The Department of Political Science and Philosophy will hold its second “Conversation Series” event 4-5:45 p.m. Feb. 22, 2024, in Karls Hall 101.

Guest speakers Steven Smith, J.D. and Sanford Levinson, Ph.D., J.D. will lead the audience in exploring the question “Does America Need a New Constitution?”

Smith is the Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he co-directs both the Institute for Law and Religion and the Institute for Law and Philosophy. He has held named professorships at the law schools at Notre Dame and University of Colorado.

Smith has also published nine books on many aspects of the law, with special emphasis on the Constitution and religious freedom. He earned his law degree from Yale University and his B.A. from Brigham Young University.

Levinson holds the Garwood Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School at Austin. He taught politics at Princeton University and in numerous programs abroad, and he has held several visiting professorships.

Levinson has written seven books and hundreds of articles, reviews and commentaries on many constitutional issues, with a special emphasis on flaws in the U.S. Constitution and the need for a new constitutional convention.  He received his Ph.D. from Harvard, his J.D. from Stanford and his B.A. from Duke.

“Smith and Levinson are two of the most renowned experts on the constitution in the country,” said Dr. Christopher Lynch, professor and head of the Department of Political Science and Philosophy. “Both are experts not only on the U.S. Constitution but on constitutions as such.”

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available at 3:30 p.m., and the event will start at 4 p.m.

Conversation by design

The series is intentionally structured to be a conversation, an unusual format for an academic setting, Lynch said.

Lynch will spend the first 8-10 minutes of the event summarizing each speaker’s position on the topic. He will then ask the speakers additional questions, followed by taking questions from the audience.

“Right now so many people – right, left and center – think that our politics have entirely gone off the rails,” Lynch said. “It seemed to us important to ask about the rails themselves: Do our political woes stem from the Constitution itself? Or from our deviations from the Constitution? Would changes in the Constitution help or make things worse?”

“We’re asking such questions not because we want to delve into highly technical constitutional minutiae, but as a means of connecting our current political moment to more fundamental and enduring questions, such as our basic constitutional framework,” he added.

Series explores deeper questions regarding American politics

Citing current negative polarization from the left and right of the political spectrum, Lynch said the series examines deeper questions about American politics.

“Many on both left and right insist that the entire system is fundamentally flawed and not worthy of our defense and even worthy of attack,” Lynch said. “Both the current condition of our political discourse…and the department’s longstanding interest in the study of American government—by Political Science faculty—and of ethics—by Philosophy faculty—make this an important and appropriate topic to focus on.”

Building on successful inaugural event

Lynch was pleased with the positive response to the first event of the Conversation Series, which was held October 2023.

“People very much enjoyed the first event, with about 100 attending the initial discussion and about 40 staying for the audience discussion session afterward,” Lynch said. “We’re making it even more conversational this time, allowing much more time for the speakers to talk with one another and with the audience.”

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