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Past Lectures

Civic Engagement Leadership Minor Information Session

Thursday, December 02
This information session will tell students all they need to know about joining the Civic Engagement Leadership Minor or any of our courses. Read Full Story

Opportunities & Challenges of Higher Education in Prison

Thursday, November 18
Opportunities & Challenges of Higher Education in Prison: A Panel Discussion of BYU’s Partnership with the Utah Prison Education Project (UPEP) Read Full Story

Moving From a Culture that Divides Us to a Culture that Unites Us with Tim Shriver

Thursday, November 11
Moving From a Culture that Divides Us to a Culture that Unites Us Read Full Story

Spencer McBride: Joseph Smith for President

Thursday, October 07
Spencer McBride: Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, the Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom Read Full Story

McKay Coppins: Inside America's Disinformation War

Thursday, March 18
Come hear Atlantic Journalist McKay Coppins talk about disinformation in American Politics! Read Full Story

The Art of the OP-ED with Hal Boyd

Thursday, January 28
Come learn tips for how to write an OP-ED and get it published! Read Full Story

Eitan Hersh Lecture

Thursday, October 15
The Office of Civic Engagement will be hosting Eitan Hersh, author of Politics is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change, on Thursday, October 15, at 11 am. The lecture should last about an hour and will be held on Zoom. Attendees need to RSVP at https://bit.ly/33eBSkY to receive the link. Read Full Story

Neylan McBaine Lecture

Thursday, October 08
The Office of Civic Engagement will be hosting Neylan McBaine, author of Pioneering the Vote: The Untold Story of Suffragists in Utah and the West, on Thursday, October 8, at 11 am. The lecture should last about an hour and will be held on Zoom. Attendees need to RSVP at https://bit.ly/327S1rX to receive the link. Read Full Story

We Are Not Enemies

July 30, 2019 02:48 PM
Polarization is tearing America apart. What can bring us together? David Blankenhorn is the president of Better Angels, a citizens’ organization uniting red and blue Americans in a working alliance to depolarize America. In this talk, he discusses the causes and potential cures regarding this crisis. Blankenhorn will also ask us to consider the natural advantages Americans have when it comes to confronting this great challenge. Read Full Story

Civic Online Reasoning

July 30, 2019 02:54 PM
Should we approve a new tax on sugary drinks? Should we raise the minimum wage to $15? To answer such questions, we no longer pull a book from the shelf. We open our browsers and start Googling. But are we good at judging what we find? This lecture by Dr. Sam Wineburg, a Professor of History and the Margaret Jacks Professor of Education at Stanford University, covers how to survive our menacing digital environment and become more savvy evaluators of the information that affects our lives and communities. Read Full Story

Running From Office

July 30, 2019 02:55 PM
Jennifer Lawless is the current director of the Women & Politics Institute and a professor of Government at American University. Her research focuses on political ambition and she is a nationally recognized expert on women and politics. Lawless' presentation focused on her book, Running From Office: Why Young Americans are Turned Off to Politics. Read Full Story

Social Media and the 2016 Presidential Election

July 30, 2019 02:56 PM
Jennifer Stromer-Galley has studied "social media" since before it was called social media. She studies online interaction and influence of political forums and online games. Her award-winning book, Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age, provides a history of presidential campaigns as they have adopted and adapted to digital communication technologies. Read Full Story

Why Women Should Run for Political Office

July 30, 2019 02:57 PM
Senator Jones served in the Utah Legislature for 14 years. She spent 12 of those years serving in leadership positions. Senator Jones was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 2000–2006 and was elected to the Utah Senate in 2006–2014. She served as the first female leader in either party and in either House. Read Full Story

Years of Progress, Yet Our Struggle Continues

July 30, 2019 02:57 PM
Jeanetta Williams is President of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch and NAACP Tri-State Conference of Idaho, Nevada and Utah. She has been instrumental in the passage of numberous legislative Bills in Utah State Legislature and initiated and led the successful effort to change Utah's Human Rights Day to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Ms. Williams has received numerous awards and recognition for her work on race relations. Read Full Story

​It Takes All of Us

July 30, 2019 02:58 PM
A. Scott Anderson is the president and chief executive officer of Zions First National Bank, a division of ZB, N.A., with $18.4 billion in assets (as of 9/30/15). A native of Salt Lake City, Anderson joined Zions Bank in December of 1991 as executive vice president of Retail Banking. In this position he was responsible for the growth and operation of the bank’s branch network throughout Utah and Idaho, as well as overseeing other consumer and small business banking activities. Read Full Story

​Community Involvement–Is It for Everyone?

July 30, 2019 02:59 PM
Pamela Atkinson works directly with homeless families and individuals, Refugees and low-income people and collaborates with nonprofit and governmental organizations as well as agencies who serve these populations. She assists people in finding opportunities to volunteer in a variety of settings and in collecting bedding, clothing, food and other essentials for families who are making the transition from homelessness to having homes of their own. Read Full Story