Religion and pluralism, natural law, feminist ethics, responding to terrorism, deliberative democracy, race and reparations, American conservatism, identities and borders, and classical critiques of democracy will be among topics explored Oct. 21-22 as the Association for Political Theory holds its 2005 meeting at Washington University.
Designed to foster “intellectual sociability” among independent scholars, graduate students and faculty from a range of elite research universities and small liberal arts colleges, the conference offers plenty of time for audience participation, informal discussion and social mixing.
“The committee hopes that conferees will take advantage of these opportunities not only to visit with old friends and associates but also to engage in conversation with a new generation of graduate students and with scholars whose interests and approaches may differ from their own,” said conference co-organizer and host Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science in Arts & Sciences. “It is also a wonderful opportunity for the Washington University community to see the vibrancy of political theory as an interdisciplinary endeavor.”
Rehfeld expects about 125 participants for the gathering, which offers six regular sessions, each with four panels. The program begins Friday morning and closes Saturday evening with two special plenary presentations: Elizabeth Beaumont of the Carnegie Foundation and the University of Minnesota will explore political theory and civic engagement; Amitai Etzioni, director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at George Washington University and past president of the American Sociological Association, will engage critics of his new book, “From Empire to Community: A New Approach to International Relations.”
Supported in part with contributions from Washington University, the conference fee is $70 for faculty and fully employed individuals, $35 for non-Washington University affiliated graduate students and $15 for students affiliated with Washington University. Members of the Washington University community can receive a prorated fee if they will not attend all meals. For more information and a full conference agenda, visit the association’s web site (http://organizations.oneonta.edu/apt ) or contact Rehfeld at 935-5812; rehfeld@wustl.edu.