CONFERENCESCHEDULE
**Schedule/TopicsSubjecttoChange**
Thursday, June 5th
● 6:00–8:00 PM: Registration, Cocktails & Networking Featuring Opening Remarks from Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman
Friday, June 6th
● 8:00–9:00 AM: Breakfast
● 8:55 AM: Welcome & Introduction to the scholars
● 9:00–9:45 AM: The Global Culture Clash: Objectivist Reflections by Atlas Society Scholars – Rob Tracinski, Richard Salsman, Ph.D., Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.
○ This session examines the moral and philosophical foundations of today’s conflicts and how Objectivist values offer a principled alternative to prevailing collectivist trends.
● 9:45–10:00 AM: Break & Book Signing with the Scholars
● 10:00–10:45 AM: The LEGO Theory of Life: Objectivism Applied To Lifestyle, Gender, and “The Crisis of Meaning” – Rob Tracinski
○ Much of today's culture war, including battles over gender and the so-called "crisis of meaning," is based on an assumption that we are either offered a pre-built "traditional" life or everything is subjective. Ayn Rand's view of human nature and morality is radically different from these assumptions. Using an analogy to the plastic building-block toys, this talk explores the way in which Ayn Rand argued that "every man creates his meaning and form and goal."
● 10:45 AM–11:00 AM: Break
Saturday, June 7th
● 9:00–10:00 AM: Breakfast
● 9:30–10:00 AM: Mentorship Roundtables *Optional
○ We invite students and young adults to join scholars, business leaders, and innovators across multiple fields for interactive mentorship opportunities.
● 10:00–10:15 AM: Break
● 10:15–11:00 AM: Nobody Wants to Be the Mommy: Individualism, Gender Roles, and the Decline of Parenthood – BASEDPolitics Co-founder Hannah Cox
○ As birth rates plummet and traditional gender roles are challenged, the pressures placed on women to conform to societal expectations of motherhood reveal a conflict with individual rights and happiness. This talk explores how Objectivist principles of rational self-interest and personal choice can provide a path forward in rejecting collectivist demands for traditional family structures.
● 11:00 AM–11:15 AM: Break
● 11:15–12:00 PM: Democracy vs. Capitalism: Guarding Against Mob Rule – Atlas Society Senior Scholar, economist, and Professor Richard Salsman, Ph.D.
○ The American system is supposed to be a constitutionally limited, rights-respecting federal republic. A “demos” is merely “the people,” and political rule by even a majority of them, if ill-informed and envious, is morally improper to the extent it violates individual rights (including property rights).
● 12:00–1:15 PM: Lunch & Book Signing with Scholars
● 1:15–1:30 PM: Break
● 1:30–2:15 PM: Mainstage TBA
● 2:15–2:30 PM: Break
● 2:30–3:15 PM: Strange Bedfellows: On the Islamist-Postmodern-Woke Strategic Connections – Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.
○ Why are Western protests so frequently made up of pre-modern Islamists marching arm-in-arm with post-modern Wokists? The ideology of the former seeks to execute gays, subordinate women, and spread theocracy, while the ideology of the latter celebrates alternative sexualities, is officially feminist, and is usually agnostic or atheist. So, we must unpack a combination of factors philosophical, strategic, and ‘useful idiot” dynamics.
● 3:15–3:30 PM: Closing Remarks from Jay
● 6:30–9:00 PM: Closing Dinner at Cooper’s BBQ Featuring Western Music and Line Dancing!