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What Democracy Means to Us: Reflections on America 250
Exploring Ash Center perspectives on the meaning of democracy, democratic participation and citizenship, and how democratic life might evolve over the next 250 years.
News and Analysis
Read the latest news, commentary, and analysis from the Ash Center.
Newest
Commentary
Crowd Counting Consortium: Recent U.S. Protest Activity in Support of Israel and Palestine
Since the October 7 attacks on Israel, the U.S. has seen hundreds of vigils, rallies, demonstrations, and protests in response to those attacks and the political and military reactions to them.
Video
The Dark Side of AI: Crime and Adversarial Use Cases
“The Dark Side of AI: Crime and Adversarial Use Cases” webinar session featured the following speakers and topics:
- Bruce Schneier (Harvard): Hackers and Security Vulnerabilities
- Matt Groh (Northwestern): Deepfakes and Misinformation, see related paper The Art and Science of Generative AI
- Shlomit Wagman (Harvard): Financial Crime
- Jennifer Calvery (HSBC): Financial Crime
Commentary
Who’s accountable for AI usage in digital campaign ads? Right now, no one.
In a new essay, Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders argue that AI is poised to dramatically ramp up digital campaigns and outline how accountability measures across platforms, government, and the media can curb risks.
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Academic Freedom: Empirical Data on a Contested Idea
A Global Challenges to Democracy Seminar Series event was held featuring Katrin Kinzelbach, Professor of International Politics of Human Rights, Friedrich-Alexander-Universitä. Professor Kinzelbach discussed academic freedom from a human rights-based perspective.
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AAPI Economic Prosperity: Building Strong Communities and Thriving Small Businesses Panel Event
The Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and AAPI Student Caucus held a panel discussion featuring Qingjian (QJ) Shi and Jason Doo. The conversation delved into the vital challenges confronting AAPI-owned businesses including local government regulations, anti-Asian prejudice, access to capital, linguistic barriers, and more. They explored how government policy and nonprofit initiatives can address challenges faced by Asian American small businesses, as well as how economic justice is vital for thriving communities and democracies.
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Panel 3 — Turning Up the Heat: Social Pressure for Organizational Accountability
When it comes to establishing accountability in institutions, how can pressure be deployed, and what can it help accomplish? This panel featured leading advocates who have used a range of social and political tactics to push for change. They shared how they and their collaborators have instigated these efforts and illuminate lessons we should glean from their work.
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Panel 4 — Reckoning with History: Moving Beyond Organizational Accountability
This panel was part of the Truth & Transformation Conference 2023, hosted by the Instructional Antiracism and Accountability Project (IARA). In this session, panelists discussed real-world examples of historical reckoning and truth-telling, exploring how historical documentation, resources, and materials can be applied to antiracism work.
Video
Truth and Transformation 2023: Panel 1 — Roadmaps: Charting Paths to Organizational Accountability
This panel was part of the Truth & Transformation Conference 2023, hosted by the Instructional Antiracism and Accountability Project (IARA). This panel featured advocates with years of experience establishing systems for accountability in their own organizations.
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Truth and Transformation 2023: Panel 2 — (Re)writing the Rulebook: Reporting and Regulating for Organizational Accountability
This panel was part of the Truth & Transformation Conference 2023, hosted by the Instructional Antiracism and Accountability Project (IARA). In this panel, we examined how tools like analysis, metrics, and reporting are advancing within the private sector today and explored the impact of government insight on transparency and accountability.