Conference: “Is the Social Contract Broken?” (April 13-14, 2018)

Conference Schedule:

Friday, April 13, (Hill Memorial Library)

3:30 -5:00 pm, Keynote Lecture: John Tomasi, “Free Market Fairness”

5:00 pm, Crawfish Reception

Saturday, April 14, (French House, Honors College)

9:00-9:45 am, breakfast

10:00 – 11:15 am, Panel One: Albert Samuels and Chris Surprenant, “The Social Contract Today”

11:15-11:45 am, coffee break

11:45 am – 1:00 pm, Panel Two: Christie Maloyed and Brian Pedraza, “Contract or Covenant?”

1:00-2:00 pm, lunch

2:00- 3:00 pm, Panel Three: John Tomasi, “Freedom and Fairness”

Conference Details:

On behalf of the Eric Voegelin Institute (and our co-sponsors: the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and LSU’s Stephenson Department of Entrepreneurship and Information Systems in the Ourso College of Business), I’m very pleased to announce a student conference at Louisiana State University on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14: “Is the Social Contract Broken? a conference on philosophy, politics, and economics.”

We begin Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm with a keynote lecture by Professor John Tomasi of Brown University. Tomasi received his B.A. from Colby College, his M.A. from the University of Arizona (1990), and his B. Phil., D. Phil. from Oxford University (1993).  He teaches political philosophy at Brown, where he founded and directs the Political Theory Project. His most recent book, Free Market Fairness (Princeton University Press, 2012), “seeks to combine the uncombinables: capitalism and democracy, private property and social justice, free markets and fairness.”  The lecture will be held in Hill Memorial Library on the LSU campus, and a crawfish boil reception will follow.

On Saturday we will have three sessions, with discussions led by faculty panelists concerning modern interpretations and critiques of the social contract.  Panels will begin at 10:00 am and will conclude at 3:00 pm. Panelists include: Albert Samuels (PhD, LSU), Professor of Political Science at Southern University; Chris Surprenant (PhD, Boston University), Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Orleans; Christie Maloyed, (PhD, Texas A&M University), Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; and Brian Pedraza (PhD, Catholic University of America), Assistant Professor of Theology at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University. Panels will be held at the French House, home of the LSU Ogden Honors College.  A continental breakfast will be available beginning at 9:00 am, and lunch will be served.

The conference is open to undergraduate and graduate students and faculty from any university in the region.  There is no registration fee, but to guarantee breakfast and lunch please pre-register by sending an email to voegelin@lsu.edu with (1) your name, (2) your email address, and (3) your university affiliation.  For additional information, feel free to contact me at poston@lsu.edu or call the number below.

Parking is available on the LSU campus in the lot behind the Visitor’s Center at the corner of Highland and Dalrymple; also, there should be room in the garage attached to the Barnes and Noble bookstore.  (On Saturday, you should be able to park on the streets if you prefer.)

We hope you can join us for what we anticipate will be a lively and enlightening couple days.