Who is democracy for? In this discussion series, together we will explore who belongs as a full participant in American democracy – and who gets excluded. We’ll explore our questions and concerns about people who are excluded and we’ll discuss how we can respond to...

George Norris was born in 1861 in Ohio. He was the eleventh child of largely poor and uneducated parents. He was able to rise above his start in life and eventually earned a law degree and practiced as an attorney in Nebraska. Norris became active in politics and...

Trofim Lysenko was born to a peasant family in Ukraine in 1898. He developed an interest in agriculture and graduated from the Kyiv Agricultural Institute. His early interests were finding a way to grow crops in the harsh winters of his homeland. His work in...

Until recently propaganda may have seemed like a matter of throwing mud at a wall to see what sticks. It was effective because financial support enabled a high-volume approach to propaganda. Now, building on neuroscientific research, propaganda can be more targeted...

Just imagine the following: you are on your way to work riding on the local transit system. An official enters the transit system and orders you to get off. You are taken to a facility where you are ordered to remove all your clothes. You are then doused with a...

Joshua Norton was born in England in 1818 and then raised in South Africa. When he was 28, he emigrated to the U.S., eventually ending up in San Francisco, where he became a respected figure in business circles. Joshua was an entrepreneur who was engaged in...

Ellen (Curtis) Demorest was born in New York in 1824. Since her father owned a hat factory, Ellen naturally found her way to a career in the fashion industry. At the age of 18, she set up her own hat shop in Saratoga Springs, New York. Eventually she moved the shop...