s Bizwomen Power50 2023.
October 11: Bilge Yesil – Talking Back to the West: How Turkey Uses Counter-Hegemony to Reshape the Global Communication Order*
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., Integrative Learning Center, Communication Hub (3rd floor)
GloTech Lab hosts Prof. Bilge Yesil and celebrates her pathbreaking new book, Talking Back to the West: How Turkey Uses Counter-Hegemony to Reshape the Global Communication Order. Prof. Yesil will discuss Turkish and global politics of religious victimhood, essentialization of East-West binaries, and identitarian narratives, and relate them with recent trends in US politics and the 2024 elections.
Bilge Yesil is Professor of Media Culture at the College of Staten Island and affiliate faculty in Middle Eastern Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Her research focuses on global media and communication, authoritarianism, surveillance, media ownership, and communication policy. She is the author of Video Surveillance: Power and Privacy in Everyday Life (2009), Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State (2016), and Talking Back to the West: How Turkey Uses Counter-Hegemony to Reshape the Global Communication Order (2024), and a co-editor of The Handbook of Media and Culture in the Middle East (2023).
This event is organized and sponsored by the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy (EIPAD) and the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI).
October 17: Jamie Druckman – (Dis)trust in America
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Commonwealth Honors College Events Hall
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Twenty-first century American politics has been tumultuous. Common explanations for America’s societal and political divide and seeming inability to act collectively include changes in media technology, elite polarization, social and ideological sorting, nationalization of institutions, and unprecedented tribal polarization. This project instead argues that the most concerning and consequential development has been a polarization around trust in scientific institutions. This has come about due to partisan realignment and resulted in two parties—who are charged with collaborating to produce collective goods—operating from entirely distinct epistemologies.
Jamie Druckman is the Martin Brewer Anderson Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. He is also an Honorary Professor of Political Science at Aarhus University in Denmark. His research focuses on political preference formation and communication. His work examines how citizens make political, economic, and social decisions in various contexts (e.g., settings with multiple competing messages, online information, deliberation). He also researches the relationship between citizens' preferences and public policy and the polarization of American society. His recent book with UMass professor Elizabeth Sharrow, Equality Unfulfilled: How Title IX’s Policy Design Undermines Change to College Sports (Cambridge University Press), won the 2024 Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book on US national policy from the American Political Science Association.
This event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Social Science Research.
October 17: The Failure of the Obama Recovery, OR, How We Got Trump*
4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Gordon Hall Conference Room (3rd floor)
Michael Meeropol is Professor of Economics Emeritus at Western New England University and author of Surrender:How the Clinton Administration Completed the Reagan Revolution and Principles of Macroeconomics: Activist vs. Austerity Policies.
Jared Ragusett is Associate Professor of Economics at Central Connecticut State University and holds a UMass Amherst Economics PhD. He is author of Understanding the Great Recession: A Pluralist Approach to U.S. Capitalism in the 21st Century.
This event is organized and sponsored by the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy (EIPAD) and the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI).
October 21: Workers’ Right to Unionize: A View From a Member of the National Labor Relations Board*
5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Room 125, Furcolo Hall
The right to organize and collectively bargain are foundational to democratic societies. In the U.S., these rights are enforced by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Appointed by President Biden, David Prouty is one of five members of the NLRB. In this panel, Prouty will be discussing recent NLRB decisions that arose from complaints by workers employed at Starbucks, Tesla Corp, Home Depot, and other companies. These decisions address the right of workers to protest racial injustice at work, the Board’s efforts to take timely action to prevent employers from illegally firing union organizers, and what measures the Board can take to secure the right to collective bargaining when employers engage in anti-union actions. Prouty will also describe what it’s like to work at the NLRB and have time for questions. Prior to his NLRB appointment in 2021, David Prouty served as General Counsel for several major unions, including the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), and UNITE HERE.
This talk is organized by the Labor Center, and co-sponsored by Legal Studies, Political Science, the School for Public Policy, Social Thought and Political Economy, and Sociology.
October 21: Beshara Doumani – Palestinian Futures After October 7*
7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Student Union Ballroom
Prof. Beshara Doumani, Brown University, will speak on Palestinian history and politics against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
Beshara Doumani is the inaugural Mahmoud Darwish Professor of Palestinian Studies, the first chair of its kind dedicated to this field of study. He is also the founding director (2012-2018) of Brown's Center for Middle East Studies (CMES), and founder of New Directions for Palestinian Studies, a CMES initiative since 2012. From 2012-2020 he was the Joukowsky Family Distinguished Professor of Modern Middle East History.
Doumani's research focuses on groups, places, and time periods marginalized by mainstream scholarship on the early modern and modern Middle East, with a focus on the social, economic, and legal history of Eastern Mediterranean. He also writes on the topics of academic freedom, and the Palestinian condition. Doumani is the editor of a book series on Palestinian Studies published by the University of California Press, co-editor of the Jerusalem Quarterly and editorial committee member of the Journal of Palestine Studies.
This event is organized and sponsored by the Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies.
October 28: Danielle Allen – Justice by Means of Democracy
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Great Hall, Old Chapel
Register Now to Attend in Person or to Attend Virtually
Danielle Allen’s many books include the widely acclaimed "Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality," "Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.," "Democracy in the Time of Coronavirus," and, most recently, "Justice by Means of Democracy." Allen is the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and a columnist for The Washington Post. She routinely teaches courses on political philosophy, ethics, and public policy. Allen is also a seasoned nonprofit leader, democracy advocate, tech ethicist, distinguished author, and mom.
October 28: Crafting Constructive Conversations with Dr. Terry Nance*
2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Online
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Dynamic classroom discourse in the classroom never just happens. Faculty members who enjoy regular classroom conversations understand that classroom conversations are a process consisting of meticulous planning, thoughtful rehearsal and cultivated trust. In this online session, guest facilitator Dr. Terry Nance (Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Chief Diversity Officer; and Professor of Communication, Villanova University) will guide faculty through this topic of particular importance in these challenging times.
This event is organized and sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning.
November 5: Election Day Activities
Historically, Election Day has been a time to gather, reflect, and celebrate Democracy. In recognition of the importance of this day, UMass Amherst will hold no formal classes. We invite all community members to join us for a day of activities and opportunities to connect with others across campus.
November 7: James Baldwin Centennial Celebration with Eddie Glaude Jr.*
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Campus Center Auditorium
Join us as we celebrate and honor the legacy of James Baldwin in this Centennial Celebration. Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr of Princeton University will deliver a talk focused on James Baldwin and the promise of democracy, and meet with students, faculty, and staff for small group discussions.
Dr. Glaude is the author of Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, and is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies, a program he first became involved with shaping as a doctoral candidate in Religion at Princeton. He served as the inaugural chair of the department for more than fourteen years. He is also on the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. He frequently appears in the media, as a columnist for TIME Magazine and as an MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning Joe and Deadline Whitehouse with Nicolle Wallace. He also regularly appears on Meet the Press on Sundays. Combining a scholar's knowledge of history, a political commentator's take on the latest events, and an activist's passion for social justice, Glaude challenges all of us to examine our collective American conscience.
This event is organized and sponsored by the Office of Equity and Inclusion.
November 13: Plugging In After the Election
4:00 p.m., Great Hall, Old Chapel
After the election in November, the Migration Working Group will partner with local immigrant assistance and advocacy organizations, as well as groups and offices on campus that work with non-citizen students, to hold a session focused on the question: what comes next? This event is in collaboration with IPO.
November 14: Faculty Panel – In the Aftermath
4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., UMass Campus Center, Amherst Room (10th Floor)
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Description pending.
SPRING 2025 EVENTS
Dara Strolovitch – When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People
Date, time, and location TBD
Dara Strolovitch is Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, and Political Science at Yale University, and taught previously at the University of Minnesota and Princeton University. She is also co-director of the Center for the Study of Inequality at Yale’s Institution for Social and Policy Studies and recent co-editor of the American Political Science Review. Her research and teaching focus on inequality and representation in American politics and public policy, which she has explored using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods in dozens of articles, chapters, and books, including When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People: Race, Gender, and What Makes a Crisis in America and the award-winning Affirmative Advocacy: Race, Class, and Gender in Interest Group Politics. Her work has been supported by grants and fellowships from sources including the National Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Aspen Institute, the Irving Louis Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy, the Brookings Institution, the World Health Organization, the American Political Science Association, Georgetown University, Stanford University, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, as well as by internal grants from Yale University, the University of Minnesota, and Princeton University, and her research and graduate mentorship were recognized in 2018 by the Midwest Political Science Association Women’s Caucus’s Outstanding Career Award.
This event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Social Science Research.
2025 Freedman Lecture: Brad Raffensperger – Reflections on Standing Up to Trump
Date, time, and location TBD
Brad Raffensperger is the current Secretary of State of Georgia. He is Georgia’s 29th Secretary of State, first elected in 2018 and overwhelmingly re-elected in 2022. When Trump lost the election in 2020 and refused to accept defeat and launched an unsuccessful protracted campaign to overturn the election results, Trump made a recorded phone call on January 2, 2021, in which he attempted to persuade Raffensperger to change the election results in Georgia in Trump's favor. Raffensperger refused to do so and said the outgoing president's claims were based on falsehoods.