CUDP : Past Presidential Colloquia

Presidential Colloquium, 2004-2005
Patriotism, Politics, Protest

Events, Fall 2004

August 17, 2004
1:30 p.m.
Littlejohn Coliseum
The Clemson University Summer Reading Program presents:

Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried

"They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried...They carried it on their backs and shoulders—and for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was at least the single abiding certainty that they would never be at a loss for things to carry."

—Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried

The Things they Carried is a collection of stories about the about the Vietnam War. It was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. According to Robert Harris, it belongs “on the short list of essential fiction about Vietnam.” The Milwaukee Journal says, “it is so powerful that it steals your breath….It perfectly captures the moral confusion that is the legacy of the Vietnam War.” We believe that it will be an extraordinary prompt for thinking about patriotism, politics, and protest, which were three powerful elements of American life during the Vietnam War.

August 23, 2004
August 24, 2004
7:00 p.m.
364 Sirrine Hall
Vietnam: A Television History

"Vietnam: A Television History - is a 13-hour, seven volume video collection that carefully analyzes the costs and the consequences of this controversial but intriguing war. From the first episode, Roots of a War, to the last, Legacies, it provides a detailed visual and oral account of the war that changed a generation and continues to color American thinking on many military and foreign policy issues." The first episode will be shown Monday, August 23rd and the final episode will be shown Tuesday, August 24th. Both showings are at 7:00 pm in room 364 Sirrine Hall.

September 13, 2004
Self Auditorium, Strom Thurmond Institute
7:30 p.m.

Rev. Phil Noble
"Beyond the Burning Bus:
The Civil Rights Revolution in a Southern Town"

Rev. Noble is the author of Beyond the Burning Bus, which chronicles the civil rights movement from an insider's perspective. In particular, it relates a success story about how black and white leaders in Anniston, Alabama, worked together for peaceful desegregation. Rev. Noble will be speaking about his book.

Co-sponsors: The Jim Self Center on the Future, Strom Thurmond Institute, Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics, and the One World Project.

September 15, 2004
Tillman Auditorium
7:30 - 9:00 p.m.

Christopher Dickey,
Paris Bureau Chief/Middle East Regional Editor, Newsweek

“Fact, Fiction and Foreign Policy”

A distinguished journalist and author, Christopher Dickey currently serves as Newsweek's Paris bureau chief (since 1995) and Middle East regional editor (since 1993). He reports on European politics, economy, society and new technologies, as well as developing stories throughout North Africa, the Near East and the Persian Gulf.
An experienced combat reporter and expert on terrorism Dickey led investigations of the first World Trade Center plot in 1993, and since Sept. 11, 2001, he has played a key role in Newsweek's coverage of the War on Terror.

More: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/newsweek/info/nwinfo_dickey.asp

Co-sponsors: Strom Thurmond Institute, Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics.

For more information contact:
Daniel E. Wueste, Ph.D.
Director, Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics
864-656-6147; Fax: 864-656-2858
Office email: mailto:ernest@clemson.edu
www.clemson.edu/caah/rutland

October 21, 2004
Self Auditorium, Strom Thurmond Institute
8:00 p.m.

Professor Jules Lobel,
University of Pittsburgh School of Law

"Defending Human Rights in the War Against Terrorism"

Jules Lobel is Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh Law School where he teaches Constitutional Law, International Law and Human Rights. He is the author of the recent book Success Without Victory: Lost Legal Battles and the Long Road to Justice in America (New York University Press 2003), and has written numerous articles on United States Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties and the War on Terrorism. His work has appeared in various journals, for example, Yale Law Review, Harvard International Law Journal, Yale Journal of International Law, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, University of Virginia Law Review, University of Chicago International Law Journal, Cornell Law Review. His most recent article, Courts as Forums for Protest is forthcoming in UCLA Law Review. Professor Lobel is Vice President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a national civil rights organization. On behalf of the Center, he was involved in representing the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay before the United States Supreme Court, and other cases challenging human rights violations by the Bush Administration in its conduct of the war against terrorism.

Responses to Professor Lobel's presentation will be provided by:

William Lasser, Ph.D., Professor and Interim Chair,
Department of Political Science

Matthew Crosston, Ph.D. Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science

Robin Kimbrough-Melton, JD, Research Professor,
Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life

For more on Professors Lasser and Crosston visit: http://business.clemson.edu/PoliSci/faculty.php

For more on Professor Kimbrough Melton visit: http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/ifnl/faculty.htm

This event may be of special interest to students planning to write an essay for submission in the 4th Annual J.T. Barton Jr., Ethics Essay Scholarship Competition. For more information on the competition visit: http://www.clemson.edu/caah/rutland/barton0405.html

Co-sponsors: Strom Thurmond Institute, Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics.

For more information contact:
Daniel E. Wueste, Ph.D.
Director, Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics
864-656-6147; Fax: 864-656-2858
Office email: ernest@clemson.edu
www.clemson.edu/caah/rutland

Presidential Colloquium Events, Spring 2005

February 3, 2005
7:30 p.m.
Lee Hall Auditorium

Juan Williams, NPR/Fox News Correspondent

"The Significance of the Voting Rights Act: 40 Years Later"

Juan Williams, the National Public Radio and Fox News National Correspondent, is one of the most recognized personalities on television and radio. He is the author of several books, including: Eyes on the Prize, This Far by Faith, Thurgood Marshall an American Revolutionary, and My Soul Looks Back in Wonder.
For more on Mr. Williams: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1930705

Refreshments will be served after the event, which, like all presidential colloquium events, is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by: The Clemson University Presidential Colloquium, Wachovia Bank, Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics, College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, African American Studies Program. For more information, contact Dr. Abel Bartley, 656-5372, abartly@clemson.edu

February 9, 2005
7:00 p.m.
Self Auditorium, Strom Thurmond Institute

The Presidential Colloquium and the President's Honors Colloquium
present two distinguished scholars of the presidency in a joint colloquium

The George W. Bush Presidency:
Patriotism Displayed, Politics Confirmed, Protests Pending

"The Troubled First Term"

Dr. George C. Edwards III, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University and George and Julia Blucher Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies in the Bush School of Government and Public Service.

Professor Edwards has authored dozens of articles and has written or edited nineteen books on American politics and public policy making. Among his latest books, On Deaf Ears: The Limits of the Bully Pulpit is a study of the effectiveness of presidential leadership of public opinion, and Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America advocates direct election of the president. For more on Professor Edwards: http://www-polisci.tamu.edu/faculty/edwards/

"Prospects for the Second Term "

Dr. Charles O. Jones, Hawkins Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison; non-resident Senior Fellow in the Governmental Studies Program, The Brookings Institution; non-resident Senior Fellow, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia

Professor Jones has written or edited eighteen books and over 100 articles and book chapters. His most recent books focus on the presidency and Congress and they include The Presidency in a Separated System (which won the American Political Science Association’s Richard E. Neustadt Prize), Clinton and Congress, 1993-1996: Risk, Restoration, and Reelection, and Preparing to Be President: The Memos of Richard E. Neustadt. For more on Professor Jones: http://www.brookings.edu/scholars/cjones.htm

Responses to Professors Edwards and Jones will be provided by:

Dr. Robert Becker, Professor of Policy Studies
and Director of the Strom Thurmond Institute of
Government and Public Affairs at Clemson University

Dr. David Woodard, Strom Thurmond Professor of Political Science, Clemson University

Co-sponsors:
Calhoun Honors College, Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics, Strom Thurmond Institute.

February 16, 2005
7:30 p.m.
Self Auditorium, Strom Thurmond Institute

Brigadier General Malham M. Wakin, USAF, Ret.,
Professor Emeritus, United States Air Force Academy

"Patriotism, Politics, Protest: From the Perspective of a Military Philosopher"

Brigadier General Malham M. Wakin, United States Air Force, retired, served as an aviator in the United States Air Force. Subsequently he joined the faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy where he was Major General William Lyon Professor of Professional Ethics. General Wakin has published widely on ethics, leadership and the military profession, i.e., "the profession of arms." He is perhaps best known for his book, Integrity First: Reflections of a Military Philosopher.

From a review of that book:

"The profession of arms must have moral, thinking leaders. Just as step one in campaign planning involves assessing the situation, so too must leaders examine themselves in their environment. Leaders —all soldiers, for that matter—cannot simply march blindly along, following and giving orders, without constantly engaging the brain. Despite the pressures of danger and temptation, their integrity must carry the day.

Stating these matters much more eloquently and convincingly in his book Integrity First, Brig Gen Malham Wakin trumpets vitally important philosophical arguments that military leaders must be technically competent and of sound ethical character. This book is a collection of what might be called Wakin classics—previously published articles and speeches from the past four decades, during which time Wakin established himself as perhaps the military philosopher of our time. He has attained legendary stature at the Air Force Academy, where he has profoundly influenced generations of future Air Force leaders."

Lt Col Eric Ash, USAF
Maxwell AFB, Alabama
Aerospace Power Journal - Summer 2001
Volume XV, No. 2, AFRP 10-1

Co-sponsors: Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics, Strom Thurmond Institute.

Top