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COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 27 and to invite intellectuals on a regular basis to present their research and findings on topics with a Q&A. Once the club becomes an approved student organization, Alam will ask the university for speaker fee funds. Chad Kautzer, associate professor of philosophy, was the club’s inaugural guest speaker and presented The Global Rise of Authoritarianism and Nativism: The Example of US Gun Culture . Currently writing a book about race and political violence, Kautzer spoke about how a militarized gun culture in the United States, among both civilians and law enforcement, relates to the rise of authoritarian populism around the world. “It was an honor to participate in Douglass Dialogues,” Kautzer says. “I applaud the initiative of the students and appreciated the insightful questions and thoughtful conversation that followed my talk.” Alam plans to continue taking advantage of his Lehigh opportunities remotely during the spring 2021 semester. He was granted a Dale S. Strohl ’58 Award for Research Excellence in Humanities and Social Sciences and will be working with his academic advisor, Michael Gill, professor and chair of psychology, to explore interventions that might help people remain open-minded and able to listen even when they feel that they—or a group to which they belong—are being subjected to criticism. Alam is appreciative of the Strohl grant and the financial aid package that he received to make his Lehigh education attainable, which includes the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Scholarship and the Jacob B. Krause Scholarship. Ref lecting on his f lagship club, he remarks, “We are just a club that has discussions that you are afraid to have at Thanksgiving. Not only is food not thrown, we actually learn from each other.” ● Scholars,” says Jenna Lay, associate professor of English and director of special programs in CAS. “In creating Douglass Dialogues and seeking to foster conversations about difficult and pressing issues with students from across the university, he is forging broad connections across disciplines and outside of the classroom.” Alam has had great peer support in developing the club from an idea he originated during the summer to an operative club in September. Declan Coster ’23, an electrical engineering major with minors in entrepreneur- ship, computer science, and applied mathematics, holds the same appreciation for open discussion and is the club’s vice president. A member of the Undergraduate Student Senate, Coster is helping Alam navigate the process of getting the club recognized as an official student organization, which is hoped to be by the end of the fall semester. Club secretary and social media manager Julia Bebout ’21, an earth and environmental sciences and biological sciences major, coordinates club promotion and communicating with members. Because many Lehigh students attended fall classes remotely, Douglass Dialogues met via Zoom every other Monday at 6:00 p.m. ET. The topics were decided upon democratically during the off week with Bebout sending out a Google form through GroupMe enlisting topic ideas from the 50+ partici- pants. Subjects were voted on and the winner and supporting resources such as pro and con articles and YouTube videos distributed prior to the discussion. Questions tackled have included deliberating what ethical lines science should not cross, probing whether civil disobedience and rioting are effective and moral means of making change, and discussing if socialism is the way of America’s future. To keep the hour-long meet- ings from not turning contentious, community-designed rules are followed that include tenets such as disagree with the idea and not the person, do not interrupt, do not hold grudges, and be mindful of your speaking length. “The Douglass Dialogues is different from other clubs because we are designed to create an educa- tional impact through peer-to-peer, long-form discus- sion. Our club is not designed around competitions or certain majors, making it best-suited for our over- arching goal of intellectual impact,” Coster says. Club advisor Nitzan Lebovic, the Helene and Allen Apter Chair in Holocaust Studies and Ethical Values and professor of history, was immediately impressed by the enthusiasm and sharp, critical minds of the club organizers. “An interest in cutting-edge ideas is the muse that brings all seven liberal arts—the trivium and quadrivium—together. This club plans an exceptional series of events and dialogues, and it is my duty and mission to help them realize it,” Lebovic says. Between 20 and 30 members zoom into meetings from distant locales including Connecticut, Minnesota, California, Mexico, Florida, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Alam said the challenges of a virtual setting are the time zone differences and that a lot of the passion and emotion in the conversations are hard to see. His goal for the club is to gain more members Raihan Alam (far left) has taken an idea about a club for open and honest dialogue and developed it into a group with more than 50 members. KEREM YUCEL / GETTY IMAGES, BRIDGEMAN IMAGES