Hodson 210, Homewood Campus
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will meet on September 10 for what may be their only debate before the November election. The next day, pundits will weigh in on how each candidate fared, but what matters more is what this debate accomplishes for voters. Will those who watch it be better informed? Will it enable them to meaningfully assess the differences between the candidates and make better choices? Join SNF Agora Professor of Sociology Andrew Perrin and SNF Agora Visiting Fellow Leila Brammer, Director of Outreach and Instructional Development for the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse at the University of Chicago, for a post-debate analysis that goes beyond the hot takes and reveals the true stakes of debate.
Speakers:
Andrew J. Perrin is SNF Agora Professor of Sociology and the SNF Agora Institute at KSAS. He is a cultural and political sociologist working on issues of democracy including civic engagement, effects of higher education, and public deliberation. His research explores what people need to know, do, and be to be effective, creative, thoughtful democratic citizens. He is author or co-author of five books, including Citizen Speak: The Democratic Imagination in American Life (University of Chicago Press, 2006), and American Democracy: From Tocqueville to Town Halls to Twitter (Polity, 2014). His research record is broad and includes studies of public opinion and letters to the editor; translations of key Frankfurt School texts related to how Germans thought about World War II in the postwar period; analysis of college education’s effect on civic engagement; and even interdisciplinary research on culture, children’s movies, and obesity.
Leila Brammer is the Director of Outreach and Instructional Development, Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse at the University of Chicago. She studies and builds frameworks in which organizations and community members understand issues from multiple perspectives and work together to develop evidence-based approaches. She established a nationally-recognized civic learning and engagement curriculum and a community-based public deliberation and dialogue program. At the University of Chicago, she develops curricula and programs to foster vigorous, inclusive, and productive discourse in the classroom, campus, and civic life.