The Aspen Ideas Festival
Inspired Thinking in an Idyllic Setting
Aspen, CO
June 29 - July 5, 2009
Aspen, CO
June 29 - July 5, 2009
About Aspen Ideas Festival
For nearly 60 years the Aspen Institute has been the nation’s premier place for leaders from around the globe to explore timeless ideas and the toughest challenges of their day. Since 1857, The Atlantic magazine has shaped the national debate on the defining issues of our times. Together, we’re working to touch as many people as we can to create a “public commons” for the 21st century, where a diverse group of intellectually curious people can gather to talk, listen, debate, question, and learn what they can do to make our world — and our children’s world — a better place. Divided into two overlapping four-day sessions, the Aspen Ideas Festival offers a breathtaking array of lectures, presentations, debates, and panel discussions by leading thinkers who span a vast range of critical topics, from the economy to the environment, from science to the arts. From early in the morning until late at night, you’ll hear from inspired and provocative writers, public officials, artists, scientists, business executives, scholars, economists, foreign policy specialists, entrepreneurs, and leaders of all kinds — drawn from myriad fields, from across the country and from around the world — all gathered in a single place. And in the audience, on the footpath, over lunch, or at the coffee bar, you will meet other concerned and curious participants — people who have stepped out of their day-to-day routines to challenge themselves and learn about their world and the ideas that are shaping it. The Aspen Ideas Festival will present substantive conversation across a variety of types of sessions – panels, debates, individual presentations, and roundtable discussions. What’s new? For our fifth anniversary, we will create sessions that focus specifically on “ideas that work” – collecting interesting thinkers and doers to describe and discuss proven, innovative solutions to challenging problems. Presenters will contribute provocative perspectives from their fields, and discuss the world with a sophisticated audience highly motivated to engage in dialogue.Festival Layout
- Plenary sessions offered three times a day: panels, one-on-one interviews, and presentations;
- Multiple, concurrent tutorial sessions twice daily, where attendees pick and choose from a menu of discussions across the programming spectrum;
- Casual conversations, book signings, and “action”-oriented discussions on campus between attendees and speakers, offering further opportunities for exchange;
- Evening Exchanges and in-town events in venues around Aspen that will bring Aspen Institute moderators and Atlantic editors and other of the nation’s prominent journalists together with presenters for substantive conversation. Films, performances, and presentations will also take place.
| Tracks | |
| Date | Track |
| June 29 - July 5, 2009 | World Affairs and Global Economy |
| June 29 - July 5, 2009 | Arts and Culture |
| June 29 - July 5, 2009 | Life in America |
| June 29 - July 5, 2009 | Managing Planet Earth |
| Tracks | |
| Date | Track |
| June 29 - July 2, 2009 | Media Crack Up |
| June 29 - July 2, 2009 | Darwin's Legacy |
| June 29 - July 2, 2009 | Justice and Society |
| June 29 - July 2, 2009 | Rebuilding the American Economy |
| Tracks | |
| Date | Track |
| July 2 - July 5, 2009 | The Science of Being Human |
| July 2 - July 5, 2009 | Innovations in Education |
| July 2 - July 5, 2009 | Living Digitally |
| July 2 - July 5, 2009 | The Middle East |
Program Tracks
- World Affairs and the Global Economy
- In today’s globalizing and interdependent world, the responsibilities of protecting and advancing America’s key economic and national security interests are more numerous, and more intertwined, than ever before. Among them are combating a constant threat of terrorism both at home and abroad; restoring America’s reputation across the globe; resolving the nation’s ongoing military commitments, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan; and contending with depleting energy resources and the portent of global warming. And if these problems weren’t formidable enough, we have been confronted with a global financial meltdown of unprecedented scale and complexity. This track will examine how the new Administration is tackling these daunting challenges, and how our leaders might make progress in the years to come.
- Arts and Culture
- How do ideas become art? Explore the creative process, timeless themes and forms, and the role of art and artists in the modern world through discussions, readings, performances, and more by some of the most interesting minds in literature, music, dance, design, visual arts, and popular culture.
- Life in America
- What does it mean to be an American today? With an eye toward the new leadership in Washington and its multifaceted mandate for change, we’ll enlist fresh thinking and vibrant dialogue on the issues that define and challenge us as a nation and will dictate how future generations of Americans live, from politics, race, and ethnicity to work, immigration, religion, and more.
- Managing Planet Earth
- The human imprint is evident almost everywhere on Earth. This track will look closely at that footprint and size up our capacity to mitigate its effects, from the carbon and climate problem to our endless demand for clean water to the increasing strain put on agricultural systems by growing populations in the developing world. What critical tipping points must we recognize before it’s too late?
- The Media Crack-Up
- The pace of change in the media world is extraordinary, if not revolutionary. Bombarded by breakthroughs in electronics, communication technology, online resources, social networks, and growth of the “blogosphere”, traditional media across the globe are hard-pressed to keep up with consumer demand. Tastes, needs, and expectations are evolving at an exponential pace. The times beg questions about who will be delivering news in the not-so-distant future, the veracity of sources, what constitutes “entertainment”, and what’s next.
- Science of Being Human
- Consciousness, intelligence, emotion, psychology, neuroscience, genomics, anthropology, creativity, morality — what can science tell us about our human-ness? We will hear from experts with remarkable insights about the brain, the body, our environment, our psyche and how they all fit together to make “humans” what we are.
- Justice and Society
- Justice: A concept pondered by philosophers of all eras and cultures, and a universal demand and rallying cry since ancient times by those without it. The Aspen Institute has conducted seminars in Justice and Society for over 30 years, with profound effects on participants including US Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. But what is justice? How does it relate to other values, such as equality? How just is American society? How should we respond to injustice outside our borders? Who is to judge? Is justice a human right?
- Rebuilding the American Economy
- Extraordinary upheavals in US finance have precipitated the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. How do we right our economic ship? How do we ensure that this does not happen again? We’ll take an in-depth look at America’s financial system, seeking a deeper understanding of just what went wrong and raising ideas that could prevent such crises in the future. Experts will also examine the underpinnings of America’s economy, with an eye to such diverse issues as labor, Infrastructure, industry, R&D investment, and energy.
- Darwin's Legacy
- The year 2009 marks Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday and also the 150th anniversary of his seminal work, “The Origin of Species”. A remarkable man whose theories regarding natural selection and evolution transformed science and became the foundation for understanding biology, Darwin left a monumental legacy. Where has it taken us, and where will it continue to lead us? And why, in the 21st century, do we still debate and question the scientific principles that underlie and continue to drive bioscience and medicine? Distinguished scientists, historians, and theologians will explain, explore, and debate.
- Innovations in Education
- American public education is in crisis. Many of our children are ill-prepared to meet the demands of high school education, much less the needs of the global economy. And our democratic institutions? Absent a citizenry that can read, write, or think critically, these are at risk, too. Statistics citing declining literacy rates, achievement in science and math, and basic graduation rates are daunting. But there is hope; explore the ideas and strategies that are working with today’s most passionate innovators, determined policy makers, and dedicated educators from the US and abroad.
- Living Digitally
- We all know that the “digital age” has arrived. The question now is, where is it taking us? We’ll look at the trends, people, and ideas that are shaping the digital world, and discuss the impact that digital media, digital technology, social networks, and games are having on our society. A “must” for those of us who are already living digitally, but who want to understand the nature and impact of our digital present — and future.
- Middle East
- In our annual in-depth focus on one of the world’s regions, we will gather leaders in politics, religion, history, and culture to discuss and debate the Middle East — its history, religions, and cultural landscape — with a special emphasis on comprehending the current challenges to peace in the region. We’ll also look at ideas and initiatives now underway — such as new policies, reforms, negotiations, and economic development proposals — that could ease tensions, strengthen relationships across borders, and perhaps even help effect lasting peace.
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The Aspen Ideas Festival
