We are surrounded by attack politics, abusive language in music and movies, road rage, fights on talk shows, school shootings, and rudeness in ordinary encounters, such as not allowing people to exit an elevator before stepping in ourselves, or ignoring others already in line rather than waiting in line. In another example, eighty-nine percent of public school teachers report that they regularly face abusive language from students. Carter will visit Michigan Tech to deliver the keynote address for the 1999-2000 Human Relations series.
Admission is free, and the event is open to all.
Analyzing the state of morals in America, Carter, who is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale University, where he has taught since 1982, believes that civility is disintegrating because we are consumed with self indulgence and have forgotten the obligations we owe each other. He believes that civility is more than a useful politeness that smoothes over the small frictions of everyday life. Carter has been selected by Time magazine as one of the fifty leaders of the next century, and the New York Times has referred to him as one of the nation's leading public intellectuals. Well respected as a serious scholar and a public speaker, his lecture style is informal and conversational while his ideas remain challenging, thought provoking, and controversial. Cleaning Up the Federal Appointments Process, and the widely acclaimed The Culture of Disbelief.