THE PRECARIOUS ALLIANCE: “LAND AND THE AMERICAN DREAM”
OCTOBER 14-16, 2015
America has been celebrated as a beautiful land of bountiful natural resources since its founding. Its colonization and industrialization were fueled by the belief that the land could fulfill “The American Dream,” the hope of a better, richer, and happier life for all people. But is an American Dream that equates progress with prosperity, and democracy with development, a sustainable way forward into the twenty-first century?

The sustainability symposium on “Land and the American Dream” will provide a wide-awake, cross-disciplinary forum of scholars and scientists, business leaders and conservationists, policymakers and environmental advocates, land-use planners and farmers, and social justice activists, among others, interested in examining how competing visions and versions of The American Dream have contributed to an ongoing “precarious alliance” among competing economic, social, and environmental concerns. Moreover, the symposium will be dedicated to exploring the variety of solutions that can contribute to a new, sustainable American Dream.

ABOUT THE PRECARIOUS ALLIANCE
Conceived by Delaware Valley College President Dr. Joseph S. Brosnan as a forum for the exchange of cross-disciplinary perspectives, civil dialogue, innovative thinking, and practical solutions, The Precarious Alliance is a multidisciplinary sustainability symposium dedicated to exploring the array of complex challenges associated with adapting human networks to address environmental degradation, economic instability, and social inequalities in local communities and global settings.
Previous symposia have focused on Food (2010), Water (2012), and Energy (2014); previous keynote speakers have included Marion Nestle, Maude Barlow, and Bill McKibben.