The American Dream Lecture Series hosts prominent writers, academics, and thinkers to address some of the most significant cultural and social issues facing the United States today. As we approach the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, what is the health of our national institutions and foundational principles? What threats do they face, and what prospects for reform are available?
Part of AEI’s American Dream Initiative, the American Dream Lecture Series seeks to revitalize some of our nation’s core institutions. In the broad variety and high quality of its featured speakers, it also carries on the tradition of AEI’s Bradley Lecture Series, which for decades enriched policy conversations with high-profile lectures about a variety of issues, including the state of American arts and culture.
Birth rates have hit record lows in many Western countries, signaling an increasing reluctance among younger generations to have children. How has parenthood, once an expected outcome of adulthood, come to be viewed as such an agonizing choice and a potential threat to some of the fundamental goals of modern life?
Watch
For decades, American conservatives have lamented that the nation’s arts and culture are dominated by leftist perspectives. What opportunities for cultural renewal are currently available?
Watch
What does the history of immigration to the United States tell us about immigrants’ ability to assimilate and contribute to American culture? How do today’s immigrants compare to those who arrived 100 years ago, and what policy lessons can we learn from the successes—and struggles—of US immigrants?
Watch
Not so long ago, Americans frequently engaged with art and literature and enjoyed culturally significant events. But over the past generation, fewer works of art have become cultural touchstones. What happened? Why does our art seem to matter less?
Watch
In much of our contemporary discourse, the Left attempts to influence political thought by imposing changes to our language. Behind this linguistic activism lies the assumption that the words we use actively shape how we think about the world. Is that true?
Watch
How would a returning President Donald Trump or an ascendant President Kamala Harris confront upcoming foreign policy challenges? Should we expect major policy changes from either of the major parties? And what impending crises are on the horizon?
Watch
The United States is confronting a distressing rise in antisemitism. How can we effectively counter “the escalation of anti-Jewish politics in America”?
Watch
Jonathan Haidt discusses how social media has warped American life and how we can overcome its pernicious influence, followed by a conversation with AEI’s Christine Rosen.
Watch
How can Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov's explorations of good and evil, tradition and revolution, empathy and tyranny, and war and peace guide us in the 21st century?
Watch
Why is it essential to continue defending free speech against these new challenges, and what are the best strategies?
Watch
In our polarized age, the prospects of finding a source of unity among Americans seem especially daunting. Where can we find help in applying our disagreements to constructive ends?
Watch