People often feel powerless to create social change. Issues like misinformation, climate change, and the erosion of democracy are “wicked” problems. They are complex, multifaceted, global challenges with no simple solutions. How can anyone make a difference when it comes to problems like these?
Michael Brownstein, Professor and Chair of Philosophy at John Jay College in New York City, will draw from philosophy, history, and social science to offer tools for thinking in new ways about how everyone can make a difference, but not in the ways we usually think.
He has been a visiting scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. His most recent book is “Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change” with Alex Madva and Daniel Kelly (MIT Press, 2025).
