The Acton Institute’s flagship annual conference will return June 23-24, 2021. Due to the ongoing global pandemic, Acton has chosen to host Acton University online as a two-day digital experience. While many organizations have pivoted to a virtual format, Acton University Online is not your typical digital conference. It’s a unique, two-day, live and interactive experience exploring the intellectual foundations of a free society.
This year we will bring together leaders in business, the church, academia and ministry from the developed and the developing world, as well as from a variety of faith traditions, to explore what makes a free and virtuous society. There will be over 30 live-stream events, more than 50 on-demand lectures and videos, and dozens of interactive networking and virtual spaces.
Acton University Online presents a holistic framework for understanding the foundations of genuine human flourishing organized around a series of core sessions on religious liberty; technology and big government vs. privacy; freedom of speech and the press; the social responsibility of business; law, liberty and space; and artificial intelligence, religion and anthropology. Other sessions offer opportunities to dig deeper into timely questions of poverty, economic development, automation, vocation, trade, finance, socialism, entrepreneurship, religious freedom, social justice, inequality and stewardship.
This will be the second year Acton University will host the entire event online. Last year over 4,000 people registered from over 88 countries and territories, including all 50 states. Following the event, positive feedback flooded in and many participants noted how the event still felt personal despite being held virtually, while others praised the effectiveness of the digital platforms.
Here are the words of one conference participant:
“The online platform was impressive, even savvy. I really enjoyed the Networking Room and making connections with others. The video quality was above par. This was an excellent online conference. I truly enjoyed it.”
Another attendee praised the web-based technology:
“The app was helpful and the website easy to navigate. I appreciated the breadth of topics, yet the topics interrelate. The sessions and online lectures were very stimulating and interesting.”
Acton University Online will run each day (June 23 and 24) from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. We hope you will join us for two engaging and inspiring days that will equip you to build and advance a free and virtuous society!
Featured speakers and experts include:
- Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
- Former Kansas Senator and Governor Sam Brownback
- Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy
- Anthony Bradley
- Ismael Hernandez
- And many more
To learn more or to register for Acton University Online, please visit university.acton.org.
