Presentation
Surveys show that public trust in higher education has rarely been lower. News headlines show that conflict between universities and public officials has rarely been greater. What has made universities so vulnerable to attack from all sides? How can trust be restored between universities, politicians, and the public they both serve?
Dr. Danielle Allen proposes a new social contract for the future of higher education in the United States, drawing on her work on democracy renovation with the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and her recent essay for The Atlantic on the broken academic social contract.
About The Speaker
Dr. Danielle Allen is the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. She is also Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director of the Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn, a research lab focused on civic education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
She is a professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy as well as a seasoned nonprofit leader, democracy advocate, tech ethicist, distinguished author, and mom. She is a contributing columnist at The Atlantic Magazine and was the 2020 winner of the Library of Congress’ Kluge Prize, which recognizes scholarly achievement in the disciplines not covered by the Nobel Prize. She received the Prize “for her internationally recognized scholarship in political theory and her commitment to improving democratic practice and civics education.”
As a scholar, Dr. Allen currently concentrates on democracy renovation: studying how to reconnect people to their civic power, experience, and responsibility via civic education and how to redesign our political institutions to improve their responsiveness, increase the accountability of officeholders, and reward the participation of ordinary citizens. Her most recent book, Justice by Means of Democracy, provides the foundation for this work. Her forthcoming book, The Radical Duke, a biography of an 18th century British political reformer, will be released in 2026.
Her many books also include the widely acclaimed Our Declaration: a Reading of the Declaration of Independence In Defense of Equality; Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.; Democracy in the Time of Coronavirus; Talking to Strangers; Why Plato Wrote; and The World of Prometheus. Her many edited volumes include From Voice to Influence and A Political Economy of Justice.
Biography excerpted from Harvard University.
Sponsors
This event is possible in part by our partners at The Ohio State University: the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, the Institute For Democratic Engagement and Accountability, the Center for Ethics and Human Values, the Department of Classics, and the Department of Political Science.
