Carleton Convos

Carleton Convo with Arjun Singh Sethi | May 12, 2023

Community activist, civil rights lawyer, and writer Arjun Singh Sethi delivered the convocation address at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, May 12. Sethi works closely with Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Sikh communities and is an expert in policing and counter terrorism reform, racial and religious profiling, and the best practices to combat hate violence. He is also actively involved in domestic and international surveillance issues and pre-arrest police civilian encounters, which include consensual stops, location tracking, predictive policing, biometric data collection, and countering violent extremist programs. 
Sethi is co-chair of the American Bar Association’s National Committee on Homeland Security, Terrorism and the Treatment of Enemy Combatants and has served as a legal observer around the world. He previously served on the National Legislative Council for human rights and national security related affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union. Sethi is also an adjunct professor of law at both Georgetown University and Vanderbilt University. He also serves as an adviser for nonprofits and foundations on public policy, advocacy campaigns, and rapid-response organizing. 
In 2018, Sethi published American Hate: Survivors Speak Out, which documents through testimonials the hate that impacted many people before and after the 2016 presidential election. It was named among the Best Books of 2018 by NPR. 
Sethi’s other works have appeared in many national outlets including CNN, The Guardian, Politico Magazine, USA Today, and The Washington Post. He has also been widely quoted on television, radio, and in print, including BBC World Radio, NPR, The Independent, and The New York Times.
Based in Washington D.C., Sethi is a graduate of New York University and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. 
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Steven Levitsky | May 5, 2023

Steven Levitsky delivered the convocation address at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, May 5. Levitsky is the David Rockefeller professor of Latin American studies and professor of government at Harvard University. Levitsky also serves as director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard, which works to increase awareness of the histories, cultures, economics, and environment of contemporary Latin America. His research focuses on democratization and authoritarianism, political parties, and weak and informal institutions. 
Levitsky is an award-winning author and has written or edited 12 books, published guest essays, and featured in media publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. In 2018, he published How Democracies Die with David Ziblatt, which focuses on the potential death of democracy in the United States, in particular after the election of Donald Trump. How Democracies Die was a New York Times Bestseller and has been translated into 25 languages. It was recognized as one of the best non-fiction books of 2018 by The Washington Post, Time, and Foreign Affairs. Other books by Levitsky include Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2003), Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War with Lucan Way (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism with Lucan Way (Princeton University Press, 2022).
Levitsky received his BA in political science from Stanford University and his PhD from the University of California–Berkeley. He currently lives in Massachusetts with his family.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Diana Fraser ’14 | April 28, 2023

Award-winning creator Diana Fraser ’14 delivered the convocation address at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, April 28. Fraser values critical thinking, social dialogue, and uplifting systemically marginalized and excluded communities. She leads savvy, relevant content creation for audiences with effective, streamlined, data-informed systems. 
Fraser manages and designs multimedia projects, documentaries, digital series, broadcast programs, and advertising spots for PBS Digital Studios, where she drives a $5.5 million grant portfolio that creates original digital-first series, workshops, and events. She previously served as a line producer for Twin Cities PBS, where her programs received 20 Midwest Regional Emmy Award nominations and nine wins. 
Her directorial debut, Patient No More, is an Emmy-nominated documentary that narrates the barriers that LGBTQ+ women face across healthcare systems and how the never-ending hunt for affirming care affects their lives. Focused on centering the experiences of queer and female-identifying people, the film features the voices of 17 LGBTQ+ women as both experts and patients.
Fraser’s portfolio includes more than ten award-winning short and feature films and screenings with Harvard University/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, UCLA–Iris Cantor Women’s Health Center, the City of West Hollywood government, and Boston School of Public Health. Her films have featured at the 2022 Big Sky Film Festival, the 2018 and 2021 Twin Cities Film Festival, and 2018 INPUT. Fraser also won the 2013 Princess Grace Honorarium Award.
Fraser is a 2021 Online News Association Women’s Leadership Accelerator cohort member and a 2018 Minnesota State Arts Board grant recipient. She earned her BA in cinema and media studies from Carleton College in 2014.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Gaelynn Lea | April 14, 2023

Violinist, songwriter, and disability rights advocate Gaelynn Lea delivered the convocation address at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, April 14. Lea is a renowned public speaker and advocate for disability rights and accessibility in the arts. She has shared her perspective on many platforms, including PBS NewsHour, On Being with Krista Tippett, The Moth Radio Hour, NowThis, The Science of Happiness Podcast, and through two TEDx talks.
Most recently, Lea composed and performed the music for Macbeth on Broadway starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, which was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Sound Design.
Lea is also the co-founder of RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities), which connects music, entertainment, and event industries to a global network of established music professionals with disabilities. This fast-growing, disability-led coalition played a crucial role in making the 64th GRAMMY Awards accessible and in 2022 was named a Zero Project Honoree for its dynamic solutions. 
An internationally touring recording artist, Lea has captivated audiences around the world with her haunting original songs and traditional fiddle tunes. In 2016, her music gained popularity after she won NPR Music’s second-annual Tiny Desk Contest. Lea has opened for artists like Wilco, The Decemberists, LOW, and the industrial rock supergroup Pigface. Lea is also currently working on a memoir detailing her adventures on tour and with disability advocacy.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations

Carleton Convo with Matthew MacWilliams | April 7, 2023

Matthew MacWilliams—scholar, award-winning practitioner of American politics and recognized expert on authoritarianism—delivered the convocation address at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, April 7. Among MacWilliams’ more prominent works are his articles published in Politico, the London School of Economics Blog, and Vox, which sparked an international political debate that defined Donald Trump and his political tactics as authoritarian. Before a vote had been cast in the 2016 presidential primaries, MacWilliams warned liberals, moderates, and conservatives alike that his polls revealed the near-unstoppable nature of Trump’s political campaign, attributing its power to Trump’s appeal to authoritarianism. 
MacWilliams has conducted qualitative research on issues surrounding the global rise of authoritarianism. He has also discussed the future of democracy implicated by his research with political officials and civil society members across the United States, Eurasia, and Europe. A long-time political professional, MacWilliams established a campaign and media strategies firm, MacWilliams Sanders Communications, over two decades ago.
MacWilliams’ work has been cited and reprinted in leading media around the world, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, Der Spiegel, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and MSNBC. He is the author of the 2020 book, On Fascism: 12 Lessons From American History, which centers his work on authoritarianism and Donald Trump, highlighting the authoritarian strain found throughout United States history. 
MacWilliams earned his BA at the University of Pennsylvania as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and his PhD in political science from the University of Massachusetts. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and dog.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations