Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Willa Cather professor in the Department of Political Science, will continue the 2022-23 College of Arts and Sciences Inquire lecture series with “Partisan Polarization and the Need for Civic Respect” at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Nebraska Union’s Swanson Auditorium.
The talk is free and open to the public and will also be livestreamed on Zoom. Register for the Zoom link online.
The CAS Inquire program’s 2022-23 theme is “Searching for Common Ground in a Polarized World.” Students in the program connect with college thought leaders and other inquisitive students to discuss ideas, using a college-wide series of public lectures as a focal point.
Theiss-Morse will focus in this talk on “civic respect”— being willing to listen to and engage with people with whom one disagrees, rather than assuming they are ignorant or stereotyping them based on their vote. She finds that most citizens say they believe in civic respect but have a hard time practicing it. At its core, Theiss-Morse says, civic respect is about accepting pluralism.
This academic year’s series includes five lectures in the disciplines of English, political science, sociology and history, culminating in a panel discussion with the speakers in March 2023. Julia Schleck from the Department of English opened the series in August.
During the three-year program, CAS Inquire students take specialized courses, help with facilitating the program and enjoy additional benefits. They can apply, or be nominated by faculty, for the program as freshmen. The program launched in September of 2019 with the theme “Rise of the Machines” and centered around the theme “Pleasure and Pain” in 2021-22.
