2020
Fragility & Resilience: Democracy in Today’s World
Led by expert speakers, faculty and students, the Symposium on Democracy is held each year on Presidents Day and examines issues and challenges inherent in sustaining democratic societies and institutions. Founded in the last days of the American Revolutionary War, Washington & Jefferson College has been committed to fostering democracy and responsible citizenship for well over two centuries.
Schedule
Afternoon Keynote: “Students as Agents of Change: The Movement for Democracy in Hong Kong”
Nathan Law
February 17, 2020 @ 1:30 pm - 2:30 pmJames David Ross Family Recreation Center
Evening Keynote: “Press Freedom Under Attack: A Threat to Democracy”
Serge Schmemann
February 17, 2020 @ 4:30 pm - 5:30 pmAllen Ballroom, Rossin Campus Center
Speakers
Quotes on Democracy
Quotes on Democracy
Quotes on Democracy
Reading List
Resources (Michael Abramowitz)
- Touching directly on the focus of the Symposium, an article on Democracy in Retreat Freedom in the World 2019 is available or read the full PDF report.
- Freedom in the World 2019 Map allows you to hover over each location to view a country (or territory) rating with regard to whether the country is free, partly free or not free. You can dig deeper by clicking on the country to view how the country scored in political rights and civil liberties, how the score was determined and key developments in that country.
- The methodology that is used to arrive at Freedom in the World scores include the examination of political rights and civil liberties such as freedom of expression, religious and social freedoms, free economic activity, media independence and discrimination against minority groups and women.
- The history of Freedom House dates back to 1941, with Eleanor Roosevelt and Wendell Willkie serving as honorary co-chairpersons. A timeline is available.
- Freedom House prepared Freedom on the Net 2019 – The Crisis of Social Media. The full PDF report discusses social media being used to manipulate elections as well as the use of social media surveillance and recommendations moving forward.
Resources (Nathan Law)
- Nathan Law was recently interviewed by Fareed Zakaria on CNN
- Jailed activist Nathan Law says the future of his Demosisto party is unclear
- “The extradition bill might be ‘dead’ but in Hong Kong, we cannot afford to back down” by Nathan Law
- Details of the 2014 Hong Kong protests are available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Hong_Kong_protests
- Nathan Law steps down as chairman from Demosisto
- Large, peaceful protest shows Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement is still strong
- Hong Kong pro-democracy movement: A timeline. The timeline is from July 2003-August 2019.
- A Refresher Course on Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement
- “A Guide to the Most Important Chants of Hong Kong’s Protests”
- “China Suspends US Navy Visits to Hong Kong Over Support for Protests”
Resources (Serge Schmemann)
- New York Times articles by Serge Schmemann can be found at https://www.nytimes.com/by/serge-schmemann
- The articles on the coverage of the reunification of Germany, for which Serge Schmemann won the Pulitzer Prize.
- Serge is also a Member of the Editorial Board for the Athens Democracy Forum. Information on the most recent forum, which took place this past October.
Books
- When the Wall Came Down: The Berlin Wall and the Fall of Soviet Communism by Serge Schmemann
- Echoes of a Native Land: Two Centuries of a Russian Village by Serge Schmemann