Dr. Danielle Allen
Dr. Danielle Allen
James Bryant Conant University Professor
at Harvard University
Spring 2022 Distinguished Lecture
Dr. Danielle Allen is the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and a political theorist who has written broadly about democratic theory, political sociology, and the history of political thought. Inspired by her work in justice and citizenship.
Most Recent Books:
Justice by Means of Democracy (2023). Danielle Allen makes the case that justice, which she defines as the necessary conditions for human flourishing, requires the protection of political equality or the ability of all people who wish to participate in the political process, to do so on an equal footing
Democracy in the Time of Coronavirus (2022). Danielle Allen looks at the US government's response to the COVID pandemic and offers a plan to create a stronger society and polity, one that can respond to the present pandemic and other crises while strengthening democracy and preserving the economy.
Cuz or the Life and Times of Michael A. (2017) Allen recounts her heroic efforts to rescue Michael Alexander Allen, her beloved baby cousin, who was arrested at fifteen for an attempted carjacking.
Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality (2014). "...an artful, often elegiac meditation on the meaning of Jefferson's famous words for our time." Joseph J. Ellis
Recent Articles and Book Chapters:
A More Resilient Union. (2020). Foreign Affairs, 99, 33.
Golden Letters: James Wilson, the Declaration of Independence, and the Sussex Declaration. (2019). Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy 17, 193.
Integration, Freedom, and the Affirmation of Life. (2018). In To Shape a New World (pp. 146-160). Harvard University Press.
A Democracy, If You Can Keep It. (2017) J19: The Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists, 5(2), 368-374.
Dr. Allen's contributions to the Washington Post are accessible to Boise State faculty, staff and students through an Albertsons Library subscription. Those without a Boise State affiliation are encouraged to consult your local public library for access.
David Brooks
David Brooks
Columnist at the New York Times, Author
Fall 2024 Distinguished Lecturer
David Brooks writes about "political, social and cultural trends, the clash of ideas and the always tricky subject of moral formation."
Most Recent Books:
The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life, 2019 - explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community
The Road to Character, 2016 - a look at how our culture has lost sight of the value of humility--defined as the opposite of self-preoccupation--and why only an engaged inner life can yield true meaning and fulfillment
The Social Animal, 2011 - interweaves history, science, statistics and instinctual behavioral patterns into a fictional treatment that reiterates his belief in "the way unconscious affections and aversions shape daily life
New York Times Columns:
David Brooks' New York Times columns are accessible to Boise State faculty, staff and students through an Albertsons Library subscription (registration required). Those without a Boise State affiliation are encouraged to consult your local public library for access.