14 May, 2026, 18:00 – 20:00 | Luiss Guido Carli, Aula Toti
An international roundtable bringing together leading scholars and public intellectuals to examine the contemporary crisis surrounding higher education and its consequences for democratic life. At a time of populist skepticism and eroding institutional trust, the discussion will probe a pressing question: what happens when universities can no longer fulfill their historic function as training grounds for a responsible, publicly accountable elite? Two interconnected conversations will frame the evening — the first exploring how higher education can reclaim public legitimacy and reconnect elite formation with civic purpose; the second turning to the harder challenge of translation: how broader principles of democratic responsibility can actually percolate into curricula, faculty culture, and student training.
Welcome and institutional remarks
- Paolo Boccardelli (Rector, Luiss Guido Carli)
- Pasquale Ferrara (President, Reset DOC)
Panel 1 – Rebuilding Trust and Civic Responsibility
- Arjun Appadurai (Emeritus, New York University)
- Craig Calhoun (Professor, Arizona State)
- Chris Higgins (Chair, Department of Formative Education, Boston College)
Panel 2 – Turning Ideas into Practice
- Silja Häusermann (Professor, University of Zurich)
- Giovanni Orsina (Head, Department of Political Science, Luiss)
- Shalini Randeria (Former President, Central European University)
Moderator: Giancarlo Bosetti (Vice-President, Reset DOC)
This roundtable is held in the context of an international seminar on higher education with the participation of Lisa Anderson, Seth Jaffe, Marlene Laruelle, Jonathan Laurence, Marc Lazar, Simon Marginson and Christopher Newfield.
This initiative by Reset Dialogues on Civilizations, was launched in partnership with the University of Zurich and with the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Nomis Foundation.
To participate, click the registration link, here.