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‘The Military’s Role in Democracy’ the topic Oct. 22 at URI

Colloquium lecture series is open to public

International security expert/scholar Risa Brooks speaks at the URI Honors Colloquium Oct. 22. The series takes place at URI’s Kingston Campus and online.

KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 10, 2024 – International security expert/scholar Risa Brooks will discuss the military’s role in democracy at the University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium Tuesday, Oct. 22. Brooks is a professor of political science at Marquette University in Milwaukee, a former senior fellow at West Point’s Modern War Institute, and a senior associate in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Brooks’ research focuses on contentious politics, U.S. civil-military relations, and international security and political violence around the world, including in the Middle East. A frequent podcast guest, she has been interviewed by Politico, Reuters, The Economist, Voice of America, the Washington Post, Boston Globe, and U.S. News and World Report with her work cited in the New York Times and Newsweek. She is the author of Shaping Strategy and co-editor of Reconsidering American Civil-Military Relations and Creating Military Power.

Hosted by the University’s Honors Program, this year’s colloquium series, “Democracy in Peril,” examines threats to democracy at home and abroad.

The coordinators of this year’s URI Honors Colloquium, ‘Democracy in Peril,” say they are concerned about the drop in democracies witnessed world-wide in the last decade. (Image Landgeist)

Colloquium coordinators say this year’s lecture series is not only about the 2024 presidential election.

“The premise of this year’s colloquium is simple but urgent,” says assistant professor of political science professor Ashlea Rundlett. “Democracy is under threat and it is worth defending. Our discussions are driven by the dramatic decline of democratic norms, a trend we’ve observed in Europe, in Asia, in the Americas and beyond.”

Brooks will speak at 7 p.m. at Edwards Hall on the Kingston Campus. Her talk will also be streamed (livestream links will be available the night of each event on the colloquium website).

The Colloquium will continue Oct. 29 with scientist and historian Naomi Oreskes discussing “Why Disinformation Matters.”

This year’s colloquium has drawn wide interest across the URI campus, with several complementary events, from a program for faculty on Democracy in the Classroom to a campus art exhibit on ‘The Politics of Personality’ and a humanities talk by Pulitzer Prize finalist Alex Keyssar on “Democratic Crises and Structural Change” on Oct. 23.

The URI Honors Colloquium is free and open to the public. Lectures are held most Tuesday evenings through Nov. 12 and prior talks can be viewed here. Visit the Honors Colloquium site for details and register to get updates and reminders here or by emailing urihonors@etal.uri.edu.