On September 30, 1968 George Wallace came to Chicago. From the airport his motorcade raced to downtown, where his staffers had a glistening open-top limousine waiting for him. He climbed into the back, planted himself between the driver and passenger seats, and braced for the car to start moving. Then he was off, parading along … Continued
Every four years, millions of Americans wonder why we choose our presidents through the Electoral College, an arcane institution that permits the loser of the popular vote to become the president and narrows campaigns to swing states. Most Americans have long favored reform, and Congress has attempted on many occasions to alter or scuttle the … Continued
This year’s election stakes are high, to say the least. But perhaps no presidential vote in U.S. history was more consequential than that of 1860. The nation roiled over the issue of slavery. Abraham Lincoln captured the Republican nomination over New York Senator William Seward, and then took on a divided Democratic Party. His win … Continued
Democracy is such an important social good that it seems natural to think that more is always better. However, we also recognize that it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. In this webinar, we will analyze current findings regarding political polarization to argue that, as important a social good as democracy is, … Continued
The social media influence operations of the Russian Internet Research Agency were made famous by the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and the Mueller investigation. Today, their work continues. It has expanded in scope and is mimicked by other nations attempting to influence how we engage with one another online. In a time when the majority … Continued
Bayard Rustin was twentieth century America’s great radical voice. His vision contained multitudes, fusing labor rights, racial justice, sexual equality, socialism, and pacifism. He may well have been America’s first intersectional radical. But in the 1960s, Rustin’s attempt to weave the strands of his activism together into a broad-based program for transformative change fell victim … Continued
A hip hop infused musical, Hamilton is widely considered to have revolutionized the genre of the Broadway musical, just as many saw the American Revolution as a first for the world. This webinar will give participants an opportunity to learn about Hamilton the musical, attempting to account for its extraordinary resonance during the presidencies of Barack Obama and, now, … Continued
February 3–24, 2021 | For centuries, the importance of civility to the health of republics has been widely recognized. Peaceful resolution of conflicts, open debate, and the nurturing of an engaged citizenry are essential to maintaining governments in which power is held by the people. Yet, civility remains elusive. The scholars in this series help us think about ways of encouraging, preserving, and restoring civility—through political and creative expression, in the courts, on the page, and on the screen—from the classical period to the modern era.
Throughout their son’s childhood, Stephen Hall’s parents, both children of sharecroppers, crafted a “deeply humanistic perch” from which he could “view the world.” Though possessing none of the benefits of class or race privilege, they harnessed the power of the book, searching for what historian Isabel Wilkerson has called “the light of other suns” in … Continued
My humanities moment came in preparing to teach a course on the French Revolution. I am by training a Byzantinist and medievalist, but got my job as a world history teacher. To fill in the gap and also since I could read French, the acting department chair gave me the job of teaching the French … Continued