Jazz and Democracy: The 2026 Nicholas Aroney Democracy Lecture

About

With democracy at threat globally and increasing disengagement with democracy amongst younger people both in Australia and internationally - is perhaps the answer to our understanding of democratic practices we value from ancient Athens to the modern world to be learnt in music?

Our lecturer, Dr Wesley J Watkins, or "Dr Wes", thinks so. Founding the Jazz & Democracy (J&D) project in 2009 as an interdisciplinary and music integrated program to engage students and participants in high order thinking skills about society and their place within it. J&D participants are continually asked to evaluate, synthesise, and apply knowledge, to think elastically across domains that, at first, may seem dissimilar: music and the social sciences, particularly history, current events, government and culture.

However, using interviews with more than 40 jazz musicians and musical participation, the sessions provide insight on a range of topics vital to students: leadership, social responsibility, the importance of practise, perseverance, and integrity, just to name a few.

Join us for a fascinating presentation and help us make some music as Dr Wes gets us to think about democracy in new and innovative ways and encourage our next generations of good civic citizens.

The Jazz & Democracy Project® (J&D) is a music integrated curriculum linking the arts (music, particularly jazz) and the humanities (history, government, civics and culture).