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Events

Intellectual collaborations thrive in environments where ideas are shared, freely and respectfully, among people representing different backgrounds and perspectives. This is why the Neubauer Collegium regularly opens its inquiries and conversations to the public.

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Beyond Elections? Sortition and the Future of Democratic Politics

Photograph of a reimagined election box in a field. Created by artist Taryn Simon.
Conference

Beyond Elections? Sortition and the Future of Democratic Politics

Participants at this conference will discuss the value of and future prospects for decision-making by lottery-selected bodies.

This conference, sponsored by the Economic Planning and Democratic Politics project at the Neubauer Collegium, brings together leading theorists and critics of sortition: the involvement of randomly selected citizens in political processes. Participants will consider the value of and future prospects for decision-making by lottery-selected bodies. Can sortition address the failings of electoral democracy? Might sortitive institutions counter oligarchic power? Will citizen assemblies and mini-publics be democratizing forces, or do they themselves have troubling, anti-democratic features?


Participants

Alexander Guerrero (Rutgers University)
Cristina Lafont (Northwestern University)
Hélène Landemore (Yale University)
Nadia Urbinati (Columbia University)
Camila Vergara (University of Essex)

Neubauer Collegium

Participants at this conference will discuss the value of and future prospects for decision-making by lottery-selected bodies.

Register

Opening Reception for Let's Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar

One of Saar's works showing a hand with her last name written underneath.
Exhibition Opening

Opening Reception for Let's Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar

This exhibition will hinge on Saar's experiments with “wearable” art, bringing into focus her gradual shift from costume design to collage.

This exhibition offers the first sustained look at a pivotal moment in Betye Saar’s career, when a visit to Chicago’s Field Museum in 1974 transformed the way she conceived of herself as an artist. A display of more than 60 objects—including a ceremonial robe from Cameroon, costumes and jewelry designed by Saar, drawings, photos, archival materials, and more—casts new light on the way Saar’s early career in costume design informed her pioneering work in assemblage and installation. Let’s Get It On is presented as part of a series of exhibitions and events linked to Panafrica: Histories, Aesthetics, Politics, a multi-year research project at the Neubauer Collegium that is exploring the connections between Pan-African politics and culture.

Curated by Dieter Roelstraete.

Neubauer Collegium

This exhibition will hinge on Saar's experiments with “wearable” art, bringing into focus her gradual shift from costume design to collage.

Register

Director’s Lecture with Drew Gilpin Faust

Director's Lecture

Director’s Lecture with Drew Gilpin Faust

Drew Gilpin Faust, President Emerita of Harvard University, is a renowned scholar of American history.

About the Speaker

Drew Gilpin Faust is the Arthur Kingsley Porter University Research Professor at Harvard, where she served as president from 2007 to 2018.

Faust previously served as founding dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2001-2007). Before coming to Radcliffe, she was the Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of seven books, including, most recently, Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury, published in August 2023. Her earlier book, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (2008), was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize and was awarded the Bancroft Prize, the New-York Historical Society’s American History Book Prize, and recognized by The New York Times as one of the “Ten Best Books of 2008.” This Republic of Suffering is the basis for a 2012 Emmy-nominated episode of the PBS American Experience documentaries titled Death and the Civil War, directed by Ric Burns.

Faust’s honors include awards in 1982 and 1996 for distinguished teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994, the Society of American Historians in 1993, and the American Philosophical Society in 2004. In September 2018 she was awarded the John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity by the Library of Congress. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr in 1968, magna cum laude with honors in history, and master’s (1971) and doctoral (1975) degrees in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. She and her husband live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About the Director's Lecture Series

The Roman Family Director’s Lecture series at the Neubauer Collegium, made possible through the generous support of University of Chicago Trustee Emmanuel Roman, MBA’87, brings distinguished speakers to the University of Chicago to share their insights with faculty, students, and the broader community. The aim of these events is to deepen public knowledge about the world and humanity’s place in it. More >

Drew Gilpin Faust, President Emerita of Harvard University, is a renowned scholar of American history.

Register