About the Sessions

Plenary Sessions

The Plenary speakers at the Hancock Symposium are open sessions for anyone to attend. These talks will include some of our more prominent speaking guests. They will be the only scheduled talks at their given time.  

Executive Sessions

Executive Sessions will give students and attendees the option of attending one of two notable speakers scheduled during the time allotted. These speakers are some of the most renowned experts in their respective fields.

Breakout Sessions

The Breakout Sessions allow attendees to choose one of several smaller sessions with a variety of guest speakers. These sessions, small by design, allow us to invite alumni, faculty, and community members to bring their expertise to campus and interact with the audience in a more intimate setting. When possible, Breakout Sessions also include opportunities for one-on-one conversation with our Plenary and Executive speakers. 

Green Foundation Lecture

The Green Foundation Lectureship was established in 1936 as a memorial to John Findley Green, an attorney in St. Louis who graduated from Westminster in 1884. The Foundation provides for lectures designed to promote understanding of economic and social problems of international concern. It further provides that "the speaker shall be a person of international reputation."

Although the most famous Green Lecture on campus is the "Iron Curtain" speech delivered by Sir Winston Churchill in 1946, other notable lectures have included luminaries such as Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Margret Thatcher, Lech Walesa, Mikhail Gorbachev, James. A Baker III and Clare Booth Luce.