September 19, 2024
Dr. Akhil Reed Amar, Yale University
"The Constitution and the Presidency"
University of Michigan’s PPE speaker in 2024 was Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale. His passion is the U.S. Constitution, which he approaches from the perspectives of law, history, and political science. He is one of the legal scholars most frequently cited by the U. S. Supreme Court. Amar’s lecture and Q&A, “The Constitution and the Presidency” began with brief opening remarks in a fairly full amphitheater followed by the structure and theme he conveys in his latest book; that the Constitution needs to be an open conversation that leads to its change. Through time, each generation must improve upon it, else our country ceases to be what it is today. His newest book, The Words that Made US, America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840 is the first in a trilogy which dives deep into how conversations drive change. Amar discussed such topics as; (a) Freedom of the Press - its misnomers and how today’s press can be as simple as one’s handheld device. (b) The delicate balance of structuring laws that are neither too loose or too tight to prevent “strong men” from abusing the law. (c) How the Constitution should be viewed as an intergenerational project and the importance of viewing history with three different lenses. (1) What happened then, (2) what we think about it today, and (3) How we would like the future to look like. (d) The adoption of Public Schooling in developing a national identity and how the ills that are discussed in the Federalist Papers No. 37 can be avoided. (e) The lack of legislating from Congress these days and how we can correct the polarization. (f) The importance and today’s reluctance to continue to amend the Constitution. (g) Today’s interpretation of the Second Amendment, and (h) Chevron Deference and the Supreme Court's recent power grab. I encourage you to watch his lecture on the University of Michigan’s YouTube page.
November 16, 2022
Juliana Bidadanure, Stanford University
"Understanding Demonization"
In the age of individual responsibility, those at the bottom of the income hierarchy are routinely shamed. Out-of-work benefits claimants are subject to particularly severe forms of vilification, their unemployment being portrayed as resulting from personal failings. When these shortcomings are constructed as moral failings, we enter the space of what I call “demonization”. Demonization is the portrayal of individuals as wicked threats to the community and as worthy of deep moral contempt for their alleged behavior. Benefits recipients are demonized when they undergo sustained attacks on their moral character, when they are viewed as deliberately choosing idleness over hard work. The trope of the lazy free rider living at taxpayers’ expense is remarkably uniform across advanced economies and has been an effective strategy to undermine support for welfare. Because demonization diminishes its target’s moral standing, it pauses a critical threat to our ability to stand as equals, which contemporary theorists allege to be an essential component of a just and democratic society. Starting from the example of benefits recipients, my paper identifies several morally significant steps in the workings of demonization, clarifies its social function, and characterizes precisely what makes it wrong
January 25, 2019
Tyler Cowen, Holbert C. Harris Chair in Economics at George Mason University
"Economics vs. Philosophy: Which Will Come Out on Top?"
Tyler Cowen will consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of economic and philosophical reasoning, and how the two modes of thought might be best integrated.
March 8, 2018
Jon Grossman, Union Organizer
"Challenges Facing the Labor Movement—An Organizer's Perspective"
Jon Grossman will discuss the challenges facing today's labor movement, as seen through the experiences of a life-long labor activist. Grossman will discuss whether strategies for short term survival conflict with long term social change, what role leadership plays in democratic membership-based organizations, how workers should confront the need for industries to change, if there is a conflict between treating workers fairly and providing quality services, and how changes in the organization of work might impact organizing.
March 16, 2017
Fred Keller, Founder and Chair of Cascade Engineering
"Business Inspired Community Change+"
This talk will be based on the presenter's extensive experience in creating change models in west Michigan. These change models have been based on business practices and have encouraged new methodologies for making a positive change in communities which in turn can inform state and national policy.
April 13, 2016
Eileen Jerrett, Film Director
"Blueberry Soup: How Iceland Changed the Way We Think About the World"
Blueberry Soup is an extraordinary documentary about the constitutional change in Iceland following the financial crisis of 2008. This is a not-well-known story of grassroots constitutionalism, an inspiration to the rest of the world. The film is a deeply touching account of an eclectic group of individuals reinventing democracy through the rewriting of the nation's constitution.
