Carleton Convos

Carleton Convo with Francis Fukuyama | January 26, 2024

Stanford professor and author Francis Fukuyama delivered the convocation, “The Global Challenge of 2024,” at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, January 26. Fukuyama’s talk addressed the major setbacks the world has seen to liberal democracy, including the outbreak of two large wars, and asked the question: What are possible global outcomes that will emerge in the year 2024?
Fukuyama is best known for his scholarship and his work advancing political theory. His book, The End of History and the Last Man (1992), argued that Western democracy and free-market capitalism could indicate the end of sociocultural evolution. The book has been met with much debate over the years and has been translated for over twenty different foreign editions. Fukuyama has also written a variety of other books on development and and international politics, including Trust (1995), The Great Disruption (1999), Our Posthuman Future (2002), State Building (2004), Nation Building (2005), America at the Crossroads (2006), Falling Behind (2008), The Origins of Political Order (2011), Political Order and Political Decay (2014), Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment (2018), and most recently, Liberalism and its Discontents (2022).
Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and a faculty member of FSI’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). He is also the director of Stanford’s Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy and a professor (by courtesy) of political science. He is a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and at the Center for Global Development. He also serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Pardee RAND Graduate School and the Volcker Alliance, a member of the Board of Trustees of the RAND Corporation, and a member of the American Political Science Association and Council on Foreign Relations. Fukuyama was also previously a member of the political science department of the RAND Corporation, and the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State. From 1996–2000, he was Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Professor of Public Policy at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. From 2002–2010, he was Vernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University.
Fukuyama received his BA from Cornell University and his PhD from Harvard. He is married to Laura Holmgren and is the father of three children.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations. 

Carleton Convo with Jerron Herman | January 19, 2024

Award-winning dancer, writer, model, and disability rights advocate Jerron Herman delivered the convocation address, “EMBRACE: On kinship,” at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, January 19.
Herman’s artistic process is supported by his personal history with disability as well as the social legacies of disability aesthetics; this process leads him to create art that undermines notions of production—the simple facts of how the art is made—in favor of creating something welcoming. Herman views art as a form of empowerment, reflecting in a feature video by Great Big Story that he has “always been an advocate for those to pursue the antithesis of the thing that is their limitation.”
Herman has performed, collaborated on, and choreographed many original works, including his most recent piece, “VITRUVIAN,” which premiered in 2022 as a modern interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Virtruvian Man. Through Herman’s expert expression, the Virtruvian Man is portrayed as a Disabled Black Man.
Herman received the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in 2021 and the Grants to Artists Award from Dance/NYC’s Dance and Social Justice Fellowship Program in 2020. His writing on art and culture has been published in the U.S. and internationally and his play “3 Bodies” was published in Theater Magazine in 2022. He has also featured as a cover story of Dance Magazine. As a model and disability rights advocate with hemiplegia cerebral palsy, Herman has partnered with brands including Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, The Jewelry Library, FFORA, Samsung, and Google.
Herman is a trustee and vice chair of Dance/USA. In the spring of 2022, he became an Artist/Scholar in Residence at Georgetown University. He earned his BA in Media, Culture and Arts from The King’s College in 2013.
Herman’s convocation talk coincides with the Perlman Teaching Museum’s exhibition Towards A Warm Embrace by artists Ezra Benus and Finnegan Shannon ’11. Open January 11–April 14, 2024, the exhibition explores disability justice and accessibility practice with the underlying premise that access is something everyone has a responsibility toward.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Lis Frost ’99 | January 12, 2024

Lis Frost ’99 delivered the convocation address at Carleton College on Friday, January 12 in Skinner Chapel. Frost is a lawyer with expertise in voting and constitutional law, particularly protecting and defending voting rights. In her talk, “Fighting for Democracy in Court: The Rise of Election Litigation, and Some of the More Hidden Threats to Voting Rights,” Frost spoke on the threats to American democracy present in 2024, and shared her experiences on the front lines protecting and expanding the right to vote in the U.S.
Frost’s work played a significant role in the 2020 election cycle through her endeavors to uphold the voting rights of millions of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in the 2020 cycle, she also  managed a coordinated defense against the “unprecedented attacks in courts across the country,” which sought to cast doubt on the outcome of the presidential election. Frost has also appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in several seminal redistricting cases—often referred to as “gerrymandering”— four of which were won in favor of her clients.
In 2021, Frost formed the nation’s largest democracy-focused law firm, Elias Law Group, with several colleagues. Frost serves as the chair of litigation. Elias Law Group’s mission is to help democrats win elections, protect and promote voting rights, and help progressives make positive change.
After graduating from Carleton College in 1999, Frost received a degree from the University of Washington School of Law, where she operated as the editor-in-chief of the Washington Law Review. 
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Staffan Ingemar Lindberg | October 27, 2023

Staffan Ingemar Lindberg is a professor of political science, one of five principal investigators for Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), and the founding director of the V-Dem Institute through the University of Gothenburg. He delivered the convocation address, “Democracy and Autocracy Worldwide: 3rd Wave of Autocratization Escalating,” at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, October 27. His address focused on threats to democracy in the world and in the U.S., based on data analysis of current trends and the spread of far-right, anti-pluralist/liberal parties around the world.
V-Dem is a highly utilized source of democracy data thanks to its extensive and holistic collection of indexes from around the world. Lindberg is also the founding director of Demscore, research infrastructure which provides free access to some of the world’s largest data sets on democracy, environment, migration, social policy, conflict, and representation. Lindberg has co-authored the books Varieties of Democracy (2020) and Why Democracies Develop and Decline (2022) and was the editor of Democratization by Elections: A New Mode of Transition (2009). His book Democracy and Elections in Africa (2006) was awarded “Outstanding Title” by Choice Magazine in 2007. Lindberg is also the author of over 60 articles on democracy, accountability, elections, autocratization, democratization, clientelism, sequence analysis methods, women’s representation, and voting behavior, which have been featured in a wide array of journals, including AJPS, World Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Journal of Politics, Political Science Quarterly, World Development, Party Politics, European Journal of Political Research, and many more. Lindberg has also conducted a variety of research projects focused on Ghana and published on a variety of topics focused through that lens. He is an experienced consultant on development and democracy, and has worked as an advisor to international organizations, ministries, and state authorities.
Currently, Lindberg is leading several sizable research projects, including “The Case for Democracy,” “Varieties of Autocratization,” and “Failing and Successful Sequences of Democratization,” all through the University of Gothenburg and V-Dem. 
Lindberg earned his PhD at Lund University in Sweden. His dissertation was awarded the American Political Science Association’s Juan Linz Award for Best Dissertation in 2005.
He was previously a professor at Kent State University, and an assistant and associate professor at the University of Florida. He has been at the University of Gothenburg since 2010 and is a Wallenburg Academy Scholar. 
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Adam Minter | October 20, 2023

Bloomberg Opinion columnist and author Adam Minter delivered the convocation address, “How We Think About Waste is a Waste,” at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, October 20. Minter predominantly writes on technology, emerging markets, and waste, among other topics.
Over the course of his career, Minter has been a correspondent across the globe. From 2004 to 2014, he was based in Shanghai, where he covered transatlantic recycling. He continued his correspondence on the issue while in Kuala Lumpur from 2014 until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from Bloomberg, Minter’s work has been published in a variety of publications, including ArtNews and The Atlantic.
Minter’s first book—Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion Dollar Trash Trade, published in 2015—is acclaimed for its thorough insider’s look at the world of globalized recycling. Junkyard Planet has received praise from The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Financial Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Brooklyn Bugle, and Slate. His second book—Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale, published in 2019—takes the reader through the secondhand economy that thrives around the world. Secondhand has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including NPR and The Guardian, and has received praise from a wide array of perspectives, including the Associated Press, Nature, Foreign Policy, Science, Sierra, Recycling International, and Library Journal. 
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Gregg Colburn P ’26 | October 13, 2023

Gregg Colburn P ’26, associate professor for the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington College of Built Environments, delivered the Family Weekend convocation address at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, October 13. He spoke about the book he recently co-authored, Homelessness is a Housing Problem, which looks to statistically examine the conventional beliefs about what drives homelessness.
Colburn’s work is primarily focused on topics related to housing and homelessness. He is a member of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Research Council—an organization dedicated to the eradication of homelessness and a key provider of data and research on the topic to inform policy. He also co-chairs the University of Washington’s Homelessness Research Initiative. Colburn plays an active role in community efforts to address the critical housing shortages in the Puget Sound region. 
Colburn earned his BA from Albion College, his MBA from Northwestern University, and his PhD from the University of Minnesota. Before his work in academia, he was an investment banker and private equity professional.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Xiuhtezcatl Martinez | October 6, 2023

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, environmental activist and hip hop artist, delivered convocation at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, October 6. He spoke on how climate change is influencing the migration of people in South and Latin America. Martinez is known for his talent for connecting people through popular culture and sharing the message of his Indigenous roots in order to protect the planet and re-imagine the future of the next generation. He is also a founder of Earth Guardians, an organization for empowering and organizing youth to protect the future of the planet.
Since the age of six, Martinez has stood on the front lines of the climate and environmental movement. He has addressed the general assembly at the UN multiple times and spoken on panels with Bernie Sanders, Van Jones, Shailene Woodley, Bill McKibbens, Pharrell Williams, and many others. He has stood to protect sacred land from pipelines and performed all over the world. His music is known to push the envelope of hip hop for what the genre can look and sound like; his lyrics are informed by his Mexican roots and his experiences growing up in the environmental justice movement. 
Recently named one of the TIME100 Next, Martinez has been a guest on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and Real Time with Bill Maher. He has also appeared multiple times on PBS, Showtime, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Upworthy, The Guardian, Vogue, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, CNN, MSNBC, HBO, Netflix, and VICE, and has been photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Jazz Hampton | September 29, 2023

Jazz Hampton is CEO and general counsel at TurnSignl, a Minnesota-based company that provides real-time legal guidance and de-escalation from attorneys to drivers who have been stopped by law enforcement or were involved in a car crash. Hampton delivered the convocation address at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, September 29. 
TurnSignl is a proudly Black-owned tech company with an app that allows users to initiate a video call with an attorney at the moment of a traffic stop or car crash. The app also features automatic front-camera recording of the interaction, which is stored and encrypted in the user’s cloud. TurnSignl’s mission is for everybody to get home safe, including drivers and law enforcement. Launched in 2021, TurnSignl was created in the wake of the murders of Philando Castile, George Floyd, and Daunte Wright as a solution to bridge the gap between law enforcement and drivers. In his TurnSignl introduction, Hampton said, “We want everyone to be safe and to be empowered.” TurnSignl has been featured by NBC segments Top Story and Nightly News with Lester Holt and on MSNBC. 
Hampton was named one of Minneapolis–St. Paul’s 40 Under 40 for his work at TurnSignl and in the Twin Cities community. He also sits on the Board of Directors at the Minneapolis Foundation and Catholic Charities Twin Cities and is a Philanthropic Advisory Council member for the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. Before joining TurnSignl, Hampton was a practicing attorney and the director of DEI at the national law firm Foley & Mansfield, as well as an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Susan Jaret McKinstry | September 22, 2023

Dr. Susan Jaret McKinstry, Helen F. Lewis Professor of English, delivered the Argument & Inquiry Convocation on Friday, September 22. The A&I convocation is a key aspect of the first-year A&I seminars—a class crafted for first-year students to get a grasp of college-level classes through the lens of a liberal arts school. In her address, “The Whole Story,” Jaret McKinstry highlighted the nature of liberal arts and the liberal arts approach to learning.
Over the course of her time at Carleton, Jaret McKinstry has taught courses on a variety of subjects, from prose to poetry, memoir, and journalism. She has also directed Carleton off-campus study programs in London and Ireland, Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) programs in London and Florence, and taught visual studies as a Fulbright scholar in Moscow. Her adventures also include a poetry retreat in Galway, Ireland and leading Carleton Alumni Adventures trips in Ireland, Scotland, England, and Norway.
Jaret McKinstry’s scholarly work has mainly focused on a group of radical nineteenth century British artists and writers who saw art as a way to spark social change. She co-edited the book Feminism, Bakhtin, and the Dialogic, and has published articles on Dante Rossetti, William Morris, Jane Austen, Emily Brontë, Emily Dickinson, T. S. Eliot, Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, Ann Beattie, and others. Her own poetry pinpoints the intersections of place, history, and story, and has been published in Plain Songs I & II, Crosswinds Poetry Journal, Willows Wept Review, Red Wing Poet Artist Collaboration, and the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Her first chapbook, Tumblehome, will be published in 2024.
Jaret McKinstry received her BA and MBA from Miami University in Ohio, and her PhD from the University of Michigan. Carleton was her first full-time academic position and her introduction to a liberal arts college, and she has been fervent advocate for the beauty and use of the liberal arts ever since.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson | September 11, 2023

Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise Kellen ’68 Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. Her research focuses on slavery and abolitionists, violence as a political discourse, historical film, and Black women’s history. Most recently, she has written and spoken on political threats to academic freedom. She is the author of the award-winning book Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence, which won the James Broussard Best First Book Prize, was a finalist for the Frederick Douglass Book Prize and the Museum of African American History Stone Book Prize, and was listed among 13 books to read on African American History by the Washington Post. Her essays have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe, among many others. She has also been featured in Apple TV’s highly acclaimed docuseries Lincoln’s Dilemma as well as other documentaries for Netflix, MSNBC, and PBS. She is the host and executive producer of You Get a Podcast! The Unauthorized Study of the Queen of Talk and co-host of the Radiotopia podcast This Day in Esoteric Political History. Carter Jackson serves as a Historian-in-Residence for the Museum of African American History in Boston and is commissioner for the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Her next book, The Remedy: A Forceful History of Black Resistance to White Supremacy, will be out in spring 2024 with Basic Books.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations