The next Human Progress and Flourishing Workshop is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 29, at noon in Beckwith Recital Hall. Bradford Wilcox is set to present “Orphaned: How Our Political Class Has Failed the American Family.”

Wilcox is a professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. His research has focused on how family structure, civil society and culture influence the quality and stability of family life in the United States and around the globe. Currently, he is exploring the contribution that families make to the economic welfare of individuals and societies. 

All members of the NDSU community and the public are invited to attend the free event. After the presentation, hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served in the Challey School of Music Atrium.

In his presentation, Wilcox will argue that, in different ways, both political parties have failed to pursue policies that strengthen and stabilize American families, especially those in the working class. His talk will touch on free trade, men in the workforce, government marriage penalties and the success sequence.

Wilcox is a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He earned his doctorate in sociology from Princeton University.

The Human Progress and Flourishing Workshop is hosted by the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth Itinvites internationally-renowned scholars from universities across the country to present their research and engage with the NDSU community.

The series continues every other Friday through Dec. 3.

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