Graham Bullock

If you are ready to sign-up for a Fall 2025 D Team Community Conversation, click here and it will take you to the registration form. If you’d like to learn more, read on below…

In 2002, Bruce Cole, then Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, asserted that the United States faces a “serious challenge that lies within our borders – and even within our schools: the threat of amnesia.”  He feared that we are forgetting our collective traditions, stories, histories, and even values, and offered numerous examples supporting this concern. 

The threat we are facing today, however, goes beyond a general amnesia. It also involves a selective form of memory – or partial amnesia – that only remembers parts of our heritage and then frames those parts according to our current political beliefs and personal experiences. 

This fragmentation and misrepresentation of our history is in many ways worse than fully forgetting it, as it allows us to weaponize our incomplete and unnuanced understanding to advance our own group’s interests and denigrate, demonize, and dismiss those who remember and emphasize different parts of our history.  The pitched battle between proponents of The New York Times 1619 Project and the Woodson Center’s 1776 Campaign is just one of many examples of this dynamic.

The upcoming 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence represents an important opportunity to address the historical amnesia that has become so common in American life.  The Deliberative Forum Series on American Values being hosted by Davidson College, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill aims to engage diverse public audiences with a nuanced and complex understanding of our nation’s history and the underlying principles, traditions, and stories on which our country was founded. It will highlight the underlying pluralism and overarching unity that animate America’s past and present. 

The series will be organized around a series of four forums over the course of the 2025-2026 academic year. Each forum will explore the meaning of the values at issue and connect them to current events and issues facing the American public. They will consist of an Expert Roundtable followed a week later by Community Conversations hosted by higher education institutions and other organizations across North Carolina and beyond.

To learn how your organization might host its own Community Conversation following one or more of the Expert Roundtables, you are welcome to join an upcoming webinar that will introduce the forum series and map out a range of different ways to get involved. Please encourage anyone who might be interested to register for the webinar.  

The Community Conversations hosted by Davidson College will follow a format similar to the D Teams it has been organizing for the past five years. They will be held the week after each forum, and students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members can sign up for meetings that will be held during the day or in the evening on both weekdays and weekends. There will be two types of conversations — the first are D Team Community Conversations that will meet after both of the Expert Roundtables, allowing the members of the group to get to know each other over two conversations. The registration deadline to sign up for those conversations has passed, as they require some advanced scheduling, but Davidson’s Deliberative Citizenship Initiative is also organizing “Pop-Up” Community Conversations that you can still register for here.

The first American Values Deliberative Forum will focus on Balancing Equality and Unity: The Case of Immigration and Citizenship. To explore this topic, an Expert Roundtable will be held on September 30 at Davidson College and broadcast live online. The associated Community Conversations will be held the following week (October 6-12).

The topic of the second American Values Deliberative Forum is “Balancing Self-Government and National Stability: The Case of Presidents, Institutions, and the People” and will be held on October 30 at UNC Chapel Hill.

This innovative two-stage process is designed to connect expert knowledge with diverse public audiences. Scholars with diverse backgrounds and divergent interpretations of the topics at hand will be invited to the Expert Roundtables to ensure a wide range of perspectives is represented.  They will share and discuss their perspectives on the values in question (e.g., unity and equality) and how they relate to the contemporary issue in focus (e.g. immigration and citizenship).

Then the Community Conversations will provide the public with the opportunity to share their own views on these topics, building on, contesting, or transcending the experts’ perspectives. A Deliberation Guide will be provided in advance of the forum to provide everyone with some baseline information about the topics and different perspectives on them. This process hopefully will help us break out of tendencies towards our selective amnesia so that we engage with the full range of American voices and how we each, individually and collectively, understand what our values are and how they are relevant to our current challenges as a nation.

So register for these Expert Roundtables and Community Conversations today to take part in this year-long celebration of our 250 years as a country, that was “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” and has since then been ever in pursuit of a more perfect union.  

Fall-2025-D-Team-Flyer-8-x-11.5

If you are ready to register to attend the Expert Roundtable either in-person or online, click here. If you’d like to learn more first, read on below.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” (Declaration of Independence)
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…” (Preamble)

250 years ago next July, the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by the Second Continental Congress, formally separated the 13 colonies from British rule, placing the nascent country on the path to democracy. Beyond the Declaration’s grievances against the Crown or assertions about the nature of government, one line stands out in the collective memory of the American people: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Those thirteen words and the doctrine of equality they promote have proven remarkably durable in American political culture. Referenced by the Seneca Falls Convention in its pleas for women’s rights, Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King Jr. in his “I Have A Dream” speech, the foundational commitment to equality established in the Declaration has guided the country in some of its most pivotal moments. However, equality has never stood alone as the nation’s guiding value.

In 1787, as the US transitioned from the aspirational ideals of the Declaration to the practical governing framework of the Constitution, another value emerged as the Founding Fathers’ first priority: unity. They open the Constitution’s preamble not by echoing Jefferson’s emphasis on equality, but by anchoring the preamble in a sense of shared purpose through the words, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union.”

After the 1786 Shays’ Rebellion exposed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution’s predecessor, Americans increasingly saw the need for a stronger framework to preserve the unity of the new republic. Since then, the importance of such unity would connect with many broader purposes and issues. As Abraham Lincoln’s famous line, “A house divided upon itself cannot stand,” suggests, a modicum of shared values that unites the country might be necessary for the American experiment to succeed.

This emphasis on unity, together with the Declaration’s statement about equality, represent the importance of considering both the nation’s egalitarian founding principles as well as its need to promote an enduring national identity. From the slavery debate to the New Deal to the failed adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment, the complementarities and conflicts between equality and unity have been a key feature of the American experiment. National unity fundamentally relies on recognizing and achieving equality and the inherent dignity of all individuals. However, the pursuit of equality – particularly policies addressing longstanding injustices and social disparities – can sometimes intensify societal divisions and challenge the existing sense of unity that holds the country together. Conversely, appeals to unity without adequately addressing existing inequalities risk perpetuating injustice and providing justifications for social unrest.

Davidson College’s Deliberative Citizenship Initiative is hosting an Expert Roundtable that will explore these dynamics both conceptually and historically. It will also explore how they are relevant to contemporary policy debates about immigration and citizenship, a domain where arguments about both unity and equality are frequently deployed from all sides of the political spectrum. The Roundtable will be held on September 30 from 7 to 8:30 pm in the 900 Room on the Davidson College campus, and it will also be broadcast live online. Register here to reserve a ticket today (deadline is 9/23).

The roundtable will include the scholars listed below, each of whom brings a unique set of expertise and knowledge to the conversation, both on the general questions related to unity and equality and on the specific topic of citizenship and immigration. Specifically, they will address the question, “How should immigration policies balance national cohesion with a commitment to the equal dignity of all people?”

Expert Roundtable

• Danielle Battisti is an associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she specializes in immigration and ethnic history. Her book, “Whom We Shall Welcome: Italian Americans and Immigration Reform” (Fordham University Press, 2019) examines both the liberal and conservative elements of Italian American efforts to influence American immigration policies in the 1950s and 1960s. It was awarded the Immigration and Ethnic History Society’s best first book award for 2019. She is also the co-editor of Hidden Histories of Unauthorized Migrations from Europe to the United States (Illinois University Press 2025). One of her current projects is examining the immigration laws that largely facilitated Euro-Americans’ efforts to adjust their status from “illegal alien” to “legal permanent resident.” 

• Philip Cafaro, a philosophy professor who recently retired from Colorado State, is the author of the book, How Many Is Too Many? The Progressive Argument for Reducing Immigration into the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2015), which argues that current immigration levels—the highest in U.S. history—undermine efforts to achieve a more economically just and ecologically sustainable society. He is also the co-editor of Life on the Brink: Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation (University of Georgia Press, 2012) and Virtue Ethics and the Environment (Springer-Verlag 2010) as well as the author of Thoreau’s Living Ethics: Walden and the Pursuit of Virtue (University of Georgia Press 2004) and “The Impact of Immigration Policy on Future US Population Size” in The Journal of Population and Sustainability (2025).

• Fernando Tesón is Eminent Scholar Emeritus at Florida State University College of Law. An Argentine-American legal scholar, he is a leading authority on humanitarian intervention and the philosophy of international law. He is the editor of The Theory of Self-Determination (Cambridge University Press 2016) and co-author of Debating Humanitarian Intervention: Should We Try to Save Strangers? (Oxford University Press (2017) and Justice at a Distance: Extending Freedom Globally (Cambridge University Press 2015). He has also published articles supporting less restrictive immigration policies, including  “The Bourgeois Argument for Freer Immigration” in The Cambridge Handbook of Classical Liberal Thought and “Brain Drain” in the San Diego Law Review.

• Hrishikesh Joshi is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona, where he also serves as a core faculty member at the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom. His research focuses on normative issues at the intersection of philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE). He has published several chapters related to immigration and citizenship, including “Immigration Enforcement and Fairness to Would-Be Immigrants” (in The Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy), “Immigration” (in The Routledge Companion to Libertarianism), and “Immigration: Some Arguments for Limits” (in The Routledge Handbook of the Ethics and Economics of Immigration). He has also published a book on Why It’s Okay to Speak Your Mind (Routledge).

John Wertheimer, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of History at Davidson College, will serve as moderator of the roundtable discussion. Dr. Wertheimer’s research and teaching focuses on modern U.S. history and legal history; his two books – Law and Society in the South: A History of North Carolina Court Cases (University Press of Kentucky) and Race and the Law in South Carolina: From Slavery to Jim Crow (Amherst College Press) – explore the legal history of the U.S. South.

In the week following the Roundtable, the DCI will be hosting a series of Community Conversations that will build on the scholars’ deliberations. These two-hour deliberative discussions of 6-10 people will be moderated by trained facilitators and will use a similar format to the DCI’s D Teams. To learn more about this opportunity and reserve a spot at a time that works for you, click here (the deadline to do so is September 5). Duke, UNC, and potentially other institutions will be hosting similar conversations for their communities. If you are interested in hosting a conversation yourself at your organization, click here to learn more about a webinar we are hosting on how both individuals and institutions can get involved — and how the DCI can help you with doing so.

The Expert Roundtable and Community Conversation are both part of the Deliberative Forum Series on American Values that Davidson College, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill are co-hosting in the lead-up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s founding. Approaching this milestone in an era marked by historical amnesia and selective memory, the series aims to foster a more complete understanding of our nation’s past and present. To learn more about and register for the other forums and community conversations that are a part of this series, visit this webpage for more information and updates.

Inviting participants to reflect on the foundational ideals that have shaped our republic, each of the four forums in the series will draw from both the Declaration and the Constitution’s Preamble to explore a pair of core American values that often complement each other but also have been – and remain – at the heart of deep tensions, particularly during moments of national change. Through dialogue grounded in history, informed by philosophical inquiry, and connected to current policy challenges, this series and this guide is designed to encourage thoughtful deliberation on how best to uphold and balance these enduring commitments in an ever-changing democracy.

Unity-Equality-and-Immigration-Roundtable-Poster

250 years ago next July, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed to the world that all men are created equal and that governments must derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” As America prepares to commemorate this milestone and the nation’s semiquincentennial with small-town parades, Smithsonian exhibitions, and the Great American State Fair, Davidson College’s Deliberative Citizenship Initiative, in collaboration with Duke University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is organizing a year-long series of forums focused on the values defining the American ethos.

Whether our deliberations are on healthcare reform, the role of religion in public life, or the results of the presidential election (all DCI events in the past year), American values play a significant role in the perspectives of our participants. Within our invocations of justice, self-government, and other ideals lie far more nuance than can be expressed in these policy conversations. At the root of each of these values lies a long history of shared and contested meaning. This year’s Series on American Values is a year-long program of forums and deliberations dedicated to unpacking, understanding, and applying the concepts that are foundational to the United States – and to many other countries around the world.

Between the more aspirational philosophical ideals of the Declaration and the more practical governing precepts of the Constitution, American values do not all fit neatly into a  perfectly interlocking puzzle. Instead, they are often in conflict and subject to challenging contradictions, requiring citizens to determine what matters most when choices must be made. Each of our four forums this year will wrestle with two values that are at once fundamental to our country and can be both complementary to and in conflict with one another. They include Unity and Equality, Self-Government and National Stability, Liberty and General Welfare, and Justice and Rule of Law. Recognizing the relevance of these values to current events, each theme will also connect to a politically salient issue facing the nation today.

This Series on American Values is designed to connect the insights of experts with the views of the people. Each forum will begin with a 90-minute Expert Roundtable where invited scholars with different backgrounds and perspectives will share their insights on the history, meaning, and contemporary relevance of the values at stake. For those who would like to get them on their calendars now, below are the dates and locations of our forums.

• Forum #1: Balancing Unity and Equality: The Case of Citizenship and Immigration – Tuesday, September 30 (7 to 8:30 pm), Hosted at Davidson College
• Forum #2: Balancing Self-Government and National Stability: The Case of Presidents, Institutions, and the People – Thursday,  October 30 (5 to 6:30 pm) Hosted at UNC-Chapel Hill
• Forum #3: Balancing Liberty and General Welfare: The Case of Personal Freedoms and Social Safety Nets – Wednesday, February 11 (7 to 8:30 pm), Hosted at Davidson College
• Forum #4: Justice and the Rule of Law: The Case of Constitutional Rights and Judicial Interpretation – Tuesday, March 24 (6 to 7:30 pm), Hosted at Duke University

The first of these forums is on “Balancing Unity and Equality: The Case of Citizenship and Immigration” and will feature a roundtable of experts who will explore what these different values mean and how they have both complemented and conflicted with one another in American history. They will also discuss how immigration policies should balance national cohesion with a commitment to the equal dignity of all people. To learn more about and reserve an in-person or online ticket for this forum, click here.

In the week after the Roundtable, the DCI invites members of the public – students, staff, faculty, and community members – to participate in a series of Community Conversations that will build on the roundtable discussions. These two-hour deliberative discussions of 6-10 people will be moderated by trained facilitators and will use a similar format to the DCI’s D Teams. To learn more about this opportunity and reserve a time that works for you, click here (the deadline to do so is September 5).

This year, we’re proud to partner with two other North Carolina institutions of higher education, Duke and UNC Chapel Hill, to expand the reach of the series. Davidson will host two of the Expert Roundtables, while Duke and UNC will each host one roundtable on their respective campuses. All four will be available to watch online, with potential for “watch parties” to be held at higher education institutions and other organizations across North Carolina and beyond. We’ll be hosting such watch parties at Davidson, and Duke and UNC will be doing so as well. In the week after the Expert Roundtables, students, staff, and community members at Duke, UNC, and potentially other institutions will also have the opportunity to participate in deliberations on what they heard from the roundtable discussion.

Given the importance of the topics we will be covering, we hope other colleges, universities, and other civil society organizations will attend these forums and organize conversations around them. Please invite organizations you are involved with to consider developing their own programs in conjunction with this Series on American Values. To support these efforts, on August 25, we will be hosting a webinar for individuals and institutions interested in organizing their own programs related to this American Values Forum Series (register here). The DCI will also be hosting its annual Deliberation Facilitator Training Program on August 31 and September 7; if you are interested in learning how you might host a conversation in association with our American Values Forum Series, we encourage you to register for this training here.

We hope you will join us in this yearlong exploration on the meaning and importance of American values and add your voice to the ongoing conversation about who we are, what we stand for, and where we go from here.

Below are links to register for the first Expert Roundtable, the webinar introducing the American Values Forum, and the DCI’s Community Conversations (this fall’s D Teams) and Deliberation Facilitation Training Program. Links to our later Expert Roundtables and Community Conversations hosted at other institutions will be posted to this webpage – check there later for more info coming soon!