“Electability” & “Identity” as Election Terms

Posted on November 8, 2019November 10, 2019 by David Morse

On Friday, 11/08, students came together at the FORUM to discuss the terms “electability” and “identity politics”—and their implications in politics today. Often, students discussed their ideas about these terms through the lens of the Democratic presidential primary, though candidates and political races from many decades were referenced. In short, participating students sought to define Read more about “Electability” & “Identity” as Election Terms[…]

Featured in The Williams Record

Posted on November 8, 2019November 21, 2019 by David Morse

Jacob Posner (’23) recently wrote a feature in The Williams Record about the nature and recent history of The Forum.

Election Methods: The College & Alternatives

Posted on October 31, 2019November 1, 2019 by David Morse

At 7:30pm this Friday, we’ll be discussing the electoral college and thinking about alternatives. Our aim will be to figure out which methods are best for elections of different scales (Williams College, Williamstown, MA, and US) and to figure out how to effectively defend (and spread) the methods we favor. Notes & Agenda.

Multi-Generational Discussion of Climate Change

Posted on October 25, 2019November 1, 2019 by David Morse

We invite you and any visiting family to join us for a conversation about climate change on Friday at 7pm (sharp) in Griffin 4! View the notes and agenda here. We’ll focus on how we each view climate change and what we think it requires of us. You’ll get to engage in a mixed group Read more about Multi-Generational Discussion of Climate Change[…]

Conspiratorial Politics

Posted on October 18, 2019October 29, 2019 by David Morse

We talked about political conspiracy theories and how to respond to them. In a little sociopolitical experiment, we intentionally created a false conspiracy theory about Joe Biden and watched it propagate through the group. Agenda and Notes

Impeachment

Posted on October 4, 2019October 29, 2019 by David Morse

We discussed peach mint cakes and presidential impeachment: when it should happen and what it should mean. Starting in pairs, we iteratively merged into larger and larger groups, maintaining lists of the claims on which we agreed and disagreed. Agenda and Notes.

The Kind of Speech We Want

Posted on September 27, 2019October 29, 2019 by David Morse

We discussed what constitutes free speech, what constitutes hate speech, and what kind of speech we want. Our conversation was in reference to a Free Speech Panel event which had taken place the night before, featuring former ACLU President Nadine Strossen. Agenda and Notes.

Presidential Debate Format

Posted on September 20, 2019October 25, 2019 by David Morse

We discussed, and proposed alternatives to, the formats of primary presidential debates. Agenda and Notes