We live in times of extreme political polarization. What is the nature of our disagreements? What are the requirements of a democratic political community? What can we learn from other moments of political polarization? What does freedom mean, politically and personally? This talk will be an invitation to think together about these and related questions at this moment in our national life.

Roosevelt Montás is Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English at Columbia University and director of the Freedom and Citizenship Program, which introduces low-income high school students to the Western political tradition through the study of original texts. He is the author of Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation, (Princeton University Press, 2021).