The American University of Paris (AUP) will launch The Center for Critical Democracy Studies on Friday October 23rd, 2015 with an evening of jazz and conversation led by Gregory Clark, President of the Rhetoric Society of America and author of Civic Jazz (U of Chicago Press, 2015) and by Marcus Roberts of the Marcus Roberts Trio. The conversation will be followed by a performance of the Marcus Roberts Trio.
The Center for Critical Democracy Studies fosters an interdisciplinary approach to questions of democracy. Purposely aligned with AUP's liberal arts curriculum, the Center encourages all fields from the natural and environmental sciences to the social sciences and humanities to explore democracy as a social state, a political regime or a form of agency. Center-sponsored research is global, inter- and trans-disciplinary, and is directed by Dr. Stephen Sawyer, Associate Professor of History at AUP.
During the evening, Greg Clark will engage the audience in an interactive - verbal and musical – conversation on democracy and civic participation with jazz pianist, Marcus Roberts and his trio. If you don’t know Marcus Roberts, often acknowledged as the finest living American jazz pianist, be sure to watch the CBS 60 Minute segment on Marcus Roberts’s life. It is narrated by Wynton Marsalis, who says of Marcus: “He’s the greatest American musician most people have never heard of.”
We hoping that you will be able to join us. If you do plan to come, please let us know by using the sign up here. The deadline to sign up for this event is October 20.