SMU kicked off its first Tate Lecture of the year on Tuesday, Sept. 16. The event featured Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor in chief of “The Economist”; writer and historian Jon Meacham; and journalist and political commentator Fareed Zakaria, who served as moderator.
Before the lecture, the speakers attended a “Green Room” discussion to speak informally with SMU students, followed by the Amazon Student Forum, where students and local community members asked questions of Beddoes, Meacham, and Zakaria. The forum was moderated by senior Rylan Robb, who led the three through discussions of the “three shocks” the nation is facing.
Beddoes listed these shocks as being geopolitical, economic, and technological, while Zakaria named the fourth shock as a cultural revolution.
“The U.S. is boarding itself off from the rest of the world,” Beddoes said. “By growing a difficult relationship with immigration.”
The technological shock comes from AI, which Beddoes says has the power to “transform what humanity is.” Following this discussion, an audience member asked the panelists what they thought was the biggest challenge facing global education in the next decade.
Zakaria named the biggest challenge to be the use of AI, as it takes away the American education system’s emphasis on thoughtful work.
“We are returning to a pre-enlightenment model of knowledge,” Zakaria said. “We have stolen the fire of the gods…are we going to use it to burn or to build?”
Beddoes sees the biggest challenge as the attack on research by the federal government.
Following the forum, the Tate Lecture began with a moment in remembrance of David Gergen. Gergen was a long-time moderator of the Linda and Mitch Hart Lecture, who passed away this July.
Following SMU President Jay Hartzell’s introduction of the night’s speakers, Zakaria began with the topic of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week, asking Meacham and Beddoes, “Have we ever been this polarized before?”
Meacham believed that Kirk’s killing was similar to past moments of political violence that arose over disagreement on the “infrastructure of democratic culture.” For Meacham, the killing is especially worrying as he sees it feeding into the “machinery of perpetual conflict” that America is facing.
“[It’s the] war of all against all…that is the road towards a totalitarian ethos,” Meacham said.
Beddoes saw Kirk’s death as an example of the “demonization of the opposition” that is taking place in American politics. Being from England, Beddoes sees the rise in political violence and polarization as “not a uniquely American phenomenon.”
Kirk’s death has been a prominent topic on the SMU campus, with sorority and fraternity houses bearing signs to honor Kirk in front of their doors, the SMU chapter of Turning Point USA holding a vigil and legislation being proposed in Student Senate to prevent political violence.
“Obviously, they didn’t predict what happened last week with Charlie Kirk and all the other assassinations that were happening,” said freshman Katie Yao, who was in attendance at the lecture.
“It’s really interesting how SMU [being] around Highland Park, in Texas, there are some pretty conservative views that are happening,” Yao said.“I think perhaps it sets the stage for what students could expect from SMU.”
The discussion of Charlie Kirk gave way into a conversation about American economics, and the night concluded with Zakaria asking Meacham and Beddoes what kept them hopeful. Beddoes responded, “America does always do the right thing in the end.”
Joe Kobylka, the chair of the SMU political science department, feels that the type of discussions the Tate Lecture produces is important for SMU students.
“As the speakers address common problems, they can help spark conversation among students, and that helps the students better understand the world in which they live and the choices that they have to make,” Kobylka said. “[It] builds some kind of community where they are discussing sometimes difficult issues, and doing so in a civil way.”
