Nations across the world seem increasingly divided, with citizens retreating into ideological, partisan or cultural tribes, often at times seemingly at the risk of overshadowing a shared national identity. This panel examines a central question: “What truly binds a nation together?” 

Panelists

• Desireé R. Melonas, Ph.D., is assistant professor of political science and Black studies at University of California, Riverside. Her work examines the politics of racialized place, Black feminist new materialisms, and radical care. Her scholarship has appeared in leading journals including “Meridians, Theory & Event, and Women’s Studies Quarterly,” and she serves as co-principal investigator on a National Academies Gulf Research Program grant supporting environmental justice-focused curriculum development in Africatown, Alabama.
• Vincent Gawronski, Ph.D., is visiting associate professor of international affairs at Berry College. He brings over three decades of research on natural hazards, disaster risk and climate change across the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. His work focuses on how social inequalities, including race, gender and geographic vulnerability shape disaster impacts and recovery, and he currently co-leads a National Academies-funded project empowering youth to address coastal environmental challenges.
• Jonathan Hack, Ph.D., is director of partnerships and engagement at Harvard’s Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics, where he builds strategic collaborations across universities, government, civil society and philanthropy to advance the center’s research and public programming. His work centers on strengthening democratic culture and civic engagement—helping institutions design the norms, practices and systems that sustain pluralism, constructive disagreement and public trust. A scholar of American politics and constitutional law, Hack frequently comments on public life and democratic governance and advises stakeholders on strategy, research and institutional design.

Together, the panelists bring perspectives from political science, ethics, Black studies, political theory and elsewhere to consider the question of “what binds a nation?.” This event is organized and moderated by Clinton Jenkins, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at Lenoir-Rhyne.

Part of Bears Engage 2026: Voices of America, a year-long, nonpartisan series exploring the ideas shaping American democracy. The series highlights diverse perspectives on civic life, leadership and the nation’s evolving story.