May 4 – May 6, 2017

 

The aftermath of Election 2016 shows Americans the urgent need for a forum outside of the country’s ideological echo chambers. From the tiresome melodrama of cable news, to the insipidity of social media feeds, it has become clear that spending too much time in one’s own milieu comes with certain risks: assumptions unquestioned, perceptions unchallenged, conclusions uncomplicated.

In partnership with the Kate and Richard Wolters Foundation, the Progressive Women’s Alliance of West Michigan, and the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, the Hauenstein Center is proud to host the 2017 Conservative/Progressive Summit.

This summit will assemble more than two dozen nationally renowned scholars and writers, progressives and conservatives alike, for serious conversation about the shifting political and intellectual terrain of American life. The summit will also include historically minded conversations involving individuals and groups engaging one another, successfully or otherwise, across differences of priority, sensibility, and circumstance.

Make no mistake: this summit is not about mawkish, naïve pseudo-reconciliation. Rather, it embodies the conviction that progressives and conservatives can keep each other on their toes when in the presence of one another. In this divisive time, the intellectual vitality of democratic life depends upon spaces where voices from different traditions and persuasions can encounter one another: openly, honestly, rigorously, and fairly.