Norms and Why They Matter
Nevada Humanities Salon: Norms and Why They Matter
6:00-7:30 pm at Sundance Books and Music, 121 California Avenue, Reno
This event happened on Friday, January 18, 2019 at 6 pm.
What’s the difference between a norm and a law? What does it mean to circumvent a norm, and is that even a problem? What can we trust in one another to do, and what do we need to codify? Join Nevada Humanities for The Salon: Norms and Why They Matter as we pose these and other questions to a lawyer, a political scientist, and a rhetorician. Moderated by Katharine Schweitzer, assistant professor in Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Reno, these panelists will discuss political norms and conventions and how they play a pivotal role in sustaining the American Constitution.
The bi-monthly Salon series features a panel discussion with topics relevant to the humanities in Nevada and includes audience discussion and light refreshments.
Guest panelists will include:
Lieutenant Richard A. Andrews is the Command Judge Advocate at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada. He was commissioned into the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps in 2014, following a judicial clerkship for the Honorable Philip Pro at the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. He has worked as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, and now serves in a role similar to a general counsel, advising military commanders on ethics, investigations, and other matters of military and federal law.
Ian M. Hartshorn is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a former co-chair of the Labor Politics Group of the American Political Science Association and a member of the Middle East Studies Association. His work has appeared in Political Research Quarterly, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Global Governance. His interests are in comparative political economy, labor movements, and transnational migration, and his current research looks at speech acts in the Middle East and refugee resettlement in the United States.
Amy Pason is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Pason received her PhD from the University of Minnesota in 2010. She studies persuasion and advocacy, and teaches courses in democratic deliberation and facilitation, public speaking, social movements, and recently taught a course on persuasion related to political campaigns. Her expertise is related to norms of democratic public spheres as well as First Amendment and free speech laws and norms.
Katharine Schweitzer is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research interests include moral disagreement and how democratic citizens and institutions ought to respond to it. She received her PhD in philosophy from Emory University in 2014, and her dissertation research focused on when political compromise is morally justified. At UNR she teaches classes such as Philosophy of Law, Global Ethics and Justice, Bioethics, and Ethical Theory.
This program is a part of the “Democracy and the Informed Citizen” Initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils. We thank The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generous support and the Pulitzer Prizes for their partnership.
