Justice & Society Seminar

Each summer the Justice & Society Seminar, co-founded in 1979 by the late Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, brings together a diverse group of lifelong learners to discuss what we mean by justice and how a just society should structure its legal, judicial, and political institutions.

Participants explore and examine their values and beliefs in light of their professional and personal experiences, including conversations of: Law, Morality, and Justice; Personal Autonomy; Religion and the Law; Race, Gender, and Justice; and International and Transnational Justice.

The 2022 Justice and Society seminar was co-moderated by Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, Goodwin H. Liu. Space is limited to 22 participants.

Program Design:

Using our time-tested Aspen method of text-based moderated dialogue, seminar participants are brought into a structured dialogue based on a volume of specially prepared readings of classic and contemporary writings, law cases, and works of literature, including Plato, John Stuart Mill, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Rawls, Isaiah Berlin, and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Seminar participants are a curated mosaic of 18 distinguished individuals chosen from a variety of fields who bring a wealth of personal and professional experience to the discussion. They are often leaders in their respective communities who have reached a point where they are ready to take pause from their often hectic daily routine, and revisit the values and ideals that guide their work.

Location and Capacity:

The 2023 Justice & Society Seminar will take place at the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Meadows Resort in Aspen, CO.

This seminar is limited to 22 participants, so early application submission is strongly encouraged.