Political Speech and The Public Square

Fall 2024 Event Title: What’s at Stake for Me in the 2024 Election?

Event Dates: Tuesdays – September 10, October 8, and October 22

Event Location: The Diag

Event Duration: 1 hour; 12pm – 12:50pm

Format: Speakers must sign up in advance; Each speaker has 2 minutes; Moderator will guide with rules of engagement.

The University of Michigan is an institution with diverse communities, interests and opinions. This fall, the Faculty Senate Office, supported by Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment, and Global Engagement, the Michigan in Washington (MIW) program, and the Ginsberg Center, is launching the series – Political Speech and the Public Square – to provide a forum for members of the U-M community to present informed, fact-based perspectives, and to listen to and learn from each other. In his essay, “Education as a Space to Change Your Mind,” philosopher Troy Jollimore reminds us of Socrates’ commitment to open-mindedness: “It requires that we work toward developing a sense of the world as a vast and complex place that we can, and ought to, continue to learn about for the rest of our lives.”

Offered in this spirit of intellectual humility, to support the principles of academic freedom, and to develop a campus climate comfortable with hearing different well-informed points of view, even those counter to one’s own views, the lunchtime series will take place on the Diag on four biweekly Tuesdays in September and October leading up to the general election. Any student, staff, or faculty member of the University can sign up in advance to speak on the weekly topic for 2 minutes. Or you can simply come to listen and learn.

Considering the importance of the November elections, our focus for Fall 2024 will be “What’s at Stake for Me in the November Elections,” and each week will focus on a particular issue related to policy and the election. The first issue, on September 10, will be Climate Change Policy, an issue that many students consider vital to their decisions about which candidates to support. Topics for the other three dates will be generated by polling.

Past Events

  • September 10, 2024, on the topic of Climate Policy:
  • October 8, 2024, on the topic of Reproductive Rights
  • October 22, 2024, on the topic of Current Crisis in the Middle East
    • Moderator: Mark Tessler, Samuel J Eldersveld Collegiate Professor of Political Science, Professor of Political Science, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and Research Professor, Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research
    • Summary of the October 22nd event

Future Events

  • This series will return in the winter term.