The third annual William E. and Carol G. Simon Lecture on Religion in American Public Life, co-sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, will be given by Professor Gerard V. Bradley on Thursday, March 3, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. in Lewis Library 120 on the Princeton University campus. Professor Bradley’s lecture will be titled “New Challenges to Religious Liberty: Today’s Issues in Historical Perspective.” [Read more…] about 2016 Simon Lecture: Bradley on “New Challenges to Religious Liberty: Today’s Issues in Historical Perspective”
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Now available at Amazon.com: Essays on “The Thriving Society”
The Institute is so excited to announce the publication of our new collection of essays, The Thriving Society: On the Social Conditions of Human Flourishing. Available for purchase in hardcover and eBook at Amazon.com, the volume is edited by Harold James (Princeton University) and James R. Stoner, Jr., (Louisiana State University).
Between the scylla of utopia and the charybdis of despair, the authors of these essays consider how modern society and its various institutions might be guided so that those who inhabit them might flourish. From a variety of perspectives and with diverse expertise, the essayists in The Thriving Society discuss foundational issues, institutional challenges, and controversial policies, from market freedom to family stability, from university culture to foreign affairs and public health. They neither supply a handbook for reform nor pen an apology for the past or the present. Instead, they launch citizens on a path to understanding how contemporary social practices sometimes facilitate and sometimes threaten human happiness–and so encourage citizens to think and act in responsible and innovative ways. [Read more…] about Now available at Amazon.com: Essays on “The Thriving Society”
From Henry Holt: THE BAREFOOT LAWYER by Chen Guangcheng
On March 10th, Henry Holt and Co. released the first person account of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng’s struggle for freedom and his fight for human rights in China: The Barefoot Lawyer.
The son of a poor farmer in rural China, Chen was blinded by illness in infancy and was fortunate to survive a difficult childhood. Despite his disability, he was determined to educate himself. He dedicated himself to fighting for the rights of his country’s poor, especially a legion of women who had endured forced sterilizations and abortions under the hated “one child” policy. Repeatedly harassed, beaten, and imprisoned by Chinese authorities, Chen was ultimately placed under house arrest. One morning in April 2012, he climbed over the wall of his heavily guarded home and made a daring escape. Days later, he turned up at the American embassy in Beijing, and only a furious round of high-level negotiations made it possible for him to leave China and begin a new life in the United States. [Read more…] about From Henry Holt: THE BAREFOOT LAWYER by Chen Guangcheng
Summer Seminars 2015
The Institute is pleased to announce our 2015 Summer Seminars for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. These intensive programs examine vital moral questions in social, philosophical, legal, and political thought and have attracted young men and women from across the world for over a decade. With discussions guided by leading scholars from the United States and Great Britain, the Summer Seminars comprise the core of the Institute’s efforts to assist the next generation of scholars in reflecting on distinctly human questions.
For more information about seminar topics, faculty, readings, and application processes, visit the links to the seminar pages below. We look forward to seeing you in Princeton this summer!
Annual Simon Lecture to be given by George Marsden
The Witherspoon Institute, together with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, is pleased to announce the 2014 Simon Lecture to be given by esteemed scholar George Marsden (University of Notre Dame, Emeritus). His lecture is titled “Beyond Liberalism and the Culture Wars: Principled Pluralism” on October 1, 2014, at 4:30PM in McCormick Hall 101 on the campus of Princeton University. The lecture is open to the public.
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Chen Guangcheng on the 25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square
On June 3, Witherspoon Distinguished Senior Fellow Chen Guangcheng gave his first public address ever in English commenting on the 25th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Chen’s speech recounted the student protests and other events preceding June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops killed unknown numbers of civilians demonstrating peacefully in the main square in central Beijing. Chen pointed out that despite great recent economic progress in China, there has been little political reform [Read more…] about Chen Guangcheng on the 25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square
