Kylie McGovern, Editor 

On Sept. 14, 2023 at 12:30 p.m. La Salle’s Explorer Cafe series kicked off for the school year. Explorer Cafe events are an opportunity for students to learn about a specific topic in a casual way outside of the classroom. Typically, these events begin with a faculty or student lead presentation followed by discussion questions to get the audience talking and asking questions, sometimes while enjoying cafe inspired snacks and coffee. 

The cafe on Sept. 14 was facilitated by Chip Gallager of the sociology department, Miguel Glatzer of political science and Nick Staffieri also from the political science department. The knowledgeable faculty hosted this event to celebrate the birthday of the US Constitution. At this event, panelists and students discussed the impact of the Supreme Court’s 2023 cases which has affected college admissions’ approaches to affirmative action. 

The next Explorer cafe will be a discussion on how the professors and students can empower others to integrate antiracist practices into their syllabi and across their curriculum. Laura Roy (EDC) and The Scheiter Endowment 2023 Summer Faculty Learning Community will facilitate this event on Oct. 5, 2023 in the Holroyd atrium.

Gerry Ballough in the biology department, David Falcone from the psychology department, Bob Dobie from the philosophy department and Mark Thomas from the political science department will host another explorer cafe on Oct. 10, 2023 titled “Angels or Demons: What is Humankind’s Natural Instinct?” This discussion will feature views from biology, philosophy, and psychology about the nature of humankind by discussing whether humankind is inherently empathetic or brutish. The leaders will explore why humans love, hate, and empathize. 

Looking later into October, there will be an Explorer Cafe about Protected Speech and the First Amendment presented by Nicholas Staffieri and Cooper Smith, `24.

In addition to Explorer Cafe events, La Salle will host the John Henry Newman Lecture Series which La Salle describes as “prominent academics, intellectuals, and civic leaders providing the La Salle community, alumni, our partners as well as high school students and their parents from across the tri-state area with opportunities to learn new perspectives, to think critically about salient issues confronting society, and to engage in civil dialogue with one another.” Topics include: Western Civilization, Lincoln and Frederick Douglass Debate Slavery and Equality in the Constitution, Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and The American Experiment. The John Henry Newman Lecture Series will be free to attend and hosted in the La Salle University Art Museum.  

Dr Mark Thomas from the political science department explains that these events “are aimed at promoting civil discourse and providing students topics and a set of speakers whom our students may not encounter in our classrooms.  The goal of education is to broaden the mind. These two series are part of a four part set.  Each offers a different perspective. To paraphrase Frederick Douglass, not attending or discouraging others to attend is a double wrong…it violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. Equally clear is the right to hear. To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”