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Defending Democracy

2023-25 Theme of Inquiry

Join us in exploring the crisis of democracy in the United States by reckoning with problems and considering solutions.

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Events

Event: Global Indigenous Sovereignty Activism with Jennifer O'Neal and Kirsten Thorpe
Apr 9
Global Indigenous Sovereignty Activism with Jennifer O'Neal and Kirsten Thorpe 4:00 p.m.

This public event will feature the work of two scholars and activists: Jennifer O'Neal, Assistant Professor in the UO Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies and...
Global Indigenous Sovereignty Activism with Jennifer O'Neal and Kirsten Thorpe
April 9
4:00–5:30 p.m.
William W. Knight Law Center 110

This public event will feature the work of two scholars and activists: Jennifer O'Neal, Assistant Professor in the UO Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies and current Resident Scholar at the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics; and Kirsten Thorpe, Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. The event will focus, in particular, on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Event: The New Town Hall: Building a Communications Platform for Democracy
Apr 11
The New Town Hall: Building a Communications Platform for Democracy noon

Featuring Kevin Esterling, Professor and Chair of Political Science at UC-Riverside. Esterling directs the Laboratory for Technology, Communication, and Technology at...
The New Town Hall: Building a Communications Platform for Democracy
April 11
noon
William W. Knight Law Center 110

Featuring Kevin Esterling, Professor and Chair of Political Science at UC-Riverside. Esterling directs the Laboratory for Technology, Communication, and Technology at UC-Riverside, developing new technology to advance more constructive, informed, and inclusive public communications.

Part of the Wayne Morse Center's Public Affairs Speaker Series. 

Event: Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture
Apr 25
Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture 12:15 p.m.

 Featuring Alexandra Filindra, associate professor of political science and psychology at University of Illinois Chicago.  Filindra's new book Race,...
Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture
April 25
12:15–1:45 p.m.
William W. Knight Law Center 110

 Featuring Alexandra Filindra, associate professor of political science and psychology at University of Illinois Chicago. 

Filindra's new book Race, Rights, and Rifles examines the ties between American gun culture and white male supremacy from the American Revolution to today. 

Although many associate gun-centric ideology with individualist and libertarian traditions in American political culture, Race, Rights, and Rifles shows that it rests on an equally old but different foundation. Instead, Alexandra Frilindra shows that American gun culture can be traced back to the American Revolution when republican notions of civic duty were fused with a belief in white male supremacy and a commitment to maintaining racial and gender hierarchies.

Drawing on wide-ranging historical and contemporary evidence, Race, Rights, and Rifles traces how this ideology emerged during the Revolution and became embedded in America’s institutions, from state militias to the NRA.

Alexandra Filindra specializes in American gun politics, immigration policy, race and ethnic politics, public opinion, and political psychology. Filindra received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University and served as a post-doctoral researcher at Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions and the Center for the Study of Human Development. The author of more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, Filindra has received research grants from the University of Illinois Chicago, the Pew Center for the States, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Rhode Island Foundation. She is the recipient of three best paper awards from the American Political Science Association and the Lucius Barker Award from the Midwest Political Science Association. 

This event is part of the Wayne Morse Center's Public Affairs Speaker Series and is free and open to the public. Free pizza will be available for attendees. 

Event: Morse Bookmarks: How the Heartland Went Red
May 2
Morse Bookmarks: How the Heartland Went Red 12:30 p.m.

Stephanie Ternullo, assistant professor in the government department at Harvard, will discuss her new book, How the Heartland Went Red: Why Local Forces Matter in an Age of...
Morse Bookmarks: How the Heartland Went Red
May 2
12:30–2:00 p.m.
Gerlinger Hall Gerlinger Lounge

Stephanie Ternullo, assistant professor in the government department at Harvard, will discuss her new book, How the Heartland Went Red: Why Local Forces Matter in an Age of Nationalized Politics.

 How the Heartland Went Red shows how place informs Americans’ partisan attachments through a comparative study of three White, postindustrial cities during the 2020 presidential election. The book argues that we can best understand the reddening of the American Heartland by examining how local contexts have sped up or slowed down White voters’ turn toward the right.

 

Event: Anita Hill: Lorwin Lecture on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
May 9
Anita Hill: Lorwin Lecture on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 6:00 p.m.

The 2023-24 Lorwin Lecture on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will be presented by award-winning author, educator, and lawyer Anita Hill. The talk will explore what this...
Anita Hill: Lorwin Lecture on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
May 9
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Straub Hall 156

The 2023-24 Lorwin Lecture on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will be presented by award-winning author, educator, and lawyer Anita Hill.

The talk will explore what this committed feminist fighter has learned from her advocacy around issues of gender violence and the perils and promises our current moment holds for "feminist futures." 

Hill is a professor of social policy, law, and women’s studies at Brandeis University. Hill’s most recent book is Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence (2021), which is a University of Oregon Common Reading selection for 2023-24.

This is a concluding event to the year-long 50th anniversary celebrations of CSWS and is presented in partnership with the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. It is cosponsored by the UO Division of Equity and InclusionOregon Humanities Center, and Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.

Event: Graduate Research Forum
May 10
Graduate Research Forum 10:00 a.m.

The Division of Graduate Studies invites you to a one-day conference showcasing the research, scholarship, and creative expressions of UO graduate students. The forum regularly...
Graduate Research Forum
May 10
10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Ford Alumni Center

The Division of Graduate Studies invites you to a one-day conference showcasing the research, scholarship, and creative expressions of UO graduate students. The forum regularly showcases the work of more than 100 students representing more than 35 disciplines. Join us for the popular poster session and the panel presentations!

To participate, all graduate-level students are invited to submit a proposal by April 17, 2024. All accepted posters will be judged. Posters are categorized by field; first place in each category will win $300. Panels will instead be pre-selected. All accepted panels will receive $250 per panelist.

For more information, go to https://graduatestudies.uoregon.edu/forum

Event: Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life, featuring Nicholas Kristof
Jun 3
Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life, featuring Nicholas Kristof 6:00 p.m.

Nicholas Kristof,  New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and best-selling author, will give a talk based on his new book.  Since 1984, Nicholas...
Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life, featuring Nicholas Kristof
June 3
6:00–7:30 p.m.
William W. Knight Law Center 175

Nicholas Kristof,  New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and best-selling author, will give a talk based on his new book. 

Since 1984, Nicholas Kristof has worked almost continuously for The New York Times as a reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief, and now columnist, becoming one of the foremost reporters of his generation. Here, he recounts his event-filled path from a small-town farm in Oregon to every corner of the world. Reporting from Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo, while traveling far afield to India, Africa, and Europe, Kristof witnessed and wrote about century-defining events: the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the Yemeni civil war, the Darfur genocide in Sudan, and the wave of addiction and despair that swept through his hometown and a broad swath of working-class America. 

Kristof writes about some of the great members of his profession and introduces us to extraordinary people he has met, such as the dissident whom he helped escape from China and a Catholic nun who browbeat a warlord into releasing schoolgirls he had kidnapped. These are the people, the heroes, who have allowed Kristof to remain optimistic. Side by side with the worst of humanity, you always see the best.

Kristof is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, where he was previously bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo. He is the coauthor, with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, of five previous books: TightropeA Path AppearsHalf the SkyThunder from the East, and China Wakes. He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, one with WuDunn in 1990 for their coverage of China, and the second in 2006 for his columns on Darfur.

This event is part of the Wayne Morse Center's 2023-25 theme of inquiry, Defending Democracy. A book signing will follow the event, and books will be available to purchase. 

Videos of recent events

Democracy: the Challenges Ahead, featuring Rep. Peter DeFazio

How the Supreme Court Lost the American Public, featuring Linda Greenhouse

The 2024 Election: One Year Out

Nice is Not Enough, featuring C.J. Pascoe

View more videos on our YouTube channel

News

This year, 68 students will participate in Wayne Morse Center programs for UO undergraduates, graduate students, and law students. 

Learn more about the Wayne Morse Scholars
Learn more about the Wayne Morse Law Fellows
Learn more about the Wayne Morse Graduate Research Fellows

Check out this piece in the Washington Post coauthored by Dan Tichenor, director of the Wayne Morse Program for Democratic Governance and Philip H. Knight Chair of Social Science; and Alison Gash, UO political science professor. 
We are proud of the Wayne Morse Center alumni who ran for public office this year. Thanks to each of them for taking on the challenges of running and for shaping the public discourse on the campaign trail.

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