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Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy

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Beware dear readers, dangerous ideas lurk within these pages. But what makes an idea dangerous? Is it the idea itself, or the eyes through which we see it?

This fall we’re inviting you to find out.

Issue 5 of the Humanomics Alumni Newsletter is now available! You can subscribe to have future issues delivered straight to your inbox or read all issues via the link in bio!

#smithinstitute #humanomics #alumni #chapmanu by @smith_institute

💡“It’s hard to start a revolution. Even harder to continue it. And hardest of all to win it. But, it’s only afterwards, when we have won, that the true difficulties begin.”
🎥 The Battle of Algiers (1966)
🎬 Wednesday, November 4 at 5:30pm in Wilkinson Hall 221

We’ll be screening and discussing “The Battle of Algiers” (1966), a war drama co-written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, one of Italy’s leading post-WWII filmmakers. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festiva and widely considered one of the most influential political films in history, “The Battle of Algiers” vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from France in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, Algerian female insurgents plant bombs in cafés, and French soldiers resort to torture to break the will of the revolutionary forces. Shot in black-and-white on the streets of Algiers in a documentary style, relying on mainly non-professional actors, and featuring dialogue in both French and Arabic, this pivotal neo-realist film is a case study in modern urban warfare, with its terrorist attacks and the brutal counter-insurgency techniques used to combat them. Banned from distribution in France by the government, the film remains one of the most controversial war films ever made.

#smithinstitute #filmforum by @smith_institute

Join us on Monday, November 16, in Kennedy Hall 237AB, for a live recording of the podcast "The Blessings of Liberty," hosted by Professor Jeffrey Rosen, Senior Fellow at FIRE. He will be joined by Professor Saikrishna Prakash of University of Virginia Law to discuss Prakash’s recent book "The Presidential Pardon: The Short Clause with a Long, Troubled History."

Register for this event via the link in our bio!

Light appetizers and refreshments will be offered beginning at 5:15pm. Introductions to the podcast discussion will start promptly at 6:00pm.

#smithinstitute #chapmanu by @smith_institute

💡“All right men... we’re going. But I want you to remember who you are. You are the 10th Light Horse! Men from Western Australia. Don’t forget it. Good luck.”
🎥 Gallipoli (1981)
🎬 Wednesday, October 21 at 5:30pm in Wilkinson Hall 221

We’ll be screening and discussing “Gallipoli,” a 1981 Australian war drama directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee. Weir’s film follows the fortunes of two young men who enlist in the Australian Army during World War I and who eventually take part in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign directed against the Ottoman Empire. The film swept the Australian Film Institute Awards (the equivalent of the Oscars), winning best picture, best director (Weir), and best actor (Gibson); it also received a nomination for best film at the Venice Film Festival. Now regarded as one of the greatest Australian films ever made, “Gallipoli” helped to launch both the “Australian New Wave” in cinema and the international career of Mel Gibson.

#smithinstitute #filmforum by @smith_institute

Join us for a talk with Jake Monaghan on Friday, October 2 at 1:30pm in Wilkinson Hall 221.

Jake Monaghan is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California. He earned his PhD at the University at Buffalo. His research focuses on the political philosophy of policing and urban policy.

This seminar is co-sponsored by Chapman University’s Law and Liberal Arts Minor.

Link in bio for further details about this seminar and future Smith Institute events! 📌🗓️ by @smith_institute

💡“Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one.”
🎥 Apocalypse Now (1979)
🎬 Wednesday, September 16 at 5:30pm in Wilkinson Hall 221

We’ll be watching and discussing Francis Ford Coppola’s "Apocalypse Now" (1979) starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, and Robert Duvall. Co-written by Coppola and John Milius and based loosely on Joseph Conrad’s classic novel, "Heart of Darkness," the film is the most famous and critically acclaimed cinematic depiction of the Vietnam War. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, winner of the Palm d’Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and the London Film Critics Award for Best Film, "Apocalypse Now" has come to be regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films of the 20th-century.

Our theme for the 2026-2027 Smith Institute Film Forum series will be “The Wars.” We’ll screen seven or eight of the most critically acclaimed war films of the 20th and 21st centuries.

#smithinstitute #filmforum by @smith_institute

Join us for a talk with Matt Zwolinski on Thursday, September 10 at 4:00pm in Wilkinson Hall 221.

Matt Zwolinski is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of San Diego, director of USD’s Center of Ethics, Economics, and Public Policy, and co-director of USD’s Institute for Law and Philosophy.

Link in bio for further details about this seminar and future Smith Institute events! 📌🗓️ by @smith_institute

Even Montana wanted to talk about nonsense! 🪧

Thank you to our scholars and their faculty mentors for their hard work and dedication at our writing retreat this summer! 📍☀️📑🥾

#smithinstitute #chapmanu #summerscholars #writersretreat #writingretreat by @smith_institute

Discovering nonsense in Montana! 🗺️🔍📕🔑

The shared purpose for this retreat is a project exploring nonsense; yes, nonsense. We sense the world we are in; it is personal and social; therefore, we talk about common sense, a sensing of phenomenon that fits into how we have ordered the world. Nonsense challenges how society has ordered the world, how individuals are shaped by societal sense.

Our Writers Retreat gives our scholars the opportunity to develop as a writer in a community of writers, think about sense and nonsense, order and disorder, organization and reorganization.

#smithinstitute #chapmanu #summerscholars #writersretreat #writingretreat by @smith_institute

The program may have ended, but the impact lasts! Thank you to our eight summer scholars and their three faculty mentors for five weeks of research, watching films (and world cup matches), hikes, reading, and plenty of discussions and laughter. 📔🎥🏆💡📑

#smithinstitute #sunmerscholars #chapmanu #undergradresearch by @smith_institute

Last week four students guided by Professors Jan Osborn and Bart Wilson began their writing retreat in Montana! ✍🏻📚🌄📍

The retreat allows our summer scholars to develop their craft in a writing community with a shared purpose. The group will move through an iterative process that begins with curiosity followed by inquiry, helping each participant expand their critical thinking and composition skills as part of a team focused on language awareness and rhetorical knowledge in service of ideas.

#smithinstitute #chapmanu #summerscholars #writersretreat #writingretreat by @smith_institute

Week three of Summer Scholars brought more film screenings, play readings, and, of course, a hike!

#smithinstitute #summerscholars #chapmanu by @smith_institute