Civil Discourse in an Uncivil Age

Alexander Heffner

Alexander Heffner

PBS Host to Discuss the Future of Civil Discourse

PBS host, journalist and civic educator Alexander Heffner will deliver Dickinson’s Winfield C. Cook Constitution Day Address, “Civil Discourse in an Uncivil Age,” on Monday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter (ATS) Auditorium. You can watch the address online via livestream.

Heffner will discuss the millennial citizen, the space of old and new media, and the character of contemporary political discourse. As host of The Open Mind, a program designed to explore contemporary areas of national concern, Heffner and his guests consider the future of public policy. He has covered American politics, civic life and millennials since the 2008 presidential campaign. His writing has appeared in Time, Reuters, RealClearPolitics, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.

The annual Constitution Day address is endowed through the generosity of Winfield C. Cook, former Dickinson trustee. Each year, the Clarke Forum invites a prominent public figure to campus to speak on a contemporary issue related to the Constitution. The event celebrates the signing of the United States Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, and commemorates Dickinson’s connection to that document, through college-namesake John Dickinson’s participation as an original signer. Previous speakers have included Kenneth Starr, Ira Glasser, Lowell Weicker, Marjorie Rendell, Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff and Kimberlé Crenshaw.

The event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and Penn State’s Dickinson Law and co-sponsored by Dickinson’s Office of the Provost, Division of Student Life and the Churchill Fund. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.

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Published September 15, 2017