Robert Frost: America’s Poet and American Politics

When: Thursday, November 12, 2026, reception 5:00 to 5:30, panel discussion 5:30 to 7:30 pm Where: Hale 230 In-person registration In this discussion, panelists will examine the life and legacy of Robert Frost, as it intersects with American politics. Frost is arguably the most recognizable American poet in the world, yet his career has been marked by a complex relationship with American politics. As the United States’ first Poet Laureate, the first poet to read at a presidential inauguration, and one of JFK’s cultural emissaries to the USSR, Frost saw himself as wielding poetic power in the service of American civic life at home, and American “soft power” abroad. This panel will explore the role of poetry and the arts in civic life, asking what role poetry might have in shaping the virtues of a citizen. Panelists: Robert Bernard Hass is Executive Director of the Robert Frost Society and Professor of English at PennWest University (Edinboro). He is the author of Going by Contraries: Ro...