Thursday, May 4
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Registration Required Below
Lessons from Ancient Greece —
Conversations: Truth, Myth & Democracy (Virtual)
Over 3,000 years ago, Ancient Athens gave rise to the world’s first democracy. What lessons can be gleaned from the 5 th Century BCE, to overcome the challenges facing our own form of government in the 21st?
Dr. Daniel Barrett leads a virtual discussion with Dr. Jeff Miller, chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the State University of New York, New Paltz and author of Democracy in Crisis: Lessons
from Ancient Athens.
Barrett and Miller will explore parallels between today’s political upheavals and the experiences of the Ancient Greeks. Drawing on the lessons of the past, the two will discuss potential solutions to problems that could pose a threat to our modern
democracy.
In his highly acclaimed new work, Dr. Miller analyzes the political arrangement in Ancient Athens and focuses on elements that made it durable and resistant to both internal and external threats. Democracy in Crisis: Lessons from Ancient Athens
focuses on several distinctive Athenian institutions and practices and considers how we might reimagine them for the modern world.
Dr. Miller’s book Democracy in Crisis is available at Books on the Common
in Ridgefield.
This virtual webinar will be hosted via Zoom. Registered participants will receive an invitation with link prior to the program. Please include a cell phone to receive text reminder.
Our Panelists:
Dr. Jeff Miller is a professor of political theory and chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the State University of New York, New Paltz. He received his BA in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and earned both his master’s and PhD in Government from the University of Virginia. His research focuses on Ancient Greek political thought and democratic theory. He lives in Rosendale, NY. In addition to his 2023 book, Democracy in Crisis: Lessons from Ancient Athens, Dr. Miller has been published in leading journals including Political Theory, The Journal of Politics and History of Political Thought.
Dr. Daniel W. Barrett is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Western Connecticut State University. A resident of Redding, he graduated with a BA from Wesleyan University, earned his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Arizona State University and served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Health Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
Conversations: Truth, Myth & Democracy is a series of programs co-sponsored by Redding’s League of Women Voters and The Mark Twain Library. Winner of the 2022 Connecticut Library Association’s Award for Excellence in Public Library Service, the series continues the community conversation on issues of race, justice and democracy.
Many thanks to local Libraries and Leagues for their support of this series: Easton Public Library, Weston Public Library, Friends of the Weston Public Library, Newtown’s C.H. Booth Library, Ridgefield Library and the following Leagues of Women Voters: Northern Fairfield County, Ridgefield and Weston
Registration is currently closed for this event.