{"id":36335,"date":"2025-02-19T09:59:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T14:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=36335"},"modified":"2025-02-19T14:23:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T19:23:41","slug":"tocqueville-lecture-series-looks-at-marriage-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/tocqueville-lecture-series-looks-at-marriage-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Tocqueville lecture series looks at marriage in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

A good marriage is key to long-term happiness, but marriage rates are on the decline in favor of careers, materialism and \u201cfreedom from the incumbrances of family,\u201d according to Brad Wilcox<\/a>, a professor of sociology at The University of Virginia.<\/p>\n

Wilcox opened this semester\u2019s Tocqueville Lecture Series<\/a> on the topic \u201cAmerican Family\u201d on Feb. 12. After a presentation, he joined Franklin Ellis<\/a>, associate dean, director of the Center for Interpersonal Connections and special assistant to the president for diversity and belonging, and David Fleming<\/a>, professor of politics and international affairs and a senior researcher at The Riley Institute, in discussing issues related to marriage. A video of the night is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The following night Melissa Kearney<\/a>, the Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, and Wilcox presented on marriage. Students sat at round tables and engaged in structured conversations as part of the On Discourse Initiative<\/a> to help build skills for constructive discussion. A video of the second night is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two-day event was one of the best in the Tocqueville lecture series in recent memory, said Brent Nelsen<\/a>, director of the Tocqueville Center<\/a> for the Study of Democracy and Society and the Jane Fishburne Hipp Professor of Politics and International Affairs.<\/p>\n

Students kept streaming into Wilcox\u2019s presentation despite a rainy night, and there was plenty of time for questions from students, Nelsen said.<\/p>\n

The topic was relevant for students, which also contributed to the event\u2019s success, he said. \u201cMarriage\u201d signaled a shift in programming for the organization, which promotes conservative perspectives in the vein of Alexis de Tocqueville, a French diplomat and philosopher who traveled the United States in the 1830s, writing his observations in \u201cDemocracy in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelsen, who was named center director in 2023, expanded the speaker program from political theorists to \u201cscholars and public intellectuals to talk about the questions of American society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Tocqueville was here he wrote about everything: slavery, equality, the frontier. Everything was fair game for him. So much of what he wrote is still relevant today. We\u2019re interested in everything Tocqueville was interested in, which was everything,\u201d Nelsen said.<\/p>\n

College students are interested in knowing more about marriage, he said.<\/p>\n

According to data Wilcox shared, the marriage rate in America was at 30.5 percent in 2021, down from almost 86 in 1970 and near an all-time low. But other data show \u201cthe odds of being \u2018very happy\u2019 with life increases by 545% for (people) in a good marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilcox said the mainstream news media has disrespected and undermined marriage with stories about young people devoted to careers or accumulating wealth. A Pew Research Center survey showed that marriage and parenthood are seen as less fulfilling than work. Marriage is for the classes, shunned and criticized by \u201celites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilcox wants students to consider the story of King Midas, who sought gold over the love of his family and turned his own daughter into a golden statue.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is not about gold, it\u2019s about love,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There are two more events this semester in the Tocqueville Lecture Series:<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s Role in the World\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n