Complete video at: fora.tv
Alan Wolfe, author and Professor of Political Science at Boston College, argues that modern American culture may not be as politically divided as many Americans believe.
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"What Does America Stand for Today?" with discussants Michael Sandel, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Amy Gutmann, Theodore B. Olson, Sen. Arlen Specter and Alan Wolfe. Mickey Edwards moderates the discussion.
Some of the most inspired and provocative thinkers, writers, artists, business people, teachers and other leaders drawn from myriad fields and from across the country and around the world all gathered in a single place - to teach, speak, lead, question, and answer at the 2006 Aspen Ideas Festival. Throughout the week, they all interacted with an audience of thoughtful people who stepped back from their day-to-day routines to delve deeply into a world of ideas, thought, and discussion.
Alan Wolfe is a Professor of Political Science and Director of The Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life for Boston College. His work in recent years has focused on cultural and religious issues in American politics. Wolfe's One Nation, After All (1999) argued that the "culture war" was largely the work of intellectuals; most Americans were not deeply divided over moral issues. His book The Transformation of American Religion (2003) used ethnographic data to argue that American religion has been shaped by American culture more than the other way around. Wolfe's latest book, Return to Greatness: How America Lost Its Sense of Purpose and What It Needs to Do to Recover It (2005), offers a fresh take on American national identity and purpose. Wolfe looks back at specific moments in our national experience when, in the face of sharp resistance, aspirations for the idea of national greatness shaped American history.
Mickey Edwards is director of the Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership. Edwards represented Oklahoma in Congress for 16 years, where he was a member of the House Republican leadership. He is currently a lecturer at Princetons Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and he has taught at Harvard, Harvard Law School, and Georgetown University. Edwards also been an advisor to the State Department and is a director of the Constitution Project. He has been a columnist for a number of newspapers, is the author of two books, and is co-author of a third. He has chaired task forces on foreign policy for The Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations.