Fox Center 2024-25 Theme: "Democracy: Past, Present, Future"

How do the Humanities help us understand Democracy?

Termed the "year of elections," 2024 was a pivotal turning point for over seventy countries around the world that are facing elections. With this critical moment in mind, the Fox Center launched our first annual theme "Democracy: Past, Present, Future" for AY 2024-2025. 

As history has taught us, democracy is not simply defined by government structures like policies, elections, or laws. Democracy is also deeply influenced by art, education, and public discussions where people can shape and express their own democratic values. With "Democracy: Past, Present, Future," the Fox Center invited our communities near and far to interrogate these democratic values and systems as well their importance in everyday life and humanities research, at large. 

As the Fox Center explored "Democracy: Past, Present, Future," we were excited to host a series of public programming that included our Keynote Address on September 18th, 2024, an event with The Guardian newspaper on voting rights on October 23rd, 2024, and a lecture from renowned constitutional law professor Wojciech Sadurski on April 2nd, 2025. "Democracy: Past, Present, and Future" also encompassed our newest cohort of scholars-in-residence whose rich research explored democracy through interdisciplinary approaches and international perspectives.  

Please learn more about our Democracy events, our Democracy fellows and their research, and how to support our work below.