The Pursuit of Happiness
The Pursuit of Happiness
LeFrak Forum is pleased to announce the theme for our 2025-2026 events will be "The Pursuit of Happiness" as laid out in the Declaration of Independence.
NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the theme of the LeFrak Forum’s programming this academic year is: "The Pursuit of Happiness." The Declaration famously states that all people are endowed with the right to pursue happiness. But what is happiness? The answer to this question is neither obvious nor uncontroversial. We cannot hope to exercise this right effectively, to say nothing of attaining happiness, without first reflecting on the question of what happiness is. To this end, the LeFrak Forum will host a variety of events—public lectures, undergraduate seminars, and a conference—that will provoke students and members of the wider MSU community to examine the question of happiness through engagement with great texts from the history of political philosophy as well with contemporary scholarship and thought. These events will also work to foster a more reflective appreciation of the Declaration of Independence and the extraordinary right to pursue happiness that it proclaims.
Dr. Raul Rodriguez
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Director, The LeFrak Forum
