Conflict and Chaos: Geopolitics in 2025, featuring Ben Rhodes

A conversation featuring Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama and co-host of Pod Save the World, with Story Arney and Charles Petrik, Wayne Morse Scholars; Aneesh Aneesh, Executive Director, School of Global Studies and Languages; and Yvonne Braun, Professor, Global Studies.

Sign up for the Wayne Morse Center email list to get a livestream link for this event.

Ben Rhodes is a writer, political commentator, and national security analyst. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made, and The World As It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House. He is currently co-host of Pod Save the World; a contributor for MSNBC; a senior advisor to former President Barack Obama; and chair of National Security Action.

From 2009-2017, Rhodes served as a speechwriter and Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama. In that capacity, he participated in all of President Obama’s key decisions, oversaw the President’s national security communications and public diplomacy, and led the secret negotiations with the Cuban government that resulted in the effort to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba.

Sponsored by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, the United Nations Association at the UO, and the School of Journalism and Communication.

Michele Norris on "Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity"

For 12 years, Michele Norris, former host of NPR's All Things Considered, invited people to share their stories about race in America for The Race Card Project. The responses offered an honest, if sometimes uncomfortable, look at race and identity. Her book Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity, came out of was borne from that project and is a unique compilation of stories, essays, and photographs providing a window into America during a tumultuous era. In this intriguing talk, Norris shares insights gleaned from The Race Card Project, and explains how honesty, grace, and a willing ear can provide a bridge toward empathy and understanding.

About the Speaker

An award-winning journalist, Michele Norris is senior contributor to MSNBC and former host of NPR's All Things Considered. She is known for her insightful commentary on race and culture and is the author of Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity, a powerful exploration of personal stories and untold histories surrounding race in America.

Norris is also the creator of The Race Card Project, a national initiative that invites people to share their reflections on race. A respected voice in media, she has received numerous honors for her work advocating for inclusive storytelling and social change.

About the Event

The UO School of Journalism and Communication’s annual Robert and Mabel Ruhl Lecture brings the most influential voices in mass communication to campus. This year’s lecture is co-sponsored by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, which promotes the legacy of Oregon’s Senator Wayne Morse by fostering education, research, and leadership to advance justice and inclusive democracy. This is an in-person event on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, in the Redwood Auditorium (Room 214) in the Erb Memorial Union (EMU).

Disruption vs. Stability: Impacts on People and Policy Under a New Republican Majority

A panel discussion featuring: 

Bruce Blonigen, Philip H. Knight Professor of Social Science and associate dean for the social sciences at UO, on economy/tariffs  Melissa Buis, professor of politics and chair of the Politics, Policy, Law and Ethics Department at Willamette University, on health and welfare  Alison Gash, professor of political science at UO, on LGBT health/safety  Chandler James, assistant professor of political science at UO, on the Presidency  Daniel Tichenor, Philip H. Knight Chair of Social Science and Wayne Morse Center codirector, on immigration Peter DeFazio, former U.S. representative for Oregon's 4th congressional district, on Congress 

Finding Hope in Dark Times for Democracy

Frances Moore Lappé is a social justice activist and the author of 20 books, including Diet for a Small Planet, which sold millions of copies and was named as one of 75 Books by Women Whose Words Have Changed the World by the Women's National Book Association. Her most recent works focus on “living democracy”—suggesting not only a government accountable to citizens but a way of living aligned with the deep human need for connection, meaning, and power. Among many awards, she has received the James Beard Humanitarian Award, the International Studies Association's 2009 Outstanding Public Scholar Award, the Nonino Prize in Italy for her life's work, and 20 honorary doctorates.

Can Nonprofit Organizations Do Political and Policy Advocacy? Nonprofits and Politics in Comparative Perspective

Mark Sidel is Doyle-Bascom Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an elected member of the American Law Institute. He serves on the boards of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, the China Medical Board, The Rights Practice (US), and other organizations. 

Morse Bookmarks: The Political Development of American Debt Relief

Chloe Thurston, Northwestern; and Emily Zackin, Johns Hopkins; will discuss their forthcoming book. The Political Development of American Debt Relief traces how geographic, sectoral, and racial politics shaped debtor activism over time, enhancing our understanding of state-building, constitutionalism, and social policy.

Bob Bussel Labor History Lecture

Will Jones, professor of history at the University of Minnesota, will deliver the Bob Bussel Labor History Lecture on April 24, 2025.

The UO Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) created the lecture in recognition of Bob Bussel’s years of service as LERC’s director and an affiliated member of the UO history department.  The lecture features historians with a distinguished record of scholarship, a commitment to public history, and an interest in labor and working-class issues.  Will Jones is a professor of history at the University of Minnesota with a particular interest in issues of race and class.  Professor Jones is the author of two books and numerous articles on labor and working-class history.  He is also a past president of the Labor and Working-Class History Association.

Wayne Morse Chair Address featuring Danielle Allen

Danielle Allen, 2024-25 Wayne Morse Chair, is a political theorist, professor at Harvard University and an advocate for democracy. Her acclaimed book, Our Declaration, offers a profound analysis of American democratic principles. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Allen contributed crucial insights on equitable policy responses and effective governance. Allen recieved the Kluge Prize, which recognizes work in disciplines not covered by the Nobel Prizes, in 2020. In 2022, she ran for Governor of Massachusetts, emphasizing the need for systemic reform and inclusivity in state government. She writes a column on constitutional democracy for the Washington Post.