Adam Hinden ’22 earns opportunity to participate in Athens Democracy Forum in Greece

Adam Hinden ’22, an anthropology and Chinese studies major at The College of Wooster, was selected to participate in this year’s Athens Democracy Forum held in Athens, Greece from Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

The forum is organized by the Democracy & Culture Foundation in association with The New York Times. The Democracy & Culture Foundation aims to be the leading global platform for dialogue and solution-oriented activities concerning the evolution of democracy, civil society, and the media; and the role of culture as an expression of freedom and individuality in allowing democracy to flourish.

Hinden was selected to the participate in the forum after an application process that had him writing reflections on essays regarding different aspects of democracy in which he shared his perspectives from a variety of angles, including religion, culture, and the nature of democracy in China.

“The experience was incredible as a whole, but I particularly valued the connections I made with my fellow delegates from across the world,” he said. “I believe the number one thing I will take away from the experience will undoubtedly be the connections I made with a diverse group of students.”

Hinden was able to attend the forum in person after a summer in which he participated in virtual small group discussions with other forum attendees from across the world.

He was selected to attend a panel entitled The Art of Manipulation: Deepfakes and Democracy. Hinden, along with students from Ohio, Switzerland and Pakistan met to discuss this topic and they were instructed to compose a report or film a video relating to the topic. He chose to film a video “touching on the ability of social media corporations to unilaterally regulate government accounts.”

Hinden also had the opportunity to ask a question to the speakers at a panel regarding the colonial nature of democracy.

“I don’t necessarily think that our allotted contributions at the forum will bring significant change, but the connections we were able to develop definitely set the foundation for future action,” he said. “I highly encourage students to apply to be student delegates at the Athens Democracy Forum if the opportunity arises as the relationships I built there were unrivaled in depth and passion.”

Posted in Experiential Learning, News on October 7, 2021.