AHI to Hold Fifth Annual Summer Conference “What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song,” June 20-21, 2013

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will co-sponsor with the Department of Political Science at Baylor University, the Fifth Annual Summer Conference “What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song,” June 20-21, 2013 at 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The conference is open to the public, but seating is limited. Please call 315-853-5643, or contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org to reserve a seat.

Who we are as Americans will be analyzed and discussed in a series of five sessions on June 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and June 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Discussion leaders Professor Diana Schaub, Professor of Political Science, Loyola University of Maryland and Professor Paul Seaton, Associate Professor of Philosophy, St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore, Maryland, will lead the sessions on the readings in So Proudly We Hail, an acclaimed anthology designed to explore the conferences main topic of who and what is the American soul. AHI Senior Fellows David and Mary Nichols both from the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, in Waco, Texas have organized this year’s conference.

“We look forward to the summer conference each year.” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “The AHI would like to thank Baylor University and especially Mary and David Nichols for organizing and co-sponsoring this timely event.” Further information about the conference schedule, topics and readings can be found on our website at: www.theahi.org. 

Organizers

Professors David & Mary Nichols, Department of Political Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX

Discussion leaders

Professor Diana Schaub, Professor of Political Science, Loyola Universityof Maryland
Professor Paul Seaton, Associate Professor of Philosophy, St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore, MD

Schedule

Thursday, June 20, 2013

9:30 a.m. Breakfast at the Alexander Hamilton Institute

10:45 a.m. Welcome and Introduction – Robert Paquette and Mary Nichols

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.            Session 1:  Patriotism (Schaub)

Edward Everett Hale, “The Man without a Country”
Ralph Ellison, “In a Strange Country”

12:30-1:30 p.m.  Lunch, Alexander Hamilton Institute

1:30-3:00 p.m.            Session 2:  Homeland(s) under God (Seaton)

Mayflower Compact
Declaration of Independence
George Washington, to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, RI
Mary Antin, from The Promised Land
Theodore Roosevelt, “True Americanism”
Philip Roth, “Defender of the Faith”

3:30-5:00 p.m.            Session 3:The American Character (Schaub)

Benjamin Franklin, “Project for Moral Perfection”
Jack London, “To Build a Fire”
Bayard Rustin, “Twenty-Two Days on a Chain Gang”

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

Friday, June 21, 2013

9:30 a.m.  Breakfast at the Alexander Hamilton Institute

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.   Session 4: American Women (Seaton)

Mary Antin, from The Promised Land (for further discussion)
Henry James, “Pandora”
Willa Cather, “The Best Years”
Alice Walker, “Everyday Use for your grandmamma”

12:30-1:30 p.m.   Lunch, Alexander Hamilton Institute

1:30-3:00 p.m.   Session 5:  The Role of the Artist in America (Schaub)

Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Artist of the Beautiful”
Herman Melville, “Lee in the Capitol”
Willa Cather, “The Namesake”