Event: McCourt's LEAD Conference

Location: Fisher Colloquium, Rafik B. Hariri Building, Georgetown University

The 2018 LEAD Conference, Crisis of Confidence: Understanding Why Americans Have Lost Faith in our Institutions, will bring together America’s leading experts on trust in institutions and facilitate a robust discussion about what we know, and what we need to learn going forward about the loss of trust in the core institutions of American society.

The conference will provide a forum for participants to exchange ideas related to a new initiative that the McCourt School is launching to better understand the loss of trust in American institutions. Under the leadership of Professor Jonathan Ladd and in partnership with McCourt’s Baker Center for Leadership & Governance, we are proud to introduce The Baker Poll, which in future years will regularly survey Americans in innovative ways about trust in American institutions.

To kickoff this new initiative, The McCourt School of Public Policy will invite more than 150 researchers, advocates, policy experts, and students from across the country for the 2018 LEAD Conference. Participants will hear from a stellar group of nationally recognized experts in political science, political communications, and journalism.

Conference Agenda

8:30am–9:00am Registration and Breakfast

9:00am–9:15am Opening Remarks

• Michael A. Bailey, Interim Dean, McCourt School of Public Policy

9:15am-9:30am Introduction to Baker Poll

• Jonathan Ladd, Associate Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

9:30am-11:00am Understanding the Causes of the Loss of Trust in Institutions

• Marc Hetherington, Professor, Vanderbilt University
• Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Professor, University of Nebraska
• Shayla Nunnally, Associate Professor, University of Connecticut
• Joshua Tucker, Professor, New York University (Moderator)

11:00am-11:15am Morning Break

11:15am—12:45pm The Costs and Consequences of Distrust in American Communities

• Vincent Hutchings, Professor, University of Michigan
• Ron Fournier, Publisher & Editor, Crain’s Detroit Business
• James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic
• Lilliana Mason, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland
• Jennifer Wolak, Associate Professor, University of Colorado Boulder (Moderator)

12:45pm—1:40pm Lunch

1:45pm—3:15pm The Role of the Media in Trust

• Elizabeth Jensen, Public Editor, NPR
• Craig Silverman, Media Editor, Buzzfeed
• Stephen Hayes, Editor in Chief, The Weekly Standard
• Hadas Gold, Reporter, CNN
• Leticia Bode, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University (Moderator)

3:15pm—3:30pm Afternoon Break

3:30pm—4:30pm Keynote Conversation

• Michael Dimock, President, Pew Research Center
• Jonathan Ladd, Associate Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

4:30pm Closing

• Jonathan Ladd, Associate Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University