CRC to Host Symposium on American Identity

Lee University's Center for Responsible Citizenship will host its Ninth Annual Symposium on Civic Virtue and Thought on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18-19.

The theme this year is "American Identity." Faculty and students from the university, regional colleges, and members of the broader community will gather for two days to consider what it means to be "American" and how experiences of citizenship are influenced by diverse backgrounds. The event will focus on how race informs American citizenship, using the 1965 debate between William F. Buckley Jr. and James Baldwin to explore two perspectives on American identity: one that stresses the American Dream as an empowering force in the world and one that emphasizes the injustices that may be inherent in this vision.

The full symposium includes several small-group discussion seminars based on short readings, as well as a keynote lecture by Dr. Nicholas Buccola, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.

Buccola has written extensively on Frederick Douglass and recently covered the 1965 Buckley-Baldwin debate in "The Fire is Upon Us."

The keynote lecture is open to the public and will take place at 5 p.m. on Lee's campus in the School of Nursing, Room 202.

For those interested in attending the discussion seminars, visit CRC 2024-symposium to register.

This symposium series is made possible thanks to the support of the Jack Miller Center, the Institute for Humane Studies, and members of the broader Cleveland community.

For more information, or to help support the civic development of the community, please contact [email protected].