Democracy Day 2025

Democracy Day is a full day of orientation programming that introduces incoming students to the practice and responsibilities of citizenship. It highlights how democratic participation connects to the Hopkins experience on campus, in Baltimore, and in the wider world.

Launched in 2021 by the Center for Social Concern, the Orientation team, and the SNF Agora Institute, the event combines talks, panels, and hands-on activities. Students hear from faculty, peers, and community leaders while taking part in sessions that model civil discourse and collaborative problem solving.

The day also features pop-up seminars led by Hopkins faculty on current challenges to democracy, along with the Democratic and Civic Engagement Fair, where students can connect with clubs and organizations working to strengthen communities.

Democracy Day welcomes new students into an academic community that values inquiry, dialogue, and shared responsibility.

Democracy 101

Democracy 101 gives first-year students an introduction to the core principles and institutions that shape democratic life, from checks and balances and the rule of law to free elections, constitutional protections, and the importance of dissent.

The session is led by Hahrie Han, Inaugural Director of the SNF Agora Institute and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins, and William Howell, Inaugural Dean of the School of Government and Policy and professor in the Department of Political Science. Both are leading scholars on political institutions and social change.

Through this session, students will:

• Learn the foundations of democracy and how they function in practice

• Explore moments in history when those ideals were tested and how they endured

• Gain perspective on how democratic values evolve and why participation is essential to their renewal

Democracy Day Faculty Debate

Artificial Intelligence: Risk Mitigation or Benefits Realization?

• • Tony Dahbura, Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy
  • Peter Najjar, Vice President of Clinical Innovation, Johns Hopkins Health System; Co-Director, Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Systems Management Fellowship, Practicing Surgeon

Pop-Up Seminars

As part of Democracy Day, students can choose from a wide range of pop-up seminars led by Johns Hopkins faculty and partners. These sessions invite students to explore pressing issues facing democracy today and to practice civil discourse in small-group settings.

Session Lineup for 2025:

• Beth Blauer and Terrance Smith
  Democracy, Public Trust, and Doing Things Differently: How Innovation Is Changing City Hall

• Dylan Faulkner-Selterman
  Poor Mental Health and Social Isolation Lead to Dysfunctional Politics

• Jasmine Blanks Jones
  Indigenous and Local Knowledge: Evidence for Democratic Policymaking

• Josh Horwitz
  Weaknesses in Our Democracy Constrain Our Ability to More Effectively Combat Gun Violence

• Amy Binder
  Career Funneling in Elite Universities: A Threat to the Public Good and Democracy

• Larry Jackson
  American Democracy’s Challenge: The Problem of Anti-Black State Violence

• Ruth Braunstein
  Religious and Non-Religious People Sometimes Find It Hard to Find Common Ground

• Erhardt Graeff
  AI Sucks for Democracy, but We Can Change That

• Bryce Corrigan
  We Need Data and Methods to Systematically Measure Civic Health and Identify Leverage for Positive Change

• Bonnielin Swenor and Ariana Aboulafia
  Democracy, Data, and Disability Rights: How Inclusion of People With Disabilities in Technology Benefits Democracy

• Simon Halliday
  What Can Behavioral Economics Teach Us About Democracy?

• David Jacobstein
  Democracy and Development in a Post-Aid World

• Adam Seth Levine
  The Relationship Between Science and Society Is Frayed. Why, and What Can We Do About It?

• Anand Pandian
  Finding Common Ground: Navigating the Divides in American Social Life

• Lilliana Mason
  Political Choices Are Motivated by Fights Over Group Status Instead of the Greater Good

• Jason Eisner
  Could AI Fix Social Media?

• Monica Prasad, Ali Duale
  Somaliland: The Democracy That Does Not Exist

• Joshua Sharfstein and Joanna Kenen
  How the Decline in Journalism and Rise in Misinformation Are Harming Our Health and Democracy

• Gabriel Rossman
  Patronage Democracy vs. Ideological Democracy

• Mac McComas
  Hearing the Voices of Baltimore: Understanding Local Data and Civic Challenges

• Scott Warren
  Youth and Democratic Erosion

• Eliza O’Reilly
  Low Voter Turnout and Voter Registration Gaps Lead to Unequal Representation