Inaugural Thomas Paine Breakfast

April 16, 2021 4:04 PM

About The Event

This important discussion marked the CFC’s inaugural Thomas Paine Breakfast, held in honor of the founding father and political theorist, known for his contributions to the creation of our secular republic. We had an engaging discussion with renowned leaders in their fields, Dr. Michael Mann and Dr. Danielle Allen on how science, reason, and ethics can support secular democracy.

Click here to view a recording of the event. 

Special Guests

• Michael E. Mann is Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. He has received many honors and awards, including NOAA's outstanding publication award in 2002 and selection by Scientific American as one of the fifty leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002. Additionally, he contributed, with other IPCC authors, to the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. His most recent book, The New Climate War:The Fight to Take Back Our Planet, published in 2021, shows how fossil fuel companies have waged a thirty-year campaign to deflect blame and responsibility and delay action on climate change, and offers a plan to save the planet.

• Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, has published broadly in democratic theory, political sociology, and the history of political thought. Widely known for her work on justice and citizenship in modern America and ancient Athens, Allen’s recent publications include Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality (2014), Education and Equality (2016), and Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A. (2017). She is the co-editor of the award-winning Education, Justice, and Democracy and From Voice to Influence: Understanding Citizenship in the Digital Age. Allen is also the principal investigator for the Democratic Knowledge Project, a distributed research and action lab at Harvard University.