This series is a University-wide initiative that brings together experts from different viewpoints to discuss critical issues in productive ways and model dialogue across difference.
Community Dialogue Series
Upcoming Events
Past Events
A Conversation with Senator Jeff Flake: Achieving consensus in a hyper-partisan political environment - May 2021
Community Dialogue Series: A Conversation with Senator Jeff Flake
Jeff Flake, former U.S. Senator from Arizona and six-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, shares lessons learned from enacting bipartisan legislation. He discusses his views on national leadership, the state of conservative ideology, and achieving consensus in a hyper-partisan political environment with moderator Lisa Lerer, national political correspondent for The New York Times. The Community Dialogue Series is a University-wide initiative that brings together experts from different viewpoints to discuss critical issues in productive ways.
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The First Amendment, Social Justice, and Inclusion - 04.20.21
First Amendment experts Erwin Chemerinsky and Emerson Sykes take a deep dive on the topic of Free Speech and Mutual Respect: The First Amendment, Social Justice, and Inclusion. The conversation was co-moderated by Free Speech scholar and Fellow in Residence at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics Sigal Ben-Porath and Harvard’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Sherri Ann Charleston. The Community Dialogue Series is a University-wide initiative that brings together experts from different viewpoints to discuss critical issues in productive ways.
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Responding to the Climate Change Crisis - 04.9.21
The Civil Disagreement Series is sponsored by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, in collaboration with Harvard University's Office of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging. These moderated conversations bring together policy and subject experts from different political viewpoints to discuss a current-events topic. Responding to the Climate Change Crisis featured a conversation about how we—individuals, the US, and humanity—should attend to the crisis facing our planet. Moderator Rebecca Henderson, the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at the Harvard Business School, facilitated the conversation among esteemed panelists: former Representative Francis Rooney; Noël Bakhtian, Director of the Berkeley Lab Energy Storage Center; Julian Brave NoiseCat of Data for Progress; and Benji Backer of the American Conservation Coalition. Learn more on the biographies for the panelists and moderator.
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The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone & How We Can Prosper Together - 03.29.21
Join the Ash Center; Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life; Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Harvard University; and Black Student Union at Harvard Kennedy School for a conversation with Heather McGhee, a leading voice in the national conversation on systemic racism and its consequences, and the author of the recently released book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. The book is a personal journey and a powerful examination of the debilitating economic and social consequences of racism, for everyone. Prior to writing The Sum of Us Heather served as President of Demos, a leading progressive policy and movement-building center. Sherri Ann Charleston, Harvard Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, moderated. LaChaun Banks, Ash Center Director for Equity and Inclusion, facilitated the audience Q+A.
Martin Luther King & The Struggle for Voting Rights - 03.26.21
In January 1965, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the most prominent leader of the civil rights movement in the United States, helped launch a campaign of civil disobedience in Selma, Alabama, to bring national attention to disenfranchisement of black voters in the South. Distinguished scholar, David A. Moss, leads a case study examining the foundation of our democracy, critical turning points in our history, and the pathway defined by Dr. King to strengthen our union. The program featured a live performance by Brandon J. Dirden, known for playing Dr. King on Broadway and the American Repertory Theater.