Socrates Program: 2017 Winter Seminars
Socrates Winter Seminars
Draft Agenda
The Motivation Divide in a Global Economy
To thrive in the modern economy, people must continue to learn and adapt all their lives. Happily, this is getting easier to do every day. A 12-year-old with a fast Internet connection can now learn physics from world-class professors for free. She can research, write, edit and broadcast her own manifesto (or movie) in under 24 hours. But succeeding at all of those tasks requires, among other things, serious motivation. Some countries and communities are doing a better job of cultivating this kind of motivation than others. Why is that? Where does motivation come from? Can it be taught in a systematic way? How do we prevent the “digital divide” of old from turning into a “motivation divide” in the years to come?
Moderator: Amanda Ripley, journalist and bestselling author of The Smartest Kids in the World–and How They Got That Way
Global Security and America’s Role in the New World Order
As a new administration comes into office it will have to develop America’s place in today’s new world order of power. International institutions have been upended or have fallen short. Rising new powers and threats are challenging the traditional balance of power. This seminar will explore three critical issues of domestic and international concern as nations struggle to find a new equilibrium — terrorism, rising cyber insecurity, and nuclear proliferation. Each session will develop a framework through readings for each issue, will pose critical questions to develop deeper understanding of the problems, and will analyze proposed solutions.
Moderator: Dina Temple-Raston, NPR’s counter-terrorism correspondent, and Harvey Rishikof, senior counsel in Crowell & Moring’s Privacy & Cybersecurity and Governments Contracts group and former dean of faculty at the National War College
The Influence of the Corporation
The modern corporation is the most influential institution of our day. The global reach and distribution systems, decision rules and protocols, markets and values of multinational firms shape virtually every challenge we face as a society. Can we harness the business corporation for the public good? Through readings and discussion, we will be review the history of the Corporation, the role of business in social change in the US, and the core ideas and forces that shape business decisions. We will look at case examples of promising conversations taking place in Board Rooms and classrooms that connect financial goals and sustainability goals – and support social intra-preneurs and fresh thinking about the role of business – including a radical rethink the purpose of the corporation and how we measure success.
Moderator: Judy Samuelson, creator and executive director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program