The panel consisted of Sheldon Hackney, professor of U.S. history at and former president of the University of Pennsylvania, who has also served as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Hackney was Marx's first post-graduate employer. The panel also included Catharine Stimpson, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University; Diana Chapman Walsh, the president of Wellesley College since 1993 and College trustee; William Julius Wilson, professor of social policy at Harvard University; and Harris Wofford, a former Democratic senator from Pennsylvania who helped found the Peace Corps in 1961. "We have, I think it's fair to say, a rather distinguished panel for our conversation," Marx said.
Hackney began the forum with a discussion of liberty and freedom. After reading a passage from the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave," Hackney noted that Douglass found freedom through his education. "This ... self-liberation [through] education has two meanings: he left physically ... and he began to make himself into the person he wanted to be," Hackney said. He also emphasized that the freedom of individuals depends on the fostering of liberty by society as a whole. "Freedom, whatever it is ... is not something we have ourselves ... If the society doesn't cultivate it and keep it alive as a collective enterprise, it doesn't exist for anyone," Hackney said.
Stimpson noted that the importance of the humanities extends beyond the present. "We can tell ourselves that we float puffily as a cloud over history, but if we do, we are at best self-deluding," Stimpson said. "What might the humanities be like if they felt they were accountable to the life of their tribe, if they felt they were accountable to the breath of our planet?"
Stimpson also addressed why the humanities are necessary. "We need the humanities as much as we need food, water, love and shelter," she said. She said in conclusion, "Like love, the humanities breed both survival and enchantment. How can we not be accountable for them, or they for us?"
The focus of the discussion shifted as Walsh, who served on the presidential search committee and said she was the only member of Sunday's panel who did not know Marx well before he was a presidential candidate, spoke on the role of science in the liberal arts education. "What can the sciences do for Amherst, and what can Amherst do for the sciences? We all know which of those questions Kennedy would have wanted us to ask, but I'll ask them both," Walsh said.
Walsh began with the first. "Science has a powerful pedagogic claim to make. Science education has always been education for knowing," Walsh said. Then she described what the College can offer to the sciences: smaller lab sections focused on inquiry-based learning and opportunities to be more engaged with the faculty, for instance. But Walsh noted that the sciences at liberal arts colleges face difficulties. "It's going to be a challenge for small liberal arts colleges, even Amherst, to hold their own in this new era of science and technology ... We should be doing better with all those advantages I mentioned," Walsh said.
Wilson, who has written widely on urban poverty and race and class relations, stressed the importance of an interdisciplinary education in answering the challenges of a changing world. Wilson used the decline of the mass production system as an example. In past years, according to Wilson, only a few workers with higher education were needed, since most tasks were fairly routine. "Such education and training are now more important than ever. Lesser skilled workers face the growing threat of income stagnation and job [loss]," said Wilson.
Wofford, the last to speak, said that, despite their many privileges, liberal arts colleges are falling short in their responsibilities. "The reality is that if the liberal arts colleges of America were fulfilling their responsibilities, there would be a lot more active citizens here today," Wofford said.
In the question-and-answer section that followed, Andre Perez '07 asked about the value of Amherst's open curriculum, given that some panelists had noted the importance of having a broad educational background. Several panelists expressed dissatisfaction with the open curriculum system. "I don't think we can afford an unfettered curriculum," Stimpson said. "You can no longer assume what people know ... Sometimes the gaps can be really disastrous."
Another member of the audience asked about pluralism and active involvement in the world: how does one get involved in the world without stepping on the feet of those whose cultures he doesn't understand? In response, Hackney gave examples of some practices the Western world might find repulsive, including the stoning to death of a woman who had been disloyal to her husband. "All of those we find intolerable," Hackney said. "I don't mean that we should impose our values on those cultures, but we should get involved in a conversation that will help us [reach a common agreement]."
Marx concluded the forum with an invitation to further discussion: "Let the great debate commence."