Type: Public event

In conversation: William Kristol and Neera Tanden

The keynote event for the WeListen Fall Conference 2018

Date & time

Sep 30, 2018, 2:10-3:30 pm EDT

Location

Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium (1120)
735 S. State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109

This keynote event with Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and William Kristol, founder and editor of The Weekly Standard is part of the WeListen Fall Conference 2018 (by invitation).

In a dialogue hosted by Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr, Kristol and Tanden will explore and reflect on their political differences--and on the common ground they find in their values and their commitments. The event will close with remarks from University of Michigan President Mark S. Schlissel.

This event is the launch of a major new initiative at the Ford School, Conversations Across Differences. With funding support from the University of Michigan's Provost's Office, the initiative will involve public events, student programming and curriculum, trust-building simulations and problem-solving, and work to foster a generous sense of belonging among our students and in the community. Our goal is to train civic leaders who are exceptional at navigating productive disagreement and working across difference to solve our world’s most intractable problems

WeListen was established as a student organization in 2017, and has gained tremendous momentum by hosting bi-weekly dialogues focused on pressing political issues. WeListen's goal is to spark political discussion (not debate) between students on campus, both liberal and conservative. The WeListen Conference will offer students the opportunity to work directly with legislators to analyze critical, timely issues and draft their own policies in response.

From the speakers' bios:

William Kristol is founder and editor at large of The Weekly Standard, he appears frequently on all the leading political commentary shows. Before starting the Weekly Standard in 1995, Mr. Kristol led the Project for the Republican Future, where he helped shape the strategy that produced the 1994 Republican congressional victory. Before that, Mr. Kristol served in senior positions in the Reagan and Bush Administrations, and taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.

Neera Tanden is the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Before joining CAP and CAP Action, she worked as a key member of the health reform team of former President Barack Obama, where she helped to develop and pass the Affordable Care Act. She also managed all domestic policy initiatives during Obama’s first presidential campaign and has served in several leadership roles for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At CAP and CAP Action, Tanden is focused on building the grassroots opposition to Donald Trump’s agenda, and on developing an alternative agenda that will expand opportunity for all Americans.

This event is hosted by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the student-led group WeListen, which is jointly supported by the Ford School and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.