Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Robert D. Putnam, and filmmakers Pete and Rebecca Davis
Join us on Friday, September 29 at 6 p.m. for our next installment of the Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series featuring Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Professor Robert D. Putnam, and filmmakers Pete and Rebecca Davis.
This program has reached capacity. Register below to join the waitlist or the live stream.
They will discuss “Join or Die,” a new documentary film about why you should be civically involved – and why the fate of America depends on it. The film explores America’s civic unraveling over the past half-century and, more importantly, what we can do about it.
The program will be held in person at the Robinson Center, located at 426 W. Markham St. in downtown Little Rock, as well as streamed live. Registration is required for both the in-person waitlist and virtual viewing.
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Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam is America’s preeminent political scientist – and one of the most widely read and cited social scientists living today. Putnam’s groundbreaking book, “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Society,” rocketed him to fame in the late 1990s and earned him the moniker “the poet laureate of civil society.” In 2012, Putnam was awarded the National Humanities Medal, the nation’s highest honor for contributions to the humanities.
Directed and produced by Pete and Rebecca Davis, “Join or Die,” documents the story of America’s civic unraveling through the work of Putnam, whose research demonstrates how America’s decades-long decline in community connections could hold the answers to our democracy’s present crisis.
Filled with interviews and stories from Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and others, as well as a look at inspiring groups building community in neighborhoods across the country, “Join or Die” explores three urgent civic questions: What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And, most importantly: What can we do about it?
Pete Davis is a writer and civic advocate – and a former student of Putnam’s. He is the author of “Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing.” He is the co-founder of the Democracy Policy Network, a policy organization focused on raising up ideas that deepen democracy.
Rebecca Davis is a director and producer based in New York City. She was a senior producer with NBC News for a decade, where her work focused on social movements, environment and economic justice, and community innovators. She has produced for HBO, VICE, and A&E, and was the supervising producer for Season 2 of Vox’s hit Netflix show, Explained.
The Frank & Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series is presented by the Clinton Foundation, Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas, Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, and AT&T.