Youth Democracy Forum

The Global Liberal Arts Alliance  is joining with Deree-The American College of Greece as Education Partner for the prestigious Athens Democracy Forum (ADF) to be held in Athens, Greece, September 29 - October 5, 2024. The  Forum is organized by the Democracy and Culture Foundation in association with The New York Times and attracts a broad range of participants from around the world. Panels and workshops will emphasize the “Do” part of the Democracy and Culture Foundation’s Think-Talk-Do impact chain.

The 2024 Forum will explore the question “What is truth?” at a time when AI, conspiracy theorists and unscrupulous politicians are aligned to undermine fact, science, honesty, and respectful debate. In considering these challenges, the 2024 Athens Democracy Forum will open with a State of Democracy: Assessing the Mega Election Year session. Other sessions will include regional case studies (America’s Moment of Truth (Again); India and the Rise of Modi; The Middle East Powder Keg), “rethinking” sessions (Rethinking Journalism: A Crisis of Confidence; Rethinking Climate Tech: Promise or Pipe Dream?; Rethinking Faith: Vox Dei, Vox Populi; and, Rethinking Citizens: Who’s Listening?), Tools for Democracy sessions, and interactive workshops. 

Through a two-level competitive application process, 24 students from schools in the Global Liberal Arts Alliance will be selected to participate in the Forum as student delegates. We aspire for the student delegates to make meaningful contribution to the Forum, to communicate their thinking and experiences both to their home campuses and to the Alliance, and to present a plan of action to their home institutions for addressing a specific challenge identified at the Forum.