The third 'Aarhus Lecture' is being planned for Wednesday, October 9th, 2013 and will feature Professor Robert Putnam, Harvard University.

Americans historically have accepted relatively high levels of inequality of outcome, but our widely-shared foundational creed that “all men are created equal” demands that one’s own merits, not one’s parents’ rank or status, determine success.  The meritocracy at the heart of the American Dream is now threatened by a sharp decline in opportunities for the next generation of kids from poor backgrounds.  Class gaps have always been a reality in America, but our rese arch reveals robustly growing class gaps since the 1990s across a wide range of predictors of children’s life success—parental investments of time and money, youthful social capital, such as sports or church attendance or social trust, test scores and educational attainment, and even measures of health, such as childhood obesity. Deeply troubling racial gaps remain, of course, but this opportunity gap is about class, not race, and it is growing.  Because the prospect of upward social mobility is so central to American culture, the growing youth class gap poses the most fundamental challenge facing American society today.

After the lecture everyone are invited for a glass of wine

The lecture is open to everyone.

If you wish to participate please make a registration here