Verlan Lewis discusses how moving beyond the familiar “left–right” political spectrum may create new possibilities for pluralism and peacemaking. Drawing on his recent co-authored book The Myth of Left and Right, Lewis invites us to rethink how these political categories shape our society and how letting go of them could strengthen our constitutional culture and civic peace.
Verlan Lewis is the Stirling Professor of Constitutional Studies and an associate professor of political science at Utah Valley University, where he teaches classes on American political thought, institutions, and development. His writing has been published by The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Political Science Quarterly, Studies in American Political Development, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and Party Politics, among others. He earned degrees from Brigham Young University, Cambridge University, and the University of Virginia, and has held academic fellowships at Stanford University and Harvard University. His recent co-authored book, The Myth of Left and Right, shows how the familiar left–right political spectrum harms America by undermining constitutional government and peacemaking.
Co-sponsored by the American Studies program. Part of our fall 2025 lecture series, "The Future of Citizenship."