COA TACKLES QUESTIONS OF DEMOCRACY
2024 Summer Institute series continues
BAR HARBOR—Mrs. Roy, a seventh grade social studies teacher, was killer, Jill Lepore said Monday night.
Why knowledge matters. Why teaching matters. What the Constitution stands for.
Those were the things that Mrs. Roy focused on and her impact sent Lepore on a path for the rest of her life. Now a historian and journalist, she and Cornell William Brooks started the College of the Atlantic’s week-long ideas festival with a discussion about philosophical and procedural elements around amendments to the Constitution as well as activism, change, and democracy. Brooks is the former president of the NAACP and director of a social justice collaborative at the Harvard Kennedy School.
The Summer Institute is a series of discussions and events that welcomes experts from around the world to share their perspectives.
”Activist gives young people the permission to run,” Brooks said. “It helps to be able to see people like you in positions of leaders. And I think we have a great many young people who that haven’t been the case.”
Speakers called the ongoing event a highlight of the college’s summer.
The importance of dialogue and the acceptance of ideas that may align with the listeners or be challenging (but is meant to be an opportunity to think together) were common themes in the sessions’ introductions so far this week.
Past president Darren Collins was instrumental in the creation and stewardship of the summer institutes. The college’s new president, Dr. Sylvia Torti, an ecologist and novelist, was a unanimous pick to lead the college.
“Learning with and from each other even when we have different experiences and ideas” are the core of the festival said state Senator Nicole Grohoski (D-Ellsworth), who is a COA employee, as she introduced the second set of speakers: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Joanna Lydgate, CEO of States United Democracy Center.
The duo on Tuesday spoke about states being the frontline of democracy.
“Democracy depends on pubic trust,” Benson said.
Lydgate agreed and added that “it’s a connection to a broader, I would argue even global effort to undermine the idea” that people should have the power to elect their representatives. They also spoke of the impact of AI on disinformation about elections and civic issues.
Wednesday’s morning sessions featured Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and former US Representative, former US Ambassador and board chair of The International Foundation for Electoral Systems William C. Eacho, Dr. Rajiv Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation and former administrator of USAID and Phil Lader, former US Ambassador to the Court of St. James's.
UPCOMING SESSIONS
WEDNESDAY
5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
How to Love a Country: The Civic Role of Poetry and the Search for Home
American poet Richard Blanco speaks with Meg Weston, founder and director of The Poets Corner.
THURSDAY
9:30 AM - 10:45 AM
The Battle for the Ballot Box: Who Draws the Lines?
Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at MALDEF, and Michael Li, senior counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, speak with Cook Political Report Senior Editor Dave Wasserman.
5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism
Retired US Supreme Court Justice The Honorable Stephen Breyer speaks with Jeffrey Rosen, president & CEO of the National Constitution Center.
FRIDAY
9:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness
Jeffrey Rosen, president & CEO of the National Constitution Center, speaks with Judith S. Goldstein, founder and executive director emeritus of Humanity in Action, Inc.
5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
Restoring Collaboration and Goodwill in the House of Representatives
US Representatives Jamie Raskin (D-MD 8th District) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME 1st District) speak with Washington Post Associate Director Frances Stead Sellers.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
The college’s website for the event with links to register and/or watch upcoming sessions.
The sessions tend to be shared one week later on the college’s YouTube channel as well.
LINKS ABOUT THE TOPICS FOR THE FIRST TWO SESSIONS
VIDEO: These Truths. Jill Lepore
ARTICLE: Will the Supreme Court Now Review More Constitutional Amendments? Jill Lepore
ARTICLE: The GI Bill Was One of the Worst Racial Injustices of the 20th Century. Congress Can Fix It. Cornell William Brooks
VIDEO: The United States Pays Reparations Every Day—Just Not to Black America? Cornell William Brooks
ARTICLE: Michigan’s Elections Chief Wants to Protect Voters, Poll Workers, and Democracy Itself. Jocelyn Benson
PODCAST: Who Are You Going to Be in This Moment: A Conversation with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Jocelyn Benson
PODCAST: States United with Joanna Lydgate. Joanna Lydgate
ARTICLE: States United: Berkeley Connection at New Bipartisan Center Protects Democracy and Election Integrity. Joanna Lydgate
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