13th Carl B. Menges Colloquium, a Webinar, “The Conception of America,”
September 14 – 18
AHI co-sponsors: The National Association of Scholars (NAS) and Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF)

 Monday, September 14

10:45 am—Welcome and Opening Remarks:

— Chuck DeVore, Vice President of National Initiatives, Texas Public Policy Foundation

— Peter Wood, President, National Association of Scholars

11:15 am—Opening Address: “The Very DNA of this Country”

—Peter Kirsanow, Partner at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff and current Member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights

3:30 pm — Panel Discussion: Absences from the 1619 Project’s History

Moderated by Thomas Lindsay, Distinguished Senior Fellow of Higher Education and Constitutional Studies at the Texas Public Policy Foundation

— John Stauffer, Professor of English, American Studies, and African American Studies at Harvard University on “The White Abolitionist Tradition”

— Diana Schaub. Professor of Political Science at Loyola University, Maryland, on “Frederick Douglass”

Tuesday, September 15th

11:00 am —The Spirit of the Adams Family

—Susan Hanssen, Associate Professor and Chair of History at the University of Dallas

2:00 pm — Our Founding Ideals

—Paul A. Rahe, Professor of History and Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the Western Heritage at Hillsdale College

Wednesday, September 16th

11:00 am — Did Slavery Make America Rich?

— Peter A. Coclanis, Albert Ray Newsome Distinguished Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2:00 pm — Panel Discussion: Teaching American History

Moderated by Thomas Lindsay, Distinguished Senior Fellow of Higher Education and Constitutional Studies at the Texas Public Policy Foundation

— Richard A. Johnson III, Director, Booker T. Washington Initiative, Texas Public Policy Foundation

— Robert Maranto, 21st Century Chair in Leadership at the Department of Education Reform, University of Arkansas

— Jamie Gass, Director of the Center for School Reform, Pioneer Institute

Thursday, September 17th

11:00 am — What Made American Slavery Distinctive?

— Robert L. Paquette, President and Executive Director at The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization

2:00 pm — Panel Discussion: American Ideals

Moderated by Thomas Lindsay, Distinguished Senior Fellow of Higher Education and Constitutional Studies at the Texas Public Policy Foundation

— Kevin R. C. Gutzman, Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University, on “Who was the Declaration For?”

— Jason Ross, Professor of Political Science of Helms School of Government at Liberty University, on “Was the Constitution Written to Protect Slavery?”

— Joseph Fornieri, Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, on “Did Lincoln Oppose Black Equality?”

Friday, September 18th

11:00 am — Panel Discussion: Let America Be America Again

Moderated by Dr. Richard A. Johnson III, Director, Booker T. Washington Initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation

— Cathy Young, Contributing Editor at Reason

— Wilfred Reilly, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Kentucky State University

— Carol Swain, Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University

2:00 pm — Slavery and Liberation: Defying the Power of Legree’s Ghosts

— William B. Allen, Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University, and Emeritus Dean, James Madison College

3:45 pm — Closing Remarks:

— Chuck DeVore, Vice President of National Initiatives, Texas Public Policy Foundation

— Peter Wood, President, National Association of Scholars