Law, Politics, and Current Affairs
June
Tuesday June 11 10:00-12:00
Cyber Threats, Cybersecurity, and What You Need to Know: the Perspective of a Former FBI Special Agent
Over the past 10 years, cyber security incidents have dominated the headlines. The FBI estimates that in 2022 Americans lost over $10.3 billion to cyber incidents – nearly triple the reported losses from 5 years ago. Cybersecurity threats have emerged as everything ranging from weapons of war, tools for espionage against American businesses, data breaches, to the financial but costly nuisance of scams, identity theft and elder fraud. The proliferation of Artificial Intelligence further complicates matters. What do you need to know? What does your business need to know? What does your family need to know? Most importantly – how do you cut through the headlines to find practical guidance on how to protect yourself? Throughout her career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent, Meredith Fitzpatrick has seen it all when it comes to cyber. Meredith spent the entirety of her career in the FBI investigating cyber incidents, including ransomware, data breaches, and Russian and Chinese statesponsored computer intrusion campaigns on US critical infrastructure. She has deployed to Nigeria and lead arrest operations in the US and Europe. From sitting across the table from C-Suite executives facing a massive data breach, a subject who was just arrested for hacking, and devastated family members whose loved one transferred all of their life savings as the result of a scam, she has fascinating insights and guidance on how to navigate this ever-evolving digital world.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Meredith Fitzpatrick is the current Director for Cryptocurrency Investigations at Forensic Risk Alliance, a global investigations consulting firm. Until April 2023, she was a Special Agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Meredith spent the entirety of her career in the FBI investigating criminal and national security related cyber matters, including ransomware, identity theft scams, darkweb marketplaces, Chinese theft of intellectual property, Russian attacks on critical infrastructure, and cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. Meredith has been the recipient of numerous awards from the Department of Justice and FBI for investigative excellence and has led multiple international arrest operations with US and foreign intelligence services. Prior to becoming a FBI Special Agent, Meredith was a software engineer in the US intelligence community.
Monday June 17 10:00-12:00
How “Doing Your Own Research” Is Manipulated for Political Gain
For most of us now, the internet is the predominant source we use to obtain information. Although we might have an intuitive sense that our search results are not returning complete or accurate information, how many of us realize that the search queries we use – our starting points – and our keywords drive those returns in very specific ways? In other words, our personal biases as reflected in the search terms we select can affect the content of the information generated and how it is presented to us. The results of our searches are driven by algorithms that, by design, optimize and weaponize political polarization, leading us down rabbit holes that threaten democratic processes. This presentation will explain the results of Professor Tripodi’s research into the mechanics of internet political manipulation and how we can protect ourselves against it.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Dr. Francesca Tripodi is an Assistant Professor at the School of Information and Library Science and a Principal Investigator at the Center for Information Technology and Public Life at UNC-Chapel Hill. She holds a PhD and MA in sociology from the University of Virginia, as well as an MA in communication, culture, and technology from Georgetown University. Her book, The Propagandists’ Playbook, was published by Yale University Press in 2022. She has twice testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining how search processes are gamed to maximize exposure and drive ideologically based queries thereby spreading conspiratorial logic. In 2023, Dr. Tripodi received the Award for Impact and Excellence from the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington in recognition of her research on fostering an informed society.
July
Tuesday July 9 10:00-12:00
A Citizen’s Guide to Election 2024
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The electoral process, voting rights and redistricting have assumed a more controversial position in U.S. politics than at any time since World War II. Working together, they enable the voices of the citizenry to put government in the hands of public officials and legislative representatives who will labor faithfully to fulfill the will of the electorate. In the past two national election cycles, however, the long overlooked vulnerabilities in our national politics have become more apparent and subject to attack. Professor Cooper has had a ringside seat in the election wars in North Carolina as both an expert witness in the ongoing litigation as well as a scholarly observer. In his presentation, he will survey the features of the election process that effectively minimize the prospect of organized and widespread fraud and mismanagement of the election process. He will also discuss the legislative and political strategies which have the effect of determining who votes, where they vote, and for whom they get to vote. Ultimately, the presentation and discussion should leave participants with a better understanding of how our electoral structures amplify and constrain the voice of the people in 2024.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Christopher A. Cooper is Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professor and Director of the Haire Institute for Public Policy at Western Carolina University. He is the coauthor of The Resilience of Southern Identity: Why the South Still Matters in the Minds of its People, co-editor of The New Politics of North Carolina and author of the forthcoming Anatomy of a Purple State: A North Carolina Politics Primer (all from UNC Press) as well as more than 50 peer reviewed journal articles. He has served as an expert witness on elections and voting rights cases and is a frequent source for journalists seeking expertise about American, Southern, and North Carolina politics. His quotes appear in a variety of media outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, NPR, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.
Friday July 12 10:00-12:00
The Melting of the ‘Frozen Conflict’ in the Baltic States: Putin’s War in Ukraine and the Upending of History
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One overlooked consequence of Putin’s war in Ukraine is the dramatic political impact it has had on domestic politics and culture in the Baltic States. Whereas just a few years ago pro-Moscow parties and anti-European Union sentiment were both features of Baltic societies, recent political and cultural developments indicate that post-Soviet history has been totally upended. Dr. Kuck will examine these recent developments within the context of the dramatic events of the twentieth century, making even clearer the intense paradigm shift that is unfolding today.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Dr. Jordan Kuck is associate professor of history and chair of Humanities at Brevard College. Dr. Kuck is an expert on the modern history of Northeastern Europe, and his research deals with the history of nationalism and authoritarianism in the Baltic States during the interwar period. Over the past few years, Dr. Kuck has published chapters in edited volumes that marked the centennial of Latvian independence. He also contributed chapters to two recent or forthcoming books, Dictatorship and Daily Life in Twentieth Century Europe, and Transnational and Transatlantic Fascism in East Central and Southeastern Europe, 1918–2018. In support of his research, Dr. Kuck was the recipient of a Fulbright, a U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, as well as a grant from the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies.
Monday July 15 2:00-4:00
History of Hamas
This Program is Sponsored By Ed Mawyer
Immediately after the horrific terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, some commentators began comparing Hamas to ISIS, a political organization responsible for some of the most grisly acts of terrorism recorded this century. As Professor Tasar will explain, this comparison is misleading. Hamas owes its origins to Islamic traditions having little in common with ISIS. It has roots tracing back to 1978, when Israeli military authorities hoped to weaken the secular PLO by encouraging the creation of the Islamic University of Gaza. More than just names and dates, this presentation will take a bird’s eye view of Marxist guerrilla movements in the Third World, especially their frequent use of graphic terrorism to get publicity. It will then highlight the successful efforts by the Ayatollah Khomeini to “Islamize” these national liberation movements in the Middle East in the 1980s. Hamas was founded in 1989 as a “religious” partner in the PLO’s struggle against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. As it has evolved, Hamas represents a confluence of an older Marxist guerrilla tradition that relies on terrorism against civilians, and a newer, Iranian-inspired model of militiabased mobilization that embraces Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi movement in Yemen. The presentation will conclude by explaining the circumstances leading to Hamas’ takeover of Gaza in February 2007 and why the October 7 invasion was such a surprise, not just militarily, but ideologically as well.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Boston native Eren Tasar has taught in the History Department at UNC since 2013. His interests are the religious and social history of Soviet Central Asia. Tasar’s first book, Soviet and Muslim, examined Soviet policies toward Islamic institutions. He is currently writing a 24 lecture video series about the history of Central Asia since ancient times for The Great Courses. He is also working on a second book project dealing with atheistic literature written in languages spoken by Muslims in the USSR.
Tuesday July 16 10:00-12:00
Challenges to Western Dominance
This Program is Sponsored By Ed Mawyer
The landscape of global power is evolving, and Western countries must navigate these changes to maintain influence and address common global challenges. This presentation will survey the tectonic shifts confronting the Western-dominated world order emergent after World War II reaching virtually unchallenged dominance in the 1980s. Today, the global economic balance is shifting. The challenge to traditional Western economic dominance is reflected in the rise of new economic powerhouses altering the dynamics of international trade and finance. The world is moving towards a more multipolar political and economic system with the rise of regional powers resisting Western hegemony. Countries like Russia, India, and Brazil along with important regional powers are playing increasingly significant roles in global affairs, creating a more diverse and decentralized international order. The effectiveness of existing global institutions is aggressively being questioned with emerging powers advocating reforms which in their view would more fairly reflect the distribution of power. This movement challenges Western-dominated institutions and their ability to set the global agenda. Professor Tasar will elaborate on the ramifications of this important phenomenon.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Boston native Eren Tasar has taught in the History Department at UNC since 2013. His interests are the religious and social history of Soviet Central Asia. Tasar’s first book, Soviet and Muslim, examined Soviet policies toward Islamic institutions. He is currently writing a 24 lecture video series about the history of Central Asia since ancient times for The Great Courses. He is also working on a second book project dealing with atheistic literature written in languages spoken by Muslims in the USSR.
Wednesday July 17 10:00-12:00
Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era
This presentation will provide a birds’ eye view of Chinese politics under President Xi Jinping. We will briefly introduce the Chinese political system and its evolution, the achievements China has made in the reform era, major challenges the Communist Party of China faces today such as economic slowdown, imminent population crisis, as well as a deteriorating international environment. Besides domestic politics, we will situate China in the world. We will look at U.S.-China relations and examine major factors that affect bilateral relations. We will also review the history of cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan and discuss the latest developments such as the presidential election results in Taiwan. We will conclude by assessing the resilience of the Chinese authoritarian regime and the global implications of China’s rise.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Rongbin Han is associate professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley and studied at National University of Singapore and Peking University. His research interests include contentious politics, media and cyber politics, as well as civic participation, with an area focus on China. He is the author of Contesting Cyberspace in China: Online Expression and Authoritarian Resilience and co-author of Directed Digital Dissidence in Autocracies: How China Wins Online. His co-edited book The Xi Jinping Effect is forthcoming from University of Washington Press.
Thursday July 18 10:00-12:00
Judicial Ethics – Public Trust in the Courts
This Program is Sponsored By Lee and Chesley Garrett
One of the foundations of democracy is a judicial system that fairly and impartially enforces the rule of law. Acceptance of the work of the judiciary rests on public trust promoted by public trials, the right to counsel, written opinions and orders, impartial juries, the correction of errors through appellate review, and critically, the impartiality and independence of the judges who preside over legal proceedings. Judicial codes of ethics are one means of assuring the latter qualities. While these codes add additional safeguards to protect the public, some on both sides of the political spectrum question their effectiveness. Perhaps the most glaring question has been the lack, until very recently, of a code applicable to the United States Supreme Court. Judge Jed Rakoff, with 28 years of experience as a federal district court judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, will explore the role of codes of judicial ethics generally and the significance of the Supreme Court’s adoption for the first time in its institutional history of its own code of conduct -- with serious limitations.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Judge Jed S. Rakoff has served since March 1996 as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. He frequently sits by designation on the 2nd and 9th Circuit Courts of Appeals. His most noteworthy decisions have been in the areas of securities law and criminal law. He is an Adjunct Professor at both Columbia Law School and NYU Law School, and also teaches at Berkeley Law School and the University of Virginia Law School. He has conducted over 300 jury trials, written over 180 published articles, 900 speeches, 2000 judicial opinions, and co-authored 5 books. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books and the author of Why The Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free, and Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2021).
Friday July 19 10:00-12:00
The New York Times: Past, Present...and Future?
This Program is Sponsored By Freddie Flynt / Fred A. Moss Charitable Trust
While family-owned newspapers throughout the US have collapsed, The New York Times survives and continues to thrive. It remains an indispensable source of national and international news even in the digital age. How have five generations of the Ochs/Sulzberger family successfully navigated economic and political challenges where other great newspapers failed? What critical decisions were made; how did they respond to internal crises; and why have they been able to harness the online media sphere to their advantage? What does the future hold? Mr. Jones will discuss whether The Times can withstand the continued assertions that the media is biased and partisan and cannot be trusted. He will argue that The Times must remain true to the press’s core mission of fact-based reporting in the face of threats to the values afforded by the First Amendment as well as the breath-taking advances in technology such as Artificial Intelligence.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Alex S. Jones is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covered the newspaper industry for The New York Times for nine years. He is the author, with his late wife, Susan E. Tifft, of The Patriarch: The Rise and Fall of the Bingham Dynasty and The Trust: The Private Powerful Family Behind the New York Times. He is also the author of the prescient book, Losing the News: The Future of the News that Feeds Democracy, published in 2009. From 2000 to 2015, Jones was the director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government. He was the founding host of On the Media first at WNYC and then at NPR from 1993 until 1997 and served as the executive editor and host of PBS’s Media Matters from 1996 to 2003.
Monday July 22 10:00-1:00
An Update on the Trump Trials and a Look at a Trump 2.0 Department of Justice
This Program is Sponsored By Jack Sapolsky & Richard Bordeaux
Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord, co-hosts of the MSNBC podcast Prosecuting Donald Trump, will analyze current developments in the four prosecutions pending against the former president. If time permits, given the issues the various trials present in July 2024, they will turn to the plans Trump and various of his spokespersons have laid out to transform the United States Department of Justice that he initiated in his first term. Trump and some conservative legal scholars at the Heritage Foundation, among others, propose to abandon post-Watergate reforms so as to enable the President to control all federal law enforcement decision making. Mr. Weissmann and Ms. McCord, both of whom have extensive experience working in the Justice Department, will address the perils of this conception of Presidential power and the concrete consequences of this transformation of the Justice Department and the FBI. After the program, enjoy complimentary refreshments and light fare at the Meet & Greet Reception.
Location: Location: Martin Lipscomb Theatre at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) (Please do not call the PAC to register)
Andrew Weissmann is a Professor of Practice with the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School of Law. He served as a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office and as Chief of the Fraud Section in the U.S. Department of Justice. He is the author of Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation. He also served as General Counsel for the F.B.I., Director of the Enron Task Force, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 15 years in the Eastern District of New York, where he served as the Chief of the Criminal Division. He is a frequent MSNBC news contributor on matters related to federal and state prosecutions of high profile political figures
Mary McCord is Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. At ICAP, McCord leads a team that brings constitutional impact litigation at all levels of federal and state courts across a wide variety of issues, including protecting democratic processes and combating political violence. McCord was the Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2016 to 2017 and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security from 2014 to 2016. Previously, McCord was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for nearly 20 years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Among other positions, she served as a Deputy Chief in the Appellate Division, overseeing and arguing hundreds of cases in the U.S. and District of Columbia Courts of Appeals, and Chief of the Criminal Division, where she oversaw all criminal prosecutions in federal district court. McCord served as legal counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Task Force 1-6 Capitol Security Review appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Wednesday July 24 10:00-12:00
Demystifying the Grand Jury
This Program is Sponsored By Al and Martha Pearson
The criminal justice system in the United States rightfully draws much public scrutiny but Americans are least familiar with what happens behind the closed doors of the grand jury. This constitutionally-mandated body—independent of any branch of government—has a storied history, dating back to the Magna Carta, and is utilized today in some form in all states and the federal courts. While considered a protection and check against unjust prosecutions, skeptics contend the grand jury is a tool of the prosecution. In this presentation, Judge Howell will discuss the history of the grand jury, its composition, charging and investigative functions, the different responsibilities of the court and prosecutor in the discharge of the grand jury’s duties, the rights of investigative targets, and the role of secrecy in the grand jury’s operation, with a peek into often vital, intense and timesensitive issues occurring before the grand jury.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Judge Beryl A. Howell was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2010 and served as the Chief Judge for seven years, until March 2023. She received her B.A., with honors in Philosophy, in 1978, from Bryn Mawr College and her J.D., in 1983, from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Judge Howell has worked in private practice, the legal academy and in all three branches of the federal government. After serving as a law clerk in the District of New Jersey, she was a litigation associate at Schulte, Roth & Zabel. She then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, followed by working on the staff and as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Thereafter, she served two terms as a Commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission and, for part of the same time, also worked as executive managing director and general counsel of a cybersecurity and digital forensics consulting firm. Judge Howell has served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States and previously served as a member of the Judicial Conference Committee on Information Technology and currently is a member of the Committee on Criminal Law.
Monday July 29 10:00-12:00
How and When War Ends
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International military conflicts flare up for numerous reasons. Once they do, what factors determine when and how they end? The recent Russia-Ukraine war, for example, has now lasted over two years. Large onthe-ground gains elude both sides, but the leaders of these countries have not reached an agreement to end the war. Why? What possible ways could the war end, and how might the leaders get there? What can others in the international community do to encourage the end of individual wars? In this presentation, Andrew Owsiak explores the answers to such questions. The discussion highlights the myriad challenges and competing pressures that country leaders face when de-escalating conflict, which originate both from within and outside of their respective countries. Understanding these pressures deepens our understanding of how historical (e.g., the Cod Wars) and contemporary conflicts unfold (e.g., RussiaUkraine or Israel-Hamas).
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Andrew Owsiak is a Professor of International Affairs and a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Georgia. He specializes in the causes of war, crisis diplomacy, and the management of international conflicts. Thus far, he has co-authored three books and over thirty articles, and he has secured financial support for his work from the US Department of Defense and United States Institute of Peace.
Tuesday July 30 10:00-12:00
Race Across the Decades
This Program is Sponsored By Milton and Margie Ruben
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Ron Suskind traces race relations across the 25 years since his signature best-seller, A Hope in the Unseen -- following an impoverished student across three years from the inner city to the Ivy League -- was published, acclaimed and widely embraced. The book, a favorite of three successive Presidents (Clinton, Bush, Obama), became a Rorschach for America’s racial struggles...but it is not a book Mr. Suskind could write in these times. What has changed? And are those changes best for advancing equality in America? Ron Suskind will report from the epicenter of the issues on race and equality. (Copies of A Hope in the Unseen, now being produced for Broadway, will be available.)
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Ron Suskind is a journalist, author, and filmmaker. Writing for The Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 2000, he won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for articles that became the starting point for his first book, A Hope in the Unseen, that chronicles the journey of a student who aspired to escape his “blighted D.C. upbringing” and attend an Ivy League university. He has written four other books about national politics and issues related to the United States’ use of power: the Price of Loyalty, on the two-year tenure of George W. Bush’s Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill; the New York Times Best Seller, The One Percent Doctrine, about the Bush administration’s foreign policy after 9/11, driven by Vice President Cheney’s focus on terrorists and rogue states’ access to nuclear weapons; The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism, about the struggles of individuals in the U.S. government and elsewhere around the world to combat nuclear terrorism; and, Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington and the Education of a President, that describes the 2008 financial crisis and President Obama’s White House efforts to address it. His memoir Life Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism became an Emmy Award winning, Academy Award-nominated feature documentary.
Wednesday July 31 2:00-4:00
Election of the Century - It’s Here!
This Program is Sponsored By Milton and Margie Ruben
Ron Suskind has been reporting for the past three years and writing for the New York Times about the competing worldviews housed within U.S. borders and our struggles with disinformation that is now framing the electoral contest. We may emerge from this election even more deeply split than we are now, or we may find pathways -- as is sometimes the case when we all gather to express informed consent -- to progress and national healing. Ron will handicap each possibility. He has written four historic and critically acclaimed books on America, its leaders, and the nation’s search for that “more perfect union,” as is inscribed in the Constitution’s preamble.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Ron Suskind is a journalist, author, and filmmaker. Writing for The Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 2000, he won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for articles that became the starting point for his first book, A Hope in the Unseen, that chronicles the journey of a student who aspired to escape his “blighted D.C. upbringing” and attend an Ivy League university. He has written four other books about national politics and issues related to the United States’ use of power: the Price of Loyalty, on the two-year tenure of George W. Bush’s Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill; the New York Times Best Seller, The One Percent Doctrine, about the Bush administration’s foreign policy after 9/11, driven by Vice President Cheney’s focus on terrorists and rogue states’ access to nuclear weapons; The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism, about the struggles of individuals in the U.S. government and elsewhere around the world to combat nuclear terrorism; and, Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington and the Education of a President, that describes the 2008 financial crisis and President Obama’s White House efforts to address it. His memoir Life Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism became an Emmy Award winning, Academy Award-nominated feature documentary.
August
Thursday August 1 10:00-12:00
The Carter Center’s Work to Protect the Democratic Electoral Process: the 2024 U.S. Election
Since 1989, The Carter Center has observed 115 elections in 40 countries. In that time, the Center has seen firsthand that public information and transparency—the ability of citizens to “see into” and understand the legal and administrative mechanics of the election—are key to bolstering trust. Carter Center Chief Executive Officer Paige Alexander will share lessons learned from The Carter Center’s more than 30 years in election monitoring and explain how they will bring that experience to bear in the run-up to the 2024 election. She will also share more details about The Carter Center’s work to strengthen trust in the U.S. electoral process by providing information to voters, encouraging the U.S. to meet international election standards, promoting nonpartisan citizen observation, and working to mitigate possible electoral violence.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Paige Alexander is the chief executive officer of The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter to advance peace and health worldwide. The Center has helped improve people’s lives in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. Before joining The Carter Center, Alexander had a distinguished global development career, with more than two decades of experience in the government and nonprofit sectors. She has held senior leadership positions at two regional bureaus of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), covering missions and development programs in 25 countries. She held several roles in USAID’s Bureau for Europe and the Newly Independent States Task Force, as well as two Senate-confirmed positions: assistant administrator for Europe and Eurasia, and assistant administrator of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Bureau where she oversaw 1,000 employees, programs in 12 countries, and more than $1.4 billion in annual funding.
Friday August 2 10:00-12:00
Power, Politics, and Precedents: The Supreme Court Year in Review
Every year the Supreme Court decides cases that potentially can bring about massive changes in our society. This talk will cover some of the major cases decided during the 2023-2024 term. We will put legal issues such as racial discrimination in redistricting, criminal procedure, censorship and social media, and federal regulatory power, among others into historical context while analyzing this term’s Supreme Court rulings.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Todd Collins, Ph.D., J.D., is Steed Distinguished Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs and Director of the Public Policy Institute at Western Carolina University and a licensed attorney. His research focuses on constitutional law and judicial politics.
Monday August 5 2:00-4:00
The Supreme Court, The Right to Bear Arms and Original Intent
Debate about constitutional interpretation has been ongoing since 1803 when the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison ruled that it had the power to declare a law unconstitutional. Over more than two hundred years, the same constitutional text has been construed to yield diametrically opposite results. Compare Plessy v. Ferguson with Brown v. Board of Education, only one among many examples. If the constitutional text is unchanged, how do you explain the interpretive ebb and flow? According to one school of thought, these interpretive swings are due to the predilections and whims of individual judges. Critics of this phenomenon argue that the interpretive focus should be on the text of the constitution and original intent underlying the text. Only through this approach – “originalism” in today’s legal parlance – can an unelected Supreme Court’s proper role be brought into alignment with the other branches of government – both federal and state. In his presentation, Professor Lasser will explore this important subject in the context of the Second Amendment and the growing number of challenges to legislation imposing restrictions on gun rights. Does originalism live up to its billing?
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: William Lasser is the Director of the Clemson Honors College and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Clemson University. A graduate of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he is the author of numerous books and articles on law and American politics, including The Supreme Court and Critical Realignment; The Limits of Judicial Power: the Supreme Court and American Politics; Benjamin Cohen: Architect of the New Deal; The Supreme Court and the Political Process; and Was There a Switch in Time: Justice Roberts and the Constitutional Revolution of 1937. He has written extensively for the Atlanta Constitution and other newspapers and has made numerous appearances on radio talk shows and on local and cable television. Lasser has taught courses in constitutional law and American government for the past 25 years. His research interests include the politics of the United States Supreme Court; the relationship between the Court, the electoral process, and other institutions of government; history and politics of the New Deal; American political development; and political thought of the Framers.
Monday August 12 2:00-4:00
Politics and Film
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It has often been said that we are what we eat. Similarly, we are in some ways what we pay to see. Popular movies and television shows reflect contemporary social and political trends. To be profitable, movies and television shows must be responsive to the market. They must not only satisfy our desire to be entertained, but they must also tell stories we are willing to buy. In this talk Franklin will examine not only what popular (top grossing) movies and television say, but what they say about us. Almost any movie or television series can be deconstructed, and they don’t have to be overtly political. Think about offerings as varied as I Love Lucy and The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Ted Lasso and Barbie. The purpose of this talk is to provoke a fresh perspective on the interpretation of television and film.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Daniel Franklin is Associate Professor of Political Science, Emeritus at Georgie State University. His areas of specialization were American Chief Executives, Film and Politics, Georgia State Politics, and Budgeting and the Legislative Process. He is the former Director of the Georgia Legislative Internship Program and a former Distinguished Honors Professor. He is the author of seven books, numerous articles and reviews. His latest book on The Politics of Presidential Impeachment (with Robert Caress, Robert Sanders and Cole Tarratoot), was published by the SUNY University Press (2020) and included in their American Constitutionalism Series. He is also currently the doorkeeper at the Georgia Senate.
Monday August 19 10:00-12:00
Freedom of Speech: The Essential Prerequisite to Liberal Democracy
This Program is Sponsored By Faith and Fred Schwaibold
Battles over freedom of speech have gained renewed prominence in recent years. Ranging from disputes over school and university curricula, what books should be in school or public libraries, and the limits of public discourse during street demonstrations over racial justice, the 2020 election, or the Israel-Hamas war, debates over the value of free expression are constantly in the news. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has been immersed in these battles since 1999 as it has defended and promoted the value of free speech for all Americans in courtrooms, campuses, and the culture. FIRE has represented students and faculty members from all sides of the political spectrum in an effort to preserve individual rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process , legal equality, religious liberty and sanctity of conscience. Robert Corn-Revere, FIRE’s Chief Counsel will discuss the current controversies through the lens of his forty-year career as a First Amendment litigator and provide historical context as set forth in his book, The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Censor’s Dilemma.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Robert Corn-Revere is Chief Counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). He joined FIRE from the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine where he was a partner for 20 years specializing in freedom of expression and communications law. Before his time at DWT, he was a partner at Hogan & Hartson and served as legal advisor and later chief counsel to Federal Communications Commission Chairman James H. Quello. Corn-Revere is a prominent writer, thinker, and advocate on free expression issues. In 2021, Cambridge University Press published his book, The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Censor’s Dilemma, which explores how free expression became a part of America’s identity. He also co-authored the three-volume treatise, Modern Communications Law, published by West Group. Before joining FIRE full-time, Corn-Revere served as outside counsel for FIRE’s Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project, successfully litigating on behalf of college students and faculty whose First Amendment rights were violated.
Wednesday August 21 2:00-4:00
Restoring Public Confidence in Elections – the Impact of Election Denialism on the U.S.
This Program is Sponsored By Freddie Flynt/The Fred A. Moss Charitable Fund
More than 30 percent of the country does not believe our election results are reliable. What is the evidence to support the allegations that our elections are rigged and that fraudulent votes decide elections? What are the long-term impacts of that lack of faith on the fundamental institution of elections and the peaceful transfer of power? Drawing on his perspective from four decades representing Republican candidates and political party committees, Mr. Ginsberg will discuss the evidence of fraud in elections and the bipartisan need to restore confidence in election results. He will also explore how the partisan charges of fraud and suppression in voting contribute to the polarized discourse in the country and whether the precepts on which those charges are based are valid, especially in this time when the base voters of both political parties are changing. Lastly, he will suggest specific ways to restore confidence in elections and ways that citizens can become involved in the solution.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Ben Ginsberg is a lawyer known for his work representing the Republican Party and its political campaigns, candidates, members of Congress, state legislatures and governors as well as corporations, trade associations and individuals participating in the political process. He served for many years as counsel to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee. In the 2000 and 2004 election cycles, he served as national counsel to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign and had a central role in the Bush v. Gore litigation. In 2013, President Obama chose Ginsberg, a Republican, and Robert Bauer, a Democrat to co-chair the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. He testified at the second public hearing of the January 6 House Select Committee about the failed 2020 election lawsuits. He appears frequently on television commenting on law and politics. Before his retirement in 2020, Ginsberg was a partner at the Jones Day law firm. He is currently the Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and the co-chair of two non-profits working to restore confidence in US elections. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Georgetown University.
Thursday August 22 10:00-12:00
Crystal Balling the November Elections 11 Weeks Out
This Program is Sponsored By Freddie Flynt/The Fred A. Moss Charitable Fund
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With the pivotal November elections just a few short weeks away and the post Labor Day final campaign stretch about to begin, this session will look at the state of the races for the White House and control of the US Senate and House. Mr. Ginsberg, who represented candidates and political parties during his legal career, will discuss how the campaigns are viewing the election. While every election is called “the most important of our lifetimes,” the 2024 election actually might be given the very stark differences between the two parties’ candidates and visions. This session will also explore the mood of the electorate, the key forces shaping the vote and which voters in which states will determine the balance of power and the future direction of the country.
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Ben Ginsberg is a lawyer known for his work representing the Republican Party and its political campaigns, candidates, members of Congress, state legislatures and governors as well as corporations, trade associations and individuals participating in the political process. He served for many years as counsel to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee. In the 2000 and 2004 election cycles, he served as national counsel to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign and had a central role in the Bush v. Gore litigation. In 2013, President Obama chose Ginsberg, a Republican, and Robert Bauer, a Democrat to co-chair the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. He testified at the second public hearing of the January 6 House Select Committee about the failed 2020 election lawsuits. He appears frequently on television commenting on law and politics. Before his retirement in 2020, Ginsberg was a partner at the Jones Day law firm. He is currently the Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and the co-chair of two non-profits working to restore confidence in US elections. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Georgetown University.
Thursday August 29 2:00-4:00
Just War Theory Part II
Following up on his talk last year, Professor Lindsay will address three of the more important and controversial aspects of war: Is terrorism ever morally justified? Are “enhanced” interrogation techniques (i.e., torture) ever permissible to extract vital information from enemy combatants? How does artificial intelligence, in particular robotic weaponry, complicate the ethics of war?
Location: CLE Lecture Hall
Presenter: Peter Lindsay is Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Georgia State University. He received his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Before coming to Georgia State, he held positions at the University of Toronto, Harvard University and the University of New Hampshire. He has received numerous teaching awards, including the Georgia Board of Regents Hall of Fame Teaching Award, the American Political Science Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the Georgia State University College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award and the Georgia State University Distinguished Honors Professor Award. His research focuses on matters of economic justice, as well as pedagogy in higher education. He is the author of two books – Creative Individualism: The Democratic Vision of C. B. Macpherson (SUNY, 1996) and The Craft of University Teaching (University of Toronto Press, 2018). He is the co-founder and co-coordinator of the Georgia State University Prison Education Project.