Speak Now

Art is a powerful tool for advocacy and change, connecting to emotions that cut through the noise and bring people together. Like painters, poets, and musicians, architects can be passionate advocates, designing the future they want to see by reshaping structures as well as society.To learn more about the role architects play in designing for change, join us for “Constructing Change,” the first episode of “The Art of Advocacy,” a new series from Cornell Advocacy Project’s Speak Now webinar and podcast. In this episode, Erin Pellegrino, an award-winning architect and visiting lecturer at Cornell University, will explore what advocacy looks like in her profession, the barriers to doing the work, and how all artists can overcome challenges advocating for themselves and others.The Speak Now podcast’s “The Art of Advocacy” is a four-part series exploring the roles that art plays in supporting and catalyzing advocacy movements.

[ Live Date: 04/09/21 ]

The 2020 election and ensuing Capitol riots exposed the real and violent danger of partisan divides. But these fractures are not new. Many youth have only ever experienced an America splintered by ideological polarization, rifts that corrode our ability to listen to, and understand, voices different than our own. Such division threatens not only democracy and political stability, but also our ability to help those in this country who need it most. Speak Now, a four-part speaker series from the Cornell Advocacy Project, addresses this divide, exploring the role of empathy in rehabilitating hostile spaces. With the advice of an experienced advocate, each webinar equips attendees with rhetorical techniques and productive strategies for engaging in political discourse, advocacy, and activism in an increasingly polarized age.

Crashing the Party, the fourth episode in this series, will feature former US Representative Justin Amash, who became the only Libertarian member of Congress in 2019 after a highly publicized split with the Republican party. Amash will discuss when and how to be an effective advocate in the face of intense partisan backlash.

[ Live Webinar Date: 3/19/21 ]

For Crossing Borders, the third episode in this series, Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at the Cornell Law School, will discuss how issues of immigration have fractured along party lines — and how we can reverse that trend.

[ Live Webinar Date: 3/6/21 ]

In this second episode of the Speak Now series, constitutional scholar and Cornell Law Professor Michael Dorf will join the Advocacy Project to analyze the role of the Constitution and criminal justice system in contributing to — and fighting — modern American polarization. This event is hosted by the Cornell Advocacy Project and co-sponsored by Cornell Law School and Cornell ILR. View video recording at https://ecornell.cornell.edu/keynotes/overview/K030621/.

[ Live Webinar Date: 2/21/21 ]

Since the 2020 election and ensuing Capitol riots, cries of “two Americas” have grown increasingly resonant. But how divided are we? What obligations do we as citizens have to fight the partisan biases that confront us?

Find out in our new podcast, Speak Now, a four-part speaker series on how to advocate in a polarized world. In this first episode, Courting Opposition, you’ll meet Tahanie Aboushi, a leading candidate in the 2021 Manhattan District Attorney’s race. Aboushi is no stranger to polarization; as a Muslim woman of color, even her identity has been politicized. A dedicated legal advocate — and lifelong self-advocate — in Courting Opposition, she’ll discuss countering bias both inside and outside the courtroom