The WSU Humanities Center invites faculty, students, staff, and the community to a Brown Bag presentation given by Thomas Trimble (Associate Professor, English) on the topic of, "Liberalism, Incrementalism and the Asteroid that Will One Day Destroy the Earth".

Abstract: Attacks on liberal democracy from both the left and right of the political spectrum often point to the slow pace of democratic progress and democracy’s inability to deal with big problems. In this presentation, I explore the particular challenges rare, high-stakes events such as planet-killing asteroids pose for democracy, particularly in moments of political polarization, low public trust, and post-normal science. I argue the Ozone Crisis of the 1970s and 80s provides important lessons for how experts and policy entrepreneurs use policy images and other framing strategies to navigate the policy process and manage uncertainty in the face of rare events.