Past Lectures

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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