Professors Robert George and Cornel West engaged in a public conversation sponsored the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis and The Veritas Forum on Tuesday, April 16, 2019 in Washington University's Graham Chapel. Director of the Center, Professor Marie Griffith moderated the conversation and Provost Holden Thorp welcomed the audience and speakers. The conversation was about the value of an education grounded in academic freedom that challenges people of diverse political persuasions to forge understanding and greater connection across differences.
Professors Robert George and Cornel West have spent years pondering, debating, and conversing about these questions. George is a conservative legal scholar and traditionalist Roman Catholic and West is a democratic socialist philosopher in the progressive Christian tradition. Two distinguished and widely celebrated intellectuals—and friends—they frequently discuss the importance of building trust, developing bonds despite political and religious differences, and holding one another accountable—urgent work that both strongly believe is at the heart of liberal arts education.
