Every Spring the Institute for Global Citizenship sponsors the Macalester Civic Forum. The Civic Forum provides the Macalester community an opportunity to explore the “big” normative issues related to civic life, leadership and engagement in early 21st century America.

2011
New American Citizens: Opportunities and Obligations for Somalis

Thursday, April 7–Saturday, April 9, 2011

2010- Civic Leadership in the Age of Obama
READ SPEAKER BIOS

Dr. Ian F. Haney López is a Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, where he teaches and writes in the area of race and constitutional law. His current research examines the emergence and operation of “colorblindness” in U.S. constitutional law as an indicator of a new racial ideology aimed at legitimating and preserving the racial status quo.

Faculty Respondent: Dr. Karin Aguilar-San Juan is an Associate Professor in the American Studies Department at Macalester College. An urban sociologist, she publishes and teaches courses in Asian-American Studies on community and identity, as well as, courses on racial inequality and race-based social movements.

Student Presenters:

Westenley (Wes) Alcenat is a senior at Macalester College with a double major in History and Political Science. His talk will explore the rebuilding of American human capital under Obama’s presidency.

Callie Thuma is an American Studies major and Geography minor and a senior at Macalester. Her talk will illuminate examples of local and national leaders who are using the arts and oral history to creatively and collectively address class and race-based inequities.

Past Forums

2009 - Religion in the American Public Square

2008 - The Environment, Citizenship, and the Public Good

2007 - Meditations on Global Citizenship