Organizers

Nicole Stanton

Nicole Stanton is a dance artist, educator, and leadership professional. She is currently provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Wesleyan University, as well as a faculty member in the Department of Dance, Department of African American Studies, and the Bailey College of the Environment. Through choreography and performance, she explores the intersections among personal, political, and physical experiences with an eye towards celebrating the complexities of black cultures and creating platforms that cultivate community. Her artistic practice emphasizes collaboration, including work with historians, scientists, anthropologists, musicians and media artists. Stanton received her MFA from Ohio State University and her BA from Antioch College.

Khalilah L. Brown-Dean

Dr. Khalilah L. Brown-Dean is the Rob Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement and the inaugural executive director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life at Wesleyan University. A respected scholar and strategist, she has spent more than 20 years advancing democracy, justice, and representation through scholarship, teaching, and civic leadership. Brown-Dean earned her BA in government from the University of Virginia and her PhD in political science from The Ohio State University.

Brown-Dean is the author of Identity Politics in the United States and co-author of the forthcoming Protesting Vulnerability: Race and Pandemic Politics. Her insights have shaped national policy debates, informed grassroots movements, and guided litigation on issues at the heart of American democracy.

Beyond the academy, Brown-Dean hosts the Gracie Award–winning public radio program and podcast DISRUPTED. Grounded in both scholarship and service, Brown-Dean continues to champion a vision of democracy that is vibrant, inclusive, and enduring.

Hari Ramesh

Hari Ramesh is assistant professor of government at Wesleyan University. He is a political theorist with research and teaching interests in democratic theory, histories and theories of social oppression, and the intersections of South Asian, Afro-modern, and American political thought. His first book, titled Harnessing the State: Oppressed Groups and the Pursuit of Radical Democracy, is forthcoming in 2026 with Harvard University Press. His writings have appeared in Political Theory, Modern Intellectual History, History of the Present, Dissent Magazine, and the Boston Review. He received his PhD in political science from Yale University and his BA in political science and English from Williams College.