Does Age or Physical Capacity Matter in Public Service?

Age and physical ability have long played crucial roles in public service. Younger leaders are often perceived as energetic and productive, while older politicians are mostly viewed as wise and authoritative. However, in an era marked by deep divisions and a focus on performative rhetoric over bipartisan compromise, age and ability have become contentious in modern politics. In today’s volatile political climate, how do these factors truly impact public service?

This event is part of the ongoing event series Free Speech at the Crossroads: International Dialogues. These events are sponsored by the Free Speech Project (Georgetown University) and the Future of the Humanities Project (Georgetown University, the Las Casas Institute and Campion Hall, Oxford), hosted by Georgetown University on Zoom.

Free and open to all. Registration is  required.

Featured:

John Battle formerly served as a Labour Party politician in Parliament for Leeds West from 1987-2010. He now chairs the Justice and Peace Commission of the Diocese of Leeds. Battle served as Minister of State for Trade and Industry from 1997-1999, and as Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1999-2001. He is a Fellow at Leeds Trinity University and Blackfriars Hall, the University of Oxford.

MT Connolly, an elder justice expert at the University of Southern California, works to make longevity more joyful, gentle, and just for people of all ages. She is a MacArthur Foundation “genius” fellow, and the author of The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life. She founded the U.S. Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, was the lead architect of the Elder Justice Act, and co-designed the evidence-informed “RISE” model to reduce harm to at-risk older adults, caregivers, and communities, written into Maine law in 2023.

Richard Thomas has been a member of the Careers Wales board since February 2020 and is also a member of the finance, audit, and risk committee. He has had a long career in higher education and has worked in several Welsh and English universities and colleges, in roles ranging from lecturer to provost to assistant vice chancellor. He is interested in the relationship between educational institutions and employers, STEM education, and the role that education plays in economic development.

Panelist #4 – TBA

Michael Scott (moderator) is senior dean, fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, college adviser for postgraduate students, and a member of the Las Casas Institute. He also serves as senior adviser to the president of Georgetown University. Scott previously was the pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and founding vice-chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University.

Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of “All Things Considered” on NPR.

Contact:
Las Casas Institute with Georgetown University
lascasas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk