Ivory Tower Comes to Colgate

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As part of the Ivory Tower on the Road series, Colgate University will host an episode of WCNY’s longest-running television series April 17 in Colgate Memorial Chapel.

The hour-long live-to-tape episode will feature discussions on current events and local issues with panelists Anirban Acharya, Ben Baughman, Barbara Fought, Nina Moore, Tara Ross, Ty Seidule, and Chad Sparber hosted by David Chanatry. 

Ivory Tower is a model for how to have well-reasoned debates about controversial topics, and from multiple academic and political angles,” says Nina Moore, Colgate professor of political science and director of the forum on race and public policy. Moore has authored Governing Race: Policy, Process and the Politics of RaceThe Political Roots of Racial Tracking in American Criminal Justice, and Toeing the Line: The Supreme Court and Race, and is a regular contributor to the cable news show Capital Tonight in addition to Ivory Tower. 

Chad Sparber is the W. Bradford Wiley Chair in international economics at Colgate University and an external research fellow at the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration at University College London, and The Institute for the Study of Labor in Germany. He also directs a forum on economic freedom for Colgate’s Center for Freedom and Western Civilization.

“I think the show is at its best when we lean into who we are — professors who use academic data and evidence to support our arguments and help the audience think more deeply about policy issues,” Sparber says. “There are plenty of pundits on TV; few offer that perspective.”

The April 17 event is open to all Colgate students, faculty, staff, and community members. Doors to the event will open at 6:00 p.m. and close at 6:45 p.m. for a 7 p.m. recording. The recorded episode will air Friday, April 19, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, April 20, at 5:30 p.m. on WCNY-TV. Ivory Tower has also visited and recorded shows on the campuses of Hamilton College and Utica University as part of the series.