Education
Learning
Finding the national and global headlines understandably bleak lately? Whether you need mental distraction or stimulation, engross yourself in compelling topics and get a glimpse into a part of our world you may know nothing about.
Today's kids are coming of age against a backdrop of political, social, technological and economic upheaval. While these circumstances are shaping a precocious generation that is changing society and redefining cultural norms, kids are also struggling with mental health challenges, the pressures of social media and the ongoing terror of gun violence in schools. At the same...
The Walton Family Foundation’s latest research with Gallup shows that young people need a sense of purpose in school and work to feel happy—and the right adult mentors and guides can help them find it. Learn how leaders who are working with youth to help them navigate challenges on the path to adulthood.
The Broadway musical “How to Dance in Ohio” is the true story of a group of young people with autism preparing for a formal dance. Based on a documentary of the same name, the autistic characters are played by autistic actors in a musical celebration of neurodiversity and the universal need for connection. “If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person,...
Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist and Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy. Ahead of Aspen Ideas: Climate next week, we caught up with Dr. Hayhoe to discuss tips for talking about climate change with anyone, how her faith informs her climate activism, why environmental guilt-tripping never works, and how to develop real, muscular hope.
Shakespeare is ubiquitous in literature classes and theater, but the avenues of relating to his work are not always clear to young people and modern audiences. Some, such as Shakespeare scholar and professor Ayanna Thompson, argue that his plays make sense as living, breathing, adaptable instruments that can be shaped to fit the times. Playwright, director and professor Ja...
When Sal Khan created Khan Academy, he was trying to scale up the successful experiences he’d had tutoring his cousins one-on-one in math. He saw how effective it could be for students to go at their own pace, ask questions and be questioned about their reasoning, and he wanted to make those benefits available to as many kids as possible. The organization eventually grew t...
Do American universities have an obligation to educate their students to be the next generation of citizens and civic leaders? What does it mean for a university “to offer students an education that will promote their flourishing as human beings, their judgment as moral agents, and their participation in society as democratic citizens”? Join a workshop with leaders from th...
At a moment when decades of academic achievement have been lost, can we amplify the benefits of A.I. equally across society, or will we allow a deeper digital divide to leave out even more students? Khan Academy founder and CEO Sal Khan talks about the potential for this nascent technology to transform education, activating and engaging an entire generation to create chang...
With students learning in more places and different ways than we have ever seen, the pace of change in education is dizzying. Join our panel of education experts in a discussion about what the classroom of the future will look like, how educational innovation can bridge divides, and how we can work together to get there. Presented by the Walton Family Foundation
In this new Aspen Ideas format, all attendees gather each morning to kick off the day by exploring a current issue of deep complexity. Debates over the content of our historical narrative and cultural values have Americans of differing ideologies engaged in heated battle, with educators and students caught in between. Meanwhile, have we failed to meaningfully educate o...
Parents have always cared about what their kids are learning in school, but education debates have become particularly explosive in the U.S. in the last couple of years. All over the country, parent groups have introduced bills that try to control and restrict what children learn – especially around issues of race, history, and LGBTQ identity. What’s behind the recent push...
From blockchain to back to school and virus-hunting to bridging divides, speakers at the 2021 Aspen Ideas Festival addressed issues in a new kind of world—one touched, and changed, by the pandemic. Our speakers looked to the future and discussed the biggest, boldest ideas. Here's a sampling of the some of the Festival's conversations.
Be it in her commanding, critically acclaimed written works or her masterfully insightful lectures, author and professor Azar Nafisi has given so many others the space and language to reflect on their own — often unseen and unacknowledged — experiences; enlightening and inspiring us all. Moderated by Zinhle Essamuah whose own command of storytelling includes working both i...
Whom do we trust to tell us what to read and, perhaps more importantly, should we trust anyone to tell us what not to read? And why? We put our trust in people and organizations for so many facets of our lives and our children’s education, but the perennial issuance of banned-book lists elicits confusion, questions, and controversy. The chief executive of the nation’s larg...
At first blush, this year might be considered the year of parental power, with the proliferation of parental bills of rights across the country that put limitations on what can be taught in public schools and allow objecting parents to seek removal of books from the school library. These bills and similar legislation purport to provide parents a greater voice in their chil...
Over the past decade, Walter Isaacson has explored the minds of history’s most curious innovators. Leonardo da Vinci. Benjamin Franklin. Albert Einstein. Steve Jobs. Jennifer Doudna. And now: Elon Musk. All geniuses, to be sure. What were the talents that allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into disruptive realities? What led to their...
As the world watches refugee families stream out of Ukraine, there is a renewed urgency to meet the needs of children caught in conflict zones — not just the basics of food and shelter, but also their emotional needs as they experience displacement and worse. How do we provide them the tools to cope with their circumstances? What initiatives are helping to mitigate the tra...
Intelligence is more than the gray matter sloshing around in your skull, and more than the nerves that make sense of your environment. Your mind utilizes extra-neural resources, including the perceptions and knowledge in the minds of others — so the more people you surround yourself with, the bigger your brain is. In this session, we’ll dive into the research that shows ho...
What should every American know? This question has long been debated, discussed, and deliberated. Amidst giant demographic and social shifts, it is more important than ever to define some common knowledge — cultural, pop cultural, historical, civic facts, memes, and references that every American should know. Answers need to come from all of us, not just a powerful few. Th...