The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) proudly announces the formation of two reading clusters on the Hamilton College campus.  Professor Douglas Ambrose, the Carolyn C. and David M. Ellis ’38 Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at Hamilton College, will lead the Alexander Hamilton History Initiative.  Professor Ambrose has organized a reading cluster devoted to a cover-to-cover reading of America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln (2005) by Mark Noll.   Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, is one of the foremost historians of religion of his generation.  America’s God represents one of the finest introductions to the history of religion in the United States from the colonial period to the Civil War. Professor Ambrose is a specialist in American religious history. He has won multiple teaching prizes.

AHI Charter Fellow Doug Ambrose

The AHI’s Edmund Burke Society and Entrepreneurship Club will hold a reading cluster devoted to The Road to Serfdom (1944), the most famous book of the Nobel Prize-winning economist and polymath Friedrich Hayek.  The book has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.  Dr. Christopher Hill and Professor Robert Paquette will direct the reading and discussion of the book.  The first session will be held 7-8 pm on Constitution Day at 21 West Park Row, Clinton, following an AHI open house and Professor Ambrose’s special Constitution Day lecture, “Revisiting the Idea of a Godless Constitution.”The purpose of the Alexander Hamilton Institute’s History Initiative is to educate students about the discipline of history, its methods and standards, as well as having them read intensively works of history that most historians regard as  outstanding.  Rummaging through the past to selectively extract information to advance a political agenda is not good history. The reading cluster will begin September 18 and run for ten additional sessions, ending on December 4.  It will meet in room 223, Kirner-Johnson Building, from 6-7 p.m.  Books will be provided free of charge to participants.  If you have any questions about this exciting opportunity, please contact Professor Ambrose at dambrose@hamilton.edu or 315-859-4134.  The reading cluster is open to the public.

 Professor Christopher Hill

Subsequent sessions will be held in the Taylor Science Center, Hamilton College.  The reading cluster is open to the public and highly recommended for students in history, economics, philosophy, and social psychology as well as those who are preparing for a career in law.  Books will be provided free of charge to participating students. 

Dr. Hill, a Resident Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute, is a prize-winning teacher, a prize-winning novelist, a Ph.D. in medieval history, and an ocean-going sailor.  When he taught at Hamilton College, Dr. Hill received by vote of the student assembly, the Sidney Wertimer Award, which recognizes a faculty member “who is recognized as a mentor and active participant within the Hamilton community.”

For additional information contact Professor Paquette at rpaquett@hamilton.edu or 315-292-2267.