Special Event
Sphere@WVU: The Beauty of Experimentation
Society, Civic Culture, and Your Classroom
What roles do experimentation and innovation play in society? How does a commitment to free speech and civil discourse promote a healthy and flourishing democracy? How can teachers bring and model these critical ideas in their classrooms?
Event Details
Dates and Times
Location
West Virginia University Campus Reynolds Hall83 Beechurst Avenue, Morgantown, WV 26505
About
What roles do experimentation and innovation play in society? How does a commitment to free speech and civil discourse promote a healthy and flourishing democracy? How can teachers bring and model these critical ideas in their classrooms?
Join Sphere@WVU on March 31st and April 1st for an engaging, hands‐on professional development experience like no other. You will learn the answers to these questions and work with colleagues to practice how to bring these concepts to life for your students.
A collaboration between Sphere Education Initiatives and the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, Sphere@WVU brings together world‐class scholars and academics in an intimate conversation with high school teachers and administrators. Hosted on the beautiful campus of WVU in the brand‐new Reynolds Hall, this free event offers the following benefits:
- 8 hours of professional development
- Free classroom resources and books
- 3 meals included
- $250 stipend upon completion
Schedule
Friday, March 31
REGISTRATION AND COCKTAIL RECEPTION
DINNER
WELCOME REMARKS
KEYNOTE ADDRESS:
“Experimentation, Innovation, and Society”
Deirdre McCloskey
Distinguished Scholar and Isaiah Berlin Chari in Liberal Thought, Cato Institute
Saturday, April 1
BREAKFAST AND REGISTRATION
OPENING PANEL CONVERSATION:
“Free Speech, Civil Discourse, and the Role of Teachers.”
Jonathan Rauch
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
Nadine Strossen
Former President, American Civil Liberties Union; and John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita, New York Law School
FIRESIDE CHAT:
“Civil Discourse and Social Change”
Nicholas Buccola
Author and Elizabeth and Morris Glicksman Chair in Political Science, Linfield University
Joshua Hall
Milan Puskar Dean of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics and Professor of Economics, West Virginia University
BREAK
WORKSHOPS
“Bringing Civil Discourse to Your Classroom”
Sphere Education Initiatives
“Helping Economic Concepts Come Alive Through Non‐Traditional Methods”
Cathleen Johnson
Kendrick Chair of Economics, Director of the Center for an Ethical Economy, and Assistant Professor, Economics, West Virginia University
“Creating a Society in Your Classroom”
Alicia Plemmons
Assistant Professor, Department of General Business, Research Fellow and Coordinator of Scope of Practice Research, Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation, and Resident Scholar of Data Driven West Virginia West Virginia University
LUNCH
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
“The Health of Our Democracy”
Robert Talisse
W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University
BREAK
WORKSHOPS
“Real‐World History and Financial Literacy: The Story of the Democratization of the Credit Market”
Robert Brant Hammer
Teaching Assistant Professor and Student Managed Investment Fund Faculty Advisor, West Virginia University
“Democracy and the Constitution”
Sarah Harris
National Constitution Center
“Getting Your Admin to Say “Yes” to Experimenting in Your Classroom”
David Schmidtz
Professor, Presidential Chair of Moral Science, West Virginia University
CLOSING REMARKS