In 2009, the Alexander Hamilton Institute partnered with the Department of Political Science at Baylor University, to host a summer seminar on a major theme related to the history and culture of Western Civilization. Mary and David Nichols, AHI Senior Fellows and professors in the Department of Political Science at Baylor. organized the conference devoted to “Machiavelli and Shakespeare: Alternative Visions of Modern Politics.”  The conference  featured as discussion leaders AHI academic adviser Michael Zuckert, Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor, and Chairman, Department of Political Science, Notre Dame University and Catherine Heldt Zuckert, also Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame.

The success of the first seminar led to a continuing partnership.  On 5-6 July 2010, the AHI and the Department of Political Science at Baylor will host its second annual summer seminar, “Race, Liberalism, and the Meaning of America.”  The seminar will consist of five sessions over two days and will take place at the AHI’s headquarters, 21 West Park Row in Clinton, New York.

Professor Pamela Jensen, Department of Political Science, Kenyon College and Professor Flagg Taylor, Department of Political Science, Skidmore College, will serve as discussion leaders.  Conferees will include graduate students in political science from Baylor University and  recent graduates of  Hamilton College.

Limited seating is available for members of the public who wish to attend.  Interested parties should contact AHI Co-Founder Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org.

Schedule:  “Race, Liberalism, and the Meaning of America”

Monday July 5

9:30 Breakfast at the Alexander Hamilton Institute

10:45 Welcome and Introduction – Robert Paquette and Mary Nichols

Session 1

11:00-12:30

Frederick Douglass

“Change of Opinion Announced” (1851)

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” (1852)

“The Constitution of the United States: Is it Pro-slavery or Anti-slavery?” (1860) 

“The Present and Future of the Colored Race in America” (1863) (African-American Social and Political Thought, 1850-1920, ed. Howard Brotz)

‘What the Black Man Wants” (1865) (Brotz)

“Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln” (1876)

12:30-1:30 Lunch

Session 2

1:30-3:00

Booker T. Washington

“The Educational Outlook in the South” (1884) (Brotz)

“Atlanta Exposition Address” (1895) (Brotz)

“Our New Citizen” (1896) (Brotz)

“Democracy and Education” (1896) (Brotz)

“The Intellectuals and the Boston Mob” (1911) (Brotz)

Session 3

3:30-5:00

W. E. B. DuBois

“The Talented Tenth” (1903) (Brotz)

“The Forethought” (The Souls of Black Folk, 1903)

“Our Spiritual Strivings” (The Souls of Black Folk, 1903)

“Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others” (The Souls of Black Folk, 1903)

“Of the Wings of Atalanta” (The Souls of Black Folk, 1903)

“Of the Training of Black Men” (The Souls of Black Folk, 1903)

6:30 – Picnic at Hatch Lake, hosted by the Nichols and sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute

Tuesday July 6

9:30 Breakfast at the Alexander Hamilton Institute

Session 4

11:00-12:30

Ralph Ellison

“Society, Morality, and the Novel” (1957) (The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison)

“Black Boys and Native Sons,” by Irving Howe (A World More Attractive, 1963)

“The World and the Jug” (1963/64) (The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison)

12:30-1:30    Lunch

Session 5

1:30-3:00

Ralph Ellison

“What America Would Be Like Without Blacks” (1970) (The Collected Essays) and 

“The Little Man at Chehaw Station” (1977) (The Collected Essays)

Organizers:

Professors David and Mary Nichols
Department of Political Science
Baylor University
Waco, Texas

Discussion Leaders:

Professor Pamela Jensen
Department of Political Science
Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio

Professor Flagg Taylor
Department of Political Science
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY

Participants

Elizabeth Amato
Department of Political Science
Baylor University

Susan Benfield
nstructor, English as a Second Language
Washington Baptist University
Annandale, VA

Christopher Bissex
Department of Political Science
Baylor University

Steve Block
Department of Political Science
Baylor University

Matt Brogdon
Department of Political Science
Baylor University

Brenna Gallagher
Department of Political Science
Baylor University

Martha Rice Martini, Esq.
Public Defender
Salem, MA

Mary Mathie
Department of Political Science
Baylor University

Tom Pope
Lee University
Cleveland, TN

Tony Romano
Department of Political Science
Baylor University

Stephen Thomas
Department of Political Science
Ohio Dominican University
Columbus, Ohio

Germaine Paulo Walsh
Department of Political Science
Texas Lutheran University
Seguin, Texas

Mark Garcia
Vanderbilt Law School
Vanderbilt University