To mark the conclusion of the first year of Democratic Erosion, a cross-institutional collaborative course, a student conference was held at the Watson Institute at Brown University on August 29, 2018.

Students at institutions participating in the Democratic Erosion consortium at the time were invited to apply to attend. The conference featured faculty-led seminars on syllabus materials, research presentations from Bright Line Watch and Texas A&M/USAID, breakout sessions and presentations where students generated research designs for projects about democratic erosion, and a debate about contentious issues related to democracy. Meghan Kallman delivered a keynote address on civic engagement.

Democratic Erosion is a cross-institutional collaborative course that aims to help students critically and systematically evaluate the risks to democracy both in the US and abroad through the lens of theory, history, and social science. The syllabus project began in 2017, and the Anxieties of Democracy program is a proud co-sponsor. You may learn more about the initiative here.