America at 250: Critical Perspectives
Fri, May 29, 2026
10:00 AM–5:30 PM
Political Science Lounge (Room 5200), CUNY Graduate Center. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Please join our friends from the Political Theory Workshop at the CUNY Graduate Center on Friday, May 29th from 10:00 – 5:30 PM for a one-day symposium: “America at 250: Critical Perspectives.” The keynote speaker is Robyn Marasco (The New School). Over the course of the day we will have three panels of established and junior scholars that will reflect on American political thought, political theoretical interventions on the nation’s history and culture, and provide analysis on the conjuncture.
Light lunch and refreshments will be provided as well. Read more about the symposium and the speakers below.
In advance of America’s 250th anniversary – when the capitol will be awash in spectacle, nostalgia, and triumph – this symposium gathers established scholars and junior academics for theoretical interventions and reflections on American history and politics. How can the history of American political thought help us better understand our present moment? How does critical political theory allow us to understand the tensions and contradictions that have given rise to the present antidemocratic moment? What can the archive of radical thought and movements in American history tell us about how to revive democratic practices?
Over the course of the day, “America at 250: Critical Perspectives” will feature three panels on the critical legacies of American political thought, political theoretical interventions on race, gender, and paranoia in American politics, and analysis of the origins of our antidemocratic moment. At 3:30 pm, Robyn Marasco (The New School) will provide a keynote address on Adorno, the authoritarian personality, and the conjuncture.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:
10:00am – Welcome comments: Michael Villanova
10:15-11:45am – Panel A: Social Movements, Democracy, and Critical Pedagogy
Chair: Man Hei Chan
Panelists:
- Lily Luo, UConn
- Carmen Melillo, CUNY GC
- T.A. Tran, CUNY GC
12:00-1:45pm – Panel B: Critical topics in American Political Thought
Chair: Antaripa Bharali
Panelists:
- Jay Garcia, NYU
- Jochen Schmon, NSSR
- Michael Villanova, CUNY GC
- Will Callison, Hunter College
1:45pm: Lunch
2:15-4:00pm – Panel C: Paranoia, Conspiracy, Denial
Chair: S. N. Dowdy
Panelists:
- Milo Ward, Oberlin
- Nigel Cambridge, CUNY GC
- Helena Najm, CUNY GC
- Joe Lowndes, Hunter College
4:15-5:30pm – Keynote Presentation: Robyn Marasco, NSSR
This in-person symposium is sponsored by the Political Theory Workshop of the Graduate Center Political Science Department, the Executive Officer of The Graduate Center Political Science Department, the Center for the Humanities, and the CUNY Doctoral and Graduate Students’ Council.
For any inquiries, please contact [email protected]. For information regarding past and future workshops, visit our website at https://theoryworkshop.commons.gc.cuny.edu/.
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