The election of 2024 brought a sea change in government, touching nearly every corner of American life, from universities to research labs, the performing arts to social programs and beyond. A year into the new administration, experts in the fields of education, geoscience, economics, theater, immigration and constitutional law, health care, and public policy offer clear and informed insights into how changing policy frameworks are reshaping our communities, our institutions, and our connections at home and abroad.

NOTE: Lectures will be held in the Friend Center Auditorium at William and Olden Streets. Evening parking is free in any Princeton University lot. The closest options include Lot P10 behind Thomas Sweet (GPS: 41 William Street) and accessible Lot P13 across from P10, near Princeton University Press. Lot P2, behind the Nassau Street Post Office, can be accessed via Olden Street only (GPS: 15 Olden Street).

For additional parking, the Prospect Avenue Garage (North Garage) on Prospect Avenue between Olden and Murray Place is about a 0.28-mile walk from the Friend Center. On-street parking is available on Olden and William Streets, with metered hours Monday–Thursday (9 am–8 pm).

The Friend Center (41 William Street) and additional campus parking can be found on the Princeton Interactive Campus Map.

You will receive a course ticket for the entire series at check-in at the first lecture you attend. No prior confirmation will be sent. 

• Feb. 24 Killing the Golden Goose: Science and Education Under Assault
  SHIRLEY M. TILGHMAN, President Emerita and Professor Emerita of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs, Princeton University
   
• March 3 NO LECTURE
   
• March 10 Climate, Weather, and the Prospects for Thriving in a Changing World
  GABRIEL A. VECCHI, Knox Taylor Professor of Geosciences, Professor in the High Meadows Environmental Institute, and Director, High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University
   
• March 17 The Everywhere Millionaire: Who is Really Rich in America and How They Got There
  OWEN ZIDAR, Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Department of Economics and School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
   
• March 24 Arts at the Center of Community: National Challenges, Local Solutions
  MARTIN MILLER, Executive Director, McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton NJ
   
• March 31 Immigration in the Age of Retro-Capitalism
  PATRICIA FERNANDEZ-KELLY, Professor of Sociology and Acting Chair, Effron Center for the Study of America, Princeton University
   
• April 7 Rethinking the Civil Rights Struggle
  KEVIN M. KRUSE, Professor of History, Princeton University
   
• April 14 NO LECTURE
   
• April 21 The American Fight for the Rule of Law
  DEBORAH PEARLSTEIN, Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor in Law and Public Affairs, Lecturer, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
   
• April 28 American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now
  PAUL STARR, Stuart Professor of Communications and Public Affairs in the School of International and Public Affairs, and Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University