Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability: Healing Our Democracy

Sen. George J. Mitchell will, for the first time, give the annual Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability at the University of Maine on Oct. 4.

Drawing on his decades of work in public service and as a skilled negotiator, Mitchell’s talk, “Healing Our Democracy,” will explore how we can increase our capacity for solving problems through deliberation and consensus-building in local communities. He will examine various economic, social and political factors that are contributing to the high level of polarization and frustration evident in America, and focus on promising strategies for addressing this challenge, beginning in Maine.

The 11th annual Mitchell Lecture, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 2 p.m. in Hauck Auditorium. Tickets are required and are available online. To request a reasonable accommodation, call 207.581.3195.

Mitchell served as a United States senator from 1980 to 1995 and as senate majority leader from 1989 to 1995. He learned the workings of the U.S. Senate in the 1960s, when he served as executive assistant to democratic Sen. Edmund Muskie. In 1980, when Muskie resigned to become secretary of state, Mitchell was appointed to fill the vacancy.

During his time in the Senate, Mitchell was lauded for his unsurpassed integrity and ability to find common ground. After leaving the Senate, Mitchell was instrumental in negotiating a peace agreement in Northern Ireland and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Launched in 2007, the Senator George J. Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability serves as an extraordinary forum in which the university community, the general public, and many others can learn from and interact with some of the world’s leading thinkers about strategies for accelerating the transition to a sustainable world.

The lecture is co-sponsored by UMaine’s Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, School of Economics, UMaine Cooperative Extension, Maine Sea Grant, Rising Tide Center, Political Science Department, and Department of Communication and Journalism.

Contact: David Sims, 207.581.3244; david.sims@maine.edu.