Reenvisioning “Vision & Values”: A Hybrid Path to Hancock Symposium 2020
As Westminster College students anticipate returning to campus after a lengthy COVID-19 quarantine, they can be assured that many events, although modified from their usual format, will continue.
One of those reconfigured events is the 15th Annual Hancock Symposium, titled “Vision & Values: Charting Our Paths to the Future,” which now will take place in a single day on Sept. 16, 2020, in place of the traditional two-day schedule.
The streamlined event will feature a novel, hybrid configuration that facilitates interaction with guest speakers during livestreamed presentations to both in-person and virtual audiences. Student-attended events will incorporate physical distancing and other health and safety precautions.
Dr. Jeremy Straughn, coordinator and co-chair of Hancock Symposium 2020, says the reimagined format adds interest to an unprecedented period of time. “This year’s Symposium theme is ideally suited for this unique moment in history,” Straughn explains. “Our ability to preserve and re-envision the Hancock Symposium for these challenging times demonstrates Westminster’s continuing commitment to deliver an innovative learning experience for our students, whatever may come.”
Straughn, who also directs Westminster’s Churchill Institute for Global Engagement, adds that the 2020 Symposium will encourage students to explore the role of ethical reflection and visionary leadership across a wide spectrum of disciplines and fields of endeavor.
Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others can expect live video sessions with NASA Chief Scientist Dr. James Green and New York Times best-selling author Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire. Read more about both here.
In addition, a variety of other speakers, including many Westminster alumni, will be included in the event. A list of those featured speakers can be found here.
Launched in 2006, the Hancock Symposium is Westminster College’s signature event. Taking the place of regular classes while in session, the Symposium symbolizes the finest aspects of a Westminster education: the development of the critical mind and the ability to look beyond the present to envision a meaningful future. The Hancock Symposium presents engaging presentations and panel discussions by nationally and internationally renowned experts. Westminster alumni are sought-after speakers who round out the program each year.
Instead of endorsing a single point of view, the Hancock Symposium embraces ideas from many different traditions and disciplines in the common pursuit of new knowledge.
The Hancock Symposium is funded in perpetuity by a generous gift from Westminster alumnus David Hancock, ’67 FIJI, of Kansas City, MO.
To learn more about Hancock Symposium, go here, or access an informational flier here. Follow our livestream link on Sept. 16.
