Cornell University will turn the Klarman Hall Atrium into a forum for public speaking Oct. 7, inviting students and community members to perform excerpts of speeches that have shaped debates about democracy across 2,500 years.
The free Arts Unplugged event, “2,500 Years of Democratic Speech,” is scheduled for the evening of Oct. 7. It runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Audience members may sign up for a speaking slot or listen to the readings, according to the Cornell Chronicle. A reception will follow.
Organizers plan to pair speeches from ancient figures including Demosthenes, Cicero and Pericles with later work by William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, Toni Morrison and Zohran Mamdani. The readings are intended to prompt discussion of how public speech can define and reshape a democratic community.
New sculpture provides a starting point
The program also marks the arrival of a sculpture of Demosthenes in the atrium. It depicts the Greek statesman wearing the cloak of an Athenian citizen and holding a papyrus scroll.
Verity Platt, a Cornell professor of classics and art history, said Demosthenes overcame a stammer and became a prominent voice in the legal and political debates of classical Athens. Jill Frank, a history and political science professor, said his style later influenced Cicero's public speech in the Roman Republic and speakers in Europe and North America.
Those connections help explain the event's sweep from antiquity to the present. Rather than a lecture alone, the program asks participants to give the speeches voice in a public setting and consider the continuing role of debate in democratic life.
Faculty and fellows organize the program
Platt and Frank are organizing the event with Davide Napoli, a postdoctoral fellow in government, and Talia Prussin, an assistant professor of history. It is part of Cornell's America250 initiative.
The College of Arts and Sciences is sponsoring the program with the departments of classics, government and history and the Humanities Scholars Program. The event is open to students, faculty, staff and the wider community at no charge.
People who want to participate may sign up for a speaking slot; those who prefer to listen may attend as audience members. The reception is scheduled after the readings.
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