Public Invited to Attend UMass Amherst’s ‘Democracy in Troubled Times’

Source: UMass News and Media

Members of the local community are invited to attend the numerous events scheduled throughout the fall semester and into the spring as part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s “Democracy in Troubled Times” (DTT) initiative.

Led by faculty in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, DTT is a campus-wide initiative featuring a number of speakers and events focused on issues related to democracy in the United States. The initiative aims to address the challenges democracy faces in the U.S. and elsewhere, examining both enduring struggles and new challenges. It combines opportunities to learn about the history, theory and practice of democracy, reflect on old and new challenges facing democracy, and act to strengthen and enrich democratic politics.

“The Democracy in Troubled Times initiative recognizes that we live in a time of strong disagreements that have strained both our national and local politics. The series aims to center understanding as an essential component of democracy,” says director of the DTT series Amel Ahmed, Associate Professor of Political Science and author of the forthcoming book, When Democracy Divides. “Understanding another’s worldview does not mean that you will agree with it, but even in disagreement understanding is grounding and allows us to navigate in times of strong democratic contention. We also believe the university has a vital role to play in providing the structure to help us achieve meaningful understanding of those whose views may differ sharply from our own. We hope to offer that support through the various opportunities to learn, reflect and act provided in the initiative,” Ahmed added.

“My hope is that the local and UMass community will engage with our ‘Democracy in Troubled Times’ events throughout the academic year, both before and after the presidential election,” said Karl Rethemeyer, Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. “While elections heighten our sense of the stakes in the democratic struggle, democracy is about so much more than elections. It is an experiment that requires our engagement and commitment every day.”

The next event in the series, a “Panel on Union Organizing and Political Activism Around the Elections with Professor Dean Robinson,” is scheduled for Monday, September 23 from 12:30-2 p.m. in the Great Hall of Old Chapel. Robinson, chair and professor of the Department of Political Science, will moderate a discussion with Max Page, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and Filaine Deronnette, executive vice president at-large of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. The panel will explore the multifaceted role of labor unions in the 2024 elections, their contribution to workplace democracy, and to a range of key economic policy debates.

Fall events are scheduled to continue through late November, and details for spring events, including the 2025 Freedman Lecture featuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, will be announced in the coming months.

More information about DTT can be found on the initiative’s website, and a full schedule of events with complete details for each can be found here.