Alexander Hamilton Institute

Our Mission

AHIadmin — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 19:28:38 +0000

The AHI Fellowship Program

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:13:37 +0000

Video and Audio from the Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium Keynote Lecture

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:13:51 +0000

Show Your Support

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:18:55 +0000

Hadley Arkes

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Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions, Amherst College

Richard Brookhiser

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Independent Scholar

Peter Coclanis

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Albert R. Newsome Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Candace de Russy

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Independent scholar

Seymour Drescher

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University Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Marc Elias

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Firmwide Chair, Perkins Coie law firm, Washington, D.C.

Stanley Engerman

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John Munro Professor of Economics, University of Rochester

Paul Finkelman

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President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy and Senior Fellow, Government Law Center, Albany Law School

Eugene D. Genovese

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:02:31 +0000

(1930-2012)

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese

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(1941-2007)

Robert P. George

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McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University

Maurice Isserman

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:03:07 +0000

Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History, Hamilton College

Roger Kimball

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Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books

Pre-Law Reading Cluster

AHIadmin — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 18:27:04 +0000

Every Sunday until May 1, 2016 6:00-8:00pm Room 2048 Science Center, Hamilton College Dr. Chris Hill and Dr. David Frisk will lead a reading group that will explore constitutional law. The group will begin with Edward S. Corwin, The “Higher Law” Background of American Constitutional Law (1955) and end with Richard Epstein, The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (2014). The reading group is open to the public. Books and refreshments will be provided free-of-charge by the Alexander Hamilton Institute.

Background to the 2016 Election, Part 1: Roots of the Red/Blue Divide

AHIadmin — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 03:52:32 +0000

Every Monday until May 2, 2016 6:30-8:30pm Room 2048 Science Center, Hamilton College The combined lecture-discussion is open to the public and will meet on Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the AHI building, 21 W. Park Row in Clinton. The readings will be provided free of charge. Professional credit for teachers is available. Space is limited, so advance signup is required. To register or for more information, please contact the instructor, Dr. David Frisk (dfrisk@theahi.org or 315-381-3335), or Professor Robert Paquette (bob@theahi.org). The course will begin by considering the nature of political polarization, then spend three weeks each examining the development of the deep divisions between Americans on: economic policy and the role of government, social issues, and foreign policy and security. This material will cover much of the 20th century as well as the present. The final weeks will focus on the role of parties, movements, and the media in the “red/blue” divide—plus the possibilities of conciliation and compromise. A course in the fall, also related to this year’s presidential election, is likely to cover several major elections in U.S. history plus the current one. Instructor David Frisk, a Resident Fellow at the AHI since 2013, has previously taught its popular continuing education classes on the Constitution in the 20th century and today, the media and politics, modern statesmanship, conservative political philosophy, and recent socioeconomic trends. A former award-winning journalist, he holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University and is the author of the widely acclaimed biography If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012). “The division between our country’s political-cultural Right and Left is perhaps more profoundly obvious than ever today,” Dr. Frisk noted. “A careful consideration of it, including how it came about, is essential to fully understanding what promises to be an especially impassioned and unpredictable election year. In addition, the ‘red/blue’ divide raises fascinating questions—of a longer-lasting nature—about how modern democratic politics work and how they should work.”

Plato Reading Cluster

AHIadmin — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 03:53:00 +0000

Every Thursday until May 5, 2016 7:00-9:00pm Room 209, Burke Library, Hamilton College Dr. Beth L'Arrivee of Colgate University will lead a cover-to-cover reading of Plato's Republic. The reading cluster is open to the public. Books and refreshments will be provided free of charge by the Alexander Hamilton Institute

Daniel Littlefield

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:03:28 +0000

Carolina Professor of History, University of South Carolina

Harvey Mansfield

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William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Government, Harvard University

Kenneth Minogue

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(1930-2013)

Thomas Pangle

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Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Texas, Austin

Roger Pilon

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Founder and Director of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies

Paul Rahe

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Professor of History, Hillsdale College

Jay Sekulow

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Chief Counsel, American Center for Law & Justice

Colleen Sheehan

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Associate Professor of Political Science, Villanova University

Justin Shubow

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President, National Civic Art Society

Mark Smith

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Carolina Distinguished Professor of History, University of South Carolina

John Stauffer

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Professor of English, American Literature, and Language, Harvard University

Richard K. Vedder

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Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics and Faculty Associate, Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University

Michael P. Zuckert

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Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame

Stephen Balch

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:07:58 +0000

Dr. Balch is the Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at Texas Tech University and the founder and president of the National Association of Scholars, America’s largest and most active membership organization of scholars committed to higher education reform. He holds a Ph.D in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and, for fourteen years, was a member of the Government faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and has played an important role in the founding of four other higher education reform organizations. He is the author of a variety of articles on the problems of higher education, his comments appear frequently in the media, and he has spoken before academic and general audiences on many campuses.

J. Hunter Brown

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:08:12 +0000

Mr. Brown was graduated from Hamilton College with an A.B. in English & French and received an M.B.A. in Finance from Xavier University. He is the founder and principal of Watson Wilkins & Brown, LLC, an investment management and business consulting firm. Previously, he served in various global capital markets capacities with J.P. Morgan. From 1999-2013 he served as a director of an initially publicly owned, now private, company in a variety of roles including Chairman of the Audit Committee, a member of the Nominating & Governance Committee, and the Compensation Committee. He has previously served as a director of National Auto Credit, Inc., then a NYSE listed company. He is a member of the Board of Executive Advisors to the Finance Department of the Williams College of Business of Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Xavier Student Investment Fund, an enhanced fixed income index fund managed by the students. He has previously served as a longtime trustee of the Wilton Historical Society. Mr. Brown was the founding President of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization.

Josiah Bunting III

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:08:29 +0000

General Bunting was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1963. He subsequently studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and at Columbia University as a John Burgess Fellow. During active duty with the United States Army, he served as an infantry officer in Vietnam with the Ninth Infantry Division. During his military career, General Bunting received the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Honor Medal--2nd class, Presidential Unit Citation, Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge, and Ranger Tab. Subsequently, he taught history at West Point and at the Naval War College. His administrative experience in higher education includes: President, Briarcliff College (1973-1977); President, Hampden-Sydney College (1977-1987); and Superintendent, VMI (1995-2003). General Bunting has published four novels, including The Lionheads (G. Braziller, 1972), a best-seller that was selected by Time Magazine as one of "The Ten Best Novels" of 1973. More recently, he has completed several works of non-fiction An Education for Our Time (Regnery 1998) and a biography Ulysses S. Grant (Times Book, 2004). He is chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's National Civic Literacy Board and president of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. He also serves on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Harlan Calkins

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:08:46 +0000

Richard A. Erlanger

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:09:03 +0000

Mr. Erlanger, a 1963 graduate of Hamilton College, has spent his entire career advising, managing, and investing in venture and private equity portfolio companies as an individual and as a member of investment groups. He has also taken full-time operating positions in troubled companies where his investment was at risk and hired successors once the operations were stabilized. His early career included stints at Arthur D. Little, Inc. and McKinsey & Company as well as GE Finance. Recent private equity and venture investments include LivHome (Home Health Care), Cape Cod Potato Chips, and Yofarm Yogurt. He graduated from the Taft School (1959), Hamilton College (1963) and Columbia University Graduate School of Business (1969-MBA Operations Research and Finance). During the Vietnam War Mr. Erlanger served as Engineering Officer on a destroyer in the Tonkin Gulf. He has been an active participant in the AHI since its inception.

Jane Fraser

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:09:17 +0000

Ms. Fraser has served, since 1981, as president of the Stuttering Foundation of America, a nonprofit organization for the prevention and treatment of stuttering. She received a degree in Russian and Linguistics at Bryn Mawr College and continued graduate work in both subjects at the Universite de Strasbourg, France. An experienced editor, translator, and interpreter, Ms. Fraser worked during her twenty years' residence in France for the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, and for the Assemblee Nationale in Paris. She has also served as editor or coeditor of numerous Foundation publications, among them Counseling Stutterers, Stuttering Therapy, Transfer and Maintenance, Do You Stutter: A Guide for Teens, Stuttering and Your Child: Questions and Answers, The Child Who Stutters: To the Pediatrician. She coauthored If Your Child Stutters: A Guide for Parents (1988, 2003, 2007). She has also served as Member, Advisory Council, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders, NIH (1996-2000); Member, Board of Trustees, Hamilton College (1991-1997). Honors include a grant from the Carnegie Foundation to further abroad her study of Russian; the Distinguished Alumnae of the Century Award from the Hutchison School, Memphis, TN in 2002; the Outstanding Service Award form the International Stuttering Association in Dubrovnik, Croatia in May 2007; and in December 2007, she was named Executive of the Year by The NonProfit Times.

Robert B. Hamill

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:09:39 +0000

Mr. Hamill is Managing Director at Jefferies & Company, Inc., a global securities and investment banking group. Hamill has been in Institutional Sales and Trading of Leveraged Credit Products for nearly 25 years. He was previously employed by Drexel Burnham Lambert, Citicorp, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers. He began his career on Wall Street at EF Hutton and Company in the Investment Banking Group. Hamill was elected a member of The Town Council of New Canaan, CT in 2009 and is serving a four year term in office. He is a member of the Hamilton College Parents Advisory Council. He is on the Board of The Litchfield Park Corporation. He is a member of D.O.C.A., an advocacy group affiliated with The Department of Defense and The State Department. Hamill earned his B.A. from Hamilton College with a major in Economics and a Minor in Math. He earned an M.B.A. from The Harvard Business School.

Carl Menges

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:09:55 +0000

Mr. Menges received his A. B. cum laude in 1951 from Hamilton College and his M.B.A in 1953 from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. In 1966 he joined the investment banking firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where, before its purchase in 2000 by Credit Suisse, he rose to the position of Vice Chairman. Mr. Menges also served at DLJ as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wood, Struthers & Winthrop Management Corp; Chairman, Financial Services Group; Managing Director of the Equities Division; Managing Director of the International Division; and Syndicate Manager for Banking and Institutional Sales Division. Before DLJ, Mr. Menges held the position of Divisional Marketing Manager for Owens Corning Fiberglass Corporation. He was Director, Tiedemann Investment Group; Trustee and Chairman of the Planning Committee of Hamilton College; Trustee of the Boys Club of New York; and Treasurer and Trustee of Allen Stevenson School. He is a Life Trustee of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City and Member, Investment and Budget Committee, Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Menges has a long-standing interest in history and the founding of the United States. In 2001 he sponsored a conference at Hamilton College on Alexander Hamilton. The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton (NYU Press, 2006) derived from that conference and is dedicated to Mr. Menges.

Howard D. Morgan

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:10:12 +0000

Mr. Morgan is CEO and President of CHI Equity LLC. CHI Equity is the successor firm to Castle Harlan, Inc. a private equity firm based in New York city which he joined in 1996. From 2000 to 2002, he was executive director of Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners (CHAMP), an affiliate of Castle Harlan in Sydney, Australia. He has been a founding director and executive committee member of CHAMP since its inception. Previously, Mr. Morgan was a partner at the Ropart Group, a private equity investment firm, where he was particularly instrumental in the acquisitions and growth of Blyth, Inc and XTRA Corporation. Mr. Morgan began his career as an associate at Allen & Company Inc., working in mergers and acquisitions and private equity. He is an officer and a board member of Branford Chain, Inc and its operating affiliates, and is a board member of CHAMP: AdobeAir, Inc; Ciao Bella Gelato Company; AmeriCast Technologies; the Harvard Business School Alumni Association; and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. He is a prior director of more than a dozen US, Australian, and UK businesses. Mr. Morgan received his B.A. from Hamilton College in mathematics and political science and his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

Anne D. Neal

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:10:28 +0000

Ms. Neal is president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization dedicated to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability in higher education. Prior to joining ACTA, she served in a senior role at the National Endowment for the Humanities and specialized in the First Amendment at the New York City law firm of Rogers & Wells. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in American history and literature and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School , where she served as the first woman editor of the Harvard Journal on Legislation.

James Schoff

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:10:40 +0000

Mr. Schoff graduated from Hamilton College (1968) and Cornell University Law School (1972). He subsequently spent nine years with the highly-respected law firm of Thompson, Hine & Flory (TH&F), specializing in partnership, tax, corporate and business law. In 1981, Mr. Schoff became a general partner of Diversified Equities. In February 1993, Mr. Schoff was a Founder and served as a Director of the newly formed Developers Diversified Realty Corporation (DDR). Mr. Schoff was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of DDR until 1998, when he became Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of DDR, and continued to serve on its board until 2002. In 2002, he assumed the role of Special Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of DDR and served in that capacity until his retirement in December, 2010. Mr. Schoff also serves as a Director of Associated Estates Corporation and as a Director of Quasar Energy Group. Mr. Schoff is past president of the Western Reserve Historical Society and the Near West Theater. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and of several advisory boards for University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.Science, University of Notre Dame

Chip Greene

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:11:26 +0000

Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114

John J. Vecchione, Esq.

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:11:39 +0000

Valad & Vecchione, PLLC 3863 Plaza Drive Fairfax, Virginia 22030

George Rockas

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:11:50 +0000

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP 155 Federal Street Boston, MA 02110-1727

Herbert J. Downing, Esq.

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:12:02 +0000

Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson, PC 3 Main Street Essex Junction, Vermont 05452

James W. Coupe

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:12:13 +0000

Attorney at law 777 South Figueroa Street Suite 4700 Los Angeles, CA 90017

Douglas Ambrose

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:13:01 +0000

Ambrose is professor of history at Hamilton College, where he has taught since 1990. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the State University of New York at Binghamton. His teaching and research interests include early America, the Old South, and American religious history. His publications include Henry Hughes and Proslavery Thought in the Old South (LSU 1996) and The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton: The Life and Legacy of America's Most Elusive Founding Father (NYU 2006), a volume he co-edited with Hamilton colleague Robert W. T. Martin. He has also written numerous articles, book reviews and encyclopedia entries about Southern slavery and Southern intellectual life. Ambrose is a recipient of Hamilton College’s Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award.

James Bradfield

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:13:16 +0000

Bradfield is the Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics at Hamilton College. He teaches courses in microeconomics and in the theory of financial markets. With Robert Paquette, he teaches a course on the role of property, both as a concept and as an institution, in the rise of the modern state. To an important extent, the AHI is an outgrowth of that course. Professor Bradfield has written (with Jeffrey Baldani and Robert Turner) Mathematical Economics, now published in a second edition (2005) by Thomson-Southwestern Learning, and Introduction to the Economics of Financial Markets (Oxford University Press, 2007). Known for years as an excellent teacher and academic advisor, he was awarded a prize for excellence in teaching in 2006 by the Hamilton Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In 2007, the Student Assembly of Hamilton College awarded him the Sidney Wertimer, Jr., prize for excellence in teaching. He is now working on a book that will explain for a lay audience what academic economists have learned about how, and how well, financial markets promote mutually beneficial exchanges.

Robert L. Paquette

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:13:43 +0000

Paquette received his B. A. cum laude in 1973 from Bowling Green State University; he received his Ph. D. with honors in 1982 from the University of Rochester. He has published dozens of books and articles on the history of slavery. His Sugar Is Made with Blood (Wesleyan University Press, 1988) won the Elsa Goveia Prize, given every three years by the Association of Caribbean Historians for the best book in Caribbean history. More recently, his essay "Of Facts and Fables: New Light on the Denmark Vesey Affair" (co-authored with Douglas Egerton) won the Malcolm C. Clark Award, given by the South Carolina Historical Society. He has co-edited (with Stanley Engerman) The Lesser Antilles in the Age of European Expansion (University Press of Florida, 1996); (with Louis A. Ferleger) Slavery, Secession, and Southern History (University Press of Virginia, 2000); (with Stanley Engerman and Seymour Drescher) Slavery (Oxford University Press, 2001); (with Mark M. Smith) The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas (Oxford University Press, 2010); with Rebecca J. Fox, "Unbought Grace": An Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Reader" (University of South Carolina Press, 2011); He is currently working on A Grand Carnage (Yale University Press), a study of the largest slave insurrection in United States history and, with Douglas Egerton, Court of Death: A Documentary History of the Denmark Vesey Affair (University Press of Florida). In 2005, the University of Rochester invited him to return to his alma mater to receive the Mary Young Award for distinguished achievement. A recipient of grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, the National Endowment of the Humanities,as well as for the AHI from VERITAS, Thomas W. Smith Foundation, Watson-Brown Foundation, Armstrong Foundation, Apgar Foundation, Jack Miller Center, and Charles G. Koch Foundation. In 2007, Paquette co-founded the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization. In 2006-2008, he served on the Scholars Council of the Jack Miller Center. In 2008 he was appointed to the advisory board of the Cobb Forum on Southern Jurisprudence and Intellectual Thought of the Watson-Brown Foundation. That same year President George W. Bush forwarded Paquette's nomination to the Senate for a seat on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2012, the American Freedom Alliance awarded him the Heroes of Conscience Award. He has taught at Hamilton College for thirty years. He held the Publius Virgilius Rogers Chair in American History for seventeen years until January 2011, when he resigned the title in protest. In 2013 The United States Commission on Civil Rights appointed him to the New York State Advisory Committee. In 2014, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the American Conservative Union Foundation awarded him the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom.

H. Lee Cheek

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:14:08 +0000

Dr. H. Lee Cheek, Jr., is Professor of Political Science and Religion at the University of North Georgia. He received his bachelor's degree from Western Carolina University, his M.Div. from Duke University, his M.P.A. from Western Carolina University, and his Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America. He previously served as Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Gainesville State College (University of North Georgia), as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Athens State University in Alabama, and as Vice-President for College Advancement and Professor of Political Science at Brewton-Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia. Dr. Cheek taught at Brewton-Parker College from 1997-2000, and from 2005-2009. In 2000, 2006, and 2007, the student body of Brewton-Parker College selected Cheek as Professor of the Year; and, in 2008, the Jordon Excellence in Teaching was bestowed upon him by the College's faculty and administration. From 2000 to 2005, Dr. Cheek served as Associate Professor of Political Science at Lee University. In 2002, Dr. Cheek was given Lee University’s Excellence in Scholarship award; and in 2004, he received Lee University's Excellence in Advising award. In 2008, Western Carolina University presented Dr. Cheek with the University's Distinguished Alumni Award for Academic and Professional Achievement. He has also been a congressional aide and a political consultant. Dr. Cheek's books include Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal (Transaction/Rutgers, 2001, with Kathy B. Cheek); Calhoun and Popular Rule, published by the University of Missouri Press (2001; paper edition, 2004); Calhoun: Selected Speeches and Writings (Regnery, 2003); Order and Legitimacy (Transaction/Rutgers, 2004); an edition of Calhoun's A Disquisition on Government (St. Augustine's, 2007); a critical edition of W. H. Mallock's The Limits of Pure Democracy (Transaction/Rutgers, 2007); a monograph on Wesleyan theology (Wesley Studies Society, 2010; reprinted, 2012); and an edition of the classic study, A Theory of Public Opinion (Transaction/Rutgers, 2011). He has also published dozens of scholarly articles in academic publications, and is a regular commentator on American politics and religion. Dr. Cheek’s current research includes completing an intellectual biography of Francis Graham Wilson (I.S.I. Books), a study of the American Founding (Continuum Books), and a book on Patrick Henry's constitutionalism and political theory. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Humanitas, The Political Science Reviewer, Anamnesis, The University Bookman, and as a Fellow of the Academy of Philosophy and Letters (elected). Cheek has been a Fellow of the Wilbur Foundation, the Earhart Foundation, the Center for Judicial Studies, and the Center for International Media Studies. Dr. Cheek lives in Vidalia, Georgia, with his wife, Kathy B. Cheek, a teacher of ballet and yoga, and their cats, Sophie and Mr. Macavity.

Theodore J. Eismeier

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:14:45 +0000

Eismeier is Professor of Government at Hamilton College, where he has taught since 1978. He graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College and received his Ph.D. with Distinction from Yale University. A recipient of the Class of 1962 Outstanding Teacher Award, he teaches courses in American political institutions and public policy and regularly directs the Hamilton College Semester in Washington Program. He is the editor with Douglas W. Rae of Public Policy and Public Choice (Sage, 1979). He is the author, with Philip H. Pollock, of Business, Money, and the Rise of Corporate PACs in American Politics (Quorum Books, 1988), and has published widely in professional journals on the subject of campaign finance. He is currently working on a project on the Hudson River and the Politics of Place. He resides in Clinton and Poughkeepsie with his wife Betsy.

Joseph R. Fornieri

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:15:11 +0000

Fornieri is Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, New York, where he teaches American politics, political philosophy, and constitutional rights and liberties. He is the author of Abraham Lincoln’s Political Faith (2005), an acclaimed scholarly work that explores Lincoln’s religion and politics. He is also the author or editor of three other books on Abraham Lincoln’s political thought and statesmanship: The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln (2003; revised ed. 2009); (with Kenneth L. Deutsch) Lincoln’s American Dream: Clashing Political Perspectives (2005); and (with Sara V. Gabbard) Lincoln’s America, 1809-1865 (2008). His Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman will be published in the spring, 2014. In addition, Fornieri has co-edited (with Kenneth L. Deutsch) An Invitation to Political Thought (2009), an introductory text to the classic political thinkers of the Western tradition from Plato to Nietzsche. Fornieri has won several teaching awards at RIT, including the Provost’s Award for outstanding teaching for junior faculty in 2002 and the Eisenhart Award for outstanding teaching for tenured faculty. He was a Fulbright Lecturer, 2008-2009 in Prague, Czech Republic where he taught American political thought and First Amendment Law at Charles University. He lives in Fairport New York with his wife Pam, his two daughters Bella and Natalie, and his two stepchildren J.J. and Helena. On the side, he plays guitar in a blues band.

Eric R. Hannis

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:15:31 +0000

Hannis is a Senior Fellow for Defense Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. His previous positions have been on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, on active duty military service as a U.S. Air Force officer, and in private sector government relations. His articles on national security and foreign affairs have been featured in, or cited in, U.S. News & World Report, RealClearPolitics.com, Forbes.com, Heritage.org, GX–The Guard Experience (official magazine of the National Guard), among other publications. In the private sector, he was Vice President and head of the defense practice at The Russ Reid Company, a government relations firm, as well as Executive Director at Etherton and Associates, a defense consulting firm. While at both firms, Hannis represented both small and large defense companies on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, as well as in other government agencies. Hannis currently serves as a Lt Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, as well as the German Armed Forces Military Proficiency Badge, gold level. He graduated with honors from Hamilton College, where he was a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity, and holds a J.D. from Catholic University School of Law with a certificate of specialization in international law.

Ann Hartle

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:16:10 +0000

Hartle is professor of philosophy at Emory University where she has taught since 1984. She has her doctorate from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her research is focused on the history of philosophy, especially early modern philosophy, and political philosophy. She is the author of four books: The Modern Self in Rousseau's "Confessions": A Reply to St. Augustine (Notre Dame, 1983), Death and the Disinterested Spectator: An Inquiry Into the Nature of Philosophy (SUNY Press, 1986), Self-Knowledge in the Age of Theory (Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), and Michel de Montaigne: Accidental Philosopher (Cambridge University Press, 2003). With Sheila O’Connor Ambrose, she co-edited volume 4 of History and Women, Culture, and Faith: Collected Papers of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (University of North Carolina Press, 2012). Currently she is working on a second book on Montaigne, Montaigne and the Origins of Modern Philosophy. She and her husband are members of St. Joseph’s Maronite Catholic Church in Atlanta.

Pamela K. Jensen

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:16:30 +0000

Jensen is Professor of Political Science at Kenyon College, where she has been teaching since 1979. She received her A.B. degree from Kent State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She teaches courses in modern political philosophy, the introduction to politics, politics and literature, and African-American political thought. Her scholarly interests include the philosophy of Montesquieu and Rousseau, Shakespeare, and the writings of African-American thinkers on liberal democracy. She has published essays in several journals and books on these subjects. She is contributing editor of Finding a New Feminism: Rethinking the Woman Question for Liberal Democracy. She was named Harry Clor Professor of Political Science for a five year term, and received the Trustees’ Senior Faculty teaching award at Kenyon in 1998 and the Senior Cup, given by Kenyon’s senior class, in 2000. She also served a two-year term on the national council of the American Political Science Association and a term as president of the Ohio Association of Scholars. She was project director for the We the People Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, awarded to Kenyon College in 2007 to establish the Center for the Study of American Democracy. She has a daughter, Rebecca, and three grandchildren, Col, Lily, and Quinn. She lives in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

Robert P. Kraynak

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:16:52 +0000

Kraynak is Professor of Political Science at Colgate University, Department Chairman, and Director of The Center for Freedom and Western Civilization. He came to Colgate in 1978 from Harvard University, where he received his Ph. D. in government. He teaches courses in the fields of political philosophy and general education, including courses on American political thought. He received the Colgate Alumni Corporation's "Distinguished Teaching Award" in 2006. His published books are History and Modernity in the Thought of Thomas Hobbes (Cornell University Press, 1990), Christian Faith and Modern Democracy (Notre Dame University Press, 2001), and In Defense of Human Dignity, edited with Glenn Tinder (Notre Dame University Press, 2003). He is a contributing author to Human Dignity and Bioethics, published by the President's Council on Bioethics. Kraynak served in the U. S, Army Reserves, is the faculty advisor to the College Republicans at Colgate, and is an active member of St. Mary's Church in the village of Hamilton, N.Y., where he lives with his wife, Sandra, and their four children.

Daniel J. Mahoney

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:17:12 +0000

Mahoney is Augustine Professor of Distinguished Scholarship and Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he has taught since 1986. He received his Ph.D. from Catholic University in February 1989. His areas of scholarly expertise include statesmanship, religion and politics, French politics and political philosophy, and antitotalitarian thought. His books include The Liberal Political Science of Raymond Aron (1992, 1998 for the French edition), De Gaulle: Statesmanship, Grandeur, and Modern Democracy (1996, 2000), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Ascent From Ideology (2001, 2008 for the augmented French edition) and Bertrand de Jouvenel: The Conservative Liberal and the Illusions of Modernity (2005). He has also edited or co-edited many books including, most notably, The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947-2005(2006). Mahoney’s essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in a wide range of public and scholarly journals in the United States and abroad. His writings have also appeared in French, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Norwegian, Czech, and Russian translation. His latest book, The Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order: Defending Democracy Against Its Modern Enemies and Immoderate Friends, was published by ISI books in 2011. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Prix Raymond Aron, an award named after the distinguished French political thinker, who renewed Tocqueville’s conservative-minded liberalism and vigorously opposed totalitarianism in all its forms. Mahoney lives in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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Claudia Nelson

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:17:33 +0000

Nelson earned her A.B. in history from Bryn Mawr College in 1980 and her Ph.D. in English from Indiana University in 1989. She is presently Professor of English and Cornerstone Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M University, where she has been a member of the faculty since 2003 and where for four years she directed the Women's and Gender Studies Program. Her research focuses on Victorian literature and childhood/family studies. In addition to several edited or co-edited volumes, her publications include Boys Will Be Girls: The Feminine Ethic and British Children's Fiction, 1857-1917 (Rutgers University Press, 1991); Invisible Men: Fatherhood in Victorian Periodicals, 1850-1910 (University of Georgia Press, 1995); Little Strangers: Portrayals of Adoption in America, 1850-1910 (supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship and winner of the Children's Literature Association's award for the best scholarly book); Family Ties in Victorian England, and Precocious Children and Childish Adults: Age Inversion in Victorian Literature, forthcoming, 2012 from Johns Hopkins University Press.

David Nichols

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:17:51 +0000

Nichols is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University. Before coming to Baylor, he was the Director of the Honors Program at Montclair State University, and has taught at Fordham University, Claremont McKenna College, and served as the Olin Senior Scholar at the University of Virginia. Nichols has also worked as a Program Officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities. His works includeThe Myth of the Modern Presidency (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994) (Arabic translation published 2002); “Constitutional Controversy and Presidential Election: Bush v. Gore" in The Constitutional Presidency, Joseph M. Bessette and Jeffrey K. Tulis, eds. (John Hopkins Press, 2009); and Readings in American Government (ed. with Mary Nichols) (Kendall/Hunt, 8th ed., 2010). In addition to his work on the presidency, Nichols writes on topics in American political thought, constitutional law, the American presidency, political parties and politics, literature and film. He and his wife Mary reside in Waco Texas, and have two sons, Keith and John.

Mary Nichols

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:18:10 +0000

Nichols is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at Baylor University. Before coming to Baylor in 2004, she taught in the political science department at Fordham University, in the Honors program at the University of Delaware, and as Visiting Professor of Government at Harvard University. She teaches courses in the history of political philosophy, politics, and literature, and politics and film. Her books include Socrates and the Political Community: An Ancient Debate (SUNY Press, 1987); Citizens and Statesmen: A Commentary on Aristotle's Politics (Rowman & Littlefield, 1992). Her book, Socrates on Friendship and Community: Reflections on Plato's Symposium, Phaedrus, and Lysis (Cambridge University Press, 2009). She and David Nichols co-edit Readings in American Government (Kendall/Hunt, 8th ed., 2010). She serves on the editorial boards of the Review of Politics and Perspectives on Political Science. She is also director of the project, "Contemporary Media and the Great Books: A New Approach to the Classics," a curriculum package that studies seminal texts in Western thought in conjunction with classical and contemporary American films. She and her husband David have two sons, Keith and John.

Juliana Geran Pilon

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:18:25 +0000

Juliana Geran Pilon earned her PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago. Her books include: and The Bloody Flag: Post-Communist Nationalism in Eastern Europe—Spotlight on Romania (1992); Every Vote Counts: The Role of Elections in Building Democracy (2007); Why America is Such a Hard Sell: Beyond Pride and Prejudice (2007); Cultural Intelligence for Winning the Peace (2009); and Soulmates: Resurrecting Eve (2011). Transaction Publishers has just released a new edition of her first book, Notes From the Other Side of Night, which tells the story of her family’s emigration from Romania when she was a teenager. Her anthology on civic education, Ironic Points of Light, was published in Estonian and Russian in 1998. She has also helped write and edit a textbook on civic education used, in country-specific versions, throughout Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, endorsed by the Departments of Education in those countries. Over the years she has published more than two hundred articles and reviews on international affairs, human rights, literature, and philosophy and has made frequent appearances on radio and television. Dr. Pilon has taught at several colleges and universities including the National Defense University, Air University’s Language and Culture Center, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, American University, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Institute of World Politics, where she was director of the Center for Culture and Security. In 2014, she helped found the Daniel Morgan Academy. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C. During the 1990s, she was first director and later vice president for programs at IFES (The International Foundation for Election Systems), where she designed and managed a wide variety of democratization-related projects. She has held post-doctoral fellowships in international relations at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and at the Institute of Humane Studies. During the 1980s she was Senior Policy Analyst in United Nations Studies at the Heritage Foundation.

Michael Rizzo

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:18:44 +0000

Rizzo is Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester. He majored in economics at Amherst College, where he was graduated magna cum laude in 1996. After graduation he worked for several years as an investment banker at Putnam, Lovell and Thornton (PLT) in New York City. He received graduate degrees in economics at Cornell University, an M. A. in 2002 and Ph.D. in 2004. Professor Rizzo’s fields of specialization include the economics of education, labor economics, applied econometrics, and environmental economics. He also serves as a faculty research associate with the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute and as a consultant with Scannell & Kurz, Inc., an enrollment management firm based in Rochester, NY. Professor Rizzo is working on two books: one on economic aphorisms and another on the economic, logical, and moral inconsistencies inherent in some of our most deeply held beliefs. His also specializes in teaching basic economics to non-academic audiences. He has published articles on economics in a wide variety of newspapers and has appeared on Fox News and many other national media outlets. Professor Rizzo maintains a blog, “The Unbroken Window,” designed as an educational resource to elevate public literacy in economics. Professor Rizzo lives with his wife Rachel, their daughter Amelia and son Isaac, and their two Boston Terriers in Bushnell’s Basin, NY.

Christopher Hill

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:19:28 +0000

Chris Hill earned his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and has advanced degrees in both medieval and modern European history. He has taught at the University of Texas and Hamilton College, where he received the Sidney Wertimer Award for excellence in teaching in 2010. A legal historian by training, he is particularly interested in the relationship between religion and law during the high Middle Ages and the impact that relationship had on the idea of individual liberty in the developing English common law. An ardent critic of political orthodoxy in academe, he wrote while a graduate student a novel satirizing political correctness on a fictional college campus. The book, Virtual Morality, won the Editors’ Book Award from Pushcart Press in the year 2000. His reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal. He is currently researching the history of the concept of liberty as a Bakwin Fellow at the AHI. He and his wife, Stephanie, live with their three children in Waterville, NY.

Sheila O'Connor-Ambrose

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:20:21 +0000

Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose earned a Ph.D. in women’s studies from Emory University in 2007, working under the direction of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. O’Connor-Ambrose edited Fox-Genovese’s posthumously published Marriage: The Dream That Refuses to Die (ISI Books, 2008), and, with Ann Hartle, she co-edited Explorations and Commitments: Religion, Faith, and Culture, Volume IV of History and Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (University of South Carolina Press, 2012). O’Connor-Ambrose is working on a book about contemporary novelist Gail Godwin. She and Douglas Ambrose, AHI Charter Fellow, co-direct the Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason. They have three children, Antonia, Augusta, and Dominic, and live in Utica, New York.

David Frisk

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:20:42 +0000

David Frisk received his Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University in 2009 with specialties in American politics and political philosophy. He is also a graduate of Reed College with a degree in history. His publications include If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), a comprehensive biography of a significant conservative leader that was favorably reviewed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and several other major outlets. Frisk taught American government at Concordia University in California and worked at the Claremont Institute. An alumnus of the National Journalism Center and a former award-winning newspaper reporter, he has published numerous opinion articles in the Jefferson Policy Journal of the Thomas Jefferson Institute in Virginia as well as essays for the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal California and for the Claremont Review of Books. He is one of several contributors to the 2013 edition of The Political Science Reviewer, which provides a range of scholarly commentaries on Conservatism in America: Making Sense of the American Right. During the spring semester of 2013, Frisk was awarded the AHI’s Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship. At the AHI, Dr. Frisk will continue work on a book that explores the shared principles of traditionalist and libertarian conservatism. He is organizing and will contribute to a book of scholarly essays tentatively titled The Goldwater Campaign 50 Years Later: New Perspectives. He is also preparing an essay on the Nixon presidency for a volume on American statesmanship to be co-edited by AHI Senior Fellow Joseph Fornieri of the Rochester Institute of Technology and Kenneth Deutsch of the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Mary Grabar

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:20:57 +0000

Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

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Ted Eismeier

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Grand opening of The Encounter Bookshelf

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Annelein de Dijn, Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of Amsterdam

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AHI Student Fellows 2012

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AHI Student Fellows 2012

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Oxford Handbook jacket

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AHI Student Fellows 2012

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Kayla Safran

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Save the Date - April 2012 Colloquium

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Save the Date - April 2012 Colloquium

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IMG_0387 marta johnson

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Angelo Balbo

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Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

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Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

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Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

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Carl B. Menges and Roger Kimball at the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Guests mingle before the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Guests gather for the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Carl B. Menges and Roger Kimball at the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Guests mingle before the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Guests gather for the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Carl B. Menges and Roger Kimball at the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Guests gather for the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Guests mingle before the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson.

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AHI President Richard Erlanger opens the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose.

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Guests listen as colloquium speakers begin.

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AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson

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Honored guests at the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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AHI Undergraduate Thomas Cheesman addresses attendees.

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AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield.

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AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette.

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AHI keynote speaker Roger Kimball.

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Keynote speaker Roger Kimball.

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Social commentator Roger Kimball addresses guests at the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Roger Kimball discusses numismatics and limited government.

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Guests listen to Roger Kimball, Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books.

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Panel discussion at the AHI Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

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Colloquium panel.

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:28:39 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield participates in panel discussions.

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:29:47 +0000

01 Panel 3 Q&A - 04132012

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:24:03 +0000

Q and A

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:41:19 +0000

Q and A

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:48:55 +0000

Savage pic

AHIadmin — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:45:32 +0000

Larson pic

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:06:44 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield.

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:10:06 +0000

Radio Interview with Bob Paquette and Mary Grabar

AHIadmin — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:26:57 +0000

Tina Trent Headshot (1)

AHIadmin — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:27:50 +0000

AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill welcomes attendants.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:22:46 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette honors James & Alice Bradfield.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:27:21 +0000

Paquette presents the Bradfields with dedicatory plaque.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:28:18 +0000

Dedicatory plaque in honor of James & Alice Bradfield.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:28:56 +0000

Alice Bradfield thanking guests.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:29:34 +0000

James & Alice Bradfield jointly addressing guests.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:30:42 +0000

James Bradfield speaks.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:33:07 +0000

Alice Bradfield and friends.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:34:05 +0000

Bradfield friends Joseph Plado and Kit Blackmore.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:34:32 +0000

James Bradfield chats with guests.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:35:10 +0000

Young and old attend Bradfield ceremony.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:35:34 +0000

AHI Fellows Sheila O'Connor-Ambrose and Chris Hill.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:36:33 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose opens ceremony.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:37:07 +0000

Ted Eismeier (center) chats with son Tim and Professors Jay Williams and Jeff Pliskin.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:37:56 +0000

Professor John O'Neal with friends.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:38:18 +0000

Eismeier chats with Professor Jay Williams.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:38:52 +0000

Eismeier with AHI Friends Rodger and Chris Potocki.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:39:18 +0000

Hamilton Alum Frank Vlossak and Professor Sharon Rivera converse.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:39:43 +0000

Friends gather at AHI to Honor Ted Eismeier.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:40:11 +0000

Alice Bradfield with Hamilton Alum Sam Bowlby.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:40:37 +0000

Professor John O'Neal with friends.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:41:18 +0000

Eismeier with former student Sam Bowlby.

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:42:12 +0000

Schnidman Photo

AHIadmin — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 03:34:07 +0000

The AHI’s Fifth Annual Summer Conference in session.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:32:48 +0000

Dr. William Mathie, Brock University, Ontario (2nd from right), responds to discussion leaders in session on new natural law theorists.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:34:34 +0000

Baylor graduate students (l to r) Christopher Bissex, Adam Carrington, and Mary Mathie join AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill in discussion of natural law.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:36:06 +0000

Baylor Graduate student Miriel Thomas (center) responds to question at annual summer conference.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:36:25 +0000

Conference organizer Mary Nichols & husband David (sitting) thank Martha Rice Martini, Esq. & Professor Robert Kraynak, Colgate University.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:37:14 +0000

Conference participants (l to r) Dr. William Mathie, Dr. Thomas Pope, Vince Reighard, David Little, Catherine Mathie, and Stephen Sims.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:38:23 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette concludes summer conference with an ovation for organizers Professors David and Mary Nichols of Baylor University.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:39:02 +0000

Signed poster announcing the Fifth Annual Summer Conference.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:39:34 +0000

Conference participants included professors, graduate and undergraduate students, and a wide variety of informed citizens from the region.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:40:09 +0000

Participants in the Fifth Annual Summer Conference in front of AHI headquarters.

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:40:35 +0000

Filipiak LinkedIn Photo 11-14-2011

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:15:45 +0000

ADP and AHI intern Dan Hughes in front of AHI headquarters

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:42:37 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield and Hughes at AHI with portrait of Samuel Eels, founder of ADP, in the background

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:43:45 +0000

Encounter Bookstore gets a face-lift!

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:35:47 +0000

Encounter Bookstore

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:36:06 +0000

Encouter Bookstore has been renovated

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:36:24 +0000

Bookstore now carries AHI T-shirts and mugs

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:36:47 +0000

AHI mug at the Bookstore

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:37:00 +0000

More space to browse at the Bookstore

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:37:27 +0000

New items at Encounter Bookstore

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:37:41 +0000

New look for Bookstore

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:37:56 +0000

New publications at Encounter Bookstore

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:38:15 +0000

AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill.

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Douglas Egerton Poster (1)

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:42:15 +0000

Milne Picture 2

AHIadmin — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:02:33 +0000

ahi1

AHIadmin — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:04:30 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette.

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:09:10 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette.

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:13:25 +0000

milne revised

AHIadmin — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:34:06 +0000

Rahe Constitution Day Lecture 2012

AHIadmin — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:13:56 +0000

Poster Announcing the Fifth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:29:38 +0000

Paul Rahe speaks with AHI Undergraduate Fellows

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:41:18 +0000

Guests chat at reception for Paul Rahe

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:42:20 +0000

Republican Club leader converses with AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:42:58 +0000

Paquette introduces Paul Rahe

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:43:22 +0000

Paul Rahe discusses republican constitutionalism at AHI Leadership Dinner

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:43:51 +0000

Paul Rahe responds to questions from Publius Society leader Max Schnidman

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:44:21 +0000

Robert Gemborys

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:32:02 +0000

Jamie Lee

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:32:55 +0000

Kristine Oren

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:38:49 +0000

Genovese

AHIadmin — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:11:49 +0000

Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose arrives

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:30:46 +0000

Douglas Ambrose chats with friends at the bon voyage party

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:32:28 +0000

Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose and guests at cocktails

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:33:07 +0000

Guests gather to wish Doug and Sheila bon voyage

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:33:50 +0000

Bob Paquette speaks with guests

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:34:20 +0000

Douglas Ambrose addresses family and friends

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:34:45 +0000

Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose addresses guests

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:35:09 +0000

Chris Hill speaks at the send off

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:35:34 +0000

The AHI wishing Doug and Sheila well

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:36:01 +0000

Members of the Ambrose family pose for pictures

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:36:34 +0000

Kayla1

AHIadmin — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:28:19 +0000

Kayla2

AHIadmin — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:30:40 +0000

Kayla3

AHIadmin — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:34:55 +0000

Adults and students at dinner for Harvey Klehr

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:39:52 +0000

Harvey Klehr chats informally with students at reception

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:40:14 +0000

Harvey Klehr speaking on McCarthyism in the AHI's Banquet Room

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:40:29 +0000

Harvey Klehr speaks at Edmund Burke Association event

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:40:47 +0000

Harvey Klehr with students at reception

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:41:16 +0000

Leadership Dinner for Harvey Klehr

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:41:44 +0000

Liberty Fellow Thomas Cheeseman converses with Professor Robert Kraynak of Colgate and Catharine Westlake at Klehr reception

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:42:10 +0000

More students at Leadership Dinner for Harvey Klehr

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:42:28 +0000

Sarah Larson (left) and Matias Wolansky question Professor Klehr

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:42:46 +0000

Students listen to Professor Klehr discuss Soviet espionage during the Cold War

AHIadmin — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:43:05 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette introduces Maurice Isserman.

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:56:38 +0000

Professor Isserman answers questions from the audience.

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:57:03 +0000

Professor Isserman speaks to a full house.

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:57:29 +0000

Professor Maurice Isserman begins powerpoint presentation on the Election of 1960.

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:57:51 +0000

Doug on TV in Croatia

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 17:14:39 +0000

Red Cross personnel prepare the AHI's for blood drive.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:53:45 +0000

AHI Liberty Fellow Thomas Cheesman helps Red Cross staff.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:05:15 +0000

Alpha Delta Phi President David Goldstein leads brothers to the blood drive.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:09:02 +0000

Alexandra Aronson, Alpha Theta Chi Sorority, joins Goldstein in donating blood.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:11:26 +0000

Red Cross at the AHI's headquarters.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:13:28 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield prepares to give blood.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:14:50 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette first in line.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:16:06 +0000

Paquette salutes Bradfield in giving blood.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:17:16 +0000

Red Cross personnel instructing AHI's Bradfield.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:18:42 +0000

AHI fellows Thomas Cheesman and Landry Frei pitch in.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:20:12 +0000

Red Cross personnel ready to go.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:21:18 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield (far right) moderates panel.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:43:29 +0000

Audience fills AHI headquarters.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:43:58 +0000

Chad Graves and James Bradfield listen to fellow panelists.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:44:22 +0000

Chad Graves, Morgan Stanley.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:44:39 +0000

Howard Morgan responding to questions.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:44:57 +0000

L to R Robert Hamill, Jefferies & Co. and Howard Morgan, Castle Harlan.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:45:15 +0000

Robert Hamill responding to questions.

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:45:34 +0000

Stephen Sweet speaks about opportunities with Koch to AHI Undergraduate Fellows

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:58:07 +0000

A dinner meeting of the minds at the AHI on the importance of economic freedom

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:59:29 +0000

Max Schnidman and Sarah Larson listen to the presentation

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:02:14 +0000

Retiring Utica College Professor Frank Bergmann addresses dinner guests.

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:21:44 +0000

President Hutton thanks guest-of-honor Bill Kauffman.

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:22:11 +0000

President Hutton mingles with guests in the AHI's Bradfield Room.

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:22:30 +0000

AHI's Paquette addresses guests.

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:22:48 +0000

AHI board member J. Hunter Brown welcomes guests.

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:23:10 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette chats with Utica College board member J.K. Hage.

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:23:28 +0000

Utica College President Todd Hutton (R) with Utica College Board Chairman Larry Gilroy (C) and AHI Fellow Chris Hill.

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:23:58 +0000

r2AHI Annual Report_Cover

AHIadmin — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:25:13 +0000

AHI 2012 Annual Report Final

AHIadmin — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:26:35 +0000

Dr. David Frisk Speaking at the AHI on The Election of 1980 (2)

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 20:35:20 +0000

IMG_5831--3

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:10:02 +0000

Dr. Frisk (800x533)

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:12:59 +0000

Dr. Frisk (640x427)

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:15:58 +0000

Kauffman-Speech

AHIadmin — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:45:00 +0000

Updated CPET 12-13 Calendar

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:52:24 +0000

Save the Date - April 2013 Colloquium

AHIadmin — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:48:31 +0000

Bob NAS March 2013

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 02:58:43 +0000

Guests at AHI reception for Law Professor William A. Jacobson

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:13:29 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellows and guests dine with Professor Jacobson

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:14:08 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette speaks with Professor Jacobson

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:14:49 +0000

Professor William Jacobson is Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Securities Law Clinic at Cornell University Law School

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:16:52 +0000

Eismeier & Frisk 11-17 horiz poster

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:31:22 +0000

Landry Frei - AHI Picture

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:57:04 +0000

Minogue Poster

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:13:35 +0000

minoguek

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:16:21 +0000

potocki photo

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:03:21 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellows mingle prior to leadership dinner with Professor Michael Kazin

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:59:18 +0000

Georgetown Professor Michael Kazin with AHI dinner guests

AHIadmin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Leadership dinner with Professor Kazin

AHIadmin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:32 +0000

Professor Bob Paquette and guests

AHIadmin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:01:06 +0000

Professor Michael Kazin speaks with AHI Undergraduate Fellows

AHIadmin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:01:37 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:46:59 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette speaks to banquet guests about the AHI's past, present and future

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:47:38 +0000

AHI Director's dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:48:16 +0000

AHI Fellow Professor Chris Hill chats with senior Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:48:46 +0000

AHI guests enjoy each others company

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:49:18 +0000

AHI panel discussions at Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:49:50 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball speaks to banquet guests

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:50:22 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:50:53 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman speaks to guests at the AHI Director's dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:51:23 +0000

AHI's Sixth Annual Colloquium panel

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:52:01 +0000

Banquet guests listen to speakers at opening evening gala

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:52:38 +0000

Carl B. Menges speaks to banquet guests in a remembrance to Fran Musselman

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:53:11 +0000

Carl Menges addresses guests at the AHI Director's dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:53:45 +0000

Guests at the AHI Director's dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:54:22 +0000

Guests at the Friday evening Director's dinner at the AHI

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:55:05 +0000

Guests enjoy dinner conversation and great food at the Director's dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:55:42 +0000

Guests mingle prior to opening evening festivities

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:56:16 +0000

Dr. Leslie Marsh speaks at Oakeshott luncheon

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:58:26 +0000

Keynote speaker Dr. James Kurth and Dr. Leslie Marsh at the AHI Director's dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:59:00 +0000

Keynote speaker Dr. James Kurth and Professor Robert Kraynak

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:59:35 +0000

Keynote speaker Dr. James Kurth discusses the works of Samuel Huntington

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:00:10 +0000

Keynote speaker Dr. James R. Kurth

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:00:46 +0000

Oakeshott luncheon

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:01:31 +0000

Panel Discussion AHI colloquium

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:02:00 +0000

Professor Paquette welcomes guests at the AHI Director's dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:02:31 +0000

Professor Paquette with Marta Johnson, one of the evenings three senior Undergrauate Fellow honorees

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:03:07 +0000

Special luncheon guests Dr. Leslie Marsh and Michael Oakeshott Association

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:03:40 +0000

Timothy Minella

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:45:23 +0000

Boyce photo

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 May 2013 00:15:09 +0000

Copy of Diana Schaub's book on Montesquieu

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:51:45 +0000

The Montesquieu Group assembled for dinner

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:56:38 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Introduces Diana Schaub

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:58:02 +0000

Montesquieu Group dining with Professor Schaub

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:58:31 +0000

Professor Schaub answers questions from Marta Johnson (r) and Mary Farrington

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:59:23 +0000

Professor Schaub converses with the Montesquieu Group

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:59:59 +0000

Professor Schaub discusses Montesquieu at Leadership Dinner

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:00:25 +0000

The Montesquieu Group assembled for dinner

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:01:04 +0000

Summer conference participants

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 12:54:10 +0000

Professor Paul Seaton

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 12:58:25 +0000

Professor Diane Schaub

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 21:46:48 +0000

Opening of conference Bob Paquette addresses gathering

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 21:48:07 +0000

AHI's Bob Paquette addresses attendees

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 21:58:22 +0000

Attendees listen to conference speakers

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:38:20 +0000

Conference organizers, Professors David & Mary Nichols

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:38:57 +0000

Conference panelists

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:39:19 +0000

Panelists at the AHI's 2013 summer conference

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:39:44 +0000

Professor Mary Nichols

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:40:22 +0000

Professor Mary Nichols speaks to attendees

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:40:44 +0000

2013 summer conference participants

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:41:24 +0000

wild wings

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 18:52:51 +0000

wild wings 2

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 18:54:52 +0000

wild wings 3

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 18:56:12 +0000

Picture Hugo Naulot

AHIadmin — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 00:41:09 +0000

2013 Auto Show a success

AHIadmin — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 08:47:07 +0000

2013 Auto Show co-sponsored by Clinton Chamber of Commerce and the AHI

AHIadmin — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 08:48:48 +0000

Guests at the 2013 Auto Show

AHIadmin — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 08:51:41 +0000

2013 Auto Show

AHIadmin — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 08:52:49 +0000

Sixth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 13:07:28 +0000

Sixth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 14:17:17 +0000

Book jacket

AHIadmin — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:54:44 +0000

Hamilton Lecture poster at Skidmore

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 13:39:27 +0000

Skidmore poster

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 13:47:36 +0000

Sarah Scarlet

AHIadmin — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 15:21:13 +0000

HAMILTON COLLEGE: CHRISTIAN GOODWILLIE

AHIadmin — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 00:18:19 +0000

Christian Goodwillie, Director of Special Collections and Archives at Hamilton College on Monday, October 10, 2011. (PHOTO BY NANCY L. FORD)

Lecture by Stephen J. Goldberg on China and the West

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:12:22 +0000

Goldberg

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:18:31 +0000

augustine on war

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 18:41:17 +0000

thomas aquinas on war

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 18:45:11 +0000

Francisco de Vitoria on War

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 18:47:02 +0000

Bunting

AHIadmin — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 00:02:00 +0000

Blood drive 2013

AHIadmin — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:06:53 +0000

Ford, Morality of Obliteration Bombing

AHIadmin — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 14:22:22 +0000

Anscombe, Mr. Truman's Degree (1958)

AHIadmin — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 14:23:34 +0000

Anscombe, War and Murder (1961)

AHIadmin — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 14:24:16 +0000

Introduction to 6th Annual David Aldrich Nelson lecture at Texas A&M

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:16:45 +0000

Professor Whittington delivers 6th Annual David Aldrich Nelson lecture at Texas A&M

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:32:31 +0000

Professor Keith Whittington

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:33:33 +0000

Professor Keith Whittington speaks on constitutional jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:34:37 +0000

Introduction to 6th Annual David Aldrich Nelson lecture at Texas A&M

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:41:03 +0000

Professor Whittington delivers 6th Annual David Aldrich Nelson lecture at Texas A&M

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:45:45 +0000

Professor Keith Whittington

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:46:48 +0000

Professor Keith Whittington speaks on constitutional jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 10:47:55 +0000

Introduction to 6th Annual David Aldrich Nelson speaker

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 11:00:19 +0000

Introduction to 6th Annual David Aldrich Nelson speaker

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 11:04:42 +0000

US Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 14:31:05 +0000

Capizzi and Baer on Just War Theories

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 14:32:17 +0000

AHI Menges Awards Dinner Guests

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:41:35 +0000

Menges award winners at a special dinner in their honor.

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:45:36 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Jack Boyle.

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:50:03 +0000

Capizzi 11-17 horiz poster jpg

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 01:04:12 +0000

Red Cross staff prepares the AHI Banquet Room for blood drive

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 17:22:40 +0000

Red Cross truck at the AHI for past ADP/AHI blood drive

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 17:23:54 +0000

Alpha Delta Phi Brother gives blood

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 17:25:00 +0000

Alpha Delta Phi Brothers (l to r) Neil Buckley, Will Chouraqui, Cole Dreyfuss, Nick Levy support the Red Cross

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 17:25:45 +0000

Clinton resident gives blood at ADP and AHI blood drive

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 17:26:51 +0000

prz letter image

AHIadmin — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:40:45 +0000

AHI guests enjoy dinner to honor General Josiah Bunting

AHIadmin — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 16:10:53 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson

AHIadmin — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 16:11:33 +0000

AHI's Professor Christopher Hill speaks with guests following Bunting lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 16:12:13 +0000

General Bunting and guests at AHI dinner following his Veterans Day lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 16:13:25 +0000

General Josiah Bunting speaks with guests following his November 11 lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 05:24:55 +0000

General Josiah Bunting speaks with guests

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 05:25:26 +0000

Guests mingle at AHI dinner for General Josiah Bunting III

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 05:25:56 +0000

Poster announcement for Vetrans Day lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 05:26:38 +0000

2013 Annual Report Cover

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:15:51 +0000

r4AlexHam AR_2014_Singles Final

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:25:19 +0000

Justin_Shubow

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 20:30:21 +0000

Ragosta pic

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 21:41:26 +0000

Paquette Award 2014

AHIadmin — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 17:21:40 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECLQdUb-24s&t=46m20s

Lee Garcia

AHIadmin — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 18:14:44 +0000

Paquette with award

AHIadmin — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:50:02 +0000

Pquette and Zoya

AHIadmin — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:51:15 +0000

2014-7th Annual Carl Menges Colloquium

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:37:58 +0000

Gottfried P 11x17 vert poster

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 22:13:34 +0000

Paul_Gottfried

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 22:15:35 +0000

Carl Scott pres

AHIadmin — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 23:47:01 +0000

RIT homepage (640x125)

AHIadmin — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 20:57:51 +0000

140414 ahi org chart

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:00:08 +0000

undergrads poster

AHIadmin — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 19:53:05 +0000

Malaga poster

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 19:33:03 +0000

Fuller

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 19:37:24 +0000

Paul Gottfried Professor of Humanities and Raffensperger Chair Emeritus, Elizabethtown College.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:43:39 +0000

Participants listen to April 4 panel discussion.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:44:24 +0000

Participants in panel discussion on War before Western Civilization.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:44:54 +0000

Panelists listen to discussion during Carl B. Menges colloquium.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:45:22 +0000

Miri Eisin, Security Studies, Haifa University.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:45:46 +0000

Matthew Zeller, Adjunct Fellow, American Security Project.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:46:09 +0000

Mackubin Owens, Professor, National Security Affairs, U. S. Naval War College.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:46:33 +0000

Lauren Hall, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:46:55 +0000

Joseph Capizzi, Associate Professor of Moral Theology, Catholic University.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:47:21 +0000

John Kelsay, Distinguished Research Professor, Florida State University.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:47:54 +0000

John Kelsay and Chris Hill listen to panelists at CArl B. Menges colloquium.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:48:30 +0000

Edward Barrett, Director of Strategy and Research Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, U.S. Naval Academy.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:49:16 +0000

Doug Macdonald, Associate Professor of Political Science, Colgate University.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:49:48 +0000

David Frisk, Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:50:28 +0000

Colloquium panel.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:51:12 +0000

Chris Hill (discussion leader), Resident Fellow, AHI.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:52:01 +0000

Alfred Kelly, Edgar B. Graves Professor of History, Hamilton College.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:52:37 +0000

Alex Crowther, Adjunct Research Professor, Strategic Studies Institute.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:53:01 +0000

A student addresses the panel at the Carl B. Menges colloquium.

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:53:35 +0000

A packed house at the AHI Director's Dinner.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:04:19 +0000

AHI President Richard Erlanger and table guests.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:05:01 +0000

AHI President Richard Erlanger.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:05:32 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:05:57 +0000

AHI's Bob Paquette says a few words at the Director's Dinner.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:06:23 +0000

AHI's Doug Ambrose addresses guests at the AHI's Director's Dinner.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:06:58 +0000

AHI's Richard Erlanger and J. Hunter Brown at the Director's dinner.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:07:28 +0000

Bob and Zoya Paquette at the AHI Director's Dinner.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:08:00 +0000

Carl B Menges and Chris Hill at the AHI Director's Dinner.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:08:29 +0000

Carl B. Menges and table guests at the Director's Dinner.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:08:55 +0000

Guests at the Director's Dinner at the AHI heaquarters in Clinton, NY.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:09:42 +0000

J. Hunter Brown addresses guests.

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 May 2014 00:10:24 +0000

headshot

AHIadmin — Sun, 04 May 2014 15:57:50 +0000

fornieri

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:28:20 +0000

2014 summer conference schedule

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 18:46:07 +0000

summer conference

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 16:41:13 +0000

Panelists at Sixth Annual AHI Summer Conference

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 03:46:28 +0000

Some of the attendees at the AHI Summer Conference

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 03:55:01 +0000

AHI's Bob Paquette addresses attendees at the 2014 Summer Conference

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 04:04:35 +0000

Panel speakers listen to questions at the 2014 Summer Conference

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 04:06:06 +0000

AHI Summer Conference panel leader Dr. James Ceaser, Harry F. Byrd Professor of Politics, University of Virginia

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 04:17:04 +0000

AHI's Chris Hill speaks at the 2014 Summer Conference

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 04:19:22 +0000

AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 00:59:14 +0000

David Nichols during a panel discussion

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 00:59:45 +0000

Mary Nichols listens session conversation

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 01:00:12 +0000

Panelists Christine Basil and Debbie O'Malley

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 01:00:40 +0000

CSLL graphic header RIT

AHIadmin — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:22:09 +0000

Mary Grabar

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 16:41:22 +0000

CSLL

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 16:59:43 +0000

CheekOffice

AHIadmin — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 16:33:09 +0000

Tyranny

AHIadmin — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:02:54 +0000

Dartmouth

AHIadmin — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:05:39 +0000

Constitution day 2014 at RIT

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:29:55 +0000

skidmore september 2014 lecture

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 16:32:39 +0000

William Boudreau

AHIadmin — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 16:21:11 +0000

Guests at AHI open house

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:11:36 +0000

Professor Ambrose at the AHI open house

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:14:54 +0000

Students join us at the AHI open house

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:16:25 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Joe Simonson and Michael Adamo

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:26:04 +0000

Dr. James Stoner

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:52:34 +0000

Dr. James Stoner discusses constitutional law at Skidmore

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:53:04 +0000

Flagg Taylor, Associate Professor of Government at Skidmore College introduces Dr. Stoner

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:53:34 +0000

Dr. Stoner speaks to attendees

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:54:02 +0000

Attendees at Constitution Day lecture at Skidmore

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:55:16 +0000

Constitution Day lecture at Skidmore

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:55:55 +0000

Dr. Stoner delivers Constitution Day lecture at Skidmore

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:58:13 +0000

Israel presentation

AHIadmin — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 21:02:12 +0000

Israel presentation

AHIadmin — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 21:05:59 +0000

Israel presentation

AHIadmin — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 21:07:57 +0000

Center 2014 logo

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:04:12 +0000

Center 2014 small logo

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:35:37 +0000

Center 2014 small logo

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:40:55 +0000

Center 2014 super small logo

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:57:57 +0000

Bissex poster

AHIadmin — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:45:36 +0000

Bissex

AHIadmin — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 22:41:43 +0000

Bissex dinner

AHIadmin — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 22:42:46 +0000

Bissex dinner

AHIadmin — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 22:44:27 +0000

Blood drive

AHIadmin — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 22:52:04 +0000

lincoln event poster

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 13:11:35 +0000

A strong turnout for the event.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:21:30 +0000

Moderators: AHIs Doug Ambrose and MVCCs Michael Green.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:21:57 +0000

Candidate Dawn C. Lupi.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:23:09 +0000

Candidate Julia Brouillette.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:23:58 +0000

Candidate Karen Stanislaus.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:24:35 +0000

Candidates answer questions at the debate.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:25:05 +0000

Carol Torok-Huxtable speaks at the debate.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:26:03 +0000

Participant listen to the candidates debate.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:26:30 +0000

The three candidates listen to audience questions.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:27:05 +0000

The three candidates running for Oneida County Family Court judge.

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:27:29 +0000

The Lincoln dinner at AHI headquarters was well attended.

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 15:37:43 +0000

Professor Doug Ambrose speaks to attendees.

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 15:43:06 +0000

Professor Joseph Fornieri speaks on Lincoln.

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 15:56:48 +0000

Our distinguished panel.

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:06:13 +0000

AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:07:28 +0000

The honorable Frank J. Williams, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and co-founder of the Lincoln Forum.

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:08:38 +0000

Brothers of Psi Upsilon

AHIadmin — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:12:42 +0000

Brothers of Psi Upsilon

AHIadmin — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:14:07 +0000

December 2nd debate on the Declaration of Independence at Colgate University

AHIadmin — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 18:20:06 +0000

50th Anniversary of Goldwater Campaign

AHIadmin — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 22:33:03 +0000

Modern Tyranny video image

AHIadmin — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 15:20:57 +0000

CentersReportThirdDraft112014

AHIadmin — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 02:55:33 +0000

Pope Report

AHIadmin — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 02:58:27 +0000

Curt Smith book signing

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 01:55:11 +0000

Curt Smith signs copies of his latest book

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 01:55:44 +0000

At the book signing

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 01:56:20 +0000

Former George H.W. Bush speechwriter Curt Smith

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 01:57:01 +0000

AHI presents a new documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield

AHIadmin — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 12:36:30 +0000

AHI Annual Report 2014

AHIadmin — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 15:32:39 +0000

AHI Annual Report picture

AHIadmin — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 15:40:09 +0000

Attendees listen to filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:30:42 +0000

Filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield addresses an eager audience

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:31:13 +0000

Filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield addresses film audience

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:31:40 +0000

Filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield discusses her documentary

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:32:04 +0000

Filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:32:29 +0000

Post-film discussion led by filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:32:53 +0000

Professor Paquette greets a documentary viewer

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:33:14 +0000

Professor Paquette introduces the documentary

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:33:47 +0000

AHI Charter fellow speaks to David M. DesRosiers, publisher of Real Clear Politics, who traveled to Clinton for the event and to visit the AHI

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 20:26:23 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette speaks to David M. DesRosiers, publisher of Real Clear Politics, who traveled to Clinton for the Heather Mac Donald event and to visit the AHI

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 20:34:06 +0000

Joe Buck

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 00:07:04 +0000

MA57.2_Busick-Cheek_Galley2_

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 00:26:54 +0000

Enquiry26-4-27-2015

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 00:53:00 +0000

Simulating Intelligence

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 01:05:05 +0000

alex752 (1)

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 23:18:13 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Alex Klosner

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 23:19:24 +0000

Cosmos+Taxis Conference at RIT

AHIadmin — Fri, 08 May 2015 03:01:57 +0000

Summer Conference schedule

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 May 2015 15:59:48 +0000

summer conference participants-2015

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 May 2015 16:06:55 +0000

AHI alumnus Dean Ball

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:26:11 +0000

AHI's Bob Paquette and David Frisk honor Dean Ball

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:26:37 +0000

Dean Ball

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:27:06 +0000

Dinner to honor Dean Ball

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:27:29 +0000

Guests honor Dean Ball

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:27:55 +0000

Professor Paquette toasts Dean Ball

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:28:21 +0000

The AHI honors Dean Ball

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:28:49 +0000

Dean Ball honored for contributions to the AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:36:01 +0000

Sarah Larson honored

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:23:36 +0000

Joe Simonson speaks

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:24:03 +0000

Carl Menges at the Directors dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:24:29 +0000

Dick Erlanger at the Directors dinner

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:24:57 +0000

Colloquium Q&A

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:25:25 +0000

Questions asked at the colloquium

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:25:50 +0000

Professor Christopher Hill

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:26:12 +0000

Congratulations class of 2015!

AHIadmin — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:21:30 +0000

Joe Simonson speaks at the Carl Menges colloquium in April.

AHIadmin — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:26:59 +0000

Summer Conference Poster 2015

AHIadmin — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 15:19:41 +0000

Summer Conference poster

AHIadmin — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 15:23:23 +0000

Churchill and de Gaulle AHI 2015

AHIadmin — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 15:26:49 +0000

announcement

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 21:25:05 +0000

Thursday nights opening dinner

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:09:26 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:10:58 +0000

AHI guests enjoy Thursday's dinner

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:11:19 +0000

Attendees at a colloquium session

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:11:44 +0000

Carl B. Menges addresses colloquium guests

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:12:07 +0000

Colloquium panelists

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:12:29 +0000

Colloquium session

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:12:54 +0000

Guests at Thursday's opening dinner

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:13:21 +0000

Hunter Brown listens as Michael Munger gives his keynote lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:13:48 +0000

Jeffery Wagner answers questions

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:14:16 +0000

Keynote lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:14:47 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Joe Simonson

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:15:05 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:15:24 +0000

Keynote speaker Michael Munger

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:15:58 +0000

The 8th annual colloquium was well attended

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:16:26 +0000

Professor Doug Ambrose discusses the AHI past, present, and future

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:16:55 +0000

Professor Bob Paquette

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:17:21 +0000

Panelists Sarah Burns and Michael Munger ready for a new session

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:17:45 +0000

Panelists listen to session debate

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:18:15 +0000

Panelist Carey Roberts

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:18:48 +0000

Panelist George Leef

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:19:11 +0000

Panelist Hester Pierce answers question

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:19:35 +0000

Panelists enjoy session debate

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:20:02 +0000

Panelists converse

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:20:28 +0000

Panelist Peter Coclanis

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:20:52 +0000

Panelist John Steele Gordon

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:21:21 +0000

Panelist Jennifer Delton takes questions

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:21:51 +0000

Panelist Janet Riordan answers questions

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:22:24 +0000

Panelist James Harrigan

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:22:47 +0000

angledf frontal panorama of AHI HQ

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:48:32 +0000

Issue 1

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:38:54 +0000

Issue 2

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:41:51 +0000

Enquiry, a publication of AHI Undergraduate Fellows

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:48:59 +0000

Issue 3

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:55:34 +0000

Issue 4 updated

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:57:33 +0000

Issue 5 updated

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 02:00:14 +0000

Issue 6

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:16:44 +0000

Issue 7

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:17:05 +0000

Issue 8

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:17:19 +0000

Issue 9

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:17:37 +0000

Issue 10

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:18:02 +0000

Issue 11

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:18:24 +0000

Issue 12

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:18:47 +0000

Issue 13

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:19:06 +0000

Issue 14

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:19:26 +0000

Issue 15

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:23:39 +0000

Issue 16

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:23:56 +0000

Issue 17

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:24:14 +0000

Issue 18

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:24:33 +0000

Issue 19

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:24:50 +0000

Issue 20

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:25:12 +0000

Issue 21

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:25:32 +0000

Issue 22

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:25:50 +0000

Issue 23

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:26:08 +0000

Issue 24

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:26:25 +0000

Issue 25

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:26:44 +0000

Issue 26 final

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:27:04 +0000

Issue 27

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:27:23 +0000

Enquiry homepage image

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 03:32:24 +0000

enquiry final

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 04:44:21 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Philip Parkes (seated on the left)

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:24:00 +0000

AHI Fellow Christopher Hill

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:35:39 +0000

AHI Open House during reunion weekend

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:35:59 +0000

AHI Welcomes guests at Open House

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:36:43 +0000

AHI's Chris Hill give Magna Carta lecture

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:37:09 +0000

AHI's Chris Hill

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:37:36 +0000

Chris Hill contines the Magna Carta discussion

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:38:42 +0000

Magna Carta lecture at AHI Open House

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:39:23 +0000

Professor Paquette opens Magna Carta lecture

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:39:51 +0000

AHI's Paquette speaks at Texas Public Policy Foundation Western Civilzation Summit

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:56:03 +0000

Professor Paquette at Western Civilzation Summit

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:57:16 +0000

2015 summer conference panelists

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:31:15 +0000

2015 summer conference participants

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:31:37 +0000

AHI-Baylor University summer conference gets under way

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:32:00 +0000

AHI's David Frisk

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:32:20 +0000

AHI's Mary Grabar

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:32:37 +0000

Attendees question the panel

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:32:57 +0000

Conference organizers Mary and David Nichols

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:33:17 +0000

Discussions at the summer conference

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:33:39 +0000

Discussions spill over to lunch

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:34:02 +0000

Panel at AHI-Baylor University summer conference

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:34:22 +0000

Panelist Christine Basil

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:34:48 +0000

Panelist Daniel Mahoney

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:35:12 +0000

Panelist David Clinton

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:35:33 +0000

Panelists Kevin Burns and Corrie Harris

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:35:57 +0000

Panelists take questions

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:36:17 +0000

Summer conference attendees listen to the panel discussions

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:36:39 +0000

Group picnic

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:46:20 +0000

Singalong at Hatch Lake

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:46:46 +0000

Songs around the campfire

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:47:09 +0000

Watching the softball game

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:47:38 +0000

David Nichols enjoys the softball game

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:48:09 +0000

Conference attendees enjoyed a group softball game at Hatch Lake

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:48:35 +0000

Volumes arrive at the AHI

AHIadmin — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 03:01:51 +0000

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Eryn Boyce

AHIadmin — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 01:51:40 +0000

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Tim Minella

AHIadmin — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 12:37:26 +0000

AHI Broadway Musical Theatre Benefit October 7, 2015

AHIadmin — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 15:47:51 +0000

Enquiry header issue 27

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 13:53:32 +0000

issue 24 header

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 14:36:59 +0000

Sold Out

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 20:20:31 +0000

Roger Pilon

AHIadmin — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 18:27:20 +0000

Enquiry8-31-2015

AHIadmin — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 12:39:18 +0000

Issue 29

AHIadmin — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 22:33:22 +0000

Enquiry9-14-2015

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 14:15:32 +0000

Enquiry, September 28, 2015

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:41:23 +0000

Enquiry 03-06

AHIadmin — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 17:53:50 +0000

enquiry ahi home

AHIadmin — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 20:34:50 +0000

Enquiry 03-07 (1)

AHIadmin — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 20:27:48 +0000

Enquiry October 19, 2015

AHIadmin — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 20:44:01 +0000

Enquiry October 25

AHIadmin — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 01:31:28 +0000

Colonel Alex Crowther

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 12:55:00 +0000

Crowther poster

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 20:51:38 +0000

Enquiry 03-10

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 21:34:34 +0000

Enquiry November 9

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 02:52:04 +0000

Enquiry November 16

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 02:52:43 +0000

Antique Chairs Donated to the AHI

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 03:28:50 +0000

Antique Chairs Donated to the AHI

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 03:38:22 +0000

Antique Chair

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 03:39:03 +0000

Antique Chairs Donated

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 03:41:00 +0000

Ornately Carved Antique Chair

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 03:42:04 +0000

Antique Chair Documentation

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 16:30:48 +0000

AHI Gifted Antique Chairs

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 16:34:17 +0000

Enquiry November 30 2015

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 04:11:14 +0000

Enquiry, December 7, 2015

AHIadmin — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 03:43:43 +0000

President's Letter

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 04:34:22 +0000

President's Letter Homepage

AHIadmin — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 00:58:26 +0000

President's Letter Homepage

AHIadmin — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 01:13:34 +0000

“Declaration of Independence,”

AHIadmin — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:44:57 +0000

“Declaration of Independence,” a painting by Oscar de Mejo (1911-1992)

AHIadmin — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:47:13 +0000

Enquiry, January 25

AHIadmin — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 17:21:57 +0000

AHI Colloqium 2016 Readings

AHIadmin — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 21:05:59 +0000

Colloquium

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 23:04:59 +0000

Enquiry February 1, 2016

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 18:28:38 +0000

AHI's David Frisk

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 22:04:25 +0000

AHI's Frisk Speaks to League of Women Voters on Campaign Finance

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 22:04:53 +0000

Karen Mc Bride gets the League up to speed on David Frisk's topics

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 22:05:39 +0000

David Frisk speaking about campaign finance reform

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 22:06:09 +0000

Karen McBride thanks David Frisk

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 22:06:44 +0000

Enquiry, February 8, 2016

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The Unbearable Lightness of America s 2016 Presidential Campaign (2)

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List of Participants (2016)

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AHI talk final

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Summer Conference schedule 2016

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Summer Conference participants 2016

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AHI conference readings 2016.1

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Parameters Spring 2016 - rev of SB

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Summer conference poster

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SCHEDULE 2016

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Readings numbered

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Expert guests

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AHI Undergraduate Fellow Alex Klosner in Attendance

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test - 2016-05-10 14:22:56

Tue, 10 May 2016 14:22:56 +0000

AUTHOR: test AUTHOR EMAIL: elysekhara@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 66.245.160.2 Array ( [1_First Name] => test [2_Last Name] => test [3_Email] => elysekhara@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => [5_City] => [6_State] => [7_Zip Code] => [8_Phone Number] => [9_Donor] => [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => test )

Anne - 2016-05-10 16:30:03

Tue, 10 May 2016 16:30:03 +0000

1437 New Seneca Tpke AUTHOR: Anne AUTHOR EMAIL: annokush@yahoo.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 67.246.86.156 Array ( [1_First Name] => Anne [2_Last Name] => Kush [3_Email] => annokush@yahoo.com [4_Street Address] => 1437 New Seneca Tpke [5_City] => Skaneateles [6_State] => NY [7_Zip Code] => 13152 [8_Phone Number] => 3156643511 [9_Donor] => I am not a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => Test )

Drew - 2016-05-13 02:33:57

Fri, 13 May 2016 02:33:57 +0000

n/a AUTHOR: Drew AUTHOR EMAIL: designssummit@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.106.27.249 Array ( [1_First Name] => Drew [2_Last Name] => Counsell [3_Email] => designssummit@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => n/a [5_City] => n/a [6_State] => n/a [7_Zip Code] => n/a [8_Phone Number] => (701) 484-1642 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Chris - 2016-05-18 03:58:43

Wed, 18 May 2016 03:58:43 +0000

NA AUTHOR: Chris AUTHOR EMAIL: designmages@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.19.125.182 Array ( [1_First Name] => Chris [2_Last Name] => Rodgersen [3_Email] => designmages@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => NA [5_City] => NA [6_State] => NA [7_Zip Code] => NA [8_Phone Number] => (201) 528-3385 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Jesse - 2016-05-23 04:03:44

Mon, 23 May 2016 04:03:44 +0000

NA AUTHOR: Jesse AUTHOR EMAIL: topteamdesignz@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.105.150.57 Array ( [1_First Name] => Jesse [2_Last Name] => Clanen [3_Email] => topteamdesignz@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => NA [5_City] => NA [6_State] => NA [7_Zip Code] => NA [8_Phone Number] => (302) 276-8336 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Suzanne - 2016-05-26 11:46:44

Thu, 26 May 2016 11:46:44 +0000

3673 S. Main Street AUTHOR: Suzanne AUTHOR EMAIL: braseltondps@yahoo.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 66.67.1.26 Array ( [1_First Name] => Suzanne [2_Last Name] => Braselton [3_Email] => braseltondps@yahoo.com [4_Street Address] => 3673 S. Main Street [5_City] => Marion [6_State] => NY [7_Zip Code] => 14505 [8_Phone Number] => (315) 926-4788 [9_Donor] => I am not a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => Dear AHI, I am interested in selling the following. Are you interested in purchasing it? I was spring cleaning and came across: "AIDS TO MENTAL EFFICIENCY", "REPORT NO. 7", AND "ALEXANDER HAMILTON INSTITUTE" on a Burgundy Folder. On the title page is: "BY LEIGH G. HUBBELL, Ph.D" Associate Editor. 1961 Edition. Copyright 1941, 1942 by Alexander Hamilton Incorportated. All rights for reproduction reserved. It is 49 pages, and seems to be in very good condition. If you would email me back, I would be happy to send you some pictures. Sincerely, Suzanne Braselton )

Garett - 2016-05-27 03:51:41

Fri, 27 May 2016 03:51:41 +0000

n/a AUTHOR: Garett AUTHOR EMAIL: expertdesign78@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.80.142.236 Array ( [1_First Name] => Garett [2_Last Name] => Smith [3_Email] => expertdesign78@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => n/a [5_City] => n/a [6_State] => n/a [7_Zip Code] => n/a [8_Phone Number] => (601) 533-8855 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Bogdan - 2016-06-01 05:50:56

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 05:50:56 +0000

AUTHOR: Bogdan AUTHOR EMAIL: bogdan@nlpcoaching.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 118.211.220.2 Array ( [1_First Name] => Bogdan [2_Last Name] => Bobocea [3_Email] => bogdan@nlpcoaching.com [4_Street Address] => [5_City] => [6_State] => [7_Zip Code] => [8_Phone Number] => [9_Donor] => I am not a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => Hi there, Do you offer any management courses online? Thanks! )

Aaron - 2016-06-01 07:04:20

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 07:04:20 +0000

NA AUTHOR: Aaron AUTHOR EMAIL: Social11marketing@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.81.218.7 Array ( [1_First Name] => Aaron [2_Last Name] => Anderson [3_Email] => Social11marketing@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => NA [5_City] => NA [6_State] => NA [7_Zip Code] => NA [8_Phone Number] => 7015573934 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Roman - 2016-06-06 07:03:50

Mon, 06 Jun 2016 07:03:50 +0000

AUTHOR: Roman AUTHOR EMAIL: teammegamedia@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.80.141.217 Array ( [1_First Name] => Roman [2_Last Name] => T. [3_Email] => teammegamedia@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => [5_City] => [6_State] => [7_Zip Code] => [8_Phone Number] => (302) 659-7651 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Josh - 2016-06-10 05:14:22

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 05:14:22 +0000

NA AUTHOR: Josh AUTHOR EMAIL: rockstarseo22@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.106.164.217 Array ( [1_First Name] => Josh [2_Last Name] => Williams [3_Email] => rockstarseo22@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => NA [5_City] => NA [6_State] => NA [7_Zip Code] => NA [8_Phone Number] => (802) 441-5331 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Ed - 2016-06-16 03:46:14

Thu, 16 Jun 2016 03:46:14 +0000

n/a AUTHOR: Ed AUTHOR EMAIL: onlinedesignexpertz@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.106.27.236 Array ( [1_First Name] => Ed [2_Last Name] => Frez [3_Email] => onlinedesignexpertz@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => n/a [5_City] => n/a [6_State] => n/a [7_Zip Code] => n/a [8_Phone Number] => 302-316-3863 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Chris - 2016-06-25 05:12:31

Sat, 25 Jun 2016 05:12:31 +0000

N/a AUTHOR: Chris AUTHOR EMAIL: seoexpertsarena@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.81.218.253 Array ( [1_First Name] => Chris [2_Last Name] => Rodgersen [3_Email] => seoexpertsarena@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => N/a [5_City] => N/a [6_State] => N/a [7_Zip Code] => N/a [8_Phone Number] => (201) 503-4744 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

20160629_171246

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Hauge

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 19:27:11 +0000

Mary Grabar Biography

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 02:56:52 +0000

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 21:04:43 +0000

Initiatives

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 21:04:43 +0000

Academic Programs & Resources

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 21:04:43 +0000

News & Events

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 21:04:43 +0000

Charter

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

Preamble In 1793 Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, endorsed Samuel Kirkland’s proposal to create a “Seminary of Learning” to educate the children of Indians and white settlers in upstate New York. Hamilton agreed to serve as a trustee of the school, which in 1812 was chartered as Hamilton College. Himself the beneficiary of rigorous training in the liberal arts at King’s College (now Columbia University), Hamilton matured in a dynamic transatlantic world during a century that may well have generated the most bold and original political thinking in history. However much the founding fathers looked to the past to inform a new system of government, the creation of the United States, a democratic republic, represented a political innovation. A freedom loving people fiercely committed to the private ownership of landed property had created a government shorn of a monarch, an established church, and a hereditary aristocracy. Hamilton stood at the center of the founding of the United States. He served as an artillery officer and key aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. He not only participated as a delegate in the Constitutional Convention, but endorsed its handiwork unforgettably by composing the majority of the Federalist Papers. Thomas…

Our People

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

People Fellows Board of Academic Advisors Board of Directors Legal Advisory Board

Headquarters

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

[caption id="attachment_59" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Alexander Hamilton Inn, Clinton, NY"][/caption] “It is a general principle of human nature, that a man will be interested in whatever he possesses, in proportion to the firmness or precariousness of the tenure by which he holds it; will be less attached to what he holds by a momentary or uncertain title, than to what he enjoys by a durable or certain title; and, of course, will be willing to risk more for the sake of the one, than for the sake of the other. This remark is not less applicable to a political privilege, or honor, or trust, than to any article of ordinary property.” -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #71 The Alexander Hamilton Institute resides in a historic colonial-style mansion located at 21 West Park Row in the village square of Clinton, New York, about one mile from the Hamilton College campus and about twenty miles from Colgate University. Othniel Williams (1787-1832), a graduate of Yale University and a lawyer, purchased the site in 1824. He completed the brick part of the building in 1832, the year of his death. The property passed to his son Othoniel S. Williams, a graduate of Hamilton College, who served…

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

Initiatives – 1. The founders of the AHI have designed a three-year program of scholarly activities centered on annual themes. We begin our first year of operations in 2007-2008 with the debate over slavery and the meaning of freedom in the antebellum United States. Gerrit Smith was graduated from Hamilton College in 1818, valedictorian of his class. In 1835 he witnessed a mob’s disruption of an antislavery gathering in Utica’s Bleeker Street Presbyterian Church. Smith offered the attendants sanctuary and crossed the threshold himself into political abolitionism. He became one of abolitionism’s most important financiers, hiring John Brown to manage the North Elba experiment and enlisting into the Secret Six in support of Brown’s attack on the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Smith, curiously enough, was related by marriage to the formidable Virginian proslavery advocate George Fitzhugh. Their correspondence, which consists of dozens of letters, most of which are housed in the Syracuse University library, has never been published. The AHI will bring students and scholars together in an innovative colloquium that will be headed by John Stauffer of Harvard, a prize-winning author on Gerrit Smith and abolitionism, to examine intensively the writings of Fitzhugh and Smith for insight…

The AHI Undergraduate Fellows

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

Established in 2009, The AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program now includes more than eighty of the best and brightest students at Hamilton College. AHI Fellows are perhaps the most intellectually diverse group at Hamilton; in its first two years, the Fellows Program included the presidents of both the Hamilton Democrats and the Hamilton Republicans. Fellows participate in the intellectual life of the AHI in many ways—leading our student groups and discussions, taking the initiative to organize their own events, presenting their research, engaging the many leading public intellectuals visiting the AHI at Leadership Luncheons design specifically for Fellows, attending the annual AHI Colloquium, presenting papers at national events under the auspices of AHI. Click here for news about AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows.

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

Alexis de Tocqueville, the brilliant French nobleman whose Democracy in America (1835) used to be required reading on the campuses of elite liberal arts colleges, visited the United States during the apogee of the Second Great Awakening, a phenomenon that ranks as one of the most extraordinary bursts of religious revivalism in the history of Christendom. Indeed, it was religion in America that “first struck . . . [Tocqueville’s] eye.” Unlike in Europe, where “the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom” seemed to clash, Tocqueville discerned a remarkable symbiosis between religion and democratic values in the United States. He doubted whether democratic-republican government in the United States could survive without religion. The Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason, founded by AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose, seeks to investigate the relations between religious belief and intellectual inquiry, between faith and reason, within the Western intellectual tradition. Named for Christopher Dawson (1889-1970), the distinguished British historian of culture and the first recipient of the Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University, the Society will meet monthly to discuss texts that illuminate the ways in which persons of faith have sought to engage the intellectual world…

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

The Federalist Papers have stood the test of time as a brilliant work of history, social science, and political philosophy. AHI’s Publius Society honors the genius of Hamilton, Jay, and Madison with monthly discussions among a diverse group of students, faculty, and citizens in which current issues are placed in the context of the great traditions of the American republicanism. Recent discussions have included the state of American federalism, campaign finance and the First Amendment, the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the future of liberalism and conservatism. The pseudonym for the Federalist Papers and the name of our society come from Publius Valerius Publicola, who helped establish the Roman Republic. Click here for news about the Publius Society.

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

Carl B. Menges Colloquia The Meaning of Freedom (2008) Property Rights (2009) Dedicated to a Proposition: Examining the Relationship Between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (2010) Law, Technology, and American Constitutional Government: Curing the Mischeifs of Faction in the 21st Century (2011)

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

The Encounter Bookshelf at the Alexander Hamilton Institute Amazon.com Widgets In a letter dated 19 February, the Board of Directors of DonorsTrust announced that the AHI had received a major grant from VERITAS to support the continued partnership of the AHI with Encounter Books. In October 2009, the AHI unveiled at its headquarters, the Encounter Bookshelf, a bookstore that features publications by Encounter Books and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. “The AHI family could not be more delighted with this news,” said AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose. The grant will advance our common interests at educational reform and in elevating civic literacy.” “That VERITAS saw fit to continue to fund our efforts with a major grant honors us,” observed Robert Paquette, “and also energizes us to greater deeds. James Piereson has stood as a steadfast supporter of the AHI from its inception, and his presence at our headquarters in October allowed us to show what we have accomplished in little more than two years of operation. We are deeply grateful to him in particular.” Encounter Books seeks to strengthen “the markeplace of ideas” and to promote “educational activities to help preserve democratic culture.” Encounter specializes in the publication of non-fiction, including current affairs, biography, history, political…

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

“Money is with propriety considered as the vital principle of the body politic; as that which sustains its life and motion, and enables it to perform its most essential functions.” -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #30 The Alexander Hamilton Institute relies on the donations of supporters to fund its operations. If you wish to make a donation to support the Alexander Hamilton Institute, please send your contribution to: The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Inc. at The Alexander Hamilton Inn 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323 The AHI is a tax-exempt organization within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Accordingly, contributions are deductible to the fullest extent provided by law. The AHI is unaffiliated with Hamilton College. The AHI does not provide tax or legal advice, and we encourage all donors to check with their professional advisors regarding tax matters. Please contact us for instructions if you wish to wire funds or donate securities. Additionally, donors who have special concerns or wish to coordinate estate planning issues are invited to contact us and a member of our board of directors will respond. Institutional inquiries are welcome. The Alexander Hamilton Institute is grateful for your support. We would…

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 04:14:05 +0000

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INCORPORATED TERMS The following additional terms are hereby incorporated into this Agreement by reference, and your assent to this Agreement binds you to all of the additional terms in the following documents: Copyright Policy [link] Complaint Policy, including trademark complaints [link] Privacy Policy [link] ELIGIBILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE The following are requirements for your eligibility to use the Website, and you hereby warrant that you meet all such eligibility requirements. You are over the age of 18; You have not previously been removed, suspended or terminated from the Website; You are not a competitor of AHI, nor do you work for, consult for or otherwise assist a competitor of AHI; and, You are fully authorized and able to enter this Agreement, and your entering into this Agreement does not violate any other agreement or legal right of any third-party. AVAILABILITY AND USE OF THE WEBSITE While AHI makes reasonable efforts to ensure that the Website is available at all times, AHI does not guarantee, represent or warrant that access to the Website will be uninterrupted or error-free, and AHI does not guarantee that users will be able to access or use all or any of the Website features at all times. AHI may change, suspend or discontinue any (or all) aspects of the Website at any time, including the availability of any Website feature or your particular user account, in its sole discretion. AHI may also impose limits on the use of or access to certain features or portions of the Website, or restrict your access to any part or all of the Website, in all cases without notice or liability. You are prohibited from attempting to or actually accessing those portions of the Website for which you have no permission. AHI is under no obligation to maintain the Website or any information, Content, Submissions, Materials, or other matters that you submit, post or make available to the Website, or are otherwise available on the Website. AHI reserves the right to withhold, remove and or discard any such material on the Website or available or placed by you thereon as part of your account (if you have one), with or without notice at any time. For avoidance of doubt, AHI has no obligation to store, maintain or provide you a copy of any information, Content, Submissions, Materials, or other matters that you or any other user submits or posts to the Website in any way. You acknowledge and agree that AHI may send you important notices or other information related to the Website by email or through other means, including mobile or other hand held devices or fax machines. You acknowledge and agree that AHI has no liability related to or arising from any failure by you to maintain accurate or up to date contact information, or other profile information, or related to your failure to receive important or critical information regarding the Website. IMPORTANT NOTICES/DISCLAIMER AHI makes available the information and materials on the Website, including but not limited to summaries, descriptions, professional summaries, text, articles, videos, images, graphics, publications, news, surveys, seminars, information regarding AHI members, tutorials and any other such materials appearing on the Website (the “Materials”), for general informational purposes only. The Materials are not intended to constitute, and DO NOT constitute, financial, tax, investment, medical, legal or business advice. Those accessing the Materials should not act upon them without first seeking business, legal, financial, tax, investment, medical or other such counsel, as these Materials are general in nature, and may not apply to a particular circumstance. As such, the Materials should not be used as a substitute for consultation with a professional adviser. Please consult a professional adviser should you have questions regarding any of the above mentioned issues. Neither AHI, nor its affiliates, employees, agents, officers or directors will be responsible for any decisions you may make. The Website may contain typographical errors or inaccuracies, including but not limited to errors or inaccuracies related to price, product information, service information, product description or availability, and may not be complete or current. AHI reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions (including after any order has been submitted, confirmed and/or charged to your credit card) and to change or update information at any time without prior notice. Please note that such errors, inaccuracies or omissions may relate to pricing and availability, and we reserve the right to cancel or refuse to accept any order placed based on incorrect pricing or availability information. We have made every effort to display as accurately and reliably as possible the colors, sizes, dimensions, materials, textures, and all other physical aspects (“Depiction:) of the goods, if any, that may appear on the Website. However, we cannot guarantee, and make no warranty, promise, or agreement that any depicted or described product actually comports with its Depiction or description. Any price quotation, service information or any other such information regarding the provision of and fees for any goods or service offered by AHI are provided purely for informational and illustrative purposes. AHI does not guarantee, and makes no warranty, promise, or agreement that any depicted or described goods or services are actually offered or comports with its description on the Website. AHI reserves the right to cease offering any such services or benefits to any prospective or actual member or customer at any time, in all cases without notice or liability. RULES OF CONDUCT Your use of the Website is conditioned on your compliance with the within rules of conduct as well as all other terms of the Agreement. You agree to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in accessing and/or using the Website and/or any Materials. You must provide true and accurate information at all times in any Material, Content, Submission, or other material that you provide or upload to the Website. You agree to review and promptly comply with all messages received from AHI. You must keep your user login and password and any other information needed to login to the Website, if applicable, confidential and secure. AHI is not responsible for any unauthorized access to your account or profile by others and any ramifications of such access, and AHI may take no action to disable any account until given explicit notice by you. Under confirmed unauthorized use circumstances, AHI may take reasonable efforts with reasonable speed, to disable, lock or otherwise address your situation. In the event that you would like to report a breach, please contact www.theahi.org with the term “Account Breach Notice: in the subject line. You alone are responsible for your interactions with other users of the Website. AHI may monitor disputes between you and other users, and may terminate your account at any time, in its sole discretion; however, AHI is under no obligation to monitor such interactions or take any particular action. You agree not to use the Website for any unlawful or fraudulent purpose, including impersonating any person or entity, including, but not limited to, any AHI employee, agent, or representative; or expressing or implying that AHI endorses any statement you make. You may not use any information obtained from the Website to harass, spam or intimidate others or to contact them without their permission. You may not modify, adapt, translate, copy, reverse engineer decompile or disassemble any portion of the Website or Materials. Further, you may not interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Website, including restricting or inhibiting any other person from using the Website by means of hacking, or defacing any portion of the Website. Further, transmitting or making available in connection with the Website any denial of service attack, virus, worm, Trojan horse, root kit or other harmful code or activity is prohibited. Moreover, you may not interfere with or violate any other Website visitor’s or user’s right to privacy or other rights, or mine, harvest or collect personally identifiable information about Website visitors or users, or about AHI employees or other individuals identified on the Website, without their express written consent. You are also proscribed from selling, reselling, transferring, licensing or exploiting for any commercial purposes any use of or access (including sharing of passwords and login information) to the Website or the Materials. You may not mine or harvest information from the Website, including any scraping of the Website. You may not use the Website to solicit any other Website users, either through Website functionality or through outside functionality. You may not access any portion of the Website that is not public or is not meant to be accessed by general users, and you may not attempt to override any security measures in place on the Website. To the extent that you may access or download any software that is made available through AHI from the Website (“Software”), such Software is the copyrighted work of AHI and/or its various third party licensors. Your use of the Software may be governed by the terms of a separate end user license agreement, if any, which accompanies or is included with the Software. You may not install or use any Software that is accompanied by or includes such an end user license agreement unless You first agree to the terms of such agreement. No warranties regarding such Software are provided by AHI. If you have any inquiries concerning these terms, please consult AHI before accessing any programs In the event that you are obligated by law to take actions contrary to any term of this Agreement, you agree to notify AHI at least 30 days before you are required to take such actions, or if a shorter period is required, as soon as possible. To the extent that you believe that a local law may impact this Agreement (noting, however, that AHI believes that this Agreement to control under U.S. law), you agree to advise AHI of any provision contained herein that you believe to be necessary to modify. Otherwise, this will further confirm your consent and agreement to the express terms contained herein. CONTENT SUBMITTED OR MADE AVAILABLE TO AHI You are under no obligation to submit any materials to AHI, and AHI will not claim ownership of any text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or tags (“Content:) you submit or make available through or on the Website. However, should you choose to utilize Services which may be available on the Website to submit, upload, or otherwise provide any Content to AHI or the Website, you hereby grant AHI a worldwide, fully paid, royalty-free, nonexclusive, unrestricted, unlimited, assignable, sub-licensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to AHI to use, copy, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, improve, create derivative work from, publish, remove, delete, translate, publicly perform, publicly display and commercialize the Content, in whole or in part, in any way or manner now known or in the future discovered or developed, and to incorporate such Content into other works in any format or medium now known or later developed, for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without providing compensation to you or any person or entity, without further consent, and without any liability whatsoever. You further expressly permit, license, and assent to AHI’s right to register, deposit, or otherwise record any modification or derivative work created by AHI from the Content with any foreign or domestic registration bodies, including but not limited to the United States Copyright Office or the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You further hereby expressly and irrevocably waive all moral rights in the Content, in favor of AHI and any of its successors or assigns. By submitting or posting any documents, comments, questions, suggestions, plans, notes, drawings, ideas, proposals, or materials similar thereto (“Submissions:) or other Content to AHI or the Website, you hereby explicitly agree, represent and warrant that: (a) all such Submissions and Content are true and accurate, (b) such Submissions and Content do not contain confidential or proprietary information, and their provision is not a violation of any contractual or legal right of any party; (c) your Submissions automatically become the property of AHI without any obligation of AHI to you; (d) AHI is not under any obligation of confidentiality relating to the Submissions or Content, either express or implied; (e) AHI shall be entitled to use or disclose the Submissions or Content in any way, manner, purpose or otherwise, worldwide; (f) AHI may have under consideration or development similar ideas to the Submissions or Content; and (g) you are not entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of any kind from AHI in exchange for the Submissions. Further, AHI may access and use the Website and any Service and any information stored thereon, including the contents of any Content or Submissions, for any purpose. AHI may disclose the contents of any Content or Submissions, including the identity and other personal information of any user, submitter or poster of such materials, to any third party, including any law enforcement agency, to protect our rights or property, or for any other reason. Certain Content, Submissions or Material you may choose to submit to the Website are likely to reveal your age, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or religion. You acknowledge that you are fully aware and responsible for all actions and impact of providing said materials. You agree that AHI will not be held responsible for any such impact. By providing any sensitive personally identifiable information to AHI, you explicitly grant AHI the right to process, transfer and/or disclose all or part of such information, in accordance with the Privacy Policy [link]. You hereby take and accept full responsibility for all ramifications of the public availability of any Content or Submissions you submit to AHI or make available on the Website, and agree that AHI shall be held harmless from any result of such availability or use, in accordance with this Agreement. The Website may contain bulletin board services, chat areas, news groups, forums, communities, personal web pages, calendars, and/or other message or communication facilities designed to enable you to communicate with the public at large or with a group (collectively, “Communication Services”). You agree to use the Communication Services only to post, send and receive messages and material that are proper and related to the particular Communication Service. AHI does not warranty that any information contained on or in said Communications Services is accurate, reliable or confidential. You agree that AHI cannot be held responsible for any ramifications of your posting or use of any Content or Submissions or any Materials from or to said Communications services. You agree not to upload, distribute, make available, or otherwise publish through the Website or any Service thereon, any Content or Submission that: contains a virus, corrupt file, or any other similar software of programs which may damage the operation of another’s computer; is unlawful or encouraging of another to commit unlawful activity; violative of the rights of any party, infringing upon the patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual or proprietary property right of any party; defamatory, libelous, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, inappropriate, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusing, threatening, harassing, threatening, or otherwise objectionable; Constitutes advertisements or offers to sell or buy goods or services of any kind, unless authorized by AHI; Contains a contest, pyramid scheme or chain letter; May restrict or inhibit any other user from using the Communication Services; or Violates any rules of conduct which may be applicable to a particular Communication Service. AHI retains the right, but not the obligation, to monitor any activity and Submission or Content submitted, posted, uploaded, or otherwise communicated to AHI or the Website, or is made available on the Website. AHI may block, edit, modify or remove any Submission or Content it deems to be violative of this Agreement, or any other Content or Submissions that AHI deems, in AHI’s sole discretion, to be objectionable or in any way not in furtherance of the goals or purposes of AHI, the Website or the particular area of the Website to which such Content or Submission may have been placed. However, AHI takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any Content or Submission posted by you, or any damage caused by another user’s access to such content on the Website, whether before or after any removal of such Content or Submission by AHI. AHI in no way endorses any Content or Submission posted to or made available through the Website. AHI does not control the Content or Submission submitted to AHI or otherwise made available to others on the Website, and has no obligation or duty to verify the accuracy of any such Content or Submission, or the identity of any user that provides such materials or to supervise the uploading, use or availability of such materials on or to the Website. In the event that you believe that any user of the Website has violated this Agreement, please contact AHI immediately, and AHI may take action that it, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate under the circumstances AHI’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS The Materials, the Website and its downloadable contents are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions world-wide. You recognize that while some of the Materials available on the Website may be compiled from publicly available sources, the compilation of such materials represents protectable effort and expression exerted by AHI, and you agree not to contest same. You may print and/or download a copy of any part of the Website for your personal, non-commercial use, but you may not copy, distribute, make commercial use of or otherwise exploit any part of the Materials or the Website for any other purpose without the express written consent of AHI, and you may not modify any part of the Website for any reason. Additionally, you may not remove any trademark, copyright, or other rights notice which appears on the Website. The trademarks, service marks, logos and any designs used or displayed on the Website specific to AHI are trademarks and/or service marks owned by AHI. Any use of copyrighted works, trademarks or service marks, including the reproduction, modification, distribution or republication of same without the prior express written permission of AHI is strictly prohibited. Other copyrighted works, trademarks, service marks, trade names and company logos utilized on the Website are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. The appearance of any such third party trademarks does not in any way imply any connection, license, approval or other such relationship of any kind with such third party. The website may also contain samples of AHI’s programs for informational purposes. These programs cannot be used for any commercial purpose. Moreover, certain technology and programs may be subject to intellectual property rights, and any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. AHI can be reached by directing communications to: The Alexander Hamilton Institute 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323 (315) 381-3335 www.theahi.org ENFORCEMENT OF THE AGREEMENT AHI may investigate any reported, alleged or suspected violation of this Agreement, and take any action that AHI, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Such action may include issuing warnings, suspension of a user’s access to the Website or complete termination of such access, at any time. AHI may recover those amounts spent in connection with enforcement, from any violation of these terms. TERMINATION Any rights or privileges to use the Website may be revoked by AHI at any time for any reason at its sole discretion. Either you or AHI may terminate this Agreement at any time, for cause or without cause. If AHI terminates this Agreement, it is effective immediately upon notice to you. If you terminate this Agreement, it is effective within a reasonable amount of time after you provide AHI with such notice; however, AHI may retain and use your information in accordance with this Agreement. If you would like to terminate your membership in the Website, please contact us at www.theahi.org. Without limiting the foregoing rights, AHI has a policy of terminating users who it deems to be repeat violators of the United States Copyright Act, as noted in the Copyright and Trademark Policy [link]. All grants of any rights from you to AHI related to Content, Submissions, Materials, or other materials, including but not limited to copyright or other intellectual property licenses shall survive any termination of this Agreement. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES IN NO EVENT SHALL AHI, ITS SUPPLIERS OR OTHER THIRD PARTIES MENTIONED ON THE WEBSITE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL’S USE OF OR ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE OR ANY GOODS OR SERVICES CONTAINED HEREON. AHI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. AHI DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FROM ANY MALFUNCTIONS, LIMITATIONS ON ACCESS OR INTERRUPTIONS IN AND TO THE WEBSITE. ADDITIONALLY, AHI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ANY INFORMATION TRANSMITTED BY AHI TO ANY INDIVIDUAL VIA THE WEBSITE IS ACCURATE OR EFFECTIVE. AHI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE WILL NOT VIOLATE THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS. FURTHER, NEITHER AHI, NOR ANY OTHER PARTY INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION OR HOSTING OF THE WEBSITE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE AND/OR ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE OR ANY GOODS OR SERVICES CONTAINED HEREON. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WEBSITE OR THE MATERIALS IS TO STOP USING THE WEBSITE OR THE MATERIALS. AHI HAS NO OBLIGATION TO VERIFY THE IDENTITY OF ANY USER UTILIZING THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICES AVAILABLE THEREON, NOR DOES AHI HAVE ANY OBLIGATION TO MONITOR THE USE OF THE WEBSITE BY OTHER USERS. AHI WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR IDENTITY THEFT OR ANY OTHER MISUSE OF YOUR IDENTITY OR INFORMATION. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER LAW, EVERYTHING ON THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU “AS IS” AND AHI SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENTS, AND ANY GOODS OR SERVICE PROVIDED VIA THE WEBSITE. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED OR HARMED BY AHI, THE WEBSITE OR ANYTHING RELATED TO AHI, YOU MAY TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT AND SUCH TERMINATION SHALL BE YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that a court shall find that the above disclaimers are not enforceable, the Parties agree that neither AHI nor any of its subsidiaries, affiliated companies, employees, shareholders, or directors shall be liable for (1) any damages in excess of $500, or (2) any indirect, incidental, punitive, special, or consequential damages or loss of use, lost revenue, lost profits or data to you or any third party from your use of the Website or any Services, Content, Submissions, Materials or other materials on, accessed through or downloaded from the Website, even if AHI is aware or has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation shall apply regardless of the basis of your claim or whether or not the limited remedies provided herein fail of their essential purpose. This limitation shall not apply to any damage that AHI causes that cannot be disclaimed in this Agreement. INDEMNITY You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless AHI, its affiliates and its suppliers, and each of their respective partners, employees, representatives and agents, from and against all claims, losses, costs, damages, liabilities and expenses (including, but not limited to, attorney fees) arising out of: Your activities in connection with the Website; Any violation of this Agreement by you; Any improper or unauthorized use of the Materials by you; Any conduct, activity or action which is unlawful or illegal under any state, federal or common law, or violative of the rights of any individual or entity, engaged in, caused by, or facilitated in any way through the use of software or information which appears on the Website; Any allegation that anything you transmit or attempt to transmit, including but not limited to any Content or Submission you submit, post, or otherwise make available, through or in connection with the Website, infringes or otherwise violates the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of any third party. To the extent that you voluntarily provide your login, password or member information to another, you agree to be bound by and responsible for their actions hereon. INCORPORATION OF PRIVACY POLICY AHI uses your information only as described in the Privacy Policy [link], which is expressly incorporated as terms of this Agreement. If you object to anything in the Privacy Policy [link], please do not use our services or contact us directly to determine whether a special exemption or modification may be warranted. CHOICE OF LAW AND JURISDICTION Unless otherwise specified, the Website and its contents are provided solely for providing information. The Website is controlled and operated by AHI from New York, in the United States of America, regardless of where its servers may be located, from time to time. You agree that any dispute arising under the Agreement shall be resolved exclusively in New York state or federal courts, applying New York law, regardless of any principles of conflicts of law and without regard to choice of laws doctrines. By your use, you waive any jurisdictional, venue or inconvenient forum objections to such courts for purposes of resolving these disputes. Although the Website is available worldwide, you understand and agree that the law of your home jurisdiction may provide protections not provided in the United States or New York state, and that by visiting the Website, you unequivocally and unambiguously agree to submit and adjudicate any disputes which arise out of such use pursuant to the terms and conditions stated in this Choice of Law and Jurisdiction clause. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES The Website may contain links to other sites (“Third Party Websites”). These links are provided solely for the convenience of our users. AHI does not endorse, sanction or verify the accuracy of the information contained on Third Party Websites or any products or services advertised on Third Party Websites. If you decide to leave the Website and navigate to Third Party Websites, or install any applications, software of download content from any such websites, you do so at your own risk. Once you access a Third Party Website through a link on the Website, you are no longer covered by the Privacy Policy or Mandatory Terms of Use of the Website, and you may be subject to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy of such Third Party Website. You should review the applicable terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices, of any site to which you navigate to from the Website, or relating to any applications you use or install from such Third Party Websites. Concerns regarding a Third Party Website should be directed to the Third Party Website itself. AHI bears no responsibility for any action associated with any Third Party Website. EXPORT CONTROL Your use of the Website, including any Services thereon, may be subject to export and re-export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR:) maintained by the United States Department of Commerce and any programs maintained by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. You acknowledge that you may not export, re-export, sell, divert, transfer or otherwise dispose of any software or Service to any end-user without obtaining required authorizations. You also warrant that you are not prohibited from receiving U.S. origin products, including but not limited to those that may appear on the Website. POLICIES FOR CHILDREN The Website is not directed to individuals under the age of 13, nor does it contain information which would be potentially harmful to minors in any way. However, we advise all visitors to the Website under the age of 13 not to disclose or provide any Personally Identifiable Information. In the event that AHI discovers that a child under the age of 13 has provided Personally Identifiable Information to us, we will delete the child’s Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. Please see the Federal Trade Commission’s website for (www.ftc.gov) for more information. Notwithstanding the foregoing, pursuant to 47 U.S.C. Section 230 (d), as amended, we hereby notify you that parental control protections are commercially available to assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. More information on the availability of such software can be found through publicly available sources. You may wish to contact your Internet Service Provider for more information. GENERAL TERMS SEVERABILITY If any provision of this Agreement is found for any reason to be unlawful, void or unenforceable, then that provision will be given its maximum enforceable effect, or shall be deemed severable from this Agreement and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provision. ENTIRE AGREEMENTS AND AMENDMENTS This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and AHI regarding your use and interaction with the Website. This Agreement supersedes any and all prior agreements related to this topic, whether written or oral. Any amendments to this Agreement by you must be in writing, and AHI shall not be bound to any action of activity that it does not so bind itself to do in writing. AHI may modify this Agreement at any time by posting modified terms to the Website, and all such terms will be binding prospectively, but not retroactively, upon posting. NOTICES All notices to you under this Agreement may be provided via e-mail or any other communications means you provide to the Website. All notices from you to AHI’s address indicated above must be sent to the following address. Any notices that are not to these addresses will be given no legal effect. The Alexander Hamilton Institute 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323 (315) 381-3335 www.theahi.org WAIVER Any failure by AHI to enforce any term of this Agreement against you or any other user shall not be considered a waiver of AHI’s right to enforce this Agreement as to any future violations committed by you or any other user. ASSIGNMENT This Agreement is personal to you, and you have no right to assign this Agreement to any party. AHI may assign all of part of this Agreement to any party, at any time. AHI may substitute itself, by way of unilateral novation, effective upon notice to you or upon posting to the Website, for any third party that assumes AHI’s rights and obligations under this Agreement. © 2011, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT POLICY If you believe in good faith that any Content, Submission, or other material posted on the Website infringes the copyright in your work, please contact our copyright agent, designated under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA:) (17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3)), with correspondence containing the following: A physical or electronic signature of the owner, or a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of the copyright that is allegedly infringed; Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed; Identification, with information reasonably sufficient to allow its location of the material that is claimed to be infringing; Information reasonably sufficient to permit AHI to contact you; A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and, A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section, your DMCA notice may not be valid. For any questions regarding this procedure, or to submit a complaint, please contact AHI’s designated DMCA Copyright Agent: Adam R. Bialek Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP 150 E. 42nd Street New York, NY 10017 (p) 212-490-3000 (f) 212-490-3038 adam.bialek@wilsonelser.com COMPLAINT POLICY (INCLUDING TRADEMARK AND PRIVACY) If you believe in good faith that any Content, Submission, or other material posted on the Website infringes any of your rights other than in copyright, or is otherwise unlawful, you must send a notice to www.theahi.org containing the following information: Your name, physical address, e-mail address and phone number; A description of the Content, Submission, or other material posted on the Website that you believe violates your rights or is otherwise unlawful, and which parts of said materials you believe should be remedied or removed; Identification of the location of the material on the Website; If you believe that the material violates your rights, a statement as to the basis of the rights that you claim are violated; If you believe that the material is unlawful or violates the rights of others, a statement as to the basis of this belief; A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized and that the information you are providing is accurate to the best of your knowledge and in good faith; and, Your physical or electronic signature. If we receive a message that complies with all of these requirements, we will evaluate the submission, and if appropriate, in AHI’s sole discretion, AHI will take action. We may disclose your submission to the poster of the claimed violative material, or any other party.

Chip - 2016-06-30 03:26:22

Thu, 30 Jun 2016 03:26:22 +0000

N/A AUTHOR: Chip AUTHOR EMAIL: newweblinemarketing@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.80.142.236 Array ( [1_First Name] => Chip [2_Last Name] => Peptone [3_Email] => newweblinemarketing@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => N/A [5_City] => N/A [6_State] => N/A [7_Zip Code] => N/A [8_Phone Number] => 305-579-8689 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Garett - 2016-07-04 03:12:29

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 03:12:29 +0000

n/a AUTHOR: Garett AUTHOR EMAIL: expertdesign78@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.80.141.217 Array ( [1_First Name] => Garett [2_Last Name] => Smith [3_Email] => expertdesign78@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => n/a [5_City] => n/a [6_State] => n/a [7_Zip Code] => n/a [8_Phone Number] => (601) 533-8855 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Tyler - 2016-07-18 02:27:20

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 02:27:20 +0000

NA AUTHOR: Tyler AUTHOR EMAIL: rockstarseo22@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 23.105.150.73 Array ( [1_First Name] => Tyler [2_Last Name] => Weston [3_Email] => rockstarseo22@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => NA [5_City] => NA [6_State] => NA [7_Zip Code] => NA [8_Phone Number] => (802) 441-5331 [9_Donor] => I am a donor. [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => )

Scott - 2016-07-19 09:45:24

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 09:45:24 +0000

21 St. Johns PI #2F AUTHOR: Scott AUTHOR EMAIL: ScottMatthewsSr@gmail.com AUTHOR URL: SUBJECT: [Alexander Hamilton Institute] Contact Us IP: 112.198.72.12 Array ( [1_First Name] => Scott [2_Last Name] => Matthews [3_Email] => ScottMatthewsSr@gmail.com [4_Street Address] => 21 St. Johns PI #2F [5_City] => [6_State] => New York [7_Zip Code] => 11826 [8_Phone Number] => 9177192583 [9_Donor] => [10_Hamilton Class] => [11_Note] => I thought you would like to know you misspelled the word "capital" on your website. Silly mistakes are a pet peeve of mine, and they can ruin your website credibility. In the past, I have used a tool like SpellingScan.com to keep mistakes off my website. -Scott Mathews Sr )

News & Events

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:24:56 +0000

Our History

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:55:06 +0000

"Experience is the oracle of truth; and where its responses are unequivocal, they ought to be conclusive and sacred." - Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Federalist #20

The idea of an Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at Hamilton College originated in a conversation between Professors James Bradfield, an economist, and Robert Paquette, a historian, during the fall of 2003 when both were co-teaching a sophomore seminar on the idea and institution of property. This conversation conjoined with another that Paquette was having with Carl Menges, a distinguished alumnus of Hamilton College (Class of 1951), about establishing a major book prize in honor of Alexander Hamilton. In 1792, Hamilton, Secretary of Treasury, had readily consented to serve as one of sixteen charter trustees for the “Seminary of Learning” that would two decades later mature into Hamilton College. Planning for the Alexander Hamilton Center intensified during the academic year 2004-2005 as the college was shaken by several incidents that raised questions about its direction and, indeed, its very ethos as an elite liberal arts college. During the summer of 2006, three senior professors at Hamilton College--Douglas Ambrose, James Bradfield, and Robert Paquette-- reached agreement with the administration to establish on campus a scholarly center named after Alexander Hamilton. The founders of the center, recognizing Alexander Hamilton’s crucial contributions to the founding of the United States, intended to explore through an innovative series of programs a constellation of issues within the Western tradition related to the origin and articulation of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. In enunciating the mission of the center, they hoped to promote intellectual diversity on campus by broadening and deepening the debate about American ideals and institutions. Within the span of a few months, however, opposition from within the college mounted and the initiative collapsed. Yet the center’s original charter, having been published and widely circulated, attracted the attention of educators, philanthropists, and alumni. Supporters engaged the founders in an extended conversation that resulted in the rebirth of the center as an independent entity with an expanded mission to bring the fruits of a great conversation within a distinctive culture to educational institutions in upstate New York and across the country. For further information, please contact us at (315) 292-2267.

Dedicated to a Proposition (April 2010)

AHIadmin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 16:21:23 +0000

Third Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

http://www.vimeo.com/11333459 http://www.vimeo.com/11333468 http://www.vimeo.com/11333475 http://www.vimeo.com/11334218 http://www.vimeo.com/11333484 http://www.vimeo.com/11335821

Sessions:

1. The Making of American Scripture: An Overview Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col2-t1.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col2-t2.mp3 2. Framing the 'Liberty and Equality Doctrine' Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col2-t3.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col2-t4.mp3 3. Crossing the Missouri Divide Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col2-t5.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col2-t6.mp3 4. A Document Celebrated and Incendiary Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col2-t7.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col2-t8.mp3 5. Abraham Lincoln: At Peoria and Gettysburg Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col2-t9.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col2-t10.mp3 6. Nomocracy, Teleocracy, and the Fourteenth Amendment Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col2-t11.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col2-t12.mp3

Law, Technology, and American Constitutional Goverment (April 2011)

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Topic: "Law, Technology, and American Constitutional Government: Curing the Mischiefs of Faction in the 21st Century" Held: April 14-16, 2011, Turning Stone Resort, 5218 Patrick Road, Verona, NY 13478 Welcome and Introductory Remarks - Richard Erlanger, President, AHI http://vimeo.com/25350786 Past, Present, and Future of the AHI Robert Paquette, Co-Founder and Charter Fellow, AHI http://vimeo.com/25350903 Michael Rizzo, Department of Economics, University of Rochester; Senior Fellow, AHI: Director, AHI-West http://vimeo.com/25255565 Will Eagan, AHI Undergraduate Fellow (Hamilton Class, 2011) and Kayla Safran, Student Director, AHI Undergraduate Fellows (Hamilton Class, 2013) http://vimeo.com/25275886 Fourth Annual Carl B. Menges Lecture Keynote Address: “Technology, the Internet and the Reform of the Campaign Finance System” Marc Elias, '90, Firmwide Chair of Political Law at Perkins Coie Introduction of Marc Elias by Professor Ted Eismeier, AHI Senior Fellow and Professor of Government, Hamilton College http://vimeo.com/25348959 Sessions: 1. Reconsidering Federalist 10 in the 21st Century Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col4-p1-t1.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col4-p1-t2.mp3 2. Campaign Finance Before and After 'Citizens United' Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col4-p2-t1.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col4-p2-t2.mp3 3. The Future of Campaigns and Political Parties Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col4-p3-t1.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col4-p3-t2.mp3 4. Technology, Corruption, and Governance Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col4-p4-t1.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col4-p4-t2.mp3 5. A Revolution in News Media? Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col4-p5-t1.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col4-p5-t2.mp3 6. The Future of Citizenship Discussion http://theahi.org/media/col4-p6-t1.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/media/col4-p6-t2.mp3

The Charter of the Alexander Hamilton Institute

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Preamble

In 1793 Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, endorsed Samuel Kirkland’s proposal to create a "Seminary of Learning" to educate the children of Indians and white settlers in upstate New York. Hamilton agreed to serve as a trustee of the school, which in 1812 was chartered as Hamilton College. Himself the beneficiary of rigorous training in the liberal arts at King’s College (now Columbia University), Hamilton matured in a dynamic transatlantic world during a century that may well have generated the most bold and original political thinking in history. However much the founding fathers looked to the past to inform a new system of government, the creation of the United States, a democratic republic, represented a political innovation. A freedom loving people fiercely committed to the private ownership of landed property had created a government shorn of a monarch, an established church, and a hereditary aristocracy. Hamilton stood at the center of the founding of the United States. He served as an artillery officer and key aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. He not only participated as a delegate in the Constitutional Convention, but endorsed its handiwork unforgettably by composing the majority of the Federalist Papers. Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton’s arch-rival, described the eighty-five essays as "the best commentary on the principles of government, which ever was written." Indeed, Hamilton’s role in the ratification of the Constitution and his enduring contributions to the fields of law, economics, and politics helped ensure the very survival of that great experiment in popular government.

Charter

A heritage, at its most basic level, speaks to the journey of persons from there to here. It identifies the signposts, monuments, and ruins left behind by human beings as they sought individually and collectively to define who they are and what they aspired to be. The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) proceeds on the premise that the reasoned study of Western civilization, its distinctive achievements as well as its distinctive failures, will further the search for truth and provide the ethical basis necessary for civilized life. The AHI aspires to create an educational environment of the highest standards in which evidence and argument prevail over ideology and cant. No tradition, however worthy, grows richer or stronger by lying fallow. What should be valued in higher learning, the good, the just, and the true, requires cultivation by a vigilant and educated citizenry, guided by reason and ever mindful of the lessons of history and experience. College presidents and faculty once looked upon the design and maintenance of a core curriculum as virtually a sacred trust. They unabashedly and unapologetically privileged a body of knowledge rooted in what the best and brightest had to say throughout the ages, thereby endowing their students with the intellectual and moral property requisite for effective citizenship. A traditional liberal arts education relies on curricular disciplines to expose students to different ways of attaining knowledge. “The mere facts about a subject which may come marching in monotonous array,” argued the educator Richard Weaver, “do not speak for themselves. They speak only through an interpreter . . . , and the interpreter has to be those general ideas derived from an understanding of the nature of language, of logic, of mathematics, of ethics, and politics. The individual who is trained in these basic disciplines is able to confront any fact with the reality of the freedom to choose.” Thus, for a serious liberal arts college, no more vital understanding of diversity exists than that which would promote intellectual diversity. The proper ends of education imply variegated approaches to the acquisition of knowledge and to the cultivation of intelligence. A liberal-arts graduate, properly trained, should possess not only an enhanced capacity to distinguish between career and the good life, but the ability to manage with honesty and dignity the often conflicting claims imposed on adulthood by nature, society, and environment. The great books of Western civilization conserve a distinctive intellectual and spiritual tradition. They have generated through the ages a great conversation, which Alexander Hamilton, as a liberal-arts student and American citizen, participated in and notably elevated. Inspired by Alexander Hamilton’s life and work, the AHI promotes excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism as these ideas were developed and institutionalized in the United States and within the larger tradition of Western culture. The word freedom, it should be recalled, had no equivalent in the vocabularies of non-Western civilizations until imported from the West. Democracy first flourished in the poleis or city-states of ancient Greece. While the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange seems to have been inscribed in humanity’s genes, a full-blown capitalist system, one based on the private ownership of the non-personal means of production, originated in England. Since to a great extent modernity implies the momentous extension and elaboration of these ideas around the world, the AHI will necessarily range widely across geographic, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries in pursuit of its mission and to implement plans of rediscovery. Along the way, the AHI will explore as central concerns:

1. The meaning and implications of capitalism, its genesis and impact; the role of markets, money, and banks in economic growth; the importance of the rule of law and property rights in wealth creation. 2. The relations between economic freedom and political freedom; the construction of limited government; the rise of the modern, bureaucratic state and its impact on individuals and communities. 3. The nature and paradox of civil liberty; the compatibility of freedom with equality and of virtue with efficiency. 4. The significance of natural law and natural rights in shaping Western political and legal culture; the common law tradition in the United States and the principles on which it is based. 5. The role of religion in American politics; the moral basis of democracy; separation of church and state. 6. The relation between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in the founding and evolution of the United States; notions of limited and divided government; the federal principle. 7. The role of private associations in a free society; their role in mediating between state and individual; the lines between private and public in a democratic society. 8. The nature of republics, democracies, and empires; realism and idealism in the practice of United States foreign policy; the role of the United States in world affairs. 9. Justice as a central concern of government; government as a potential threat to justice. 10. Modes of leadership; rhetoric and communication in the effective performance of leadership.

If an insular college campus ever truly existed, its time has passed. Indeed, the AHI rejects as dangerous the pretense that campus life should be immured from the outside world. The AHI grew out of a failed attempt in 2006 to establish an enduring edifice of learning about American ideals and institutions at Hamilton College. As a result, the AHI intends to work with kindred spirits on campuses throughout the country to promote a genuine free marketplace of ideas. The AHI welcomes public scrutiny as well as public interest. Programming will seek to engage a broad community of informed citizens, including high school and college students, teachers, alumni, trustees, and political officials. The creation of an outside board of academic advisors comprised of distinguished scholars from different disciplines will ensure scholarly integrity and help chart the direction of the center’s programming. A board of overseers comprised of faculty, trustees, alumni, and institutional leaders will ensure transparency, accountability, and loyalty to the charter.

Home

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YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS Effective Date: November 21, 2011 The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization and subsidiaries (hereinafter “AHI”) provides this website and website-related services subject to your compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Privacy Policy governs the way in which AHI collects and uses personal and non-personal information we learn about you from your visit to the AHI website (the “Website”). For more information, contact www.theahi.org. Please also refer to the [Mandatory Terms of Use], which are incorporated as if fully recited herein, if you have not already done so. SITES COVERED This Agreement applies to conduct in connection with the website located at www.theahi.org (the “Website”). TERRITORIALITY Regardless of where our servers are located, your personal data will be processed by us in the United States, where data protection and privacy regulations may or may not be to the same level of protection as in other parts of the world. BY VISITING THIS WEBSITE, YOU UNEQUIVOCALLY AND UNAMBIGUOUSLY CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION AND PROCESSING IN THE UNITED STATES OF ANY PERSONAL AND NON-PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED OR OBTAINED BY AHI THROUGH VOLUNTARY SUBMISSIONS, AND THAT UNITED STATES LAW GOVERNS ANY SUCH COLLECTION AND PROCESSING. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION -Personal Information Personal Information is defined as your name or information that would enable you to be contacted, as well as your profession, and any financial or medical information about you. Through this website, AHI collects no Personal Information about you unless you voluntary submit it. You may submit information by clicking on various links, such as “Contact Us.” Additionally, AHI may collect such information when you register for the Website or purchase any item on any AHI affiliated website, or in a number of additional manners. -Non-Personal Information AHI may collect non-Personal Information about you or your activity at the Website. Non-Personal Information may be collected at various stages in the Website, including when you post non-Personal Information to the Website. The Website may automatically recognize and store information about the type of browser you are using; your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address; the time, date, and length of your visit; the pages you visit, and the referring site. This information, if collected, is collected via computer code sent to your computer (commonly referred to as “cookies”). The cookies may not expire, unless you manually delete them or set your browser to reject them. If you do not accept the cookies, however, you may have difficulty navigating the Website or accessing features of the Website. Furthermore, the Website may utilize Web beacons, embedded Web links, and other commonly used information-gathering tools. USE OF INFORMATION AHI uses non-personal information to manage the Website. AHI may analyze the data about visits to the Website to make it more accessible or interesting for visitors. AHI may share this data with third parties, usually to provide services for Website users with the maintenance of the Website. Additionally, AHI may disclose information about which Website pages you visit on the Website. If you submit Personal Information to the Website, the information will be used for the purpose you requested or for which it is collected or for any purpose you subsequently authorize. That information may be stored and maintained for as long as is reasonable necessary to effectuate the service you request and for a reasonable time thereafter. AHI will process this information in a manner which is consistent with the purposes for which it has been collected or subsequently authorized by you. AHI may share information with trusted partners to help us fulfill your request, perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. Personal Information that you provide to the Website to be posted or otherwise made available may be shared with other users of the Website. If you choose to communicate with others through the Website, such communications may utilize your Personal Information, and may disclose such information. Additionally, AHI may use such information to contact you regarding the Website or to inform you of other products or services available from AHI and its affiliates. AHI may also use such information to contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services to be offered. Furthermore, AHI may disclose any information collected to the extent AHI reasonably believes that such disclosure is desirable to comply with the law, such as in response to any subpoena, to the extent reasonably necessary to establish or defend a legal claim and for other purposes permitted by applicable law. Additionally, any such information may be transferred to a third party in the event of a sale, acquisition, merger or bankruptcy involving AHI or any subsidiary or section thereof. If you do not wish AHI to use your information in accordance with this Policy, please do not submit any Personal Information to AHI. CONSENT TO PROCESS INFORMATION By using the Website and submitting information to it, you hereby consent to allow AHI to process information in accordance with this Policy. You understand that Personal and non-Personal Information you submit to the Website or that is collected when you visit the Website may reveal your identity or aspects about it and about you. You may withdraw your consent at any time by terminating your account from the Website, in accordance with Website procedure, or by contacting AHI at www.theahi.org. Please note that if you withdraw your consent, AHI may terminate your account, but AHI may retain your Personal Information and non-Personal Information in a non-public format to process aggregate data, or in a non-aggregate format for business purposes, as AHI, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Further, any information you have posted to the Website may remain posted and public. Although AHI may retain your information that it collects, it is under no obligation to do so, and may delete its records of your information at any time, without your consent and in AHI’s sole discretion. ACCESS, UPDATE AND OPT-OUT If you would like to access or update any information you have sent to AHI, if you do not want to receive information from AHI or if you would like to limit your information’s use or disclosure, please contact us at www.theahi.org. At such a time, AHI may request that you verify your identify so that AHI may ensure the accuracy and lawfulness of granting you such access. AHI will make reasonable efforts to honor any request you make, including requests to access and update the information stored by AHI and requests that AHI forgo contacts with you in the future or delete your information, except to the extent that the burden for providing such access and correction would be disproportionate to the risks to your privacy in the case in question, or as otherwise permitted by applicable law. Please note that if you make an opt-out request or a request to modify your information, AHI will retain your contact information or your original information to make efforts to ensure that you are not contacted in the future and for archival purposes. Additionally, please note that if you request AHI to refrain from sharing your information with third parties, AHI may be unable to fulfill various requests made by you. To the extent required by the CAN-SPAM Act, or other similar domestic and international regulation, commercial e-mail messages will provide you with an opportunity to opt-out of receiving such information. Please note that changes to your preferences may not be effective immediately. ADDITIONAL PRIVACY RIGHTS California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as S.B. 27, or the “Shine the Light” law, allows California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosures in the prior calendar year, if any, of their personally identifiable information to third parties. To make such a request, please contact us at www.theahi.org with “Request for Privacy Information” in the letter subject line. You must include sufficient detail for us to determine an appropriate response; at a minimum, your name, email and state of residency. AHI will attempt to provide you with the requested information within thirty (30) days of receipt. We reserve our right not to respond to requests sent more than once in a calendar year, or requests submitted to an address other than the one posted in this notice. Please note that the California Shine the Light law does not cover all information sharing or all users of the Website. Our disclosure only includes information covered by the law. REVISIONS TO THE PRIVACY POLICY AHI therefore reserves the right to update and revise this Privacy Policy at any time. You can determine if this Privacy Policy has been revised since your last visit by referring to the “Effective Date” date at the top of this page. Your use of our Website after a modification constitutes your acceptance of the terms of the Privacy Policy as amended or revised by us, and you should therefore review this Privacy Policy regularly to ensure that you are aware of its terms. © 2011, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, All rights reserved.

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Academics

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News & Events

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Courses

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Organization

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"A government ought to contain in itself every power requisite to the full accomplishment of the objects committed to its care, and to the complete execution of its trusts for which it is responsible, free from every other control but a regard to the public good and to the sense of the people." -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #31

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization is a 501(c)(3) exempt education corporation incorporated under the authority of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York’s State Education Department. Our administrative functions are outlined below. We operate on a cooperative, voluntary basis, and frequently draw on the professional skills of alumni, friends, and supporters. If you would like to help, please let us know. We welcome your participation. For further information, please contact us at (315) 292-2267.

Our Headquarters

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The Alexander Hamilton Institute resides in a historic Federal-style mansion located at 21 West Park Row in the village square of Clinton, New York, about one mile from the Hamilton College campus and about twenty miles from Colgate University. Othniel Williams (1787-1832), a graduate of Yale University and a lawyer, purchased the site in 1824. He completed the brick part of the building in 1832, the year of his death. The property passed to his son Othniel S. Williams (1814-1880), a graduate of Hamilton College and charter member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society, founded in 1832. He became a lawyer, judge, and businessman. He was the Town of Kirkland’s first supervisor and served his alma mater as both trustee and treasurer, in the latter capacity for thirty years. In 1871, the College acknowledged his service and philanthropy by awarding him an honorary degree. Extensive gardens once surrounded the property, and it remained within the Williams family for more than a century until it was sold to William H. Newton, a lawyer from Utica, in 1938. Subsequent owners transformed the property into the Alexander Hamilton Inn, well known over the years for its hospitality to the alumni of Hamilton College and Colgate University and their families. For further information, please contact us at (315) 292-2267. [gallery link="none" size="full" columns="1" ids="5204,5205,5206,5208,5209,5210,5618,5619,5620,5621,5622,5627,5625,5626,5624,5623"]

Our Logo

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"Divide et impera must be the motto of every nation, that either hates or fears us." -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #7 Our logo derives from Karl Bitter’s bronze sculpture of Alexander Hamilton. He sits in a Klismos chair across from Bitter’s sculpture of Thomas Jefferson at the southern entrance to the Old Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Bitter (1867-1915) studied fine arts in Austria before emigrating to the United States in 1889. He completed the six-foot Hamilton sculpture in 1911. Hamilton holds a book in his left hand and a staff in his right hand. The courthouse is renowned for its visual representation of the development of the rule of law within the Western tradition. Marble statues of Stephen Langston, Simon de Montfort, King Edward I, John Hampden, John Lord Somers, and the Earl of Mansfield (William Murray), decorate the cornice above the Hamilton and Jefferson sculptures. Statues of Moses, Emperor Justinian, King Alfred the Great, and Pope Gregory IX decorate the cornice on the northside of the courthouse. The inscription on the northside cornice—“Obedience to the law is liberty”—attributed to the Roman philosopher Boethius, suggests the paradox of civil liberty, that the sacrifice of some measure of individual freedom is essential to the enjoyment of any meaningful, morally regulated freedom. For further information, please contact us at (315) 292-2267. (Click image to enlarge)

Our People

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Fellows

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Charter Fellows -

Douglas Ambrose Ambrose is professor of history at Hamilton College, where he has taught since 1990. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the State University of New York at Binghamton. His teaching and research interests include early America, the Old South, and American religious history. His publications include Henry Hughes and Proslavery Thought in the Old South (LSU 1996) and The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton: The Life and Legacy of America's Most Elusive Founding Father (NYU 2006), a volume he co-edited with Hamilton colleague Robert W. T. Martin. He has also written numerous articles, book reviews and encyclopedia entries about Southern slavery and Southern intellectual life. Ambrose is a recipient of Hamilton College’s Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award. James Bradfield Bradfield is the Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics at Hamilton College. He teaches courses in microeconomics and in the theory of financial markets. With Robert Paquette, he teaches a course on the role of property, both as a concept and as an institution, in the rise of the modern state. To an important extent, the AHI is an outgrowth of that course. Professor Bradfield has written (with Jeffrey Baldani and Robert Turner) Mathematical Economics, now published in a second edition (2005) by Thomson-Southwestern Learning, and Introduction to the Economics of Financial Markets (Oxford University Press, 2007). Known for years as an excellent teacher and academic advisor, he was awarded a prize for excellence in teaching in 2006 by the Hamilton Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In 2007, the Student Assembly of Hamilton College awarded him the Sidney Wertimer, Jr., prize for excellence in teaching. He is now working on a book that will explain for a lay audience what academic economists have learned about how, and how well, financial markets promote mutually beneficial exchanges. Robert L. Paquette Paquette received his B. A. cum laude in 1973 from Bowling Green State University; he received his Ph. D. with honors in 1982 from the University of Rochester. He has published dozens of books and articles on the history of slavery. His Sugar Is Made with Blood (Wesleyan University Press, 1988) won the Elsa Goveia Prize, given every three years by the Association of Caribbean Historians for the best book in Caribbean history. More recently, his essay "Of Facts and Fables: New Light on the Denmark Vesey Affair" (co-authored with Douglas Egerton) won the Malcolm C. Clark Award, given by the South Carolina Historical Society. He has co-edited (with Stanley Engerman) The Lesser Antilles in the Age of European Expansion (University Press of Florida, 1996); (with Louis A. Ferleger) Slavery, Secession, and Southern History (University Press of Virginia, 2000); (with Stanley Engerman and Seymour Drescher) Slavery (Oxford University Press, 2001); (with Mark M. Smith) The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas (Oxford University Press, 2010); with Rebecca J. Fox, "Unbought Grace": An Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Reader" (University of South Carolina Press, 2011); He is currently working on A Grand Carnage (Yale University Press), a study of the largest slave insurrection in United States history and, with Douglas Egerton, Court of Death: A Documentary History of the Denmark Vesey Affair (University Press of Florida). In 2005, the University of Rochester invited him to return to his alma mater to receive the Mary Young Award for distinguished achievement. A recipient of grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, the National Endowment of the Humanities,as well as for the AHI from VERITAS, Thomas W. Smith Foundation, Watson-Brown Foundation, Armstrong Foundation, Apgar Foundation, Jack Miller Center, and Charles G. Koch Foundation. In 2007, Paquette co-founded the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization. In 2006-2008, he served on the Scholars Council of the Jack Miller Center. In 2008 he was appointed to the advisory board of the Cobb Forum on Southern Jurisprudence and Intellectual Thought of the Watson-Brown Foundation. That same year President George W. Bush forwarded Paquette's nomination to the Senate for a seat on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2012, the American Freedom Alliance awarded him the Heroes of Conscience Award. He has taught at Hamilton College for thirty years. He held the Publius Virgilius Rogers Chair in American History for seventeen years until January 2011, when he resigned the title in protest. In 2013 The United States Commission on Civil Rights appointed him to the New York State Advisory Committee. In 2014, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the American Conservative Union Foundation awarded him the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom.

Senior Fellows -

H. Lee Cheek Dr. H. Lee Cheek, Jr., is Professor of Political Science and Religion at the University of North Georgia. He received his bachelor's degree from Western Carolina University, his M.Div. from Duke University, his M.P.A. from Western Carolina University, and his Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America. He previously served as Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Gainesville State College (University of North Georgia), as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Athens State University in Alabama, and as Vice-President for College Advancement and Professor of Political Science at Brewton-Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia. Dr. Cheek taught at Brewton-Parker College from 1997-2000, and from 2005-2009. In 2000, 2006, and 2007, the student body of Brewton-Parker College selected Cheek as Professor of the Year; and, in 2008, the Jordon Excellence in Teaching was bestowed upon him by the College's faculty and administration. From 2000 to 2005, Dr. Cheek served as Associate Professor of Political Science at Lee University. In 2002, Dr. Cheek was given Lee University’s Excellence in Scholarship award; and in 2004, he received Lee University's Excellence in Advising award. In 2008, Western Carolina University presented Dr. Cheek with the University's Distinguished Alumni Award for Academic and Professional Achievement. He has also been a congressional aide and a political consultant. Dr. Cheek's books include Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal (Transaction/Rutgers, 2001, with Kathy B. Cheek); Calhoun and Popular Rule, published by the University of Missouri Press (2001; paper edition, 2004); Calhoun: Selected Speeches and Writings (Regnery, 2003); Order and Legitimacy (Transaction/Rutgers, 2004); an edition of Calhoun's A Disquisition on Government (St. Augustine's, 2007); a critical edition of W. H. Mallock's The Limits of Pure Democracy (Transaction/Rutgers, 2007); a monograph on Wesleyan theology (Wesley Studies Society, 2010; reprinted, 2012); and an edition of the classic study, A Theory of Public Opinion (Transaction/Rutgers, 2011). He has also published dozens of scholarly articles in academic publications, and is a regular commentator on American politics and religion. Dr. Cheek’s current research includes completing an intellectual biography of Francis Graham Wilson (I.S.I. Books), a study of the American Founding (Continuum Books), and a book on Patrick Henry's constitutionalism and political theory. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Humanitas, The Political Science Reviewer, Anamnesis, The University Bookman, and as a Fellow of the Academy of Philosophy and Letters (elected). Cheek has been a Fellow of the Wilbur Foundation, the Earhart Foundation, the Center for Judicial Studies, and the Center for International Media Studies. Dr. Cheek lives in Vidalia, Georgia, with his wife, Kathy B. Cheek, a teacher of ballet and yoga, and their cats, Sophie and Mr. Macavity. Theodore J. Eismeier Eismeier is Professor of Government at Hamilton College, where he has taught since 1978. He graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College and received his Ph.D. with Distinction from Yale University. A recipient of the Class of 1962 Outstanding Teacher Award, he teaches courses in American political institutions and public policy and regularly directs the Hamilton College Semester in Washington Program. He is the editor with Douglas W. Rae of Public Policy and Public Choice (Sage, 1979). He is the author, with Philip H. Pollock, of Business, Money, and the Rise of Corporate PACs in American Politics (Quorum Books, 1988), and has published widely in professional journals on the subject of campaign finance. He is currently working on a project on the Hudson River and the Politics of Place. He resides in Clinton and Poughkeepsie with his wife Betsy. Joseph R. Fornieri Fornieri is Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, New York, where he teaches American politics, political philosophy, and constitutional rights and liberties. He is the author of Abraham Lincoln’s Political Faith (2005), an acclaimed scholarly work that explores Lincoln’s religion and politics. He is also the author or editor of three other books on Abraham Lincoln’s political thought and statesmanship: The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln (2003; revised ed. 2009); (with Kenneth L. Deutsch) Lincoln’s American Dream: Clashing Political Perspectives (2005); and (with Sara V. Gabbard) Lincoln’s America, 1809-1865 (2008). His Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman will be published in the spring, 2014. In addition, Fornieri has co-edited (with Kenneth L. Deutsch) An Invitation to Political Thought (2009), an introductory text to the classic political thinkers of the Western tradition from Plato to Nietzsche. Fornieri has won several teaching awards at RIT, including the Provost’s Award for outstanding teaching for junior faculty in 2002 and the Eisenhart Award for outstanding teaching for tenured faculty. He was a Fulbright Lecturer, 2008-2009 in Prague, Czech Republic where he taught American political thought and First Amendment Law at Charles University. He lives in Fairport New York with his wife Pam, his two daughters Bella and Natalie, and his two stepchildren J.J. and Helena. On the side, he plays guitar in a blues band. Eric R. Hannis Hannis is a Senior Fellow for Defense Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. His previous positions have been on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, on active duty military service as a U.S. Air Force officer, and in private sector government relations. His articles on national security and foreign affairs have been featured in, or cited in, U.S. News & World Report, RealClearPolitics.com, Forbes.com, Heritage.org, GX–The Guard Experience (official magazine of the National Guard), among other publications. In the private sector, he was Vice President and head of the defense practice at The Russ Reid Company, a government relations firm, as well as Executive Director at Etherton and Associates, a defense consulting firm. While at both firms, Hannis represented both small and large defense companies on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, as well as in other government agencies. Hannis currently serves as a Lt Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, as well as the German Armed Forces Military Proficiency Badge, gold level. He graduated with honors from Hamilton College, where he was a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity, and holds a J.D. from Catholic University School of Law with a certificate of specialization in international law. Ann Hartle Hartle is professor of philosophy at Emory University where she has taught since 1984. She has her doctorate from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her research is focused on the history of philosophy, especially early modern philosophy, and political philosophy. She is the author of four books: The Modern Self in Rousseau's "Confessions": A Reply to St. Augustine (Notre Dame, 1983), Death and the Disinterested Spectator: An Inquiry Into the Nature of Philosophy (SUNY Press, 1986), Self-Knowledge in the Age of Theory (Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), and Michel de Montaigne: Accidental Philosopher (Cambridge University Press, 2003). With Sheila O’Connor Ambrose, she co-edited volume 4 of History and Women, Culture, and Faith: Collected Papers of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (University of North Carolina Press, 2012). Currently she is working on a second book on Montaigne, Montaigne and the Origins of Modern Philosophy. She and her husband are members of St. Joseph’s Maronite Catholic Church in Atlanta. Janice Hauge Hauge is Associate Professor, Associate Department Chairperson, and Director of Graduate Admissions, in the Department of Economics at the University of North Texas (UNT), and is a recognized authority on telecommunications policy research. A recipient of UNT’s President’s Council Teaching Award, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in microeconomic theory, industrial organization, and strategic behavior. Hauge began teaching at UNT in 2003. She also publishes research focusing on competition policy and regulation, primarily addressing the telecommunications and broadband industries. From 2005 to 2009, she worked as a tutor and project supervisor for the Master’s Program in Telecommunication Regulation and Policy at the University of West Indies. She currently is chairman of the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference and has served since 2005 as Senior Research Associate at the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida. After earning a B.A. degree in American Studies and Economics from Hamilton College in 1989, Hauge earned a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics in 1991 and her Ph.D. from University of Florida in 2001. While at Hamilton College, she qualified for commission as 2^nd Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps. She was an honor graduate in the leadership training course and graduated first in her class of 1988. Pamela K. Jensen Jensen is Professor of Political Science at Kenyon College, where she has been teaching since 1979. She received her A.B. degree from Kent State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She teaches courses in modern political philosophy, the introduction to politics, politics and literature, and African-American political thought. Her scholarly interests include the philosophy of Montesquieu and Rousseau, Shakespeare, and the writings of African-American thinkers on liberal democracy. She has published essays in several journals and books on these subjects. She is contributing editor of Finding a New Feminism: Rethinking the Woman Question for Liberal Democracy. She was named Harry Clor Professor of Political Science for a five year term, and received the Trustees’ Senior Faculty teaching award at Kenyon in 1998 and the Senior Cup, given by Kenyon’s senior class, in 2000. She also served a two-year term on the national council of the American Political Science Association and a term as president of the Ohio Association of Scholars. She was project director for the We the People Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, awarded to Kenyon College in 2007 to establish the Center for the Study of American Democracy. She has a daughter, Rebecca, and three grandchildren, Col, Lily, and Quinn. She lives in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Robert P. Kraynak Kraynak is Professor of Political Science at Colgate University, Department Chairman, and Director of The Center for Freedom and Western Civilization. He came to Colgate in 1978 from Harvard University, where he received his Ph. D. in government. He teaches courses in the fields of political philosophy and general education, including courses on American political thought. He received the Colgate Alumni Corporation's "Distinguished Teaching Award" in 2006. His published books are History and Modernity in the Thought of Thomas Hobbes (Cornell University Press, 1990), Christian Faith and Modern Democracy (Notre Dame University Press, 2001), and In Defense of Human Dignity, edited with Glenn Tinder (Notre Dame University Press, 2003). He is a contributing author to Human Dignity and Bioethics, published by the President's Council on Bioethics. Kraynak served in the U. S, Army Reserves, is the faculty advisor to the College Republicans at Colgate, and is an active member of St. Mary's Church in the village of Hamilton, N.Y., where he lives with his wife, Sandra, and their four children. Daniel J. Mahoney Mahoney is Augustine Professor of Distinguished Scholarship and Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he has taught since 1986. He received his Ph.D. from Catholic University in February 1989. His areas of scholarly expertise include statesmanship, religion and politics, French politics and political philosophy, and antitotalitarian thought. His books include The Liberal Political Science of Raymond Aron (1992, 1998 for the French edition), De Gaulle: Statesmanship, Grandeur, and Modern Democracy (1996, 2000), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Ascent From Ideology (2001, 2008 for the augmented French edition) and Bertrand de Jouvenel: The Conservative Liberal and the Illusions of Modernity (2005). He has also edited or co-edited many books including, most notably, The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947-2005(2006). Mahoney’s essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in a wide range of public and scholarly journals in the United States and abroad. His writings have also appeared in French, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Norwegian, Czech, and Russian translation. His latest book, The Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order: Defending Democracy Against Its Modern Enemies and Immoderate Friends, was published by ISI books in 2011. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Prix Raymond Aron, an award named after the distinguished French political thinker, who renewed Tocqueville’s conservative-minded liberalism and vigorously opposed totalitarianism in all its forms. Mahoney lives in Worcester, Massachusetts. Claudia Nelson Nelson earned her A.B. in history from Bryn Mawr College in 1980 and her Ph.D. in English from Indiana University in 1989. She is presently Professor of English and Cornerstone Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M University, where she has been a member of the faculty since 2003 and where for four years she directed the Women's and Gender Studies Program. Her research focuses on Victorian literature and childhood/family studies. In addition to several edited or co-edited volumes, her publications include Boys Will Be Girls: The Feminine Ethic and British Children's Fiction, 1857-1917 (Rutgers University Press, 1991); Invisible Men: Fatherhood in Victorian Periodicals, 1850-1910 (University of Georgia Press, 1995); Little Strangers: Portrayals of Adoption in America, 1850-1910 (supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship and winner of the Children's Literature Association's award for the best scholarly book); Family Ties in Victorian England, and Precocious Children and Childish Adults: Age Inversion in Victorian Literature, forthcoming, 2012 from Johns Hopkins University Press. David Nichols Nichols is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University. Before coming to Baylor, he was the Director of the Honors Program at Montclair State University, and has taught at Fordham University, Claremont McKenna College, and served as the Olin Senior Scholar at the University of Virginia. Nichols has also worked as a Program Officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities. His works includeThe Myth of the Modern Presidency (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994) (Arabic translation published 2002); “Constitutional Controversy and Presidential Election: Bush v. Gore" in The Constitutional Presidency, Joseph M. Bessette and Jeffrey K. Tulis, eds. (John Hopkins Press, 2009); and Readings in American Government (ed. with Mary Nichols) (Kendall/Hunt, 8th ed., 2010). In addition to his work on the presidency, Nichols writes on topics in American political thought, constitutional law, the American presidency, political parties and politics, literature and film. He and his wife Mary reside in Waco Texas, and have two sons, Keith and John. Mary Nichols Nichols is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at Baylor University. Before coming to Baylor in 2004, she taught in the political science department at Fordham University, in the Honors program at the University of Delaware, and as Visiting Professor of Government at Harvard University. She teaches courses in the history of political philosophy, politics, and literature, and politics and film. Her books include Socrates and the Political Community: An Ancient Debate (SUNY Press, 1987); Citizens and Statesmen: A Commentary on Aristotle's Politics (Rowman & Littlefield, 1992). Her book, Socrates on Friendship and Community: Reflections on Plato's Symposium, Phaedrus, and Lysis (Cambridge University Press, 2009). She and David Nichols co-edit Readings in American Government (Kendall/Hunt, 8th ed., 2010). She serves on the editorial boards of the Review of Politics and Perspectives on Political Science. She is also director of the project, "Contemporary Media and the Great Books: A New Approach to the Classics," a curriculum package that studies seminal texts in Western thought in conjunction with classical and contemporary American films. She and her husband David have two sons, Keith and John. Juliana Geran Pilon Juliana Geran Pilon earned her PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago. Her books include: and The Bloody Flag: Post-Communist Nationalism in Eastern Europe—Spotlight on Romania (1992); Every Vote Counts: The Role of Elections in Building Democracy (2007); Why America is Such a Hard Sell: Beyond Pride and Prejudice (2007); Cultural Intelligence for Winning the Peace (2009); and Soulmates: Resurrecting Eve (2011). Transaction Publishers has just released a new edition of her first book, Notes From the Other Side of Night, which tells the story of her family’s emigration from Romania when she was a teenager. Her anthology on civic education, Ironic Points of Light, was published in Estonian and Russian in 1998. She has also helped write and edit a textbook on civic education used, in country-specific versions, throughout Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, endorsed by the Departments of Education in those countries. Over the years she has published more than two hundred articles and reviews on international affairs, human rights, literature, and philosophy and has made frequent appearances on radio and television. Dr. Pilon has taught at several colleges and universities including the National Defense University, Air University’s Language and Culture Center, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, American University, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Institute of World Politics, where she was director of the Center for Culture and Security. In 2014, she helped found the Daniel Morgan Academy. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C. During the 1990s, she was first director and later vice president for programs at IFES (The International Foundation for Election Systems), where she designed and managed a wide variety of democratization-related projects. She has held post-doctoral fellowships in international relations at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and at the Institute of Humane Studies. During the 1980s she was Senior Policy Analyst in United Nations Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Michael Rizzo Rizzo is Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester. He majored in economics at Amherst College, where he was graduated magna cum laude in 1996. After graduation he worked for several years as an investment banker at Putnam, Lovell and Thornton (PLT) in New York City. He received graduate degrees in economics at Cornell University, an M. A. in 2002 and Ph.D. in 2004. Professor Rizzo’s fields of specialization include the economics of education, labor economics, applied econometrics, and environmental economics. He also serves as a faculty research associate with the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute and as a consultant with Scannell & Kurz, Inc., an enrollment management firm based in Rochester, NY. Professor Rizzo is working on two books: one on economic aphorisms and another on the economic, logical, and moral inconsistencies inherent in some of our most deeply held beliefs. His also specializes in teaching basic economics to non-academic audiences. He has published articles on economics in a wide variety of newspapers and has appeared on Fox News and many other national media outlets. Professor Rizzo maintains a blog, “The Unbroken Window,” designed as an educational resource to elevate public literacy in economics. Professor Rizzo lives with his wife Rachel, their daughter Amelia and son Isaac, and their two Boston Terriers in Bushnell’s Basin, NY.

Fellows -

Christopher Hill Chris Hill earned his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and has advanced degrees in both medieval and modern European history. He has taught at the University of Texas and Hamilton College, where he received the Sidney Wertimer Award for excellence in teaching in 2010. A legal historian by training, he is particularly interested in the relationship between religion and law during the high Middle Ages and the impact that relationship had on the idea of individual liberty in the developing English common law. An ardent critic of political orthodoxy in academe, he wrote while a graduate student a novel satirizing political correctness on a fictional college campus. The book, Virtual Morality, won the Editors’ Book Award from Pushcart Press in the year 2000. His reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal. He is currently researching the history of the concept of liberty as a Bakwin Fellow at the AHI. He and his wife, Stephanie, live with their three children in Waterville, NY. Sheila O'Connor-Ambrose Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose earned a Ph.D. in women’s studies from Emory University in 2007, working under the direction of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. O’Connor-Ambrose edited Fox-Genovese’s posthumously published Marriage: The Dream That Refuses to Die (ISI Books, 2008), and, with Ann Hartle, she co-edited Explorations and Commitments: Religion, Faith, and Culture, Volume IV of History and Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (University of South Carolina Press, 2012). O’Connor-Ambrose is working on a book about contemporary novelist Gail Godwin. She and Douglas Ambrose, AHI Charter Fellow, co-direct the Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason. They have three children, Antonia, Augusta, and Dominic, and live in Utica, New York.

Resident Fellows -

David Frisk David Frisk received his Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University in 2009 with specialties in American politics and political philosophy. He is also a graduate of Reed College with a degree in history. His publications include If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), a comprehensive biography of a significant conservative leader that was favorably reviewed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and several other major outlets. Frisk taught American government at Concordia University in California and worked at the Claremont Institute. An alumnus of the National Journalism Center and a former award-winning newspaper reporter, he has published numerous opinion articles in the Jefferson Policy Journal of the Thomas Jefferson Institute in Virginia as well as essays for the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal California and for the Claremont Review of Books. He is one of several contributors to the 2013 edition of The Political Science Reviewer, which provides a range of scholarly commentaries on Conservatism in America: Making Sense of the American Right. During the spring semester of 2013, Frisk was awarded the AHI’s Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship. At the AHI, Dr. Frisk will continue work on a book that explores the shared principles of traditionalist and libertarian conservatism. He is organizing and will contribute to a book of scholarly essays tentatively titled The Goldwater Campaign 50 Years Later: New Perspectives. He is also preparing an essay on the Nixon presidency for a volume on American statesmanship to be co-edited by AHI Senior Fellow Joseph Fornieri of the Rochester Institute of Technology and Kenneth Deutsch of the State University of New York at Geneseo. Mary Grabar Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

Board of Academic Advisors

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Hadley Arkes, Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions, Amherst College Richard Brookhiser, Independent Scholar Peter Coclanis, Albert R. Newsome Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Candace de Russy, Independent scholar Seymour Drescher, University Professor, University of Pittsburgh Marc Elias, Firmwide Chair, Perkins Coie law firm, Washington, D.C. Stanley Engerman, John Munro Professor of Economics, University of Rochester Paul Finkelman, President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy and Senior Fellow, Government Law Center, Albany Law School Eugene D. Genovese (1930-2012) Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (1941-2007) Robert P. George , McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University Maurice Isserman, Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History, Hamilton College Roger Kimball, Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books Daniel Littlefield, Carolina Professor of History, University of South Carolina Harvey Mansfield, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Government, Harvard University Kenneth Minogue (1930-2013) Thomas Pangle, Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Texas, Austin Roger Pilon, Founder and Director of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies Paul Rahe, Professor of History, Hillsdale College Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel, American Center for Law & Justice Colleen Sheehan, Associate Professor of Political Science, Villanova University Justin Shubow, President, National Civic Art Society Mark Smith, Carolina Distinguished Professor of History, University of South Carolina John Stauffer, Professor of English, American Literature, and Language, Harvard University Richard K. Vedder, Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics and Faculty Associate, Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University Michael P. Zuckert, Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame

Board of Directors

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Stephen Balch Dr. Balch is the Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at Texas Tech University and the founder and president of the National Association of Scholars, America’s largest and most active membership organization of scholars committed to higher education reform. He holds a Ph.D in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and, for fourteen years, was a member of the Government faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and has played an important role in the founding of four other higher education reform organizations. He is the author of a variety of articles on the problems of higher education, his comments appear frequently in the media, and he has spoken before academic and general audiences on many campuses. J. Hunter Brown Mr. Brown was graduated from Hamilton College with an A.B. in English & French and received an M.B.A. in Finance from Xavier University. He is the founder and principal of Watson Wilkins & Brown, LLC, an investment management and business consulting firm. Previously, he served in various global capital markets capacities with J.P. Morgan. From 1999-2013 he served as a director of an initially publicly owned, now private, company in a variety of roles including Chairman of the Audit Committee, a member of the Nominating & Governance Committee, and the Compensation Committee. He has previously served as a director of National Auto Credit, Inc., then a NYSE listed company. He is a member of the Board of Executive Advisors to the Finance Department of the Williams College of Business of Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Xavier Student Investment Fund, an enhanced fixed income index fund managed by the students. He has previously served as a longtime trustee of the Wilton Historical Society. Mr. Brown was the founding President of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization. Josiah Bunting III General Bunting was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1963. He subsequently studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and at Columbia University as a John Burgess Fellow. During active duty with the United States Army, he served as an infantry officer in Vietnam with the Ninth Infantry Division. During his military career, General Bunting received the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Honor Medal--2nd class, Presidential Unit Citation, Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge, and Ranger Tab. Subsequently, he taught history at West Point and at the Naval War College. His administrative experience in higher education includes: President, Briarcliff College (1973-1977); President, Hampden-Sydney College (1977-1987); and Superintendent, VMI (1995-2003). General Bunting has published four novels, including The Lionheads (G. Braziller, 1972), a best-seller that was selected by Time Magazine as one of "The Ten Best Novels" of 1973. More recently, he has completed several works of non-fiction An Education for Our Time (Regnery 1998) and a biography Ulysses S. Grant (Times Book, 2004). He is chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's National Civic Literacy Board and president of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. He also serves on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Harlan Calkins Mr. Calkins was graduated from Hamilton College in 1954 with a BA as a chemistry major. He is the chairman and CEO of Rochester Midland Corporation, a leading supplier in North America of industrial cleaners and other chemical products. Mr. Calkins serves on the boards of numerous business and philanthropic organizations, including Security Trust, Highland Hospital, the Al Sigl Foundation, and Rochester Telephone, all in Rochester, New York as well as Norstar Bank, in Buffalo, New York; and Malden Trust, in Malden, Massachusetts. At Hamilton College he was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity and DT, Was Los, and Pentagon societies. He co-captained the soccer and baseball teams. In 1956-1957, he served in the United States Army in counter-intelligence while stationed in Japan. In 2010, Mr. Calkins was inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame. Richard A. Erlanger Mr. Erlanger, a 1963 graduate of Hamilton College, has spent his entire career advising, managing, and investing in venture and private equity portfolio companies as an individual and as a member of investment groups. He has also taken full-time operating positions in troubled companies where his investment was at risk and hired successors once the operations were stabilized. His early career included stints at Arthur D. Little, Inc. and McKinsey & Company as well as GE Finance. Recent private equity and venture investments include LivHome (Home Health Care), Cape Cod Potato Chips, and Yofarm Yogurt. He graduated from the Taft School (1959), Hamilton College (1963) and Columbia University Graduate School of Business (1969-MBA Operations Research and Finance). During the Vietnam War Mr. Erlanger served as Engineering Officer on a destroyer in the Tonkin Gulf. He has been an active participant in the AHI since its inception. Jane Fraser Ms. Fraser has served, since 1981, as president of the Stuttering Foundation of America, a nonprofit organization for the prevention and treatment of stuttering. She received a degree in Russian and Linguistics at Bryn Mawr College and continued graduate work in both subjects at the Universite de Strasbourg, France. An experienced editor, translator, and interpreter, Ms. Fraser worked during her twenty years' residence in France for the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, and for the Assemblee Nationale in Paris. She has also served as editor or coeditor of numerous Foundation publications, among them Counseling Stutterers, Stuttering Therapy, Transfer and Maintenance, Do You Stutter: A Guide for Teens, Stuttering and Your Child: Questions and Answers, The Child Who Stutters: To the Pediatrician. She coauthored If Your Child Stutters: A Guide for Parents (1988, 2003, 2007). She has also served as Member, Advisory Council, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders, NIH (1996-2000); Member, Board of Trustees, Hamilton College (1991-1997). Honors include a grant from the Carnegie Foundation to further abroad her study of Russian; the Distinguished Alumnae of the Century Award from the Hutchison School, Memphis, TN in 2002; the Outstanding Service Award form the International Stuttering Association in Dubrovnik, Croatia in May 2007; and in December 2007, she was named Executive of the Year by The NonProfit Times. Robert B. Hamill Mr. Hamill is Managing Director at Jefferies & Company, Inc., a global securities and investment banking group. Hamill has been in Institutional Sales and Trading of Leveraged Credit Products for nearly 25 years. He was previously employed by Drexel Burnham Lambert, Citicorp, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers. He began his career on Wall Street at EF Hutton and Company in the Investment Banking Group. Hamill was elected a member of The Town Council of New Canaan, CT in 2009 and is serving a four year term in office. He is a member of the Hamilton College Parents Advisory Council. He is on the Board of The Litchfield Park Corporation. He is a member of D.O.C.A., an advocacy group affiliated with The Department of Defense and The State Department. Hamill earned his B.A. from Hamilton College with a major in Economics and a Minor in Math. He earned an M.B.A. from The Harvard Business School. Carl Menges Mr. Menges received his A. B. cum laude in 1951 from Hamilton College and his M.B.A in 1953 from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. In 1966 he joined the investment banking firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where, before its purchase in 2000 by Credit Suisse, he rose to the position of Vice Chairman. Mr. Menges also served at DLJ as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wood, Struthers & Winthrop Management Corp; Chairman, Financial Services Group; Managing Director of the Equities Division; Managing Director of the International Division; and Syndicate Manager for Banking and Institutional Sales Division. Before DLJ, Mr. Menges held the position of Divisional Marketing Manager for Owens Corning Fiberglass Corporation. He was Director, Tiedemann Investment Group; Trustee and Chairman of the Planning Committee of Hamilton College; Trustee of the Boys Club of New York; and Treasurer and Trustee of Allen Stevenson School. He is a Life Trustee of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City and Member, Investment and Budget Committee, Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Menges has a long-standing interest in history and the founding of the United States. In 2001 he sponsored a conference at Hamilton College on Alexander Hamilton. The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton (NYU Press, 2006) derived from that conference and is dedicated to Mr. Menges. Howard D. Morgan Mr. Morgan is CEO and President of CHI Equity LLC. CHI Equity is the successor firm to Castle Harlan, Inc. a private equity firm based in New York city which he joined in 1996. From 2000 to 2002, he was executive director of Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners (CHAMP), an affiliate of Castle Harlan in Sydney, Australia. He has been a founding director and executive committee member of CHAMP since its inception. Previously, Mr. Morgan was a partner at the Ropart Group, a private equity investment firm, where he was particularly instrumental in the acquisitions and growth of Blyth, Inc and XTRA Corporation. Mr. Morgan began his career as an associate at Allen & Company Inc., working in mergers and acquisitions and private equity. He is an officer and a board member of Branford Chain, Inc and its operating affiliates, and is a board member of CHAMP: AdobeAir, Inc; Ciao Bella Gelato Company; AmeriCast Technologies; the Harvard Business School Alumni Association; and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. He is a prior director of more than a dozen US, Australian, and UK businesses. Mr. Morgan received his B.A. from Hamilton College in mathematics and political science and his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. Anne D. Neal Ms. Neal is president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization dedicated to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability in higher education. Prior to joining ACTA, she served in a senior role at the National Endowment for the Humanities and specialized in the First Amendment at the New York City law firm of Rogers & Wells. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in American history and literature and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School , where she served as the first woman editor of the Harvard Journal on Legislation. James Schoff Mr. Schoff graduated from Hamilton College (1968) and Cornell University Law School (1972). He subsequently spent nine years with the highly-respected law firm of Thompson, Hine & Flory (TH&F), specializing in partnership, tax, corporate and business law. In 1981, Mr. Schoff became a general partner of Diversified Equities. In February 1993, Mr. Schoff was a Founder and served as a Director of the newly formed Developers Diversified Realty Corporation (DDR). Mr. Schoff was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of DDR until 1998, when he became Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of DDR, and continued to serve on its board until 2002. In 2002, he assumed the role of Special Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of DDR and served in that capacity until his retirement in December, 2010. Mr. Schoff also serves as a Director of Associated Estates Corporation and as a Director of Quasar Energy Group. Mr. Schoff is past president of the Western Reserve Historical Society and the Near West Theater. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and of several advisory boards for University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.

Legal Advisory Board

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Legal Advisory Board

Chip Greene Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman LLP 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 John J. Vecchione, Esq. Valad & Vecchione, PLLC 3863 Plaza Drive Fairfax, Virginia 22030 George Rockas Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP 155 Federal Street Boston, MA 02110-1727 Herbert J. Downing, Esq. Kolvoord, Overton & Wilson, PC 3 Main Street Essex Junction, Vermont 05452 James W. Coupe Attorney at law 777 South Figueroa Street Suite 4700 Los Angeles, CA 90017

Higher Learning

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:52:19 +0000

"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power." -Alexander Hamilton, The Farmer Refuted (1775)

American History Western Civilization Kindred Spirits News & Opinion Papers & Publications Student Programs

American History

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:53:44 +0000

AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American History Abraham Lincoln Papers Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings Adams Family Papers African-American Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century African-Americans and the End of Slavery in Massachusetts Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1719-1820 The American Civil War The American Colonist's Library American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement American Memory: Library of Congress American Notes: Travel in America, 1750-1920 The American Presidency Project The American Revolution and Its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750-1789 American Rhetoric American Slave Narratives Archives of Maryland Online The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record The Avalon Project at Yale Law School: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy James Buchanan Resource Center Caleb Johnson's Mayflower History A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U. S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875 A Chronology of US Historical Documents Civil War Documents Civil War Information Civil War Women Confederate Broadsides Connecticut Public Records, 1636-1776 The Crisis of the Union: An Electronic Archive about the Causes, Conduct, and Consequences of the US Civil War The Diaries of John Quincy Adams Digital Library on American Slavery Digitized Primary Sources in American History Documenting the American South Early Virginia Religious Petitions Jonathan Edwards: Works Online Federalist Papers The First American West: The Ohio River Valley: 1750-1820 The Founders Constitution Frederick Douglass Papers From Revolution to Reconstruction: Documents From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909 George Washington Papers Gerrit Smith Broadside and Pamphlet Connection Gilder Lehrman Collection Hanover Historical Texts Project: United States General A.P. Hill: Life and Career Historical Census Data Browser Historical Maps of the United States Historical Pictures Collection Immigration to the United States: 1789-1930 Thomas Jefferson Papers The Journals of Lewis and Clark James Madison Papers Making of America New-York Historical Society Manuscripts on Slavery Online Manuscript Resources in Southern Women's History The Papers of Benjamin Franklin The Papers of John Jay Pennsylvania Constitution Plymouth Colony Archive Project Primary Documents in American History Religion and the Founding of the American Republic The Robert E. Lee Papers The Salem Witch Trials The Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection Slavery and Abolition in the US: Select Publications of the 1800s Slaves and the Courts Supreme Court Collection Teaching American History The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War United States Military History Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database Newspapers Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1841-1902 New Orleans Bee, 1827-1923 U. S. News Archives on the Web

Western Civilization

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:55:12 +0000

The American Colonist’s Library Art History Bible: King James Version Bible Gateway Britannia History: Documents Christian Classics: Ethereal Library Complete Works of William Shakespeare The Decameron Web Digital Scriptorium of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts EuroDocs: Source for European History Exploring the French Revolution: Documents Europeana Guide to Early Church Documents Great Books Index Hanover Historical Texts Project History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Full Texts Internet Classics Archive Internet Medieval Sourcebook Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Full Texts The Labyrinth: Resources in Medieval Studies Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics Online Books Page of the University of Pennsylvania Online Library of Liberty (by author) Online Medieval and Classical Library (by author) Perseus Digital Library Project Bartleby (by author) Project Gutenberg Sources of English Constitutional History University of Adelaide Library Collection of Classics (by author) Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database

Kindred Spirits

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:56:31 +0000

Abbeville Institute Accuracy in Academia Alliance Defense Fund American Council of Trustees and Alumni American Enterprise Institute American Freedom Alliance American Principles Project Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs Books & Culture James Bowman Cato Institute Center for Freedom and Western Civilization Center for Political and Economic Thought Claremont Institute Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism Dissident Prof Eric Voegelin Institute Federalist Society Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) First Things Fraser Institute Freedom Center Heritage Foundation Hertog Political Studies Program Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies Hoover Institution Hudson Institute Independent Women’s Forum Intellectual Conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute Jack Miller Center for the Teaching of America’s Founding Principles James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy Legal Insurrection Liberty Central Liberty Fund The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom Minding the Campus National Association of Scholars The New Criterion New English Review No One Left Behind Phi Beta Cons Philadelphia Society Philanthropy Roundtable Political Theory Project Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal Salisbury Review The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship Standpoint Watson-Brown Foundation William F. Buckley, Jr. Program at Yale Witherspoon Institute Young America’s Foundation

News & Opinion

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:57:50 +0000

The Atlantic Brookings Institution John Burns Commentary Contentions Dissent Economist Financial Times Foreign Affairs Christopher Hitchens Peter Hitchens Jerusalem Post Charles Krauthammer John Leo London Review of Books National Review New Republic New York Post New York Review of Books New York Times The New Yorker Daniel Pipes The Politico Prospect Magazine Real Clear Politics Rocky Mountain News Roger's Rules: The Weblog of Roger Kimball Thomas Sowell Mark Steyn Telegraph Townhall The Unbroken Window Vanity Fair Wall Street Journal Washington Monthly Washington Post Washington Examiner Washington Times Weekly Standard George Will

Carl B. Menges Colloquium

AHIadmin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:22:34 +0000

Each academic year the AHI holds as the pièce de résistance of its programming a major colloquium devoted to an annual theme. In years past, the AHI has sponsored colloquia devoted to such themes as the meaning of freedom, property rights, limited government, the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and Samuel Huntington’s clash-of-civilizations thesis. 2016: Tolerance, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society >> 2015: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity >> 2014: War and the West: Strategic Issues Past, Present, and Future >> 2013: Samuel Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations >> 2012: Binding the Minotaur: The Problem of Limited Government >> 2011: Law, Technology, and American Constitutional Government: Curing the Mischeifs of Faction in the 21st Century >> 2010: Dedicated to a Proposition: Examining the Relationship Between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution >> 2009: Property Rights >> 2008: The Meaning of Freedom >>

Property Rights (April - May 2009)

AHIadmin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 01:33:38 +0000

The Second Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

In recognition of the centrality of the idea and institution of property to civilized life, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, in conjunction with the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester, devoted the AHI's second annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium to "Property Rights." This three-day event, held 30 April-May 2 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, brought together in six sessions over two days dozens of scholars, students, and informed citizens for intensive conversation on a range of themes. Below you will find video of the opening banquet and keynote address, delivered by F. Scott Kieff, Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. Following the video are expandable collections of the colloquium's six sessions, where you will find audio of the presentations and question-and-answer sessions (just click on a session title to expand). http://www.vimeo.com/4870948

Sessions:

1. The Meaning of Property Discussion Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t2.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t6.mp3 Part 7 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t7.mp3 Part 8 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t8.mp3 Part 9 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s1-t9.mp3 Q and A Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s2-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s2-t1.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s2-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s2-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s2-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s2-t6.mp3 2. Property Rights in Human Beings Discussion Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s3-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s3-t2.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s3-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s3-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s3-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s3-t6.mp3 Part 7 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s3-t7.mp3 Part 8 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s3-t8.mp3 Q and A Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s4-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s4-t1.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s4-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s4-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s4-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s4-t6.mp3 3. Property Rights in China Discussion Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s5-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s5-t2.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s5-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s5-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s5-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s5-t6.mp3 Part 7 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s5-t7.mp3 Part 8 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s5-t8.mp3 Q and A Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s6-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s6-t1.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s6-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s6-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s6-t5.mp3 4. Property Rights and War Discussion Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s7-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s7-t2.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s7-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s7-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s7-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s7-t6.mp3 Part 7 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s7-t7.mp3 Q and A Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t1.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t6.mp3 Part 7 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t7.mp3 Part 8 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t8.mp3 Part 9 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s8-t9.mp3 5. Eminent Domain Discussion Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s9-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s9-t2.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s9-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s9-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s9-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s9-t6.mp3 Part 7 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s9-t7.mp3 Part 8 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s9-t8.mp3 Q and A Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s10-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s10-t1.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s10-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s10-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s10-t5.mp3 6. Kelo v. New London Discussion Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t2.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t6.mp3 Part 7 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t7.mp3 Part 8 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t8.mp3 Part 9 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t9.mp3 Part 10 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s11-t10.mp3 Q and A Part 1 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s2-t1.mp3 Part 2 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s12-t1.mp3 Part 3 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s12-t3.mp3 Part 4 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s12-t4.mp3 Part 5 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s12-t5.mp3 Part 6 http://theahi.org/media/col1-s12-t6.mp3

Papers & Publications

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 15:48:27 +0000

Introduction by Professor Robert Paquette: ‘Unbought Grace—Reading Elizabeth Fox-Genovese’ (Printed by The National Association of Scholars, May, 2012) Op Ed: PAQUETTE: Forget Polar Bears - Save the Conservatives (The Washington Times, April 20, 2012) History & Women, Culture & Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Volume 4 The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton, Third Ed. ‘The World We Have Lost: A Parable on the Academy’ Marriage: The Dream That Refuses to Die

Bookstore

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:00:52 +0000

The Encounter Bookstore is located at: The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, NY 13323

BOOKSHELF SPECIALS

Our distinguished guests often deliver lectures and perform book-signings. The Encounter Bookshelf is pleased to offer signed copies of the following titles at retail prices. Paul Franco and Leslie Marsh , editors, A Companion to Michael Oakeshott, (Penn State University Press, 2013), $69.19, hardcover Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose and Ann Hartle, editors, History & Women, Culture & Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Volume 4, (University of South Carolina Press, 2011) $29.95, hardcover Robert Louis Paquette and Mark M. Smith, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas, (Oxford University Press, 2010), $150.00, hardcover Roger Kimball, Tenured Radicals: How Politics Has Corrupted Our Higher Education, 3rd edition, (Chicago: Ivan R, Dee, 2008), $16.95, paperback Roger Kimball, The Long March: How the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s Changed America (New York: Encounter Books, 2001), $16.95, paperback Roger Kimball, The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art (New York: Encounter Books, 2004) $17.95, paperback Roger Kimball and Hilton Kramer, editors, Lengthened Shadows: America and Its Institutions in the Twenty-First Century (New York: Encounter Books, 2004) $17.95, paperback Andrew C. McCarthy, Willful Blindness: A Memoir of Jihad (New York: Encounter Books, 2008), $16.95, paperback Andrew C. McCarthy, How the Obama Administration Has Politicized Justice (New York: Encounter Books Broadsides, 2009), $5.99, broadside Mark Bauerlein, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Ages Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (NY: Tarcher/Penguin Group, 2008), $15.95, paperback Mark Bauerlein, Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta (New York: Encounter Books, 2001) $16.95, paperback William Murchison, Mortal Follies: Episcopalians and the Crisis on Mainline Christianity (New York: Encounter Books, 2009), $25.95, hardcover Robert Louis Paquette and Louis Ferleger, editors, Slavery, Secession and Southern History (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000), $19.50 , paperback Douglas Ambrose and Robert W. T. Martin, editors, The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton, (New York: New York University Press, 2006), $23.00 , hardcover Paul Finkelman, Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson, second edition, (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp, Inc, 2001), $29.95, paperback In October 2009, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) unveiled the Encounter Bookshelf, a bookstore features publications by Encounter Books and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. Encounter Books seeks to strengthen “the marketplace of ideas” and to promote “educational activities to help preserve democratic culture.” Encounter specializes in the publication of non-fiction, including current affairs, biography, history, political science, and public policy.

Support Us

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:07:25 +0000

"Money is with propriety considered as the vital principle of the body politic; as that which sustains its life and motion, and enables it to perform its most essential functions." -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #30

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization relies on the donations of supporters to fund its operations.

If you wish to mail a donation to support the Alexander Hamilton Institute, please send your contribution to:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at The Alexander Hamilton Inn 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323 (315) 292-2267

The AHI is a tax-exempt organization within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Accordingly, contributions are deductible to the fullest extent provided by law. The AHI is unaffiliated with Hamilton College. The AHI does not provide tax or legal advice, and we encourage all donors to check with their professional advisors regarding tax matters. Please contact us for instructions if you wish to wire funds or donate securities. Additionally, donors who have special concerns or wish to coordinate estate planning issues are invited to contact us and a member of our board of directors will respond. Institutional inquiries are welcome. The Alexander Hamilton Institute is grateful for your support.

The Meaning of Freedom (April 2008)

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:20:07 +0000

Inaugural Carl B. Menges Colloquium

Pursuant to the Alexander Hamilton Institute's initial three year plan, the theme of AHI's first annual colloquium was devoted to the meaning of freedom. More than 140 guests—students, scholars, philanthropists, civic leaders, and entrepreneurs—attended the inaugural dinner of the AHI on Thursday evening, 10 April, at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino. The evening's event, which included a sumptuous feast, also honored special guests and steadfast supporters of the AHI. Its founders—Douglas Ambrose, James Bradfield, and Robert Paquette—spoke briefly on the past, present, and future of the AHI with special attention to future initiatives. Below you will find video of the opening remarks by then-president of the AHI, J. Hunter Brown; charter fellows Douglas Ambrose, James Bradfield, and Robert Paquette; and distinguised AHI board member, and the colloquium's namesake, Carl B. Menges. http://www.vimeo.com/962839 http://www.vimeo.com/966205 John Stauffer, Professor English and American Literature and Language at Harvard University and a prize-winning author, provided a keynote address, seen in the video below, entitled "Gerrit Smith, and the Ambiguities of Social Reform." Smith, arguably Hamilton College’s most influential and famous graduate, was graduated in 1818, valedictorian of his class. He converted to the cause of abolitionism in the 1830s, he founded the Liberty Party, served in Congress, funded John Brown’s attack on Harper's Ferry, and emerged as perhaps the foremost philanthropist in the transatlantic world during the antebellum period. Professor Stauffer’s keynote address will inaugurate an annual lecture series by the AHI, named in honor of Carl Menges, a distinguished member of the AHI's Board of Directors. http://www.vimeo.com/966184 http://www.vimeo.com/964163 After Professor Stauffer's stirring address, colloquium attendees intensively discussed a set of prescribed readings featuring the unpublished correspondence between Smith and George Fitzhugh, one of the most brilliant and original slavery apologists. Each session focused on a major theme in the correspondence. Click on each theme to display an audio track of the discussion. 1. The Nature of Man http://theahi.org/media/col-t1.mp3 2. Christianity and Slavery http://theahi.org/media/col-t2.mp3 3. The Meaning of Freedom http://theahi.org/media/col-t3.mp3 4. The Idea and Institution of Property http://theahi.org/media/col-t4.mp3 5. Capitalism and Its Alternatives http://theahi.org/media/col-t5.mp3 6. Race and Slavery http://theahi.org/media/col-t6.mp3

Initiatives

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:25:13 +0000

THE AHI UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWS

The AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program consists of some of the best and brightest students at Hamilton College who participate in the intellectual life of the AHI in many ways. MORE INFO >>

CARL B. MENGES COLLOQUIUM

The Carl B. Menges Colloquium is an annual event open to students and the general public, to discuss a specific theme related to the AHI’s core beliefs. MORE INFO >>

CHRISTOPHER DAWSON SOCIETY

The Christopher Dawson Society investigates the relations between religious belief and intellectual inquiry, between faith and reason, within the Western intellectual tradition. MORE INFO >>

DAVID ALDRICH NELSON LECTURE IN CONSTITUTIONAL JURISPRUDENCE

The David Aldrich Nelson Lecture is an annual lecture that honors David Aldrich Nelson and is held every year on Constitution Day (September 17). MORE INFO >>

EDMUND BURKE ASSOCIATION

The Edmund Burke Association seeks to explore political thought and political theory related to Western culture, the founding of the United States, and the development of American ideals and institutions. MORE INFO >>

ENQUIRY

Enquiry is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.” MORE INFO >>

ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUB

The Entrepreneurship Club seeks to educate students and members of the community in the ideas of entrepreneurship essential to a free and prosperous society. MORE INFO >>

JOSIAH BUNTING III VETERANS DAY LECTURE IN MILITARY HISTORY

Every year on Veterans Day, the AHI hosts a Veterans Day Lecture on military history in General Josiah Bunting III’s honor. MORE INFO >>

PUBLIUS SOCIETY

Publius Society honors the genius of Hamilton, Jay, and Madison with monthly discussions among a diverse group of students, faculty, and citizens in which current issues are placed in the context of the great traditions of the American republicanism. MORE INFO >>

WASHINGTON PROGRAM ON NATIONAL SECURITY (WAPONS)

The program aims to prepare promising and motivated college students for the challenges of a rapidly changing global environment by offering them an opportunity to engage with some of the best thinkers on and practitioners in the field of national security. MORE INFO >>

Undergraduate Fellows

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:55:42 +0000

Established in 2009, The AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program now includes more than eighty of the best and brightest students at Hamilton College. AHI Fellows are perhaps the most intellectually diverse group at Hamilton; in its first two years, the Fellows Program included the presidents of both the Hamilton Democrats and the Hamilton Republicans. Fellows participate in the intellectual life of the AHI in many ways—leading our student groups and discussions, taking the initiative to organize their own events, presenting their research, engaging the many leading public intellectuals visiting the AHI at Leadership Luncheons designed specifically for Fellows, attending the annual AHI Colloquium, presenting papers at national events under the auspices of AHI. For further information, please contact us at (315) 292-2267. News about AHI's Undergraduate Fellows >> Read Enquiry >>

Publius Society

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:57:36 +0000

Edmund Burke Association

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:58:44 +0000

Samuel Johnson, one of Great Britain’s most distinguished men of letters, said of Edmund Burke, “You could not stand five minutes with that man beneath a shed while it rained, but you must be convinced you had been standing with the greatest man you had ever yet seen.” Russell Kirk, one of the intellectual fathers of modern conservatism in the United States, embraced Burke as a venerated forefather. Yet, Conor Cruse O’Brien, the Irish statesman and intellectual who ranks as perhaps Burke’s foremost modern biographer, argues strenuously for Burke as a liberal icon, a man who in defending the American Revolution, denouncing the French Revolution, indicting British corruption in India, and pursuing justice for the Irish remained fundamentally consistent in his detestation of authoritarian rule. On the evening of 3 December, 2007, the Hamilton College Republican Club inaugurated the Edmund Burke Association (EBA). Its mission: the intensive exploration of political thought and political theory related to Western culture, the founding of the United States, and the development of American ideals and institutions. Positive change, the ability to adapt successfully as a society and as a culture, implies respect for past. “People will not look forward to posterity,” Burke observed, “who never look backward to their Ancestors. . . . [T]he idea of inheritance furnishes a sure principle of conservation, and a sure principle of transmission; without at all excluding a principle of improvement.” Put another way, one begs disaster by attempting to repair a leaking vessel, listing at sea, by first scrapping the hull of the ship. The EBA invites undergraduates interested in a free, frank, and civil exchange of ideas to form reading clusters in which great books formed within the Western tradition are read cover to cover under professorial supervision that includes invited guests. EBA gatherings are open not only to students of all political persuasions, but to the public as well. For further information, please contact us at (315) 292-2267. NEWS ABOUT EDMUND BURKE ASSOCIATION >>

Christopher Dawson Society

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:00:31 +0000

Alexis de Tocqueville, the brilliant French nobleman whose Democracy in America (1835) used to be required reading on the campuses of elite liberal arts colleges, visited the United States during the apogee of the Second Great Awakening, a phenomenon that ranks as one of the most extraordinary bursts of religious revivalism in the history of Christendom. Indeed, it was religion in America that “first struck . . . [Tocqueville's] eye.” Unlike in Europe, where “the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom” seemed to clash, Tocqueville discerned a remarkable symbiosis between religion and democratic values in the United States. He doubted whether democratic-republican government in the United States could survive without religion. The Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason, founded by AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose and AHI Fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose, seeks to investigate the relations between religious belief and intellectual inquiry, between faith and reason, within the Western intellectual tradition. Named for Christopher Dawson (1889-1970), the distinguished British historian of culture and the first recipient of the Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University, the Society will meet monthly to discuss texts that illuminate the ways in which persons of faith have sought to engage the intellectual world of the ancient, medieval, early modern, modern, and postmodern West. Dawson meetings are open to the public. For further information, please contact us at (315) 292-2267. News about Christopher Dawson Society >>

Student Programs

AHIadmin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:10:04 +0000

Student Programs -

Relationships 101 Held April 10, 2010 Introductions, by Chris Love '10 and Prof. Douglas Ambrose (video, audio is weak for Prof. Ambrose's comments) "Standing on the Threshold of an Inconceivable Age: Sexuality in the 21st Centery," by Rev. Dale S. Kuehne, professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH and author of Sex in the iWorld (video). "Physical and Emotional Responses to Sexual Intimary," by Toby Taylor, M.D., a family physician in Utica, NY (video) "Wedded Bliss: How to Find and Maintain lasting Love in Contemporary America," by Prof. W. Bradford Wilcox, Director of the National Marriage Projectat the University of Virginia, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia (video) Hosted by: The Christopher Dawson Society, Hamilton College Cosponsored by:

Dean of Students, Hamilton College
Chaplaincy, Hamilton College
Student Assembly, Hamilton College
Alexander Hamilton Institute, Clinton, NY
The Love and Fidelity Network, Princeton, NJ

Affiliates

AHIadmin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:40:20 +0000

Churchill Institute for the Study and Extension of Western Civilization (CI) in Hartford, Connecticut: In April 2016, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) announced the creation of the Churchill Institute for the Study and Extension of Western Civilization (CI) in Hartford, Connecticut. Created in affiliation with AHI, the Churchill Institute will be directed by Dr. Gregory B. Smith, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Trinity College, and will have as its primary mission to encourage, in every way possible, serious teaching, learning and scholarship about Western Civilization, and to promote a vigorous discussion of its preservation and future trajectory. The Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty (Center) located at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT): The Center will enhance the understanding of statesmanship as the apex of political greatness and explore its role in a free, democratic republic under the rule of law. The non-partisan Center will support scholarship, teaching, research, and student-centered learning related to statesmanship, liberty, and constitutionalism as they pertain primarily to the American regime. It will consider the interplay between America’s political culture and its leaders, ideas, and institutions. It will explore those cultural forces that may aid or impair statesmanship in our time. Programming will engage a broad community of students (including high school and college students), citizens, scholars, teachers, professionals, and public officials. For further information, please contact (315) 292-2267. Click here for all news about AHI's Affiliates > >

Entrepreneurship Club

AHIadmin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:35:35 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute’s Entrepreneurship Club seeks to educate students and members of the community in the ideas of entrepreneurship essential to a free and prosperous society. The club will investigate the ideas and institutions that best promote entrepreneurship to the benefit of individuals and their communities. The club will provide an open forum to explore the process of entrepreneurship from the generation of concepts and to implementation of design. The club will also sponsor presentations by various entrepreneurs who will discuss the virtues, talents and environment needed for building successful enterprises. For further information, please contact us at (315) 292-2267. News about the Entrepreneurship Club >>

Calendar

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:58:02 +0000

Privacy Policy

AHIadmin — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:44:39 +0000

YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

Effective Date: November 21, 2011

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization and subsidiaries (hereinafter "AHI") provides this website and website-related services subject to your compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Privacy Policy governs the way in which AHI collects and uses personal and non-personal information we learn about you from your visit to the AHI website (the "Website"). For more information, contact www.theahi.org. Please also refer to the Mandatory Terms of Use, which are incorporated as if fully recited herein, if you have not already done so.

SITES COVERED

This Agreement applies to conduct in connection with the website located at www.theahi.org (the "Website").

TERRITORIALITY

Regardless of where our servers are located, your personal data will be processed by us in the United States, where data protection and privacy regulations may or may not be to the same level of protection as in other parts of the world. BY VISITING THIS WEBSITE, YOU UNEQUIVOCALLY AND UNAMBIGUOUSLY CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION AND PROCESSING IN THE UNITED STATES OF ANY PERSONAL AND NON-PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED OR OBTAINED BY AHI THROUGH VOLUNTARY SUBMISSIONS, AND THAT UNITED STATES LAW GOVERNS ANY SUCH COLLECTION AND PROCESSING.

COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

-Personal Information

Personal Information is defined as your name or information that would enable you to be contacted, as well as your profession, and any financial or medical information about you. Through this website, AHI collects no Personal Information about you unless you voluntary submit it. You may submit information by clicking on various links, such as "Contact Us." Additionally, AHI may collect such information when you register for the Website or purchase any item on any AHI affiliated website, or in a number of additional manners.

-Non-Personal Information

AHI may collect non-Personal Information about you or your activity at the Website. Non-Personal Information may be collected at various stages in the Website, including when you post non-Personal Information to the Website. The Website may automatically recognize and store information about the type of browser you are using; your Internet Protocol ("IP") address; the time, date, and length of your visit; the pages you visit, and the referring site. This information, if collected, is collected via computer code sent to your computer (commonly referred to as "cookies"). The cookies may not expire, unless you manually delete them or set your browser to reject them. If you do not accept the cookies, however, you may have difficulty navigating the Website or accessing features of the Website. Furthermore, the Website may utilize Web beacons, embedded Web links, and other commonly used information-gathering tools.

USE OF INFORMATION

AHI uses non-personal information to manage the Website. AHI may analyze the data about visits to the Website to make it more accessible or interesting for visitors. AHI may share this data with third parties, usually to provide services for Website users with the maintenance of the Website. Additionally, AHI may disclose information about which Website pages you visit on the Website. If you submit Personal Information to the Website, the information will be used for the purpose you requested or for which it is collected or for any purpose you subsequently authorize. That information may be stored and maintained for as long as is reasonable necessary to effectuate the service you request and for a reasonable time thereafter. AHI will process this information in a manner which is consistent with the purposes for which it has been collected or subsequently authorized by you. AHI may share information with trusted partners to help us fulfill your request, perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. Personal Information that you provide to the Website to be posted or otherwise made available may be shared with other users of the Website. If you choose to communicate with others through the Website, such communications may utilize your Personal Information, and may disclose such information. Additionally, AHI may use such information to contact you regarding the Website or to inform you of other products or services available from AHI and its affiliates. AHI may also use such information to contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services to be offered. Furthermore, AHI may disclose any information collected to the extent AHI reasonably believes that such disclosure is desirable to comply with the law, such as in response to any subpoena, to the extent reasonably necessary to establish or defend a legal claim and for other purposes permitted by applicable law. Additionally, any such information may be transferred to a third party in the event of a sale, acquisition, merger or bankruptcy involving AHI or any subsidiary or section thereof. If you do not wish AHI to use your information in accordance with this Policy, please do not submit any Personal Information to AHI.

CONSENT TO PROCESS INFORMATION

By using the Website and submitting information to it, you hereby consent to allow AHI to process information in accordance with this Policy. You understand that Personal and non-Personal Information you submit to the Website or that is collected when you visit the Website may reveal your identity or aspects about it and about you. You may withdraw your consent at any time by terminating your account from the Website, in accordance with Website procedure, or by contacting AHI at www.theahi.org. Please note that if you withdraw your consent, AHI may terminate your account, but AHI may retain your Personal Information and non-Personal Information in a non-public format to process aggregate data, or in a non-aggregate format for business purposes, as AHI, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Further, any information you have posted to the Website may remain posted and public. Although AHI may retain your information that it collects, it is under no obligation to do so, and may delete its records of your information at any time, without your consent and in AHI's sole discretion.

ACCESS, UPDATE AND OPT-OUT

If you would like to access or update any information you have sent to AHI, if you do not want to receive information from AHI or if you would like to limit your information's use or disclosure, please contact us at www.theahi.org. At such a time, AHI may request that you verify your identify so that AHI may ensure the accuracy and lawfulness of granting you such access. AHI will make reasonable efforts to honor any request you make, including requests to access and update the information stored by AHI and requests that AHI forgo contacts with you in the future or delete your information, except to the extent that the burden for providing such access and correction would be disproportionate to the risks to your privacy in the case in question, or as otherwise permitted by applicable law. Please note that if you make an opt-out request or a request to modify your information, AHI will retain your contact information or your original information to make efforts to ensure that you are not contacted in the future and for archival purposes. Additionally, please note that if you request AHI to refrain from sharing your information with third parties, AHI may be unable to fulfill various requests made by you. To the extent required by the CAN-SPAM Act, or other similar domestic and international regulation, commercial e-mail messages will provide you with an opportunity to opt-out of receiving such information. Please note that changes to your preferences may not be effective immediately.

ADDITIONAL PRIVACY RIGHTS

California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as S.B. 27, or the "Shine the Light" law, allows California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosures in the prior calendar year, if any, of their personally identifiable information to third parties. To make such a request, please contact us at www.theahi.org with "Request for Privacy Information" in the letter subject line. You must include sufficient detail for us to determine an appropriate response; at a minimum, your name, email and state of residency. AHI will attempt to provide you with the requested information within thirty (30) days of receipt. We reserve our right not to respond to requests sent more than once in a calendar year, or requests submitted to an address other than the one posted in this notice. Please note that the California Shine the Light law does not cover all information sharing or all users of the Website. Our disclosure only includes information covered by the law.

REVISIONS TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

AHI therefore reserves the right to update and revise this Privacy Policy at any time. You can determine if this Privacy Policy has been revised since your last visit by referring to the "Effective Date" date at the top of this page. Your use of our Website after a modification constitutes your acceptance of the terms of the Privacy Policy as amended or revised by us, and you should therefore review this Privacy Policy regularly to ensure that you are aware of its terms. © 2011, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, All rights reserved.

Terms of Use

AHIadmin — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:53:45 +0000

MANDATORY TERMS OF USE

Effective Date: November 21, 2011

YOU MUST AGREE TO THIS MANDATORY TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT BEFORE AND AS A CONDITION PRECEDENT TO USING THIS WEBSITE.

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization and subsidiaries (hereinafter "AHI:) provides this website and website-related services subject to your compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Mandatory Terms of Use Agreement (the "Agreement"). This Agreement, and the terms and conditions listed in the Privacy Policy, govern the relationship between AHI and you, the Visitor, with respect to your use of the Website. YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE CREATES A LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT BASED ON THIS MANDATORY TERMS OF USE AND THE CONDITIONS CONTAINED IN THE PRIVACY POLICY, AND YOU HEREBY AGREE TO ALL SAID CONDITIONS. You acknowledge that you have read and understood the terms and conditions of this Mandatory Terms of Use Agreement (and/or have had the opportunity to consult with counsel) and that you agree to be bound by all of its provisions. If you do not agree to these Mandatory Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy, you must not use the Website and you must navigate away from this Website. As used in this Agreement, the words "you: and "your: refer to any person accessing the AHI Website. The words "we,: "us,: and "our: refer to AHI. AHI may, at any time and in our sole discretion, revise or update this Agreement by posting an amended Agreement on the Website. Please check this page periodically for changes to the Agreement. Your use of the Website following the posting of an updated Agreement constitutes acceptance of the last updated Agreement. If you do not accept the changes, you must delete any account you have and refrain from using the Website. Your continued use of the Website will signify your acceptance of these terms. Further, AHI reserves the right, at any time, to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Website (or any part thereof) without notice to you. You agree that AHI shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Website, or of any Materials (as defined below). If you have any questions about this Agreement or your other agreements, please contact us at www.theahi.org.

SITES COVERED

This Agreement applies to conduct in connection with the website located at www.theahi.org (the "Website:).

LICENSE TO USE WEBSITE

As long as you are in compliance with the conditions of this Agreement and all associated documents incorporated herein, AHI hereby grants you a limited, revocable, non-assignable, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive license to access the Website via an ordinary Internet browser, to view the Website and all Content and Materials thereon that are intended to be displayed publicly. The Agreement impacts your legal rights and responsibilities and should be read carefully. Any violation of the terms or conditions of this Agreement is grounds for immediate termination of this limited license. No other rights are granted, implied or otherwise.

INCORPORATED TERMS

The following additional terms are hereby incorporated into this Agreement by reference, and your assent to this Agreement binds you to all of the additional terms in the following documents:

ELIGIBILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE

The following are requirements for your eligibility to use the Website, and you hereby warrant that you meet all such eligibility requirements.

You are over the age of 18;
You have not previously been removed, suspended or terminated from the Website;
You are not a competitor of AHI, nor do you work for, consult for or otherwise assist a competitor of AHI; and,
You are fully authorized and able to enter this Agreement, and your entering into this Agreement does not violate any other agreement or legal right of any third-party.

AVAILABILITY AND USE OF THE WEBSITE

While AHI makes reasonable efforts to ensure that the Website is available at all times, AHI does not guarantee, represent or warrant that access to the Website will be uninterrupted or error-free, and AHI does not guarantee that users will be able to access or use all or any of the Website features at all times. AHI may change, suspend or discontinue any (or all) aspects of the Website at any time, including the availability of any Website feature or your particular user account, in its sole discretion. AHI may also impose limits on the use of or access to certain features or portions of the Website, or restrict your access to any part or all of the Website, in all cases without notice or liability. You are prohibited from attempting to or actually accessing those portions of the Website for which you have no permission. AHI is under no obligation to maintain the Website or any information, Content, Submissions, Materials, or other matters that you submit, post or make available to the Website, or are otherwise available on the Website. AHI reserves the right to withhold, remove and or discard any such material on the Website or available or placed by you thereon as part of your account (if you have one), with or without notice at any time. For avoidance of doubt, AHI has no obligation to store, maintain or provide you a copy of any information, Content, Submissions, Materials, or other matters that you or any other user submits or posts to the Website in any way. You acknowledge and agree that AHI may send you important notices or other information related to the Website by email or through other means, including mobile or other hand held devices or fax machines. You acknowledge and agree that AHI has no liability related to or arising from any failure by you to maintain accurate or up to date contact information, or other profile information, or related to your failure to receive important or critical information regarding the Website.

IMPORTANT NOTICES/DISCLAIMER

AHI makes available the information and materials on the Website, including but not limited to summaries, descriptions, professional summaries, text, articles, videos, images, graphics, publications, news, surveys, seminars, information regarding AHI members, tutorials and any other such materials appearing on the Website (the "Materials"), for general informational purposes only. The Materials are not intended to constitute, and DO NOT constitute, financial, tax, investment, medical, legal or business advice. Those accessing the Materials should not act upon them without first seeking business, legal, financial, tax, investment, medical or other such counsel, as these Materials are general in nature, and may not apply to a particular circumstance. As such, the Materials should not be used as a substitute for consultation with a professional adviser. Please consult a professional adviser should you have questions regarding any of the above mentioned issues. Neither AHI, nor its affiliates, employees, agents, officers or directors will be responsible for any decisions you may make. The Website may contain typographical errors or inaccuracies, including but not limited to errors or inaccuracies related to price, product information, service information, product description or availability, and may not be complete or current. AHI reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions (including after any order has been submitted, confirmed and/or charged to your credit card) and to change or update information at any time without prior notice. Please note that such errors, inaccuracies or omissions may relate to pricing and availability, and we reserve the right to cancel or refuse to accept any order placed based on incorrect pricing or availability information. We have made every effort to display as accurately and reliably as possible the colors, sizes, dimensions, materials, textures, and all other physical aspects ("Depiction:) of the goods, if any, that may appear on the Website. However, we cannot guarantee, and make no warranty, promise, or agreement that any depicted or described product actually comports with its Depiction or description. Any price quotation, service information or any other such information regarding the provision of and fees for any goods or service offered by AHI are provided purely for informational and illustrative purposes. AHI does not guarantee, and makes no warranty, promise, or agreement that any depicted or described goods or services are actually offered or comports with its description on the Website. AHI reserves the right to cease offering any such services or benefits to any prospective or actual member or customer at any time, in all cases without notice or liability.

RULES OF CONDUCT

Your use of the Website is conditioned on your compliance with the within rules of conduct as well as all other terms of the Agreement. You agree to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in accessing and/or using the Website and/or any Materials. You must provide true and accurate information at all times in any Material, Content, Submission, or other material that you provide or upload to the Website. You agree to review and promptly comply with all messages received from AHI. You must keep your user login and password and any other information needed to login to the Website, if applicable, confidential and secure. AHI is not responsible for any unauthorized access to your account or profile by others and any ramifications of such access, and AHI may take no action to disable any account until given explicit notice by you. Under confirmed unauthorized use circumstances, AHI may take reasonable efforts with reasonable speed, to disable, lock or otherwise address your situation. In the event that you would like to report a breach, please contact www.theahi.org with the term "Account Breach Notice:" in the subject line. You alone are responsible for your interactions with other users of the Website. AHI may monitor disputes between you and other users, and may terminate your account at any time, in its sole discretion; however, AHI is under no obligation to monitor such interactions or take any particular action. You agree not to use the Website for any unlawful or fraudulent purpose, including impersonating any person or entity, including, but not limited to, any AHI employee, agent, or representative; or expressing or implying that AHI endorses any statement you make. You may not use any information obtained from the Website to harass, spam or intimidate others or to contact them without their permission. You may not modify, adapt, translate, copy, reverse engineer decompile or disassemble any portion of the Website or Materials. Further, you may not interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Website, including restricting or inhibiting any other person from using the Website by means of hacking, or defacing any portion of the Website. Further, transmitting or making available in connection with the Website any denial of service attack, virus, worm, Trojan horse, root kit or other harmful code or activity is prohibited. Moreover, you may not interfere with or violate any other Website visitor's or user's right to privacy or other rights, or mine, harvest or collect personally identifiable information about Website visitors or users, or about AHI employees or other individuals identified on the Website, without their express written consent. You are also proscribed from selling, reselling, transferring, licensing or exploiting for any commercial purposes any use of or access (including sharing of passwords and login information) to the Website or the Materials. You may not mine or harvest information from the Website, including any scraping of the Website. You may not use the Website to solicit any other Website users, either through Website functionality or through outside functionality. You may not access any portion of the Website that is not public or is not meant to be accessed by general users, and you may not attempt to override any security measures in place on the Website. To the extent that you may access or download any software that is made available through AHI from the Website ("Software"), such Software is the copyrighted work of AHI and/or its various third party licensors. Your use of the Software may be governed by the terms of a separate end user license agreement, if any, which accompanies or is included with the Software. You may not install or use any Software that is accompanied by or includes such an end user license agreement unless You first agree to the terms of such agreement. No warranties regarding such Software are provided by AHI. If you have any inquiries concerning these terms, please consult AHI before accessing any programs In the event that you are obligated by law to take actions contrary to any term of this Agreement, you agree to notify AHI at least 30 days before you are required to take such actions, or if a shorter period is required, as soon as possible. To the extent that you believe that a local law may impact this Agreement (noting, however, that AHI believes that this Agreement to control under U.S. law), you agree to advise AHI of any provision contained herein that you believe to be necessary to modify. Otherwise, this will further confirm your consent and agreement to the express terms contained herein.

CONTENT SUBMITTED OR MADE AVAILABLE TO AHI

You are under no obligation to submit any materials to AHI, and AHI will not claim ownership of any text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or tags ("Content:) you submit or make available through or on the Website. However, should you choose to utilize Services which may be available on the Website to submit, upload, or otherwise provide any Content to AHI or the Website, you hereby grant AHI a worldwide, fully paid, royalty-free, nonexclusive, unrestricted, unlimited, assignable, sub-licensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to AHI to use, copy, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, improve, create derivative work from, publish, remove, delete, translate, publicly perform, publicly display and commercialize the Content, in whole or in part, in any way or manner now known or in the future discovered or developed, and to incorporate such Content into other works in any format or medium now known or later developed, for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without providing compensation to you or any person or entity, without further consent, and without any liability whatsoever. You further expressly permit, license, and assent to AHI's right to register, deposit, or otherwise record any modification or derivative work created by AHI from the Content with any foreign or domestic registration bodies, including but not limited to the United States Copyright Office or the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You further hereby expressly and irrevocably waive all moral rights in the Content, in favor of AHI and any of its successors or assigns. By submitting or posting any documents, comments, questions, suggestions, plans, notes, drawings, ideas, proposals, or materials similar thereto ("Submissions:) or other Content to AHI or the Website, you hereby explicitly agree, represent and warrant that: (a) all such Submissions and Content are true and accurate, (b) such Submissions and Content do not contain confidential or proprietary information, and their provision is not a violation of any contractual or legal right of any party; (c) your Submissions automatically become the property of AHI without any obligation of AHI to you; (d) AHI is not under any obligation of confidentiality relating to the Submissions or Content, either express or implied; (e) AHI shall be entitled to use or disclose the Submissions or Content in any way, manner, purpose or otherwise, worldwide; (f) AHI may have under consideration or development similar ideas to the Submissions or Content; and (g) you are not entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of any kind from AHI in exchange for the Submissions. Further, AHI may access and use the Website and any Service and any information stored thereon, including the contents of any Content or Submissions, for any purpose. AHI may disclose the contents of any Content or Submissions, including the identity and other personal information of any user, submitter or poster of such materials, to any third party, including any law enforcement agency, to protect our rights or property, or for any other reason. Certain Content, Submissions or Material you may choose to submit to the Website are likely to reveal your age, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or religion. You acknowledge that you are fully aware and responsible for all actions and impact of providing said materials. You agree that AHI will not be held responsible for any such impact. By providing any sensitive personally identifiable information to AHI, you explicitly grant AHI the right to process, transfer and/or disclose all or part of such information, in accordance with the Privacy Policy. You hereby take and accept full responsibility for all ramifications of the public availability of any Content or Submissions you submit to AHI or make available on the Website, and agree that AHI shall be held harmless from any result of such availability or use, in accordance with this Agreement. The Website may contain bulletin board services, chat areas, news groups, forums, communities, personal web pages, calendars, and/or other message or communication facilities designed to enable you to communicate with the public at large or with a group (collectively, "Communication Services"). You agree to use the Communication Services only to post, send and receive messages and material that are proper and related to the particular Communication Service. AHI does not warranty that any information contained on or in said Communications Services is accurate, reliable or confidential. You agree that AHI cannot be held responsible for any ramifications of your posting or use of any Content or Submissions or any Materials from or to said Communications services. You agree not to upload, distribute, make available, or otherwise publish through the Website or any Service thereon, any Content or Submission that:

contains a virus, corrupt file, or any other similar software of programs which may damage the operation of another's computer;
is unlawful or encouraging of another to commit unlawful activity;
violative of the rights of any party, infringing upon the patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual or proprietary property right of any party;
defamatory, libelous, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, inappropriate, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusing, threatening, harassing, threatening, or otherwise objectionable;
Constitutes advertisements or offers to sell or buy goods or services of any kind, unless authorized by AHI;
Contains a contest, pyramid scheme or chain letter;
May restrict or inhibit any other user from using the Communication Services; or
Violates any rules of conduct which may be applicable to a particular Communication Service.

AHI retains the right, but not the obligation, to monitor any activity and Submission or Content submitted, posted, uploaded, or otherwise communicated to AHI or the Website, or is made available on the Website. AHI may block, edit, modify or remove any Submission or Content it deems to be violative of this Agreement, or any other Content or Submissions that AHI deems, in AHI's sole discretion, to be objectionable or in any way not in furtherance of the goals or purposes of AHI, the Website or the particular area of the Website to which such Content or Submission may have been placed. However, AHI takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any Content or Submission posted by you, or any damage caused by another user's access to such content on the Website, whether before or after any removal of such Content or Submission by AHI. AHI in no way endorses any Content or Submission posted to or made available through the Website. AHI does not control the Content or Submission submitted to AHI or otherwise made available to others on the Website, and has no obligation or duty to verify the accuracy of any such Content or Submission, or the identity of any user that provides such materials or to supervise the uploading, use or availability of such materials on or to the Website. In the event that you believe that any user of the Website has violated this Agreement, please contact AHI immediately, and AHI may take action that it, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate under the circumstances

AHI'S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

The Materials, the Website and its downloadable contents are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions world-wide. You recognize that while some of the Materials available on the Website may be compiled from publicly available sources, the compilation of such materials represents protectable effort and expression exerted by AHI, and you agree not to contest same. You may print and/or download a copy of any part of the Website for your personal, non-commercial use, but you may not copy, distribute, make commercial use of or otherwise exploit any part of the Materials or the Website for any other purpose without the express written consent of AHI, and you may not modify any part of the Website for any reason. Additionally, you may not remove any trademark, copyright, or other rights notice which appears on the Website. The trademarks, service marks, logos and any designs used or displayed on the Website specific to AHI are trademarks and/or service marks owned by AHI. Any use of copyrighted works, trademarks or service marks, including the reproduction, modification, distribution or republication of same without the prior express written permission of AHI is strictly prohibited. Other copyrighted works, trademarks, service marks, trade names and company logos utilized on the Website are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. The appearance of any such third party trademarks does not in any way imply any connection, license, approval or other such relationship of any kind with such third party. The website may also contain samples of AHI's programs for informational purposes. These programs cannot be used for any commercial purpose. Moreover, certain technology and programs may be subject to intellectual property rights, and any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. AHI can be reached by directing communications to: The Alexander Hamilton Institute 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323 (315) 292-2267 www.theahi.org

ENFORCEMENT OF THE AGREEMENT

AHI may investigate any reported, alleged or suspected violation of this Agreement, and take any action that AHI, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Such action may include issuing warnings, suspension of a user's access to the Website or complete termination of such access, at any time. AHI may recover those amounts spent in connection with enforcement, from any violation of these terms.

TERMINATION

Any rights or privileges to use the Website may be revoked by AHI at any time for any reason at its sole discretion. Either you or AHI may terminate this Agreement at any time, for cause or without cause. If AHI terminates this Agreement, it is effective immediately upon notice to you. If you terminate this Agreement, it is effective within a reasonable amount of time after you provide AHI with such notice; however, AHI may retain and use your information in accordance with this Agreement. If you would like to terminate your membership in the Website, please contact us at www.theahi.org. Without limiting the foregoing rights, AHI has a policy of terminating users who it deems to be repeat violators of the United States Copyright Act, as noted in the Copyright and Trademark Policy. All grants of any rights from you to AHI related to Content, Submissions, Materials, or other materials, including but not limited to copyright or other intellectual property licenses shall survive any termination of this Agreement.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

IN NO EVENT SHALL AHI, ITS SUPPLIERS OR OTHER THIRD PARTIES MENTIONED ON THE WEBSITE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF OR ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE OR ANY GOODS OR SERVICES CONTAINED HEREON. AHI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. AHI DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FROM ANY MALFUNCTIONS, LIMITATIONS ON ACCESS OR INTERRUPTIONS IN AND TO THE WEBSITE. ADDITIONALLY, AHI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ANY INFORMATION TRANSMITTED BY AHI TO ANY INDIVIDUAL VIA THE WEBSITE IS ACCURATE OR EFFECTIVE. AHI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE WILL NOT VIOLATE THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS. FURTHER, NEITHER AHI, NOR ANY OTHER PARTY INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION OR HOSTING OF THE WEBSITE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE AND/OR ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE OR ANY GOODS OR SERVICES CONTAINED HEREON. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WEBSITE OR THE MATERIALS IS TO STOP USING THE WEBSITE OR THE MATERIALS. AHI HAS NO OBLIGATION TO VERIFY THE IDENTITY OF ANY USER UTILIZING THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICES AVAILABLE THEREON, NOR DOES AHI HAVE ANY OBLIGATION TO MONITOR THE USE OF THE WEBSITE BY OTHER USERS. AHI WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR IDENTITY THEFT OR ANY OTHER MISUSE OF YOUR IDENTITY OR INFORMATION. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER LAW, EVERYTHING ON THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS" AND AHI SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENTS, AND ANY GOODS OR SERVICE PROVIDED VIA THE WEBSITE. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED OR HARMED BY AHI, THE WEBSITE OR ANYTHING RELATED TO AHI, YOU MAY TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT AND SUCH TERMINATION SHALL BE YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that a court shall find that the above disclaimers are not enforceable, the Parties agree that neither AHI nor any of its subsidiaries, affiliated companies, employees, shareholders, or directors shall be liable for (1) any damages in excess of $500, or (2) any indirect, incidental, punitive, special, or consequential damages or loss of use, lost revenue, lost profits or data to you or any third party from your use of the Website or any Services, Content, Submissions, Materials or other materials on, accessed through or downloaded from the Website, even if AHI is aware or has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation shall apply regardless of the basis of your claim or whether or not the limited remedies provided herein fail of their essential purpose. This limitation shall not apply to any damage that AHI causes that cannot be disclaimed in this Agreement.

INDEMNITY

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless AHI, its affiliates and its suppliers, and each of their respective partners, employees, representatives and agents, from and against all claims, losses, costs, damages, liabilities and expenses (including, but not limited to, attorney fees) arising out of:

Your activities in connection with the Website;
Any violation of this Agreement by you;
Any improper or unauthorized use of the Materials by you;
Any conduct, activity or action which is unlawful or illegal under any state, federal or common law, or violative of the rights of any individual or entity, engaged in, caused by, or facilitated in any way through the use of software or information which appears on the Website;
Any allegation that anything you transmit or attempt to transmit, including but not limited to any Content or Submission you submit, post, or otherwise make available, through or in connection with the Website, infringes or otherwise violates the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of any third party.

To the extent that you voluntarily provide your login, password or member information to another, you agree to be bound by and responsible for their actions hereon.

INCORPORATION OF PRIVACY POLICY

AHI uses your information only as described in the Privacy Policy, which is expressly incorporated as terms of this Agreement. If you object to anything in the Privacy Policy, please do not use our services or contact us directly to determine whether a special exemption or modification may be warranted.

CHOICE OF LAW AND JURISDICTION

Unless otherwise specified, the Website and its contents are provided solely for providing information. The Website is controlled and operated by AHI from New York, in the United States of America, regardless of where its servers may be located, from time to time. You agree that any dispute arising under the Agreement shall be resolved exclusively in New York state or federal courts, applying New York law, regardless of any principles of conflicts of law and without regard to choice of laws doctrines.

By your use, you waive any jurisdictional, venue or inconvenient forum objections to such courts for purposes of resolving these disputes.

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AHI's Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium a Success

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 02:55:16 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization held the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 12-15, 2012, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The keynote address "Numismatics and Limited Government" was given by social commentator Roger Kimball, Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books. Click here for photos from the Carl B. Menges Colloquium > > The colloquium was dedicated to “Binding the Minotaur: The Problem of Limited Government.” Students from Villanova University, the University of Rochester, Hamilton College, Hampden-Sydney College, and Skidmore College were in attendance. Participants included: James Bradfield, Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics, Hamilton College; Jennifer Dirmeyer, Assistant Professor of Economics, Hampden-Sydney College; Chris Hill, Resident Fellow, AHI; Kevin Honeycutt, Classics Philosophy & Religion, Sweet Briar College; Pamela Jensen, Professor of Political Science, Kenyon College; Adam Kissel, Vice President of Programs at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education; Robert Kraynak, Professor of Political Science, Colgate University; Daniel J. Mahoney, Chair and Professor of Political Science, Assumption College; Mark Malvasi, Isaac Newton Vaughan Professor of History, Randolph-Macon College; Tiffany Jones Miller Associate Professor of Politics, University of Dallas; Mike Rizzo, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Rochester; Charley Ruger, Program Manager, Higher Education at Charles Koch Foundation; Colleen Sheehan, Professor, Department of Political Science, Villanova University; Elaine Sternberg, University of Miami; Flagg Taylor, Assistant Professor of Government, Skidmore College.

Binding the Minotaur: The Problem of Limited Government (April 2012)

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:18:12 +0000

AHI Holds Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 12-15, 2012 at the Turning Stone Resort Topic: “Binding the Minotaur: The Problem of Limited Government.” Welcome and Introductory Remarks – Richard Erlanger, President, AHI http://vimeo.com/41933872 Past, Present, and Future of the AHI Douglas Ambrose, Co-Founder and Charter Fellow, AHI http://vimeo.com/42007465 Marta Johnson, Student Director, AHI Undergraduate Leader of the Jouvenel Group (Hamilton Class, 2013) http://vimeo.com/42014118 Thomas Cheeseman, AHI Undergraduate Fellow (Hamilton Class, 2012) http://vimeo.com/42031712 Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Lecture Keynote address "Numismatics and Limited Government" Social commentator Roger Kimball, Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books Introduction of Roger Kimball by Professor Robert Paquette, AHI Charter Fellow http://vimeo.com/42096780 Sessions: April 13, 2012: 1. The Minotaur Presented Discussion http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01_Panel_1_04132012.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01_Panel1_QandA_04132012.mp3 2. Limited Government and the Founders Discussion http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/02_Panel2_04132012.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01_Panel2_finish_and_QA_04132012.mp3 3. A Road Diverged? Discussion http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01_Panel3_04132012.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01-Panel-3-QA-04132012.mp3 Sessions: April 14, 2012: 4. Sovereignty and Social Justice Discussion http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01_Panel1_04142012.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01-Panel-1-Q-A-04142012.mp3 5. What Happened to the Makeweights Discussion http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/02_Panel2_04142012.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01_Panel2_finish_and_QA_04142012.mp3 6. Obamacare and the Courts Discussion http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01_Panel3_04142012.mp3 Q and A http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01_Panel3_finish_and_QA_04142012.mp3

Samuel Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations (April 2013)

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:24:05 +0000

AHI Holds Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 18-20, 2013 at the Turning Stone Resort Topic: “What is a Civilizational Struggle: The Work of Samuel Huntington” Welcome and Introductory Remarks – Richard Erlanger, President, AHI http://vimeo.com/64956685 Past, Present, and Future of the AHI Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow, AHI http://vimeo.com/64957686 A Remembrance of Fran Musselman Carl B. Menges, Board of Directors, AHI http://vimeo.com/64970898 The AHI Undergraduate Experience Dean Ball, AHI Undergraduate Leader of the Publius Society and the Montesquieu Group (Hamilton Class, 2014) http://vimeo.com/64987894 Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Lecture Keynote address "The Clash of Civilizations in the 21^st Century: The Work of Samuel Huntington and the Realities of Today" Dr. James R. Kurth, Claude Smith Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College Introduction of James Kurth by Professor Robert Kraynak, Director, Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, Colgate University http://vimeo.com/64990514 Sessions: April 19, 2013: 1. “Huntington v. Fukuyama: One World or Many” http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Session1-04192013.MP3 2. “What is a Civilization?” http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Session2-04192013.MP3 3. “Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations” http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Session3-04192013.MP3 Sessions: April 20, 2013: 4. “Huntington and his Critics” http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Session4-04202013.MP3 5. “Clashes within Civilization” http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Session5-04202013.MP3 6. Session VI: “The Future of the West” http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Session6-04202013.MP3

AHI Completes a Dynamic Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 18:42:31 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and The Center for Freedom and Western Civilization at Colgate University co-sponsored the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 18-20, 2013, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium was devoted to the theme of civilizational struggle in the work of Samuel Huntington, one of the most influential political scientists of his generation. Dr. James Kurth, Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College and one of Samuel Huntington's former students was the keynote. Click here for photos from the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium. Photos Copyright 2013 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Speakers In addition to keynote speaker James R. Kurth, the colloquium featured a number of distinguished panelists and participants including: Steve Ealy, Senior Fellow, Liberty Fund James S. Robbins, Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs, The Washington Times Kenneth Minogue, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Honorary Fellow at the London School of Economics Peter Coclanis, Associate Provost, International Affairs, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Tim Fuller, Professor of Political Science, Colorado College Elizabeth Corey, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Baylor University Paul Franco, Professor of Government, Bowdoin College Doug Macdonald, Associate Professor of Political Science, Colgate University Ray Douglas, Professor of History, Colgate University David Frisk, Eismeier Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Khaleel Mohammed, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, San Diego State University Dr. Charles Asher Small, Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) and Koret Distinguished Scholar at the Hoover Institution Alexandra Wilhelmsen, Professor of Spanish, University of Dallas Robert Kraynak (event co-sponsor), Professor of Government and Director, Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, Colgate University Robert L. Paquette (event co-sponsor), Charter Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Session Readings Included: Session I: Huntington v Fukuyama: One World or Many? Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History?” The National Interest, no. 16, (Summer 1989): 3-35 Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations,” Foreign Affairs, 72 (Summer 1993): 22-49. John Lukacs, “Francis Fukuyama and Graham Fuller,” in Remembered Past: John Lukacs on History, Historians, and Historical Knowledge. A Reader(Wilmington, DE, 2005), 352-55. James Kurth, “Samuel Huntington (1927-2008): Ideas Have Consequences,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, (January 2009). Session II: What Is a Civilization? Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations (New York, 1996), chs. 1-3, pp. 40-101. Session III: Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations (New York, 1996), chs. 4-7, pp. 102-178. Session IV: Huntington and His Critics Tony Blair, “Speech to Chicago Council on Global Affairs,”23 April 2009. Shireen T. Hunter, “Introduction,” The Future of Islam and the West (1998), pp. 1-30 Amartya Sen, “Civilizational Confinement,” in Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (New York, 2006), pp. 40-58 Alan Wolfe, “Native Son: Samuel Huntington Defends the Homeland,” Foreign Affairs, 83 (May-June, 2004):120-25. Session V: Clashes within Civilizations Samuel P. Huntington, Who are We? (New York, 2004), pp. 141-177, 264-273 James Kurth, “The Real Clash,” National Interest, 3 (Fall 1994): 3-15. Walter Lacqueur, The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continent (New York, 2007), pp. 167-98. Session VI: The Future of the West Bernard Lewis, “The Roots of Muslim Rage,” Atlantic Monthly, September 1990, pp. 47-60 John Lukacs, “The State at the End of the Modern Age,” The End of the Twentieth Century and the End of the Modern Age (New York, 1993), pp.242-271 Kenneth Minogue, “How Civilizations Fall,” The New Criterion, 19 (April 2001) Roger Scruton, “Conclusion,” in The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat (Wilmington, DE, 2002), pp. 157-162.

David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 16:03:23 +0000

This annual lecture honors David Aldrich Nelson and is held every year on Constitution Day (September 17). The inaugural lecture held September 17, 2008 and was given by the Honorable Jeffrey S. Sutton, judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Nelson’s successor. Judge Nelson was graduated from Hamilton College, 1954, valedictorian of his class. He attended the Harvard Law School and read law as a Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge University, in England. He began the practice of law with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cleveland, Ohio, and served on active duty at the Pentagon as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel of the Secretary of the Air Force. President Nixon appointed him General Counsel of the Post Office Department in 1969, and he later became Senior Assistant Postmaster General and General Counsel of the reorganized United States Postal Service. He rejoined his former law firm in 1972, remaining with it until President Reagan appointed him to the bench in 1985. Judge Nelson took senior status in 1999, but continued to hear cases until he closed his chambers in 2006. Judge Nelson was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Life Fellow of the Ohio State Bar Foundation, and a Sergeant Emeritus of the Court of Nisi Prius in Cleveland. He served in the past as a member of the National Council of the Ohio State University College of Law, a trustee of Hamilton College, and a director of Blount, Inc. At the time of his death he was a director of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, based in Clinton, New York. NEWS ABOUT DAVID ALDRICH NELSON LECTURE IN CONSTITUTIONAL JURISPRUDENCE >>

Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day Lecture in Military History

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 16:31:14 +0000

On November 11, 2013 Veterans Day, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) sponsored General Josiah Bunting III in giving a special lecture; open to the public, on leadership. The AHI prefaced its introduction of General Bunting, a charter member of the AHI’s board of directors, by announcing that it has established an annual Veterans Day Lecture on military history in his honor to be given on an annual basis. View the 2015 Lecture >> View the 2014 Lecture >> View the 2013 Lecture >> General Bunting was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1963. He subsequently studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and at Columbia University as a John Burgess Fellow. During active duty with the United States Army, he served as an infantry officer in Vietnam with the Ninth Infantry Division. During his military career, General Bunting received the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Honor Medal–2nd class, Presidential Unit Citation, Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge, and Ranger Tab. Subsequently, he taught history at West Point and at the Naval War College. His administrative experience in higher education includes: President, Briarcliff College (1973-1977); President, Hampden-Sydney College (1977-1987); and Superintendent, VMI (1995-2003). General Bunting has published four novels, including The Lionheads (G. Braziller, 1972), a best-seller that was selected by Time Magazine as one of “The Ten Best Novels” of 1973. More recently, he has completed several works of non-fiction An Education for Our Time (Regnery 1998) and a biography Ulysses S. Grant (Times Book, 2004). He is chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s National Civic Literacy Board, president of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and an AHI board member. He also served on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. NEWS ABOUT THE JOSIAH BUNTING III ANNUAL VETERANS DAY LECTURE >>

Inaugural Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day Lecture in Military History

AHIadmin — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 23:46:00 +0000

War and the West: Strategic Challenges Past, Present, and Future (2014)

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 21:59:11 +0000

AHI Holds Seventh Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 3-5, 2014 at the Turning Stone Resort Topic: “War and the West: Strategic Challenges Past, Present, and Future” Welcome and Introductory Remarks – Richard Erlanger, President, AHI http://vimeo.com/91840928 Recognition Ceremony Robert Paquette, Co-Founder and Charter Fellow, AHI Recognizes Stand-Out AHI Undergraduate Fellows, Carl B. Menges and Kraig Kayser http://vimeo.com/92684747 Kraig Kayser - Creation of the Center for Statesmanship, Law and Liberty, Rochester Institute of Technology http://vimeo.com/92277862 Carl B. Menges, History of the AHI http://vimeo.com/92273384 Max Schnidman, Publius Society & AHI Undergraduate Fellow http://vimeo.com/92282346 Paul Carrier, Co-Leader, AHI Undergraduate Program http://vimeo.com/92568570 Seventh Annual Carl B. Menges Lecture Introduction of Dr. Michael D. Swaine – Robert Kraynak, Director, Center for Freedom & Western Civilization, Colgate University http://vimeo.com/92571024 Keynote Address: “The U.S. and China in the 21st Century: Headed for Conflict or a new Great Power Relationship?” Dr. Michael D. Swaine, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace http://vimeo.com/93502981 Audio Panel Discussions with Q&A: April 4, 2014: 1. “War before Western Civilization” http://vimeo.com/93780538 2. “The West and the Near East – Past and Present” http://vimeo.com/93875632 3. “The West and the Far East – Past and Present” http://vimeo.com/93891407 Audio Panel Discussions with Q&A: April 5, 2014: 4. “The West, Women, and War” http://vimeo.com/94024956 5. “Technology, Ethics, and War” http://vimeo.com/94062131 6. “War after Western Civilization” http://vimeo.com/94187414

Seventh Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium Garners Largest Attendance

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 19:47:40 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) along with the Colgate University's Center for Freedom and Western Civilization co-sponsored the Seventh Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 3-5, 2014, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium was devoted to the theme “War and the West: Strategic Challenges Past, Present, and Future.” Dr. Michael D. Swaine, a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and one of the most prominent American analysts in Chinese security studies was the keynote speaker at the event which was the most well attended colloquium to date. [gallery size="large"]

To view the text of all six session readings, please click here. List of Participants Keynote: Michael D. Swaine, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Conferees: In addition to keynote speaker Dr. Michael D. Swaine, the colloquium features a number of distinguished panelists and participants including: Alfred Kelly, Edgar B. Graves Professor of History, Hamilton College David Frisk, Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Lauren Hall, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology Paul Gottfried Professor of Humanities and Raffensperger Chair Emeritus, Elizabethtown College Mackubin Owens, Professor, National Security Affairs, U. S. Naval War College Edward Barrett, Director of Strategy and Research Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, U.S. Naval Academy Matthew Zeller, Adjunct Fellow, American Security Project Eric Hannis, Senior Fellow in Defense Studies, American Foreign Policy Council Chris Hill (discussion leader), Resident Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Alex Crowther, Adjunct Research Professor, Strategic Studies Institute Doug Macdonald, Associate Professor of Political Science, Colgate University John Kelsay, Distinguished Research Professor, Florida State University Miri Eisin, Security Studies, Haifa University Joseph Capizzi, Associate Professor of Moral Theology, Catholic University Reading List for Sessions 1-6: Session 1: War Before Western Civilization War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage. Lawrence H. Keeley, Oxford University Press, New York, 1996. “What Our Primate Relatives Say About War.” Dominic Johnson, Bradley Thayer, The National Interest, January 29, 2013 “The Elements of Augustine’s Just War Theory.” John Langan, The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol 12, No.1 (Spring 1984). Violence and Social Orders. Douglass C. North, John Joseph Wallis, Barry R. Weingast, Cambridge University Press, 2009. Session 2: The West and the Near East – Past and Present Just War and Jihad : Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on War and Peace in Western and Islamic Traditions. John Kelsay and James Turner Johnson, eds. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991. “Why Is There so Much Conflict in the Middle East?” Mirjam E. Sørli, Nils Petter Gleditsch and Håvard Strand, The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Feb., 2005). “Primitivization of War and Prospects for Peace.” Mehar Omar Khan, Small Wars Journal, September 14, 2012. “Tehran's Take: Understanding Iran's U.S. Policy.” Mohsen M. Milani, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 88, No. 4 (July/August 2009). “Just War and Extraterritoriality: The Popular Geopolitics of the United States' War on Iraq as Reflected in Newspapers of the Arab World.” Ghazi-Walid Falah, Colin Flint and Virginie Mamadouh, Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol. 96, No. 1 (Mar., 2006) Session 3: The West and the Far East – Past and Present “Just War: Chinese and Western Perspectives.” Edmund Ryden, S.J., http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-17/chapter_xiii.htm “China’s Assertive Behavior—Part One: On “Core Interests.” Michael Swaine China Leadership Monitor » 2011 no. 34 » foreign policy. “Regime Insecurity and International Cooperation: Explaining China's Compromises in Territorial Disputes.” M. Taylor Fravel, International Security, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Fall, 2005). “A Salutation To Arms: Asia’s Military Buildup, Its Reasons, and Its Implications.” Felix Chang, Foreign Policy Research Institute E-Notes, September 2013. “What We’ve Learned from China’s Air Defense Zone (so Far)” Robert Haddick, Commentary and Analysis, warontherocks.com, December 9, 2013. Session 4: The West, Women and War “Integrating Women into the Infantry,” Adam Nojack, Military Review, November-December 2002. “Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal.” Katie Petronio, Marine Corps Gazette, July 2012. “Let Women Fight.” Megan MacKenzie, Foreign Affairs, November-December 2012. “Why Can’t Anything Be Done? Measuring Physical Readiness of Women for Military Occupations.” William Granger. Paper Presented at the 2011 International Biennial Conference of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society. Session 5: Technology, Ethics and War “Enhanced Warfighters: Risk, Ethics and Policy.” Patrick Lin, Maxwell Mehlman, Kieth Abney. Report prepared for The Greenwall Foundation, January 2013. “Compromised by Design? Securing the Defense Electronics Supply Chain.” John Villasensor. Brookings Center for Technology Innovation, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, November 2013. “Nuclear Blindness: AN Overview of the Biological Weapons Programs of the Former Soviet Union and Iraq.” Christopher Davis, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol. 5, No. 4, July-August 1999. “War and Technology.” Alex Roland, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Footnotes, Vol. 14, No. 2. February 2009. “Stuxnet’s Secret Twin.” Ralph Langer, Foreign Policy, November 21, 2013. Session 6: War After Western Civilization “The Evolution of Law of War.” Sheng Hongsheng, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 1, 2006. “The Wars of the 21st6 Century.” Herfried Munkler, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 85, No. 849. March, 2003. “Conflict in the 21st Century: The Rise of Hybrid Wars.” Frank Hoffman, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Arlington, VA, December 2007.

Second Annual Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day Lecture in American History

AHIadmin — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 18:31:28 +0000

Lt. Colonel Eric Hannis, Senior Fellow for Defense Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC, delivered the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Second Annual Josiah Bunting, III Veterans Day Lecture, on November 11 at Hamilton College. The event entitled “Continentals at War: Hamiltonians and their Impact on our National Security” was open to the public. Video of the event can be seen below. http://vimeo.com/114356753

About Us

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 20:56:04 +0000

Inspired by Alexander Hamilton’s life and work, the AHI was created to help cultivate a genuinely free marketplace of ideas and promote excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy and capitalism. In furthering the conversation among individuals, campuses and organizations across the country, the AHI continues to build a legacy where evidence and argument prevail over ideology and cant.

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AHIadmin — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 21:16:28 +0000

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AHIadmin — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 21:16:34 +0000

AHI recieves grant

AHIadmin — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:34:53 +0000

AHI is pleased to announce that the Jack Miller Center of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute has awarded the AHI a center-building grant. The money will be used to assist the AHI in fund-raising during its first year of operation. The Jack Miller Center has dedicated itself to enhancing civic literacy and educating the American people in the principles of the founding. The AHI thanks the ISI for its generosity and looks forward to future cooperative endeavors in pursuit of a common goal.

Eugene D. Genovese to donate library to AHI

AHIadmin — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:57:11 +0000

The founders of the AHI are pleased to announce that Eugene D. Genovese, one of this country's most influential historians, will be donating a substantial portion of his library in American history to the AHI. With these volumes, the AHI will create a reading room in honor of Professor Genovese and his late wife Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, also a prize-winning historian and influential public intellectual. The AHI will accommodate this extraordinary gift by seeking to raise money for renovations of existing rooms in our headquarters, the former Alexander Hamilton Inn.

Remember: September 17th is Constitution Day

AHIadmin — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:57:25 +0000

It will be a special day for all as the AHI is unveiled to the world. 1. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. in front of our headquarters; pocket Constitutions will be distributed to media and other attendants. 2. At 7:30 p.m., Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier and co-founder of the AHI James Bradfield will assemble at the Hamilton College Chapel with several other scholars to discuss "The Constitution of the 21st Century." During the event, Professor Bradfield will announce the birth of the AHI, and pocket Constitutions will be distributed to the audience. 3. Senior Fellow Robert Kraynak of Colgate University will be hosting a Constitution Day debate, "Racial Equality under the Constitution: Is the Constitution Color Blind," at 4:30 p.m., Persson Hall Auditorium, Colgate University. Participants include Randall Kennedy of the Harvard Law School and William B. Allen, professor of political science, Michigan State University. More... 4. Senior Fellows Mary and David Nichols of Baylor University will be hosting a Constitution Day special, "Presidential Rhetoric and the Constitution." More... Update on Sep 18, 2007 at 08:18AM "No tradition," says our charter, "grows richer or stronger by lying fallow." Yesterday, the founders, in unveiling the AHI to an enthusiastic audience, planted a seed of educational reform at 21 West Park Row in Clinton, New York. Doug Ambrose focused on the personality and character of Alexander Hamilton, a man of humble beginnings who had achieved greatness in a noble political experiment that promoted the revolutionary ideal of a social hierarchy based upon meritoriousness. James Bradfield spoke about the scholarly aspirations of the Institute, the desire of the founders to promote a genuinely free marketplace of ideas. Robert Paquette addressed the challenges ahead, discussed the distinguished people who have already committed their support, and looked forward to building bridges with kindred spirits locally and nationally. In what will become part of an annual celebration, the founders distributed to each attendant what Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier called "a priceless gift": a pocket Constitution. We thank Carl Menges; the founders have known him for many years, and we have never known him to dress without it.

AHI corporate papers filed

AHIadmin — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:54:38 +0000

The documents incorporating the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Inc. as a California public benefit corporation were filed today with the Secretary of State of California.

Building excellence in into American higher education

AHIadmin — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:35:45 +0000

The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy has invited Robert Paquette to its annual meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, to speak about the creation of the Alexander Hamilton Institute. During the session "Independent Campus Centers: Promise and Peril" on Saturday morning, 27 October, he will present a parable entitled "From Inn to Institute: What Happened to the Alexander Hamilton Center?"

AHI Welcomes the Publius Society

AHIadmin — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:56:42 +0000

The Publius Society is an organization of students with diverse political views who have a common interest in exploring important issues of the American constitutional order outside the confines of the classroom. The group meets once a month at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for discussion of a specific issue grounded in readings from the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and other sources. The topic of the inaugural meeting of the Publius Society on the evening of 22 October is executive power. To prepare for the meeting, members will read Articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution and Federalist Papers 69-74. They will also hear brief reports from their colleagues on the theory of the unitary executive and on Jack Goldsmith's recent book, The Terror Presidency. Topics for future meetings include campaign finance and the First Amendment and eminent domain and the Fifth Amendment.

Bradfield Reports on ACTA Conference

AHIadmin — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:13:16 +0000

On October 4 and 5 the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, headed by AHI board member Anne Neal, held their annual meeting of the celebrated Athena Roundtable to discuss educational reform. More than 100 distinguished citizens, including academics, philanthropists, politicians, and entrepreneurs, participated in the conference. Panelists focused on the woeful state of academic freedom and intellectual diversity on many elite college campuses and offered suggestions to trustees on how to improve governance. Professor Bradfield spoke to the gathering on the origin of the AHI and its roots in a course, co-taught with Robert Paquette, on the idea and institution of property. Numerous guests asked for a copy of the syllabus. Bradfield delineated the scholarly aspirations of the Institute and expressed serious concern about the politicization of the classroom by providing examples from his own academic experience as a dean and as a teacher. He explained why independence from Hamilton College was essential to the maintenance of the integrity of the AHI's scholarly mission. Participants received copies of the AHI's charter and pocket Constitutions. In appearing on the final panel of the day, Professor Bradfield underscored three points: 1. That successful activities aimed at educational reform would do better located outside the conventional loci of academic power. 2. That attempts to effect reforms on campus may well be met with hostility and bad faith by the administration and trustees. 3. That alumni, once honestly informed and treated with respect, especially with regard to their legitimate interest in accountability, would be a strong source of support for educational reform.

Encore for the Publius Society

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:57:15 +0000

On the evening of 22 October, Professor Ted Eismeier inaugurated the Publius Society at the headquarters of the AHI. Nine professors and about thirty students gathered to discuss the theory and practice of the unitary president. Student leaders broke the attendants into two groups. The discussion, fortified by dessert and refreshments, proved intensive and stimulating, just what the founders of the AHI had envisioned in creating the Institute. They thank Professor Eismeier for his leadership in organizing the event and the student participants who, among other things, sparked a lively discussion of Federalist Papers #69-74 The Publius Society will hold its second meeting at the AHI on 18 November.

Douglas Ambrose Forms the Christopher Dawson Society

AHIadmin — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:44:16 +0000

The Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason, founded by Professor Douglas Ambrose, seeks to investigate the relation between religious belief and intellectual inquiry within the Western intellectual tradition. Named for Christopher Dawson (1889-1970), the distinguished British historian of culture and the first recipient of the Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University, the Society will meet monthly to discuss texts that illuminate the ways in which persons of faith have sought to engage the intellectual world of the ancient, medieval, early modern, modern, and postmodern West. We will have an announcement about the inaugural meeting of the Society at the Alexander Hamilton Institute in about a week.

Paquette Speaks on AHI in Raleigh and Boston

AHIadmin — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 04:29:35 +0000

On Saturday, 27 October, the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy invited Robert Paquette to Raleigh, North Carolina, to speak about the AHI on a panel devoted to the promise and peril of center-building. His talk, "The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the Alexander Hamilton Center: A Parable," explained the demise of the center at Hamilton College by leading the audience, step by step, through an imaginary parallel scenario involving a programmatic initiative by a left-wing professor at an Ivy League university. The trail of tears for the center included a broken agreement, public and private dissembling and mendacity by college officials, and unprecedented intrusiveness by board members. He agreed with Dartmouth trustee Todd Zywicki who cautioned attendants not to see trustees as the saviours of higher learning in the campus culture wars. Most trustees spend little time on campus and are spoon fed sanitized information by academic bureaucrats of limited ability, vision, and leadership skills. Various panelists addressed the degradation of of the very ethos of liberal arts colleges under pressure from campus activists and the "quick-fix" of the open curriculum. Paquette warned of the growing corporatization of educational life: thickening layers of bureaucracy and burgeoning public relations departments committed more to information management and spin than to the pursuit of truth. Particularly serious problems ensue, he concluded, when trustees drink too deeply of the beverage produced by their own propaganda machine. Click here for details. On 29 October Primary Source, a non-profit institution devoted to advancing education in the humanities, invited Paquette to speak to a gathering in Watertown, Massachusetts, of about fifty secondary school teachers. While discussing in two sessions how to teach the subject of slavery in high-school classrooms, he introduced attendants to the AHI and its website, which offers perhaps the most extensive list of links to primary sources in American history of any website in the country. Paquette distributed syllabi of an introductory course that he had pioneered at Hamilton College almost two decades ago on the history of the Atlantic world during the era of the slave trade. ...

Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity (2015)

AHIadmin — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 05:15:09 +0000

AHI Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 16-19, 2015 at the Turning Stone Resort Topic: “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity (2015)” Thursday, April 16, 2015 Welcome and Introductory Remarks – Richard Erlanger, President, AHI and Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow, AHI http://vimeo.com/126741149 Recognition Ceremony: “The AHI: Past, Present, and Future,” Carl B. Menges, Board of Directors, AHI http://vimeo.com/127102107 AHI Undergraduate Recognition, Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow, AHI http://vimeo.com/127154804 Sarah Larson, AHI Undergraduate Fellow http://vimeo.com/127100235 Joe Simonson, AHI Undergraduate Fellow http://vimeo.com/127108731 “Reflections on the Last Eight Years,” Douglas Ambrose, Charter Fellow, AHI Introduction by Bob Paquette, Charter Fellow, AHI http://vimeo.com/127103970 Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Lecture Michael Munger, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, Duke University Introduction by James Bradfield, Charter Fellow, AHI http://vimeo.com/126321917 April 17, 2015: Panel Discussions: Session I: “Dangers Portended” http://vimeo.com/126561013 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Q&A: Session I: “Dangers Portended” http://vimeo.com/126563337 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Panel Discussions: Session II: “Rule of Law and Regulation” http://vimeo.com/126618050 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Q&A: Session II: “Rule of Law and Regulation” http://vimeo.com/126622665 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Panel Discussions: Session III: “Entrepreneurship and Innovation” http://vimeo.com/126626746 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Q&A: Session III: “Entrepreneurship and Innovation” http://vimeo.com/126632368 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. April 18, 2015: Panel Discussions: Session IV: “Property Rights, Uncertainty, and Freedom” http://vimeo.com/126635586 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Q&A: Session IV: “Property Rights, Uncertainty, and Freedom” http://vimeo.com/126639777 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Panel Discussions: Session V: “Taxation and Entitlements” http://vimeo.com/126643336 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Q&A: Session V: “Taxation and Entitlements” http://vimeo.com/126646686 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Panel Discussions: Session VI: “Whither America and the World” http://vimeo.com/126736730 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y. Q&A: Session VI: “Whither America and the World” http://vimeo.com/126738925 Photo Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y.

AHI Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium Praised

AHIadmin — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 05:21:46 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held the Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 16-18, 2015, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium was devoted to the theme “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity.” Dr. Michael C. Munger, Professor of Political Science, Duke University, and Director of the Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program was the keynote speaker on Thursday, April 16.

The well-attended event was even featured in an article in the National Review. In the article “The Alexander Hamilton Institute’s Superb Colloquium” by George Leef, the colloquium’s format was praised as “an excellent way of getting good, engaged college students thinking about crucial issues.” [gallery size="large"] Photos from the Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium. Photos Copyright 2015 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y.

List of Participants

Keynote: Michael Munger, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, Duke University Conferees: In addition to keynote speaker Michael Munger, the colloquium featured a number of distinguished panelists and participants including: Discussion Leader: Carey Roberts, Chairman, Department of History, and Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Liberty University Conferees: Sarah Burns, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology Jennifer Delton, Douglas Family Chair in American Culture, History, and Literary and Interdisciplinary Studies, Skidmore College Peter Coclanis, Albert Ray Newsome Distinguished Professor; Director, Global Research Institute , University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill James Ely, Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law Emeritus and Professor of History Emeritus at Vanderbilt University John Steele Gordon, Independent Scholar, North Salem, New York James Harrigan, Fellow, Institute of Political Economy, Utah State University David Harper, Clinical Professor of Economics and Director of Graduate Studies, New York University Christopher Hill, Resident Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute Adam Kissel, Program Officer, Higher Education, Charles Koch Foundation George Leef, Director of Research, John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, Raleigh, North Carolina Hester Peirce, Senior Research fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University Janet Riordan, Director of Community Programs, Bradley Foundation Jeffrey Wagner, Professor and Chairman, Department of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology

Session Readings

Session I: “Dangers Portended” 1. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, ed. Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), pp. 646-73. 2. James Burnham, The Managerial Revolution: What Is Happening in the World (New York: John Day Company, 1941), pp. 71-95. 3. Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, 3^rd. ed (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950), pp. 61-62, 81-86, 121-132. 4. Bertrand de Jouvenel, Sovereignty: An Inquiry into the Political Good (1955), pp. 167-198. 5. Michael Polanyi, Knowing and Being: Essays by Michael Polanyi, ed. Marjorie Grene (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969), pp. 49-72. Session II: “Rule of Law and Regulation” 1. F. A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960), 220-249. 2. Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (New York: Basic Books, 2000), pp. 153-159, 162-190, 194-206. 3. Alan S. Blinder, “What’s the Matter with Economics?” New York Review of Books, 12/18/2014 4. Philip K. Howard, “Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans,” Daily Beast, 12/27/2014 5. Richard Epstein, The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014), pp. 569-83. Session III: “Entrepreneurship and Innovation” 1. Joseph A. Schumpeter, “The Creative Response in Economic History,” Journal of Economic History, 7 (November 1947): 149-159. 2. Israel Kirzner, “Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach,” Journal of Economic Literature 35 (March 1997): 60-85 3. Joseph Stiglitz, “Economic Foundations of Intellectual Property Rights,” Duke Law Journal, 57, (Apr., 2008): 1693-1724. 4. Carl Schramm and Robert E. Litan, “An Entrepreneurial Recovery,” Wilson Quarterly, 34 (Spring 2010):44-47. 5. “A Conversation with Jeff Bezos,” Foreign Affairs, 94 (January/February, 2015):2-6. 6. James Bessen, “The Anti-Innovators: How Special Interests Undermine Entrepreneurship,”Foreign Affairs, 94 (January/February, 2015):55-60. 7. Mariana Mazzucato, “The Innovative State: Governments Should Make Markets, Not Just Fix Them,” Foreign Affairs, 94 (January/February, 2015): 61-68. Session IV: “Freedom, Property Rights, and Uncertainty” 1. Harold Demsetz, “Some Aspects of Property Rights,” Journal of Law and Economics, 9 (October 1966): 61-70. 2. Armen A. Alchian and Harold Demsetz, “The Property Rights Paradigm,” Journal of Economic History, 33 (March, 1973):16-27. 3. Alan Ryan, “Please Fence Me In,” New York Review of Books,” 9/23/1999. 4. Richard Epstein, Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985), 5. Kevin L. Kliesen, “Uncertainty and the Economy,” Regional Economist,” (April 2013), http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/articles/?id=2366 Session V: “Taxation and Entitlements” 1. George P. Schultz, “How to Get America Moving Again,” Wall Street Journal, 8/8/2014 2. Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962): 161-189. 3. Joseph Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future(New York: Norton, 2012), pp. 264-290. 4. Joseph Stiglitz, “Reforming Taxation to Promote Growth and Equity,” May 28, 2014 5. N. Gregory Mankiw, “Defending the One Percent,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27, (Summer 2013): 21-34. 6. Michael J. Boskin, “A Broader Perspective on the Tax Reform Debate,” in The Economists’ Voice: Top Economists Take on Today’s Problems, ed. Joseph Stiglitz, Aaron S. Edlin, J. Bradford DeLong (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), pp. 141-152. Session VI: “Whither America and the World? 1. Robert William Fogel, The Fourth Great Awakening & the Future of Egalitarianism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007): 176-242 2. Jim Manzi, “The New American System, National Affairs, no. 19 (Spring 2014).

Enquiry

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 02:08:58 +0000

Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.” VISIT ENQUIRY WEBSITE >> NEWS ABOUT ENQUIRY >>

Third Annual Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day Lecture in American History

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 13:41:10 +0000

On Veterans Day 2015, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held its Third Annual Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day lecture. The lecture, entitled “Service,” was given by the highly decorated Colonel Glenn “Alex” Crowther. http://vimeo.com/145950852 NOTE: As a result of technological failures at the lecture hall, there are silences in two instances during the lecture.

Tolerance, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society

AHIadmin — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 03:29:31 +0000

Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, April 14-16, 2016 at the Turning Stone Resort Topic: “Tolerance, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society” (2016) Thursday, April 14, 2016: Welcome and Introductory Remarks – Richard Erlanger, AHI President https://vimeo.com/170406368 Opening Remarks - Carl B. Menges, AHI Director https://vimeo.com/171459532 AHI Reflections – Doug Ambrose, AHI Charter Fellow Introduction by Robert Paquette, AHI Charter Fellow https://vimeo.com/170797187 AHI Undergraduate Fellows Recognition – Robert Paquette, AHI Charter Fellow https://vimeo.com/171404156 Will Swett – AHI Undergraduate Fellow Introduction by Robert Paquette, AHI Charter Fellow https://vimeo.com/171427379 Mike Adamo – AHI Undergraduate Fellow Introduction by Robert Paquette, AHI Charter Fellow https://vimeo.com/170808899 Keynote Address - Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium: Dr. Roger Pilon Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute and Publisher, Cato Supreme Court Review with Introduction by Chris Hill, AHI Fellow Text of the Keynote Address - Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium: Dr. Roger Pilon Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute and Publisher, Cato Supreme Court Review https://vimeo.com/170891973 List of Participants Readings for Sessions I – VI Friday, 15, April 2016: Photos Copyright 2016 Larry A. Rocco Photography Rome, N.Y. Panel Discussion with Q&A - Session I: “Tolerance, Toleration, and the Liberal Tradition” https://vimeo.com/165020673 Panel Discussion with Q&A - Session II: “The Open Society: For and Against” https://vimeo.com/165028387 Panel Discussion with Q&A - Session III: “Marriage and the Obergefell Case: Majority and Minority Opinions” https://vimeo.com/165045659 Saturday, April 16, 2016: Photos Copyright 2016 Larry A. Rocco Photography Rome, N.Y. Panel Discussion with Q&A - Session IV: “The Open Society in the Age of Terror” https://vimeo.com/165061850 Panel Discussion with Q&A - Session V: “The Campus: Open Curricula; Closing Minds”” https://vimeo.com/165075937 Panel Discussion with Q&A - Session VI: “Borders: Bridges, Gates, or Walls?” https://vimeo.com/164839292

Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS)

AHIadmin — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 15:55:27 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has created the exciting Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS). This new program will run June 19-July 2 in Washington, D.C. and will be directed by AHI Senior Fellow Dr. Juliana Pilon. WaPoNS is designed for no more than 20 students. Each morning, the participants will have a chance to conduct in-depth discussions on specific readings which will have been assigned ahead of time, to take place in The Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies & Citizenship, which is the Washington campus of Hillsdale College Afternoons will be devoted to on-site visits hosted by at least one representative of the organization or agency sponsoring the event. Dinner and evening events organized by groups and individuals will provide additional networking opportunities. Students will be housed at American University. Both housing and meals will be provided. SCHEDULE FOR WaPoNS 2016 >> READINGS FOR WaPoNS 2016 >> EXPERTS FOR WaPoNS 2016 >> NEWS & PHOTOS WaPoNS 2016 >> CLICK HERE FOR APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR WaPoNS 2016 >> The program aims to prepare promising and motivated college students for the challenges of a rapidly changing global environment by offering them an opportunity to engage with some of the best thinkers on and practitioners in the field of national security. These will include both current and former officials in the Intelligence Community, Congress, the Pentagon, the White House, non-governmental organizations, industry, and academia, including members of premier think-tanks and news organizations. Program participants will be afforded a rare inside glimpse of the many different cultures that must all work together to succeed. By observing the process of national security policymaking up close, from the perspective of the practitioners themselves, the program will serve to encourage and enhance the students’ leadership skills and open opportunities for future professional development. Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon, who earned her PhD in philosophy at the University of Chicago, will direct the program. The author of several books and over two hundred articles on international affairs, she has taught at several colleges and universities, and managed democracy-strengthening programs. Her new book, soon to be published, is titled The Art of Peace: Engaging a Complex World. This program is made possible by a grant from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS) Application Requirements

AHIadmin — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 15:51:17 +0000

ADP Public Lecture

AHIadmin — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:26:25 +0000

Alpha Delta Phi began life as a literary society on the Hamilton College campus in 1832. Building on that tradition, four members of the Hamilton Chapter of Alpha Delta Phi initiated the AHI's public lecture lectures series on the evening of 13 November by presenting on "The Growth of an Empire: American Domestic and International Expansion in the 19th Century." About 40 persons--students, professors, village fathers, and informed citizens--attended the event at the AHI's headquarters--a building that also dates to 1832. The four young gentlemen provided a seamless presentation that underscored one of the central concerns of the AHI: the nature of republics, democracies, and empires. Nicolas Drohojowski spoke on "Manifest Destiny"; Ned Gilliss on "American Private Interests and International Expansionism," Reid Snyder on "19th Century Political Ideology," and Patrick Van Grinsven on "Racial Imperialism." Each presentation was well delivered; their responses to numerous questions proved substantive and articulate. Each presenter received from the founders of the AHI an inscribed copy of The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton and a pocket Constitution. The AHI's special guests included "Hercules Mulligan" (a pseudonym) and her father. Ms. Mulligan, a supporter of the AHI from the beginning and an obvious beneficiary of home schooling, commented to the founders on the usefulness of the AHI's website in locating important primary sources in American history. We thank her and her father for their attendance since public outreach to promote civic literacy is a central goal of the AHI.

Jane Fraser Honored as Executive of the Year

AHIadmin — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 09:50:31 +0000

Jane Fraser, a director of the Alexander Hamilton Institute, was honored as the Non Profit Times executive of the year for her work with the Stuttering Foundation of America.

Edmund Burke Association

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:54:20 +0000

Samuel Johnson, one of Great Britain's most distinguished men of letters, said of Edmund Burke, "You could not stand five minutes with that man beneath a shed while it rained, but you must be convinced you had been standing with the greatest man you had ever yet seen." Russell Kirk, one of the intellectual fathers of modern conservatism in the United States, embraced Burke as a venerated forefather. Yet, Conor Cruse O'Brien, the Irish statesman and intellectual who ranks as perhaps Burke's foremost modern biographer, argues strenuously for Burke as a liberal icon, a man who in defending the American Revolution, denouncing the French Revolution, indicting British corruption in India, and pursuing justice for the Irish remained fundamentally consistent in his detestation of authoritarian rule. On the evening of 3 December, the Hamilton College Republican Club inaugurated the Edmund Burke Association (EBA). Its mission: the intensive exploration of political thought and political theory related to the founding of the United States and to the development of American ideals and institutions. The EBA intends to educate members in ideas related to national defense, minimal government, freedom, patriotism, and traditional values. The EBA will be open to all students interested in a free, frank, and civil exchange of ideas. Like the AHI, the EBA is interested in promoting intellectual diversity. Monthly meetings centered on prescribed readings will be held at the AHI, which will also host leadership lunches during which students will have the chance to converse on related subjects with academic guests. A kick-off event, targeted for late January at the AHI will be open to the public. Details are forthcoming.

AHI Recieves Major Grant from Watson-Brown Foundation

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:46:12 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute proudly announces receipt of a $36,000 grant from the Watson-Brown Foundation. The gift will be used to support the AHI's kick-off colloquium, "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh," which will take place at the Turning Stone Resort, April 10-12, in Vernon, New York. The Turning Stone, a few miles from the Hamilton College campus, boasts the finest accommodations in upstate New York. Please mark your calendars. We encourage supporters of the AHI to attend. The event will be used as a major fundraiser for the AHI and will feature an educational experiment in cooperative learning between scholars and public intellectuals as well as undergraduates from three colleges and universities (Harvard University, Colgate University, and Hamilton College). In commenting on the award, the founders of the AHI pointed to the preeminent stature of the Watson-Brown Foundation in supporting educational initiatives in southern history and culture. "That the foundation would direct this kind of award to Yankee land," said Robert Paquette, "speaks loudly about the specific quality of this innovative project and provides a stamp of approval to the mission of our fledgling institute. We thank Tad Brown and the foundation's board for their endorsement and look forward to working with them on the event." On Thursday night Professor John Stauffer of Harvard University, a prize-winning author, will speak on Gerrit Smith, arguably Hamilton College's most famous alumnus. Smith was graduated from Hamilton College in 1818, valedictorian of his class. He founded the Liberty Party, served in Congress, funded John Brown at Harper's Ferry, and emerged as perhaps the foremost philanthropist in the transatlantic world during the antebellum period. On the occasion of Professor Stauffer's lecture, the founders of the AHI will announce several additional educational initiatives that will honor the generosity of Jane Fraser, David Nelson, E. M.(Peter) Bakwin, Howard Morgan, and Carl Menges. We intend to keep these honors and initiatives a secret until the evening of April 10th. Our colloquium will begin on Friday morning (April 11) and continue until Saturday afternoon (April 12). During six sessions of 1 hour and 45 minutes each, the colloquium attendants--fifteen persons in all--will intensively discuss a set pf prescribed readings that will feature the unpublished correspondence between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh, one of the most brilliant and original proslavery apologists. Smith and Fitzhugh, as it turns out, were related by marriage, and their civil, curious, and penetrating letters not only speak to the civilizational struggle between North and South that led to the Civil War but to the meaning of freedom and other fundamental questions about the human condition. Professor Stauffer, Professor Pete Banner-Haley of Colgate, and AHI co-founder Doug Ambrose will bring classes (about seventy students) to the colloquium. Each class will enter the colloquium having read the prescribed readings and bearing a written assignment related to them. At the end of each of the six sessions,the undergraduates will ask questions of the scholars. Prizes will be awarded to the student in each class who writes the best paper. Professor Ambrose and Professor Stauffer have previously agreed to edit and publish the Smith-Fitzhugh correspondence. Colloquium participants will include a rare appearance by Eugene D. Genovese, one of the most influential historians of his generation and an expert on George Fitzhugh. We will have more detailed information including a schedule of events and list of participants in the days ahead. If you are interested in attending the event, please contact us through this website or alhaminstitute@gmail.com.

Edmund Burke Association to Hold Inaugural Lecture

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:56:55 +0000

The Edmund Burke Association will hold its inaugural meeting at the Alexander Hamilton Institute on Thursday evening, 7 February. Robert Kraynak, Director of the Center for Freedom & Western Civilization at Colgate Universityand a Senior Fellow of the AHI, will present at 7 pm on "Conservatism in Modern America: The Challenge of Edmund Burke." Professor Kraynak will explore Burke's political thought in relation to neoconservatism, libertarianism, and other strands of right-of-center thinking in the contemporary United States. Professor Kraynak's talk will be open to the public; a reception will follow. For differing views of Burke, consult Alan Ryan and Peter Stanlis. Hamilton College's Republican Club founded the Edmund Burke Association in December 2006 as a study group, open to undergraduates of all political persuasions, interested in political theory and political thought related to the founding of the United States. The AHI is pleased to host the association's inaugural event and subsequent activities.

AHI Board Meeting

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:35:20 +0000

A meeting of the board of directors of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Inc., has been scheduled for January 31, 2008.

Inaugural Meeting of Christopher Dawson Society

AHIadmin — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:48:07 +0000

On Tuesday, 29 January 2008 the Alexander Hamilton Institute hosted the inaugural meeting of the Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason. A group of 15 students, faculty, and community members gathered to discuss two classic texts: C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man and John Courtney Murray’s "Is It Basket Weaving: The Question of Christianity and Human Values," from his book, We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition. A lively discussion, guided by AHI Fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose and AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose, explored Murray’s understandingof the differences between "eschatological humanism" and "incarnational humanism," and Lewis’s thoughts about the relation between certain tendencies within modern education and the notion "of objective value, the belief that certain attitudes are really true, and others really false, to the kind of thing the universe is and the kind of things we are." Participants pondered whether Murray’s idea of "eschatological humanism," in which the "only task that . . . matter[s]" is "the contemplation of heavenly things," provides the Christian with a better approach to the world than does "incarnational humanism," which "implies the value and the providential character of human cultural effort." They also examined Lewis’s contention that those who "stand outside all judgments of value cannot have any ground for preferring one of their own impulses to another except the emotional strength of that impulse," thereby making human beings "mere nature to be kneaded and cut into new shapes for the pleasures of masters who must . . . have no motive but their own ‘natural’ impulses." During the discussion students spoke, often movingly, about particular problems faced on the secular college campus, both inside and outside the classroom, by undergraduates of faith. The stimulating discussion, facilitated by food and refreshments, provided an auspicious beginning to the Dawson Society’s efforts to demonstrate that religious faith and the intellectual life are not only compatible, but that each enriches and extends the other. The CDS will meet again within a month to discuss a new topic and new readings. Stay tuned.

Memorabilia Donated to AHI

AHIadmin — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:15:18 +0000

Hezekiah (Ki) Webster, Hamilton College Class of 1975, has donated a small treasure trove of historical artifacts and family memorabilia to the AHI. The items include an antique map of Hamilton College, artwork, and publications. Mr. Webster, a banking executive in Buffalo, New York, has generously supported the AHI from its inception. Visitors to our headquarters will soon see several of the items on permanent display. We thank Mr. Webster for his generosity and look forward to his and his wife's attendance at the kick-off colloquium, beginning on 10 April, at the Turning Stone Casino & Resort.

Kraynak Speaks on Conservatism at AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:45:11 +0000

In November 2005, the administration of Hamilton College invited a celebrate radical--then in the literature department at Duke University--to speak "Of Neoconservatism and Black Intellectuals." Hamilton students and faculty packed the chapel to listen. The lecture, alas, proved to be an appalling disappointment. It provided neither definition nor analysis to the subject and largely deteriorated into a rambling series of ad hominen attacks against such prominent right-of-center black intellectuals as Shelby Steele and Stephen Carter, who were charged with opportunism and race betrayal, among other crimes. Shortly after this performance, one of the founders of the AHI wrote President Joan Hinde Stewart to make a point about the lack of intellectual diversity on Hamilton's campus. At bottom, he told President Stewart, Hamilton students and faculty left the chapel that night not a whit wiser as to the meaning and origins of neoconservatism, a movement whose gurus, he pointed out, largely derive from the political left. If evidence were lacking at Hamilton College for the need to promote intellectual diversity, to break out of a simplistic and reductionist campus monologue on searing political questions, Houston Baker's performance that evening should have raised some eyebrows, if not a few alarm bells. Last night, the AHI continued its efforts at remedial action by inaugurating the Edmund Burke Association, a subsidiary organization of the Hamilton College Republican Club. Robert Kraynak, Director of the Center for Freedom & Western Civilization at Colgate University (yes, Colgate is allowed to have such things) played to a packed house at our headquarters. Fifty attendants, most of them Colgate and Hamilton undergraduates, listened to Professor Kraynak speak on "Conservatism in Modern America: The Challenge of Edmund Burke." He carefully delineated the differences in the contemporary United States between various strains of right-of-center thinking: traditional and religious conservatives, neoconservatives, libertarians, and national security conservatives. Professor Kraynak then proceeded to describe Edmund Burke and the centrality of natural law, prudence, and prescription to his political thinking, provoking the audience at the end of part two of his talk by wondering whether such a thing as an American Burkean is even possible. Professor Kraynak ended his talk by answering his question in the affirmative, and he pointed to Judge Robert Bork and Professor Samuel Huntington as examples of American Burkeans. George Will, another American Burkean, as it turns out, will be speaking at Colgate University on 27 March at an event sponsored by the Center for Freedom & Western Civilization. The Founders of the AHI thank Professor Kraynak for a memorable evening of intellectual stimulation. In the lively discussions that followed, Colgate students and Hamilton students chatted about how they could cooperate to use the AHI to advance the cause of intellectual diversity on their respective campuses. We welcome their ideas.

Third Publius Society Meeting

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:13:41 +0000

The third meeting of the Publius Society took place at 8PM Sunday at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. After dessert and coffee, AHI Co-founder James Bradfield, Professor of Economics at Hamilton College, spoke on property rights and the use and abuse of eminent domain. Bradfield relied on the use of principles of economics to develop criteria for a defensible use by government of eminent domain to take private property. If a proper function of government is to promote the ‘pursuit of happiness,’ he maintained, the evaluation of a government’s ‘taking’ of private property must rest on one’s definition of justice. He then proceeded to describe ‘restorative justice’ and ‘distributive justice’ as definitions, before settling on Judge Richard Posner’s suggestion that economic efficiency should be the operative definition of justice. Economic efficiency is a criterion of an allocation of resources in which there are no further opportunities for mutually beneficial exchanges. This definition of justice implies that a government should limit its participation in the economy to those situations in which the government can mitigate a failure of the market system to create an efficient allocation of resources. A ‘taking’ is, of course, one kind of governmental participation. Professor Bradfield described several situations in which a government’s ‘taking’ would be justified, and other situations in which a ‘taking’ would not be justified. Using Professor Bradfield’s presentation as a context, Members of the Publius Society discussed the economic and the juristic aspects of ‘takings’ at some length. Informal discussions continued over coffee and dessert. Several questions related to the controversial case Kelo v New London. Professor Bradfield's talk marks a proper interface between the AHI's first year of thematic programming (on the meaning of freedom) and its second year (property rights). The Hamilton College Republican Club will be sponsoring this semester the appearance of Carla Main, author ofBulldozed, a blistering account of the abuse of eminent domain in the community of Freeport Texas. Stay tuned for additional information about her appearance. You can find relevant readings on the issue at the Publius blog. The Publius Society is a remarkably diverse set of students with a shared interest in civil discussion about important issues. Students and faculty meet at the AHI's headquarters as citizens and value the participation of informed persons from different disciplines, political persuasions, and walks of life. The historic headquarters of the AHI now provides a venue for multiple scholarly organizations: Some organized by students; some organized by the AHI's founders.

Invitation to AHI Inaugural, April 10-12

AHIadmin — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 10:35:42 +0000

On Thursday evening, 10 April, beginning at 6 PM with a reception, the AHI will continue to water the seed of educational reform by holding a great celebration and fundraiser at the Turning Stone Casino & Resort in Vernon, New York, a few miles from the Hamilton College campus. The evening’s event, which will include a sumptuous feast, will honor special guests and steadfast supporters of the AHI. Its founders—Douglas Ambrose, James Bradfield, and Robert Paquette—will speak briefly on the past, present, and future of the AHI with special attention to future initiatives. The founders of the AHI have designed three years of programming centered on annual themes. For 2007-2008, the theme is the meaning of freedom. John Stauffer, Professor English and American Literature and Language at Harvard University and a prize-winning author, will provide a keynote address on "Gerrit Smith and the Ambiguities of Social Reform." Smith, arguably Hamilton College’s most influential and famous alumnus, graduated in 1818, valedictorian of his class. Converted to the cause of abolitionism in the 1830s, he founded the Liberty Party, served in Congress, funded John Brown’s attack on Harper's Ferry, and emerged as perhaps the foremost philanthropist in the transatlantic world during the antebellum period. Professor Stauffer’s keynote address will inaugurate an annual lecture series by the AHI, named in honor of Carl B. Menges, another distinguished graduate of Hamilton College. Professor Stauffer will follow his talk by joining with Douglas Ambrose on Friday and Saturday to lead an innovative colloquium: "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh." The AHI's colloquium, which should bring national media attention, is funded by a generous grant from the Watson-Brown Foundation, the preeminent foundation for the study of southern history and culture in the United States. The colloquium will assemble fifteen persons from different walks of life with different talents who have expertise relevant to the subject at hand. Participants will include a judge, an award-winning high school teacher, a museum curator as well as several of the most influential historians of our time. The colloquium will mark a rare public appearance by prize-winning historian Eugene D. Genovese, called by Atlantic Monthly America’s “greatest living historian.” During six sessions (three Friday and three Saturday) of 1 hour and 45 minutes each, the colloquium attendants will intensively discuss a set of prescribed readings that will feature the unpublished correspondence between Smith and George Fitzhugh, one of the most brilliant and original proslavery apologists. Each session will focus on a major theme in the correspondence: the nature of Man, Christianity and slavery, the meaning of freedom, property and property in Man, capitalism and its alternatives, and race and slavery. Smith and Fitzhugh, as it turns out, were related by marriage, and their civil, curious, and penetrating letters not only speak to the civilizational struggle between North and South that led to the Civil War but to the meaning of freedom and fundamental questions about the human condition. Professor Stauffer of Harvard, Professor Pete Banner-Haley of Colgate, and AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose of Hamilton College will bring undergraduate classes (about seventy students) to the colloquium. Each class will enter the colloquium having read the prescribed readings and bearing a written assignment related to them. At the end of each of the six sessions, the undergraduates will ask questions of the scholars. Prizes will be awarded to the student in each class who writes the best paper. Even the seating arrangements will be innovative. The fifteen conferees will sit at a horseshoe-like table facing the students who will be seated at several rows of tables. The last half hour of each session will be devoted to exchanges between the conferees and the students. With the benefit of this rigorous interaction and debate, Professors Stauffer and Ambrose will edit and publish the remarkable correspondence of Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh. Turning Stone boasts the finest accommodations in upstate New York. If you are interested in supporting the AHI, attending this event, or both please contact us through this website or email ahi@theahi.org. We welcome your interest.

AHI Files Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Sec. 501(c)(3) of Internal Revenue Code

AHIadmin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:19:53 +0000

On February 20, 2008, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Inc. (“AHI”) filed Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal RevenueCode, with the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). After receiving the application, the IRS will acknowledge receipt of the application in writing usually within 21 days from the postmark date of the Form 1023. Thereafter, it is expected that a determination letter will be received within six months time. It is assumed that the AHI will receive a favorable 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS at that time. Please note that the determination made by the IRS will be retroactive to September 10, 2007, the date of incorporation of the AHI.

Carla Main to Speak on Abuse of Eminent Domain

AHIadmin — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:46:03 +0000

Long before the arrival of Milton Friedman, the founders of this country recognized an inextricable connection between liberty and property. They rooted their manly independence in the private ownership of landed property, which they defended as a blessed natural right. Sir William Blackstone, whose multivolume Commentaries on the Laws of England(1765-69) sat on the bookshelf next to Scripture in the households of the revolutionary clerisy, wrote: “So great . . . is the regard of the law for private property, that it will not authorize the least violation of it; no not even for the general good of the whole community.” Retreating a bit from Blackstone, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the state from taking “private property” from any person “for public use, without just compensation.” In October 2004, a bitterly divided Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the city of New London, Connecticut, had acted lawfully-- within the meaning of the Takings Clause-- when it initiated condemnation proceedings against Susette Kelo and eight other small homeowners to make way for a sweeping waterfront developmental project to benefit Pfizer Corporation. Neither Kelo nor her fellow plaintiffs were holdouts, trying to squeeze more money out of the city. They simply did not want to sell their homes. The decision sparked national outrage. The majority, in effect, had sanctified a definition of “public use” that had been gradually broadened by state and federal courts in the twentieth century to embrace the idea of “public good.” This elastic term, as critics pointed out, could mean almost anything. If one developmental project promised higher tax revenues for the state, then a taking that would transfer a piece of private property from one private owner to another could qualify under this enlarged definition as a “public good.” Nor, as the majority admitted, did the Court plan to second-guess the legislature on the design and economic promise of individual plans. Sandra Day O’Connor, writing for the minority, maintained that the majority had violated one of the sacred first principles of the country. By “public use” the founders had meant something like a public highway or a coastal fort. “Under the banner of economic development,” O’Connor warned, “all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner . . . . Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.” Carla Main, author of Bulldozed (Encounter Books, 2007), a riveting story about the abuse of eminent domain in Freeport, Texas, will speak at the AHI on Saturday, March 8th at 4 pm. The Wall Street Journal calls her book “a primer on eminent domain and the legal arguments surrounding the claims of municipalities on private land.” The AHI, Edmund Burke Association, and Hamilton College Republican Club will sponsor her lecture. It is open to the public, and a reception will follow.

Second Meeting of Dawson Society Announced

AHIadmin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:56:12 +0000

Professor Douglas Ambrose will convene the second meeting of the Christopher Dawson Society at the Alexander Hamilton Institute on 4 March at 7:00 PM. Pope Benedict XVI's "Regensburg Lecture" and two commentaries on the lecture, "The Regensburg Lecture: Thinking Rightly about God and Man" by Father James Schall, SJ and "The Regensburg Moment" by Father James Neuhaus, editor of First Things, will serve as the prescribed readings. The Pope's lecture led to a firestorm of protest, especially among some Muslims. Obscured, however, as a result of that controversy, is, in fact, the lecture's primary focus: "Faith, Reason, and the University." For the readings see http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=5341 http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2006/schall_regensburg_sept06.asp http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BEN20060917&articleId=3254 Dawson meetings are open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Harvard Graduate Students to Attend AHI Kick-Off

AHIadmin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:44:35 +0000

John Stauffer, Professor of English and American Literature and Language at Harvard University, has arranged for the participation of a group of graduate students to attend the kick-off colloquium, "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh." They expressed interest in attending the event, according to Professor Stauffer, and Harvard University promptly responded with support. They will join undergraduate classes from Colgate University and Hamilton College at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, beginning on Thursday night, 10 April. Professor Stauffer, a prize-winning author on the history of abolitionism, will be delivering the keynote address: "Gerrit Smith and the Ambiguities of Social Reform." We welcome these young scholars and look forward to their participation in the events.

Harvard, Colgate Support Students at AHI Kick-Off

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:49:29 +0000

Harvard and Colgate will contribute thousands of dollars each to support the participation of their students at the AHI kick-off colloquium, "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh." "The AHI compliments the administrations of both Harvard and Colgate for their generous investment in the colloquium and in their students," said Robert Paquette, the conference organizer. "Professors John Stauffer (Harvard) and Pete Banner-Haley (Colgate) received enthusiastic responses to their requests for funding from university officials. A generous contribution from a Hamilton College alumnus will support the presence of 17 Hamilton College undergraduates at the colloquium.

Ice Storm Postponse Dawson Meeting

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:46:35 +0000

Because of the impending ice storm, the second meeting of the Christopher Dawson Society will be postponed until next week, Tuesday, 11 March, at 7:00 PM. We will gather then at the headquarters of the AHI. Refreshments will be served.

Conferees Announced for AHI Colloquium

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:54:23 +0000

Professors Douglas Ambrose and John Stauffer have announced the line-up of conferees for the Alexander Hamilton Institute's innovative kick-off colloquium, "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith & George Fitzhugh," April 10-12 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino. They include a judge, a Methodist minister, an award-winning high-school teacher, a curator, a graduate student, and several award-winning scholars. Here is the list of conferees: 1. Robert Abzug Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professorship in History Director, Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies University of Texas at Austin 2. Douglas Ambrose Colloquium Director Associate Professor of History Hamilton College 3. Pete Banner-Haley Associate Professor of History and Africana & Latin American Studies Arnold A. Sio Chair in Diversity & Community Colgate University 4. Milton C. Sernett Emeritus Professor of History Syracuse University 5. H. Lee Cheek Discussion Leader Chairman Social and Behavioral and Social Sciences Division Brewton-Parker College 6. Eugene D. Genovese Independent Scholar 7. Amy Godine Independent scholar Curator, “Dreaming of Timbuctoo: From Africa to the Adirondacks” 8. Hugh C. Humphreys Judge(retired) Madison County, New York 9. Maurice Isserman James L. Ferguson Professor of History Hamilton College 10. Jason Mitchell Social Studies and Accent on Excellence Honoree New Hartford (NY) High School 11. Patrick Rael Associate Professor of History Bowdoin College 12. John Stauffer Colloquium Director Professor of English and American Literature and Language Harvard University 13. Adam L. Tate Associate Professor of History Director, Honor’s Program Clayton State University 14. Zoe Trodd Tutorial Board Member in History and Literature Harvard University 15. Bertram Wyatt-Brown Richard J. Milbauer Professor Emeritus, University of Florida 16. Tim McCarthy Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Participants in the colloquium will also include classes from Harvard University, Colgate University, and Hamilton College.

Carla Main Talk Postponed

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:35:25 +0000

The snow and ice storm predicted for this weekend has forced the postponement of Carla Main's talk on Saturday at the AHI. She will be rescheduled. Check back at this webpage for updates.

Paquette to Speak on Center-Building

AHIadmin — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:12:14 +0000

The Jack Miller Center for Teaching America's Founding Principles and History has invited Robert Paquette, co-founder of the AHI, to speak at the National Summit on Building Academic Centers, May 9-11, at Austin, Texas. Hosted by the Western Civilization and American Institutions program at the University of Texas at Austin (Yes, U Texas is allowed to have such things), the meeting will gather scholars from across the country to converse about effective strategies for restoring American history and the history of Western culture to the center of academic life. Paquette will speak on the "Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the Alexander Hamilton Center: A Parable on Center Building." His talk will address the role of trustees in the curricular chaos that now besets even the most prestigious liberal arts colleges and universities, why an open curriculum is a betrayal of the ethos of a liberal arts college, and the impact of the "diversity cartel" in silencing and marginalizing right-of-center students.

AHI Director Balch Recieves Medal from President Bush

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:06:21 +0000

Stephen Balch, a member of the the AHI's Board of Directors and founder and president of the National Association of Scholars, has received the prestigious National Humanities Medal. In making the presentation, President George W. Bush recognized Dr. Balch "for his leadership and advocacy upholding the noblest traditions of higher education. His work on behalf of scholarship and a free society has made him a proponent of reform and a champion of excellence at our nation's universities." Dr. Balch played a vital role in advising the founders of the AHI after its collapse as an on-campus center at Hamilton College. We thank him for his many contributions to our rebirth as the AHI and congratulate him for achieving this high point in a most distinguished career. For the official White House press release, click here.

Christopher Dawson Society Discusses Faith, Reason, and the University

AHIadmin — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:16:40 +0000

The Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason held its second meeting of the year on Tuesday 11 March at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. The group, which consists of students, faculty, and community members, focused its discussion on Pope Benedict XVI’s lecture, “Faith, Reason, and the University: Memories and Reflections,” which he presented at Regensburg University in September 2006. The lecture prompted a storm of controversy as many criticized Pope Benedict for his references to a late 14^th-century dialogue between “ the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both .” In the lecture, Pope Benedict uses this medieval dialogue to draw his audience’s attention to a fundamental aspect of Christianity—its reasonableness—and to the unreasonable and therefore unacceptable use of violence to spread the faith. As Manuel II put it, “God is not pleased by blood—and not acting reasonably is contrary to God’s nature.” Benedict points out that the famous beginning of John’s gospel states that “In the beginning was thelogos,” and that logos “means both reason and word—a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason.” This understanding of God, Benedict notes, represented a “synthesis between the Greek spirit and the Christian spirit” and led the early Church to reject those who claimed that “God’s transcendence and otherness are so exalted that our reason, our sense of the true and good, are no longer an authentic mirror of God, whose deepest possibilities remain eternally unattainable and hidden behind his actual decisions.” Instead, “the faith of the Church has always insisted that between God and us, between eternal Creator Spirit and our created reason there exists a real analogy, in which . . . unlikeness remains infinitely greater than likeness, yet not to the point of abolishing analogy and its language. God does not become more divine when we push him away from us in a sheer, impenetrable voluntarism; rather, the truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and, as logos, has acted and continued to act lovingly on our behalf.” Benedict argues that the “inner reapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry was an event of decisive importance” that “concerns us even today,” for Christianity “took on its historically decisive character in Europe.” Although most commentators have focused attention on the implications of Benedict’s lecture on Catholic/Muslim relations, they have generally neglected his lecture’s message about Europe and its historical character. As he states, “this convergence [between Biblical faith and Greek philosophy], with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe.” The Dawson Society members also discussed at length Benedict’s comments on efforts since the late medieval period that have aimed at the “dehellenization of Christianity.” Such efforts, which asserted that the Greek philosophical heritage was not an intrinsic part of Christianity, fail to recognize, according to Benedict, that “the fundamental decisions made about the relationship between faith and the use of human reason are part of the faith itself; they are developments consonant with the nature of faith itself.” The members then devoted considerable attention to Benedict’s criticism of the rise of “the modern self-limitation of reason,” which holds that “only the possibility of verification or falsification through experimentation can yield ultimate certainty.” Benedict urges his audience to reject this “modern self-limitation of reason” “that by its very nature . . . excludes the question of God, making it appear an unscientific or pre-scientific question.” Benedict emphasizes the consequences of such a restricted method of inquiry: “if science as a whole is this and this alone, then it is man himself who ends up being reduced, for the specifically human questions about our origin and destiny, the questions raised by religion and ethics, then have no place within the purview of collective reason as defined by ‘science,’ so understood, and must thus be relegated to the realm of the subjective.” Benedict points out that this reduction of humanity means that the individual human “subject then decides, on the basis of his experiences, what he considers tenable in matters of religion, and the subjective ‘conscience’ becomes the sole arbiter of what is ethical. In this way,” he continued, “ethics and religion lose their power to create a community and become a completely personal matter.” Benedict insists that his critique of modern reason “has nothing to do with putting the clock back to the time before the Enlightenment and rejecting the insights of the modern age. The positive aspects of modernity are to be acknowledged unreservedly.” The challenge, according to Benedict, is to broaden “our concept of reason and its application,” so that “reason and faith come together in a new way,” one that permits us to “overcome the self-imposed limitation of reason to the empirically verifiable” and “once more disclose its vast horizons.” He concludes the lecture with an impassioned plea for the return of theology to the university as an integral part of the “wide-ranging dialogue of sciences, not merely as a historical discipline and one of the human sciences, but precisely as theology, as inquiry into the rationality of faith.” To reject the rationality of faith, to reduce it to simply subjective feeling, is to ignore “the great experiences and insights of the religious traditions of humanity, and those of the Christian faith in particular,” that constitute a rich “source of knowledge.” To ignore that source, Benedict asserts, “would be an unacceptable restriction of our listening and responding,” a denial of the “great logos,” “this breadth of reason” whose constant rediscovery “is the great task of the university.” The Dawson Society members discussed at length Benedict’s challenge to the modern university, for it is this challenge, not a challenge to Islam, that lies at the core of the lecture. As Father James Schall, S.J. points out in his response to the Regensburg lecture, Benedict’s challenge “ strikes at the very heart of the intellectual acaedia, to the intellectual sloth of our time, to the refusal to think about the important things with the tools that we have been given. What we know as universities in the modern world originated in the Church, in a space in which the whole could be talked about. Benedict knows that all disorders in politics and morals originate in the minds of the learned. It is there that we must begin to address our public issues, including that of Islam, but also questions of life, of morality, and of what we are about.” Benedict XVI’s Regensburg lecture, by raising fundamental “questions of life, of morality, and of what we are about,” ensures that, as Father Richard John Neuhaus calls it, “the Regensburg moment” will and should concern all people of faith and of reason for years to come. All those present at the AHI concurred with Father Neuhaus that the lecture “was a considered reflection on the inseparable linkage of faith and reason in the Christian understanding, an incisive critique of Christian thinkers who press for separating faith and reason in the name of “de-Hellenizing” Christianity, and,” most of all, “a stirring call for Christians to celebrate the achievements of modernity and secure those achievements by grounding them in a more comprehensive and coherent understanding of human rationality.” The Dawson Society looks forward to its next meeting on April 22 at 7:00 PM when Professor Kathleen Marks of St. John’s University in New York City will lead a discussion of the relation between Christian faith and the Western literary imagination. Check the AHI’s website in the weeks ahead for more information.

George Will to Speak at Colgate

AHIadmin — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:52:59 +0000

George Will, author and syndicated columnist, winner in 1977 of a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary, will speak on Thursday, 27 March, at Colgate University in the Chapel at 8 pm. Mr. Will, a prominent conservative critic of President Bush's Iraq policy, will speak on "The Political Argument Today: Campaign and Issues of American Democracy." Robert Kraynak, senior fellow of the AHI and founder of Colgate's Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, is sponsoring Mr. Will's appearance.

AHI Board Meeting Set for April 10, 2008

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:11:40 +0000

A meeting of the board of directors of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Inc., has been scheduled for April 10, 2008.

AHI Granted Tax-Exempt Status

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:22:20 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Inc. (AHI), is pleased to announce that its application for 501(c)(3) status has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). We are advised by the IRS that contributions to the AHI are deductible under section 170 of the Code as allowable by law. Further, the IRS has advised that AHI is also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code as allowable by law. The AHI does not provide tax or legal advice, and accordingly we encourage all donors to check with their professional advisors regarding tax or legal matters. Donations to support the AHI may be made payable and sent to:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Inc. at The Alexander Hamilton Inn 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323

Please contact us for instructions if you wish to donate securities or to wire funds to our account. Donors who have special concerns or wish to coordinate estate planning issues are invited to contact us, and a member of our Board of Directors will respond. Inquiries from philanthropic institutions are welcome. The AHI is grateful for your interest & support.

AHI Inaugural Set for Thursday Night

AHIadmin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:05:40 +0000

More than 140 guests--students, scholars, philanthropists, civic leaders, and entrepreneurs--will attend the inaugural dinner of the AHI on Thursday evening, 10 April, at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino. The evening's event, which will include a sumptuous feast, will honor special guests and steadfast supporters of the AHI. Its founders—Douglas Ambrose, James Bradfield, and Robert Paquette—will speak briefly on the past, present, and future of the AHI with special attention to future initiatives. The founders of the AHI have designed three years of programming centered on annual themes. For 2007-2008, the theme is the meaning of freedom. John Stauffer, Professor English and American Literature and Language at Harvard University and a prize-winning author, will provide a keynote address “Gerrit Smith, and the Ambiguities of Social Reform.” Smith, arguably Hamilton College’s most influential and famous graduate, was graduated in 1818, valedictorian of his class. He converted to the cause of abolitionism in the 1830s, he founded the Liberty Party, served in Congress, funded John Brown’s attack on Harper's Ferry, and emerged as perhaps the foremost philanthropist in the transatlantic world during the antebellum period. Professor Stauffer’s keynote address will inaugurate an annual lecture series by the AHI, named in honor of Carl Menges, a distinguished member of the AHI's Board of Directors. Professor Stauffer will follow his talk by joining with Douglas Ambrose and Pete Banner-Haley (of Colgate University) on Friday and Saturday to lead an innovative colloquium: "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh." The AHI's colloquium, which should bring national media attention, will assemble fifteen persons from different walks of life with different talents who have expertise relevant to the subject at hand. Conferees will include a Methodist minister, an award-winning high-school teacher, a judge, a museum curator as well as a number of distinguished junior and senior scholars. The colloquium is funded by a grant from the Watson-Brown Foundation, the preeminent foundation for the study of southern history and culture in the United States, and by the Jack Miller Institute. During six sessions (three Friday and three Saturday) of 1 hour and 45 minutes each, the colloquium attendants will intensively discuss a set of prescribed readings that will feature the unpublished correspondence between Smith and George Fitzhugh, one of the most brilliant and original proslavery apologists. Each session will focus on a major theme in the correspondence: the nature of Man; Christianity and slavery, the meaning of freedom, property and property in Man, capitalism and its alternatives, and race and slavery. Smith and Fitzhugh, as it turns out, were related by marriage, and their civil, curious, and penetrating letters not only speak to the civilizational struggle between North and South that led to the Civil War but to the meaning of freedom and fundamental questions about the human condition. Professor Stauffer of Harvard, Professor Pete Banner-Haley of Colgate, and AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose of Hamilton College will bring undergraduate classes (about seventy students) to the colloquium. Each class will enter the colloquium having read the prescribed readings and bearing a written assignment related to them. At the end of each of the six sessions, the undergraduates will ask questions of the scholars. Prizes, which will consist of a cache of inscribed books, published by the conferees, will be awarded to the student in each class who writes the best paper. To accommodate the undergraduate presence and provide for a smooth exchange between students and conferees, special seating arrangements will be prepared. The fifteen conferees will sit at a horseshoe-like table facing the students who will be seated at several rows of tables. The last half hour of each session will be devoted to exchanges between the conferees and the students. With the benefit of this rigorous interaction and debate, Professors Stauffer and Ambrose will edit and publish the remarkable correspondence of Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh. The Alexander Hamilton Institute’s Inaugural Colloquium Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh April 10-12, 2008 Turning Stone Casino & Resort 5218 Patrick Road , Verona, NY 13478 Schedule Thursday, April 10 Board of Directors Meeting (Cedar Room, Tower) 3:00 p.m. Hospitality Suite (4th Floor VIP Lounge) 3:00 p.m. Reception (Cypress Room) 6:00 p. m. Dinner (Cypress Room)) 7:15 p. m. Welcome (Founders of the AHI) Keynote Address by John Stauffer “Gerrit Smith and the Ambiguities of Social Reform.” Hospitality (4th Floor VIP Lounge) Friday, April 11 Breakfast (Cayuga-Tuscarora Room) 7:45-8:45 a.m. Session 1: The Nature of Man 8:45-10:30 (Cayuga-Tuscarora Room) Coffee Break 10:30-11:00 Session 2: Christianity and Slavery 11:00-12:45 (Cayuga-Tuscarora Room) Lunch 12: 45- Free Time Coffee, Soft Drinks, Snacks 3:30 -4:00 Session 3: The Meaning of Freedom 4:00-5:45 (Cayuga-Tuscarora Room) Bus leaves Tower front desk) Meet by Tower front desk for bus to Alexander Hamilton Institute 6:15 Reception and 6:30-9:00 Dinner (at AHI) Hospitality (4th Floor VIP Lounge) 9:30 - Saturday, April 12 Breakfast (Cayuga-Tuscarora Room) 7:45-8:45 a.m. Session 4: Property and Property in Man 8:45-10:30 (Cayuga-Tuscarora Room) Coffee Break 10:30-11:00 Session 5: Capitalism and Its Alternatives 11:00-12:45 (Cayuga-Tuscarora Room) Lunch 12: 45- Free Time Coffee, Soft Drinks, Snacks 4:15-4:45 Session 6: Race and Slavery 4:45-6:30 (Cayuga-Tuscarora Room) Reception 6:30-7:15 Dinner (at Turning Stone) 7:15- Hospitality (4th Floor VIP Lounge) Sunday, April 13 Breakfast and Departure at your convenience Contact: Robert L. Paquette bob@theahi.org and www.theahi.org

Founders Announce Initiatives at Kick-Off Colloquium

AHIadmin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:46:45 +0000

More than 140 students, faculty, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and educational leaders, turned out for a fundraising dinner sponsored by the AHI at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino. The founders preceded Professor John Stauffer's keynote address by announcing several major educational intiatives: 1. Howard Morgan, Senior Managing Director of the investment firm Castle Harlan, played a crucial role in relocating the AHI after its collapse as an on-campus center at Hamilton College. In recognition of Mr. Morgan's efforts the founders of the AHI will hold in his name an annual event devoted to the study of financial markets and property rights in exploring the mysteries of economic development in Western and non-Western countries. 2. David Aldrich Nelson recently retired as United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit. Judge Nelson has proven to be a stalwart supporter of the AHI from its inception. On Constitution Day, 17 September 2007, the founders unveiled the AHI to the public. They proudly announce the creation of the David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence to be given annually at the AHI's headquarters on Constitution Day. 3. The founders of the AHI aspire to stimulate original scholarship in areas that comport with the institute's central concerns as identified in its charter. Beginning in the fall, 2008, the AHI will offer a competitive fellowship to support original research in area archives and repositories such as the Clinton Historical Society, the Oneida County Historical Society, and the Loesch Special Collections & University Archives at Colgate University. The recipient of this award, which will be named after E. M. (Peter) Bakwin, a distinguished graduate of Hamilton College and the University of Chicago, will receive a $1600 stipend for a one-month residence free of charge at the headquarters of the AHI. The fellow will be lodged on the second floor in a special room named after Jane Fraser, a former member of Hamilton College's board of trustees and a staunch support of the AHI and its mission of educational reform. Ms. Fraser was recently named by the Non-Profit Times as executive of the year for her work with the Stuttering Foundation of America. 3. On April 10, John Stauffer of Harvard University provided the AHI with a dazzling keynote address, "Gerrit Smith and the Ambiguities of Social Reform," which explored one of the most important and intriguing figures in the history of political abolitionism. Professor Stauffer's keynote address will be published by the AHI. It inaugurates an annual distinguished lecture series that will serve, in turn, to introduce a major two-day colloquium devoted to the theme of the previous night's lecture. The founders of the AHI proudly announce that both the lecture and the colloquium will be named after Carl B. Menges, a distinguished graduate of Hamilton College and former member of its board of trustees. It was Mr. Menges through his passionate interest in the history of American ideals and institutions who inspired the founders of the AHI to initiate construction of a center whose mission is to serve as a beacon light of scholarly excellence.

AHI Fellow Edits Book on Marriage

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:34:00 +0000

AHI is pleased to announce the publication of Marriage: The Dream That Refuses to Die (ISI Books, May 2008), by the distinguished historian and literary critic Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (1941-2007). Professor Fox-Genovese, a friend of and mentor to two of the AHI's founders, was the Eleonore Raoul Professor of the Humanities and founding director of the Institute of Women’s Studies at Emory University. A member of the Governing Council of the National Endowment of the Humanities and a recipient of the National Humanities Medal in 2003, Professor Fox-Genovese was at the time of her death working on expanding for publication a series of lectures on marriage that she had presented as the Charles E. Test, M.D., Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Her lectures prove compelling, subtle, tightly-reasoned, and historically grounded. They range across time and cultures, from pre-Christian societies to nineteenth-century Cherokee traditions to present-day Massachusetts. She forthrightly engages the complex contemporary debates on marriage, sprinkling literary, theological, legal, and sociological insights throughout. Recognizing marriage’s privileged status as the primary social unit, Professor Fox-Genovese writes, “Marriage for love—the promise of an enduring and engulfing bond between a man and a woman—is a dream that refuses to die. In defiance of the rising tides of cynicism, sexual liberation, promiscuity (before, after, and during marriage), and declining interest in children, the dream still promises that we will finally be loved as we long to be loved.” Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose, Alexander Hamilton Fellow--who holds a Ph.D. in Women’s Studies from Emory University and who was a close friend and former student of Professor Fox-Genovese--edited the lectures and wrote the book’s introduction. Marriage: The Dream That Refuses to Die is the first book in the ISI series American Ideals and Institutions, published in partnership with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University and edited by Robert P. George. Professor George, who serves on the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors, contributed the book's afterword.

ADP Lecture on Bear Stearns Collapse

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:43:55 +0000

On the evening of 8 April, the AHI in conjunction with the Hamilton Chapter of Alpha Delta Phi sponsored a presentation by Nicholas D. Rockwell on "Securitized Mortgages and Liquidity in Financial Markets." Mr. Rockwell, a brother of ADP and a student in Professor James Bradfield's seminar in financial markets, presented an analysis of the Bear Stearns collapse to a lively audience of about thirty persons. Mr. Rockwell began by providing a brief review of the recent crisis of illiquidity at Bear Stearns and then followed with a discussion of the action undertaken by the Federal Reserve to reduce the likelihood of a cascading collapse of the financial markets. He discussed the tradeoff faced by the Fed in providing immediate liquidity without either triggering an acceleration of inflation or creating a moral hazard by encouraging excessive risk-taking by investors who might come to expect that the Fed will always bail them out. To facilitate discussion, Mr. Rockwell developed an analogy between banks in a small local community and the situation faced by Bear Stearns. In the ensuing discussion, which lasted for more than an hour, Mr. Rockwell engaged multiple questions about the arcane nature of the credit instruments that contributed to the Bear Stearns collapse and about the role of government in preempting future crises. A spirited debate occurred over whether the Fed’s injection of liquidity actually constituted a use of taxpayers’ funds.

Professor Kathleen Marks Speaks at Dawson Society

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:03:09 +0000

On Tuesday evening, 22 April, the AHI hosted the third meeting of the Christopher Dawson Society. Professor Kathleen Marks, Assistant Professor of English at St. John's University, led a discussion of Flannery O'Connor's, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and Dietrich Bonhoffer's "Costly Grace." Professor Marks, who received her Ph. D. from the University of Dallas in 2000, is the author of Toni Morrison's Beloved and the Apotropaic Imagination (University of Missouri Press, 2002). Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor, organized resistance to Adolph Hitler and to his anti-Semitic policies, participating in the plot to assassinate him in 1944. Captured and imprisoned, Bonhoeffer was brutally tortured by the Gestapo before his execution by slow asphyxiation in April 1945. Professor Marks's pairing of O'Connor, the "hillbilly Thomist" and master of the "grotesque," with Bonhoeffer, the martyred Lutheran theologian, proved inspired. She and the Dawson Society members probed the ways that O'Connor's story reflected Bonhoeffer's notions of "cheap" and "costly" grace. Discussion ranged widely, examining questions of sin, redemption, and the nature and meaning of grace in a fallen world. The discussion, under Professor Marks's clear-headed guidance, demonstrated to all the power of great literature to provoke searching meditations on the eternal verities, about fundamental questions about the human condition. The evening provided a fitting ending to the Dawson Society's first semester of existence. Members of the Society include students and adults, academics and non-academics. They are looking forward to next year’s meetings, already in planning, which will bring other learned speakers to the Dawson Society and to the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Dawson Society meetings are open to the public.

AHI Cofounder Publishes Parable on the Academy

AHIadmin — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:09:59 +0000

The New Criterion, the finest journal of arts and culture in the United States, has published an article ,"The World We Have Lost: A Parable on the Academy," by Robert Paquette, one of the three founders of the AHI. Paquette speaks on the implications of the Duke lacrosse case and of the collapse at Hamilton College of the original agreement to establish an "enduring edifice of learning devoted to American ideals and institutions." This special issue, which is devoted to education, includes related essays on the state of the academy by an all-star class of commentators: Roger Kimball, Alan Charles Kors, James Piereson, Charles Murray, and Victor Davis Hanson.

The AHI's Inaugural Colloquium - On Video

AHIadmin — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:01:49 +0000

Topic: "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh". Held: April 10-13, 2008, Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York. Opening Banquet Proceedings and Keynote Address by John Stauffer - Videos. Part 1 - J. Hunter Brown, Robert L. Paquette, Carl B. Menges, James Bradfield Part 2 - James Bradfield (continued), Douglas Ambrose Part 3 - Douglas Ambrose (continued), John Stauffer (Keynote Address: "Gerrit Smith and the Ambiguities of Social Reform") Part 4 - John Stauffer (continued)

AHI Open House Saturday, May 24

AHIadmin — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:47:38 +0000

The AHI will open its doors to graduating Hamilton seniors and their families on Saturday, May 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p. m. AHI founders and fellows will be on hand to answer questions about the history and mission of the Institute and its scholarly agenda. Since a good deal of misinformation is in circulation about the AHI, we encourage all interested parties, including Hamilton College trustees, to pay us a visit and help clear fog from the air. The AHI has an archive of materials related to its history and available for perusal by interested parties. Refreshments will be served, and we promise to each visitor a tour of our headquarters as well as a priceless gift.

Paquette at National Conference on Center-Building

AHIadmin — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:43:31 +0000

The magnificent Driskell Hotel, completed in 1886 by cattle baron Jesse Driskell and located in downtown Austin, Texas, served May 9-11 as the venue for the "National Summit on the Building Academic Centers." Sponsored by the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America's Founding Principles and History and by Robert Koons' Program in Western Civilization and American Institutions at the University of Texas, the summit assembled from across the country more than forty scholars and public intellectuals engaged in addressing the general crisis of civic illiteracy and historical amnesia among college graduates. Participants included AHI Senior Fellows Mary and David Nichols from Baylor University, AHI Academic Advisor Colleen Shaheen from Villanova University, John Tomasi from Brown University, Mark Bauerlein from Emory University, and National Association of Scholars Executive Director Peter Wood. Sessions on the promise and peril of center-building included "Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Visions, "New Programs and Initiatives," and "Development and Donor Alumni Cultivation." Thomas Lindsay, Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, challenged the attendants to lead a campus recrudescence in examining what it means to be an American citizen by "introducing their students to the perennial questions and issues that define American democratic theory and practice." Here in abbreviated form are Dr. Lindsay's six central questions: 1. "What is the meaning of human equality as articulated in the Declaration’s assertion that “all men are created equal?" 2. "What does the Declaration mean by asserting that we possess rights that are not “alienable?" 3. "Why does the Founding generation consider government just only when it is instituted by the consent of the governed?" 4. "Why did the Founders opt for representative democracy over the 'pure'version of democracy practiced in ancient Athens?" 5. "How does the Constitution seek to reconcile democracy, which means rule by the majority, with the rights of minorities?" 6. "What economic conditions make American democracy possible?" AHI cofounder Robert Paquette spoke in Hamiltonian terms of how the "fate of a great civilization" might well hinge on the success of endeavors like the Jack Miller Center, Tomasi's Political Theory Project, Robbie George's Madison Program, and the AHI in recentering attention on Western culture and on American ideals and institutions. He referred to hard lessons learned by the failure to establish an Alexander Hamilton Center on the Hamilton College campus and to the advantages of independent centers that seek to work in from without. He urged cooperative programming in building economies of scale in the production of scholarly excellence as well as information sharing among center-bulders in the construction of lists of prospective benefactors. Toward these ends, Paquette informed the participants that the AHI will be making a public announcement in the weeks ahead on the receipt of a major challenge grant for programmatic initiatives. All in all, the administrative staff of the Jack Miller Center--Mike Andrews, Admiral Mike Ratliff, Pamela Edwards, and Tom Kelly--stood tall in organizing a vital discussion with exemplary efficiency and inspiring results.

Audio of Colloquium Sessions Now Available

AHIadmin — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:55:38 +0000

The results of the AHI's experimental inaugural colloquium, "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh" exceeded our own ample expectations. The audio of each of the six sessions is now available on our publications page. They ranged over the following topics: Session 1: "The Nature of Man" Session 2: "Christianity and Slavery" Session 3: "The Meaning of Freedom Session 4: "The Idea and Institution of Property" Session 5: "Capitalism and its Alternatives" Session 6: "Race and Slavery"

AHI Open House Reunion Weekend

AHIadmin — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:16:54 +0000

The AHI cordially invites alumni returning to Clinton for Reunion Weekend '08 on the Hamilton College campus to attend an open house at our headquarters on 21 West Park Row, Friday, June 6th, 9 am to 4 pm and Saturday, June 7th, 9 am to 1 pm. Refreshments will be served. Visitors will receive a priceless gift. Founders and fellows will be on hand to discuss the future of the AHI. We will use the opportunity to share with visitors exciting news--to be made public in the forthcoming weeks--about a major gift and initiative.

AHI Receives Major Donation

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:18:36 +0000

On 10 April, the AHI launched its inaugural fundraising event at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. John Stauffer, Professor of English, American Literature, and Language at Harvard University, provided the keynote address that preceded an innovative two-day colloquium on the meaning of freedom. The success of the AHI’s inaugural colloquium has yielded a stunning result: An attending philanthropist (who wishes to remain anonymous) has informed the founders of his intention to commit to the AHI $100,000 per year for the next five years and has encouraged us to seek matching funds. The AHI's board of directors will be formalizing their response to this challenge in the days ahead. From people of good will who are interested in watering our seed of educational reform, we now seek your support. The AHI has tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status under the Internal Revenue Code, and our website (http://www.theahi.org/how-you-can-help/) provides instructions on how you can help as well news about incentives for those who wish to donate at various levels. Our inaugural colloquium, “Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh," integrated three undergraduate classes—from Harvard University, Colgate University, and Hamilton College—into an intensive conversation with a diverse group of fifteen academics and informed citizens. They included a judge, a museum curator, a Methodist minister, an award-winning high-school teacher as well as some of the most influential historians of their generation. The result exceeded the ample expectations of the AHI’s founders. Professor Stauffer called the event “one of the highlights of his career, if not the highlight.” Tim McCarthy, a professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, informed one of the founders of the AHI a week after the event, “My students are still talking about it!” A Hamilton College alumnus and his wife attended all the events and commented, “The colloquium proved to be intellectually stimulating almost to the point of physical and mental exhaustion.” Elizabeth Farrington, one of the undergraduate participants, thanked the founders for "the opportunity that the colloquium afforded us. That was really unprecedented in my educational experience, and I don't expect to encounter anything like it again." Video of the opening night’s events and audio of the colloquium’s six sessions are now available on the AHI’s website (http://www.theahi.org/papers-publications/) for examination by interested parties. Year two of the AHI’s existence will be devoted to the subject of property rights. For April, 2009, AHI co-founder James Bradfield is designing a colloquium that will focus on the meaning of capitalism, the relation of private property to freedom and economic development, and the use and abuse of the power of eminent domain. Our programming for 2008-2009 will begin on 17 September, Constitution Day. We have invited the Honorable Jeffrey Sutton, federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, to present a public lecture on Constitutional jurisprudence. We encourage interested parties to visit the “News & Events” page of our website for updates about the rich menu of activities in planning by the founders and fellows of the AHI. “In history,” asserted Edmund Burke, one of Western culture’s greatest statesmen, “a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind.” With your support, the AHI hopes to make a seminal contribution to that future wisdom on which the fate of a great civilization may ultimately rest.

Mansfield Publishes on the Paradox of Diversity

AHIadmin — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:15:41 +0000

Harvey Mansfield, Kenan Professor of Government at Harvard University and a member of the AHI's board of academic advisers, has published a brief essay in the Harvard Crimson on "The Cost of Affirmative Action." Among its key points: Harvard's current diversity policy has actually made Harvard less politically and intellectually diverse. He counts only three conservative professors in a Harvard government department that boasts fifty members. He counts not one conservative among the dozens of African-American faculty that Harvard has so visibly and proudly recruited in recent decades. Multiculturalism, he contends, which manifests a "strange combination of relativism and moralism," has led not only to active intolerance of conservatives on campus in the name of promoting a more homogenous, less exclusivistic academic village, but to the degradation of "Harvard's academic integrity" itself. Do Professor Mansfield's criticisms of Harvard apply to, say, Hamilton College? Well, Harvard appears to have more conservative faculty in a government department of fifty than Hamilton College has in a faculty of about 200. Hamilton College boasts an abundance of diversity administrators and groups: the Diversity and Social Justice Project, Social Justice Initiative, Associate Dean for Diversity Initiatives, Associate Dean of Students for Diversity and Accessibility, etc., etc. These groups, in aggregate, command hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. In fact, one of the chief reasons why Hamilton College did away with merit scholarships, as President Joan Hinde Stewart candidly admitted, was to fund diversity initiatives. Yet, paeans to diversity notwithstanding, Hamilton College hosted on campus not one--that's right, not one-- conservative speaker during the 2007-2008 academic year. Money, as any sane person recognizes, affects speech, whether in a presidential election or on a college campus. It is not hard to figure out in what political direction administrative largesse to the diversity cartel drives campus culture. Yet when asked point blank by AHI co-founder Robert Paquette if the absence of conservative speakers suggests a lack of intellectual diversity on the Hamilton College campus, the dean of the faculty responded, "no." Recall also that in explaining to a local reporter why Hamilton College reneged on a signed agreement to establish the Alexander Hamilton Center on campus, the dean averred, “The feeling was,” that the center “would be destructive to the faculty community here—so destructive that we were willing to walk away” from a multi-million dollar gift. Note how academics use the language of communitarianism to package the reality of exclusion.

White House Nominates Paquette for NEH Seat

AHIadmin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:06:36 +0000

On 10 July President George W. Bush forwarded to the United States Senate the nomination of Robert L. Paquette for a seat on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Professor Paquette, one of the three founders of the AHI, has served the NEH in multiple capacities during his academic career. President Bush nominated Paquette to fill the seat of the late Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, a prize-winning scholar and conspicuous public intellectual who received the National Humanities Medal in 2003. Paquette paid tribute to Professor Fox-Genovese in the February 2007 issue of The New Criterion. In learning of the nomination, Professor Paquette thanked President Bush and Dr. Bruce Cole, Chairman of the NEH, for their support. "Given recent trends in higher education," Paquette noted, 'the work of the NEH in cementing the bonds of E Pluribus Unum has become ever more important. I am particularly honored to learn that President Bush has nominated me to fill the seat of someone for whom I have the highest respect as an intellectual and who not only played a crucial role in mentoring me as a graduate student, but who also provided me with infallible counsel and guidance during my professorial career."

AHI to Get Face-Lift

AHIadmin — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:21:33 +0000

The historic, stately yellow-brick mansion that serves as the headquarters of the Alexander Hamilton Institute will be undergoing a face-lift in August, thanks to a generous donation. The exterior will be painted, caulked, and repaired. Improvements will also be made to the interior. The Jane Fraser Room will be renovated to accommodate a series of distinguished guests who will be making their appearance in Clinton during the 2008-2009 academic year. The AHI will celebrate its first anniversary on Constitution Day, 17 September by inaugurating the David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. The Honorable Jeffrey Sutton, a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ,will be presenting. We will announce details shortly. A substantial number of smaller donations will allow improvements to the interior of the building . To accommodate the informational needs of visiting dignitaries and scholars a wireless network will be established throughout the building. Computers will be added to several rooms, which will be renovated to provide office space for AHI fellows. The AHI extends its deepest appreciation to those individuals and institutions across the country who are helping us water the seed of educational reform with their donations.

AHI Board Meeting Set for August 14, 2008

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:32:26 +0000

A meeting of the board of directors of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Inc., has been scheduled for August 14, 2008.

Students Comment on the AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:07:44 +0000

On 17 September, Constitution Day, the AHI will celebrate its first anniversary by inaugurating the David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. Over the past few months, friends and fellows of the AHI have traveled to various parts of country to meet with supporters. One question frequently arises: How have students responded to what the AHI had to offer during its first year? We respond initially by reminding our questioners that most of the AHI events are open to the public, and so our "students" include not only undergraduates from Hamilton and Colgate, but high school students, adults in the community, and children who are home schooled. Some of the adults who have participated or will be participating in the Christopher Dawson Society and Edmund Burke Association reside in places like Batavia and Rochester, New York, more than 100 miles away. Professor James Bradfield, one of the AHI's three founders and an economist who has spent more than thirty years in an undergraduate classroom, has frequently remarked on the "spirited discussions" at the AHI and the "comfortableness" of the students in voicing their arguments. Many of our undergraduate participants have contrasted this experience to that on campus, where in certain classrooms self-censorship becomes a prerequisite to success. We post, for our supporters benefit and for the edification of others, what we believe is a representative sampling from Hamilton College undergraduates who have experienced the AHI. The founders of the AHI thank these students for allowing us to make their names public. "As a student at Hamilton College I understand the unequivocal importance of sound intellectual practice and effective communication. The Alexander Hamilton Institute offers students the opportunity to pursue these scholastic talents at a high level. By promoting passionate research, cogent analysis and persuasive public speaking the AHI can contribute greatly to a complete education." - Reid Snyder, Hamilton, Class of 2008 “The Alexander Hamilton Institute provides a much-needed haven for the communion of ideas here at the College. It fosters intellectual diversity and tolerance, giving students of all backgrounds and persuasions a voice. The Publius Society, Edmund Burke Association, and Christopher Dawson Society each have unique missions and engage a diverse group of individuals, offering opportunities for education and expression on pertinent issues. The AHI has already become an integral part of this institution and the wider community, and we look forward to its further development with great anticipation.” Elizabeth Farrington, Class of 2010 “The Alexander Hamilton Institute is the only entity in which students, professors, and the general public can come together to discuss ideas and develop a broad base of knowledge on history, politics, and modern civilization. The AHI has provided many students, myself included, with the opportunity to learn more about key political issues affecting our society outside of the classroom. I have personally seen the hard work that goes into making the AHI possible. The variety of organizations that choose to meet at the Institute have seen substantial growth in both membership and student interest. The AHI has been a vital part in strengthening intellect, understanding, and promoting diverse discussion between Hamilton students, faculty, and the local community.” Edward Ajaeb, Class of 2011 "The Alexander Hamilton Institute provides a unique opportunity for Hamilton students and faculty to study Western Civilization by examining and discussing freedom, democracy, and capitalism. While Hamilton College spends a large sum of money inviting guest speakers onto campus, the guests almost always invoke a left-wing activist message. The lack of a conservative or traditional voice makes the campus hostile to a diversity of thought. This year, the Alexander Hamilton Institute has served as a meeting place for both the Publius Society, in which members studied and discussed the Federalist Papers, and the Edmund Burke Association, a new organization based around the work of British writer Edmund Burke. In the Edmund Burke Association’s inaugural meeting, the Alexander Hamilton Institute invited Colgate University Professor and Western Civilization scholar Robert Kraynak. Kraynak lectured on the conservative thought of Edmund Burke, and applied it to the conservative movement in America today. This engaging lecture was attended by students and faculty of both Hamilton College and Colgate University, as well as many residents of the local area. The Alexander Hamilton Institute provides an intellectual experience that would otherwise be ignored by a faculty and student body hostile to traditional and conservative thought. The success of the Institute would have a great measure on improving the academic diversity on Hamilton’s campus." Joe Bock, Class of 2009 "The Alexander Hamilton Institute embodies the best qualities of elite liberal arts campuses: intellectual excellence, dedicated, world-class faculty, and individual attention for students. Fortunately, the Institute is also a lot of things these campuses are not: intellectually diverse, open-minded, and a safe environment for students of any political persuasion to voice their opinions. The Institute has been a necessity for anyone seeking to study a balanced curriculum in Central New York. Personally, it has a been a blessing; as an opportunity for learning, to attend informative lectures, meet incredible lecturers, and as an outlet for an oppressed Conservative student. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Professors Ambrose, Bradfield, and Paquette for their creation of the Alexander Hamilton Institute." John McRae, Hamilton College Class of 2009 "The Alexander Hamilton Institute provides students with a place off-campus for open discussion on a variety of different topics. I am part of two student organizations that hold meetings there. At the AHI, I have felt very free to express my views without any fear of peer pressure that can exist in the classroom. Often, I have learned more in my discussions at AHI than I have in some of my classes at Hamilton College." Tim Eismeier, Class of 2010 ” I only recently discovered the Alexander Hamilton Institute, and just became a member this semester, but I already think it is a great Hamilton asset. While the lectures are interesting, as many Hamilton special events are, the particularly unique feature of the Institute is the open intellectual debate amongst students and professors. The open conversations, where people are taken out of their established roles on the Hill and thrown into discussion, has generated very thought provoking experiences. I've heard really interesting perspectives from professors and students I otherwise would have missed. Thanks!" -Laura Mattison, Class of 2009

Menges Awards Announced

AHIadmin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:14:45 +0000

The AHI's inaugural experimental colloquium on the meaning of freedom in the antebellum debate about slavery brought together more than a 150 scholars, students, and informed lay persons for two and a half days of stimulating conversation. Undergraduate classes from Harvard University, Colgate University, and Hamilton College participated in the event. Students attended each of the six sessions, asked questions of the conferees, and composed papers in response to assignments related both to the prescribed set of readings and to the ensuing discussion of these readings during the colloquium. Professors John Stauffer of Harvard, Pete Banner-Haley of Colgate, and Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette of Hamilton College have identified the best paper from each class. Altin Gavranovic of Harvard, Samantha Feldman of Colgate, and Peter Mallozzi of Hamilton will each receive a cache of inscribed books written by the scholars who participated as conferees in the colloquium. Honorable mention prizes will go to Kelsey Rice and Sarah Cryer of Hamilton College. Each will receive an inscribed copy of Mind of the Master Class, a monumental work on the political and religious thought of southern slaveholders by Eugene Genovese and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. These inaugural awards are named after Carl B. Menges, a distinguished alumnus of Hamilton College who has staunchly supported the work of the AHI from its inception. The students will receive their awards on 17 September, Constitution Day, at a special dinner at the AHI.

Cheek Joins AHI Fellows

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:09:39 +0000

Many of those who attended the AHI's inaugural colloquium on the meaning of freedom, commented on the wit, grace, and intelligence of Professor H. Lee Cheek, who served as moderator of the six sessions during the two-day event. The AHI is pleased to announce that Professor Cheek has agreed to help us water the seed of educational reform by joining the AHI as a senior fellow. Professor Cheek is chairman of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division and Professor of Political Science at Brewton-Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia. He received a Ph. D. in political science from The Catholic University of America. Professor Cheek is also a Methodist minister who holds a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University. He has published dozens of books and articles on political and religious thought. As the author of Calhoun and Popular Rule (University of Missouri Press, 2001) and editor of a new edition of Calhoun's A Disquisition on Government (St. Augustine, 2007), Professor Cheek ranks as a leading authority on one of this country's most brilliant and original political thinkers. He has also won multiple teaching awards at several universities. In commenting on the addition of Professor Cheek to the AHI, Robert Paquette noted how Professor Cheek will help expand the influence of the AHI both regionally and organizationally. "Lee Cheek is well-connected in the South, to private religious schools, and to such kindred-spirit organizations as Liberty Fund. He will prove to be an enormous asset in the AHI's development of cooperative programming with groups and individuals who share our concerns about the state of higher learning and about the fate of Western culture." Douglas Ambrose added, "Lee Cheek embodies much of what is best in the Western intellectual tradition: inquisitiveness, rigor, humility, honesty, and a deep appreciation of the complexities of the human condition. He cuts through the cant and pretentiousness that informs so much of today's scholarship in an effort to understand American political thought and the various traditions that have contributed to it. His work reminds us of how much we can learn from a sincere engagement with thinkers, such as Calhoun, that too many of us dismiss or have forgotten. He proved a marvelous moderator of the AHI's inaugural colloquium, and I, for one, am eager to work with him on future AHI projects."

Sutton to Give Inaugural Nelson Lecture

AHIadmin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:39:18 +0000

The Honorable Jeffrey S. Sutton, judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, will present the inaugural David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on Constitution Day, 17 September, at 7:30 pm in the Hamilton College Chapel. The lecture, sponsored by the AHI in conjunction with Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier and the Hamilton College government department, is open to the public. Judge Sutton received a B. A. from Williams College in 1983 and LL. B. from the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University in 1990. He served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas Meskill of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Justice Lewis Powell and Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court. Nominated for the Sixth Circuit by President George W. Bush, Judge Sutton was confirmed by the Senate in 2003. He will be presenting on "Originalism or the Living Constitution? Interpreting the Supreme Court." The lecture honors David Aldrich Nelson, whom Judge Sutton succeeded on the Sixth Circuit. Judge Nelson was graduated from Hamilton College, 1954, valedictorian of his class. He attended the Harvard Law School and read law as a Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge University, in England. He began the practice of law with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cleveland, Ohio, and served on active duty at the Pentagon as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel of the Secretary of the Air Force. President Nixon appointed him General Counsel of the Post Office Department in 1969, and he later became Senior Assistant Postmaster General and General Counsel of the reorganized United States Postal Service. He rejoined his former law firm in 1972, remaining with it until President Reagan appointed him to the bench in 1985. Judge Nelson took senior status in 1999 but continued to hear cases until he closed his chambers in 2006. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He was a long-standing member of the Criminal Law Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. He has served as a trustee of Hamilton College and as a member of the National Council of the Ohio State University College of Law. A private reception and dinner at the AHI will precede Judge Sutton's lecture.

AHI Fellow to Speak at Skidmore

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:56:07 +0000

David Nichols, Associate Professor of History at Baylor University and an AHI Senior Fellow, will speak on Constitution Day, Wednesday, 17 September, as an invited guest of Skidmore College in Saratoga, New York. Professor Nichols has authored and edited several books on American political history, including The Myth of the Modern Presidency (1994). His lecture, "Forgotten Founders at the Constitutional Convention," will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Pohndorff Room of the Scribner Library. Professor Nichols and his wife Mary, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Baylor University (also an AHI Senior Fellow), are currently engaged with the founders of the AHI in the creation of an ambitious summer seminar for graduate students to be held at the AHI's headquarters during the summer of 2009.

AHI's Fall Programming Kicks Off

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:26:50 +0000

On 17 September, Constitution Day, the AHI will celebrate its first anniversary by inaugurating the annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. The Honorable Jeffrey Sutton, federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, will speak at 7:30 at the Hamilton College Chapel on "Originalism or the Living Constitution? Interpreting the Supreme Court." Judge Sutton succeeded David Nelson, a Hamilton College valedictorian, class of 1954, on the Sixth Circuit. Judge Sutton’s lecture, which is open to the public, will begin an ambitious year of AHI programming centered on the theme of property rights and culminating in our second colloquium, to be held at the Turning Stone Resort in April 2009. AHI co-founder James Bradfield is planning the event and will have major announcements about keynote speaker, conferees, student participation, and co-sponsorship in the weeks ahead. During the fall semester, the AHI has a number of exciting events planned. Among them: 1. Gerald Russello, a lawyer and editor of The University Bookman, will kick-off the Christopher Dawson Society on Thursday evening 25 September with a presentation on “America and the Secularization of Culture.” Russello is one of this country’s leading authorities on Christopher Dawson, who held the Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard. Dawson had a profound influence on T. S. Eliot, among other thinkers. 2. Barry Shain, Professor of Government at Colgate University, will lecture in the Hamilton College Science Auditorium to an assemblage of Hamilton College and Colgate University students on Wednesday evening, 1 October. Professor Shain is one of the foremost scholars in the world onThe Federalist. He will speak on "Rights Natural and Civil in the Declaration of Independence." 3. The AHI will host Carla Main, lawyer and journalist, author of the prizewinning book Bulldozed (Encounter Books, 2007), on Saturday,4 October at 4:30 p.m. during Hamilton College’s fallcoming. Bulldozed is a riveting, prize-winning story about the state's abuse of the power of eminent domain. Her lecture and book signing will be at the AHI and open to the public. Details on these and many other forthcoming events will be posted in the days ahead. Stay tuned.

Russello to Kick Off Dawson Society

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:25:48 +0000

The Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason, founded by AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose, will begin its second year of programming on Thursday evening, 25 September, by hosting Gerald Russello, one of this country's leading authorities on Christopher Dawson (1889-1970). Russello, a lawyer and editor of The University Bookman, received a B. A., magna cum laude, in 1992 from Georgetown University. After receiving a J. D. in 1996 from the New York University School of Law, he clerked for Justice Daniel J. O'Hern of the New Jersey Supreme Court and for the Hon. Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Russello has published Christianity and European Culture: Selections from the Works of Christopher Dawson(1998) and The Postmodern Imagination of Russell Kirk (2007). Mr. Russello, after introducing the audience to Dawson's life and thought, will lead a discussion of Dawson's famous essay "America and the Secularization of Modern Culture," republished in Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 3 (Summer 2000): 11-34. The gathering will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the AHI's headquarters, 21 West Park Row, in Clinton, New York, and is open to the public. The Dawson Society seeks to investigate the relation between religious belief and intellectual inquiry within the Western intellectual tradition. Named for Christopher Dawson (1889-1970), the distinguished British historian of culture and the first recipient of the Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University,the Society meets monthly at the AHI headquarters during the acdemic year to discuss texts that illuminate the ways in which persons of faith have sought to engage the intellectual world of the ancient, medieval, early modern, modern, and postmodern West.

Judge Sutton's Talk a 'Tour-de-Force'

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:52:42 +0000

On September 17, Constitution Day, the Honorable Jeffrey S. Sutton delivered a lecture in the Hamilton College Chapel in honor of the Honorable David Aldrich Nelson, whom he succeeded on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before the lecture, the large audience warmly acknowledged with standing ovations the presence of Judge Nelson and Mr. Carl Menges, distinguished alumni of Hamilton College and members of AHI's Board of Directors. Judge Sutton's lecture, in the words of Hamilton College Professor of Government Ted Eismeier, was "an intellectual tour de force," contrasting the originalist approach to constitutional interpretation with the living constitution approach. Citing a variety of cases, including D.C. v Heller and Boumediene v Bush, he analyzed the recent development of the Supreme Court, grounding many of its decisions in historical evidence and interpretation. He outlined both the advantages and possible risks of the Court's new historicism. Judge Sutton's lecture was followed by a flurry of questions from students, faculty, and the public and then by a lively informal discussion. As The Spectator, Hamilton College's student newspaper reported, Judge Sutton "was open for to the student body and other attendees, who nearly filled the seating area" in the chapel." The AHI wishes to express its deepest gratitude to Judge Sutton for an exemplary performance in honoring one of Hamilton College's most distinguished graduates. Professor Paul Finkelman, President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy, and Senior Fellow in the Government Law Center at the Albany Law School, will present the second David Aldrich Nelson Lecture on Constitution Day, 2009.

Publius Society Gathering 28 September

AHIadmin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:59:57 +0000

Critics see the Electoral College as an anti-democratic and dangerous relic. Supporters see it as an important part of the architecture of the Constitution, which combines popular and geographic representation. Recall, for example, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's words to the Senate in 1979, in arguing fiercely against a proposal to abolish the Electoral College. Sounding very much like John Calhoun, he maintained, "Concurrent majorities are also required between sufficient majorities in both Houses of Congress and the Presidency to enact a law, and the President himself comes to office by having achieved a majority of the electoral votes cast. The power subsequently evolved, but clearly anticipated by the framers -- and I think this is settled -- that the Supreme Court could review the acts of the Congress and the President in their concurrent majorities, and the majority of the court could judge upon constitutionality. This is a pervasive and understood principle of the Constitution thought to be -- and who would argue that history has not supported that expectation -- learned from history. And of all these majorities, none was more subtle or more central to their thinking than the majorities required to elect a President." The Publius Society, a politically diverse group of students, faculty, and oher citizens, will gather at 7:30 p. m.on Sunday, September 28 at the AHI's headquarters (21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY) for dessert and lively discussion. Those interested in attending should come prepared to discuss the following readings: Brief overview of the Electoral College Argument to keep the Electoral College Argument to abolish the Electoral College We look forward to an an evening of thoughtful exchanges.

Shain to Speak on Declaration of Independence

AHIadmin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:09:11 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute and the Edmund Burke Association, a student group affiliated with the Hamilton College Republican Club, will co-sponsor the appearance of Barry Shain, Associate Professor of Political Science at Colgate University. Professor Shain is one of this country's leading authorities on The Federalist. He received his Ph. D. in 1990 from Yale University. His publications include The Myth of American Individualism: The Protestant Origins of American Political Thought(Princeton University Press, 1994); Professor Shain will present on "Rights Natural and Civil in the Declaration of Independence" on Wednesday evening, 1 October, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hamilton College Science Auditorium (Room GO27). His lecture will be preceded by a private dinner in the AHI's headquarters with students, faculty, and other invited guests.

AHI Hosts Carla Main on October 24

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:29:05 +0000

Carla Main, lawyer and journalist, author of the prizewinning bookBulldozed (Encounter Books, 2007), a riveting story about the abuse of eminent domain in Freeport, Texas, will speak at the Alexander Hamilton Institute (AHI) on Saturday, 4 October at 4:30 p.m, during Fallcoming Weekend at Hamilton College. The Wall Street Journal calls her book "a primer on eminent domain and the legal arguments surrounding the claims of municipalities on private land." The AHI's good friend George Leef, Vice President for Research for the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, reviewed Bulldozed for the Cato Institute and concluded that the book's "great lesson" was that "politicians should not be trusted with the power to remake cities according to their own visions." The AHI, located in the former Alexander Hamilton Inn, 21 West Park Row, in Clinton is a scholarly center devoted to the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. The AHI had originally invited Ms. Main to speak on March 8, but severe weather forced a postponement of her appearance. Ms. Main will also speak to Kelo v New London, perhaps the most controversial Supreme Court decision since Roe v Wade. In October 2004, a bitterly divided Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the city of New London, Connecticut, had acted lawfully-- within the meaning of the Takings Clause-- when it initiated condemnation proceedings against Susette Kelo and eight other small homeowners to make way for a sweeping waterfront developmental project to benefit Pfizer Corporation. Neither Kelo nor her fellow plaintiffs were holdouts, trying to squeeze more money out of the city. They simply did not want to sell their homes. The decision sparked national outrage. The majority, in effect, had sanctified a definition of “public use” that had been gradually broadened by state and federal courts in the twentieth century to embrace the idea of “public good.” This elastic term, as critics pointed out, could mean almost anything. If one developmental project promised higher tax revenues for the state, then a taking that would transfer a piece of private property from one private owner to another could qualify under this enlarged definition as a “public good.” Nor, as the majority admitted, did the Court plan to second-guess the legislature on the design and economic promise of individual plans. Sandra Day O’Connor, writing for the minority, maintained that the majority had violated one of the sacred first principles of the country. By “public use” the founders had meant something like a public highway or a coastal fort. “Under the banner of economic development,” O’Connor warned, “all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner . . . . Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.” Ms. Main's lecture is open to the public. A reception will follow. The first 15 attendants will receive an inscribed copy of Bulldozed courtesy of the Alexander Hamilton Institute.

Paquette Publishes Op-Ed on Liberal Arts

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:41:52 +0000

John Leo, a distinguished journalist who for 17 years published a syndicated column "On Society" for US News & World Report, has developed Minding the Campus into one of the most accessed websites on educational issues in the country. A division of the Manhattan Institute, Minding the Campus "is dedicated to the revival of intellectual pluralism and the best traditions of liberal education at America's universities." Mr. Leo solicited from Robert Paquette, co-founder of the AHI, an op-ed on the state of the the liberal arts. In "What Is It about the Liberal Arts,"Professor Paquette, a nominee by President Bush for a seat on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities, addresses the impact of the open curriculum and of diversity pressures on liberal arts education.

Russello Packs AHI

AHIadmin — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:16:05 +0000

On Thursday evening 25 September, the Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason hosted Gerald Russello, one of the world’s foremost experts on the writings of Christopher Dawson. Speaking to a full house at the AHI's headquarters, Russello provided a concise and perceptive sketch of Dawson’s personal and scholarly career, highlighting his central insight: “culture arises from cult, from the patterns of organized worship, and the society that disregards its spiritual foundations will collapse, no matter the level of its material well-being.” After Russello concluded his brief remarks, he led a lively discussion of the evening’s common reading, Dawson’s 1960 lecture, “America and the Secularization of Modern Culture.” The audience, a diverse group that included Hamilton students and faculty and members of the local community, asked searching questions and offered trenchant comments. Participants pondered how the process of secularization has shaped American culture and religion since Dawson presented his essay. The discussion dramatically reinforced one of Russello’s main points: Dawson’s writings continue to demand our attention. For, as Russello points out, “Dawson revisited topics that had special resonance for America, and that continue to be central to public conversation: the proper definitions of progress and success; the role of technology in society; the relationship between economics and politics, and between politics and culture; and the necessity of protecting belief in an age dominated by an exaggerated devotion to efficiency and science.” The AHI would also like to thank Jeffrey H. McArn, the Hamilton College chaplain, for transporting a large number of students to the event. The Christopher Dawson Society will next meet at the AHI on Wednesday, October 8^th at 6:30 PM when it will discuss Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s 1978 Harvard University Commencement Address and his 1983 Templeton Prize Lecture.

Second Dawson Meeting 13 October

AHIadmin — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:20:50 +0000

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970. Because of his criticism of Stalinism, he spent almost a decade in a Soviet labor camp. It failed to break his spirit; indeed, the experience compelled him to write. His first novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962),unforgettably captured the banality of evil under Soviet communism and earned him international attention as well as the plaudits of his countrymen. The Soviet security apparatus cracked down on Solzhenitsyn after the death of Nikita Khruschev in 1964. The first volume of his magnum opus, The Gulag Archipelago, published in Paris in 1973, precipitated his arrest for treason and eventual exile from his beloved Russia. Christian values permeate Solzhenitsyn's writings. On Monday, 13 October at 6:30 p.m., The Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason, will hold its second meeting of 2008-2009 by gathering to examine "A World Split Apart," Solzhenitsyn's 1978 address to Harvard University, and "Men Have Forgotten God," an address he delivered in 1983 after winning the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at the AHI's headquarters, 21 West Park Row in Clinton, New York. Refreshments will be served.

Carla Main Lecture Attracts Public

AHIadmin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:45:54 +0000

Dozens of interested citizens from the Utica-Rome area gathered at the headquarters of the AHI on Saturday afternoon, 4 October, to hear Carla Main speak on the abuse of eminent domain. Ms. Main, a lawyer and journalist, began by recalling her days as a lawyer, working for New York City in condemnation proceedings, during which she witnessed up close and personal the testimony of those people whose property was being seized, often as a result of an unholy alliance between government officials and developers. In her prize-winning book Bulldozed (Encounter Books, 2007), Ms. Main centered her discussion on a case in Freeport, Texas. She recounted the story of Freeport's Gore family, model citizens whose patriarch Wright "Pappy" Gore rose from poverty to build the Western Seafood Company into a prosperous business. In 2003, city officials in league with a prominent Texas businessman attempted in the name of economic development a taking of the Gore's property, crucial to the operation of Western Seafood. The developers wanted the property for the construction of a multi-million dollar marina on the Freeport waterfront. Arthur Lee of Virginia spoke for many of the founders of this country when he said "The right of [private] property is the guardian of every other right, and to deprive a people of this, is in fact to deprive them of their liberty." Ms. Main would agree, and her lecture discussed how such Supreme Court cases as Parker v Berman (1954), Hawaii Housing Authority v Midkiff (1984), and, most notably, Kelo v New London (2005) have chipped away at private property rights throughout this country by dramatically expanding the founder's understanding of "public use" in the Fifth Amendent to embrace the much more elastic "public purpose." Ms. Main's appearance, which included a book signing, attracted the largest gathering of informed citizens ever to attend an AHI function. We congratulate her on the success of her talk. The AHI would also like to thank Daniel F. Fitzgerald Jr., Regional Vice-Chairman of the the New York State Conservative Party, for his attendance and enthusiastic support of the AHI.

Shain Lectures on Rights and the Declaration

AHIadmin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:32:01 +0000

On Wednesday evening, October 1, Professor Barry Alan Shain of Colgate University spoke to an audience of about 100 students, faculty, and interested laypersons on "Rights Natural and Civil in the Declaration of Indpendence." Shain, author of The Myth of American Individualism: The Protestant Origins of American Political Thought (Princeton, 1994) provided a brief but substantive sketch of the various views of the nature of rights in the era of the American Revolution. His discussion forcefully reminded the audience that the the meanings of rights have changed dramatically over time. Shain explained that to understand a document such as the Declaration of Independence--and to understand its meaning to its eighteenth-century audience--we must recognize that Jefferson and his contemporaries sharply differentiated between "natural" and "civil" rights. Pointing out that the relation between these two sets of rights was undergoing a pronounced shift at the time, with some theorists conflating the differences between them, Shain maintained that for Jefferson and most of those who read the Declaration natural rights remained distinct from civil rights and that the Declaration "spoke" the language of natural, not civil, rights. The list of natural rights in the eighteenth century was short, including life and the right to worship and honor God, and that rights necessarily imposed duties and responsibilities. Individual rights were exceptional. Natural rights were operative in only a narrow set of circumstances, namely those outside of "civil" society. Shain pointed out that the Declaration, as a natural rights document, never sought to prescribe or articulate "civil rights"; it announced to the world that the United States were no longer under the sovereignty of the British Crown. Its purpose was to secure foreign recognition and financial support, not provide a blueprint for the civil order of the new nation. That narrow purpose required an appeal to natural rights, whereas the creation of new governments turned to the realm of civil rights. Shain's intellectually stimulating talk elicited a lively question-and-answer session that lasted for 45 minutes, continued informally thereafter for an additional half hour, and even followed him into the halls outside the Hamilton College science auditorium and into the parking lot. Shain elaborated upon his concern that both scholars and lay people have viewed the past and particularly the Founding Era through a distorting, ahistorical lens. In urging us to recognize the historically specific meaning of "rights," Shain reminded us that our notion of rights owes far more to Abraham Lincoln than to Thomas Jefferson. For it was Lincoln, Shain insists, who assigned nineteenth century aspirations to an eighteenth century workaday document of the Continental Congress. Lincoln took the Declaration--a narrowly-focused, time-specific, eighteenth-century natural-rights document--and turned it into something quite different: the nation's fundamental law that transformed the meaning of "natural" and "civil" rights. Shain's lecture was brought free of charge to Hamilton College by the AHI in co-sponsorship with the Edmund Burke Association, a scholarly organization within the Hamilton College Republican Club, and the Hamilton College history department.

AHI Advisor Publishes New Edition of 'Tenured Radicals'

AHIadmin — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:34:02 +0000

Roger Kimball serves as a member of the AHI's Board of Academic Advisors. He co-edits with Hilton Kramer The New Criterion, the finest journal of arts and culture in the transatlantic world. He also serves as publisher of Encounter Books, which under his guidance has produced a string of best sellers in the fields of politics, cultural criticism, and education. Carla Main, for example, published her prize-winning book Bulldozed with Encounter Books and recently appeared at the AHI for a related lecture and book-signing. In 1990, Mr. Kimball published Tenured Radicals, a chilling portrait of the degradation of higher learning at even our most venerable colleges and universities under the onslaught of various tribes of activist professors, aided and abetted, time and again, by gutless, shallow, and jaded academic bureaucrats. The late Allan Bloom called the book a must read for anyone serious about the fate of higher learning in this country. Now in the third edition, Tenured Radicals appears with a new introduction that will be of considerable interest to those who log in to this website. John Leo's Minding the Campus provides a substantial excerpt. Kimball discusses the Larry Summers affair at Harvard University, the Duke lacrosse case, and, most notably, the Susan Rosenberg and Ward Churchill affairs, which rocked the Hamilton College campus in 2004-2005. Two AHI fellows, it should be noted, played a crucial role in exposing Churchill as an academic poseur for which they were vilified by Hamilton College faculty, administrators, and trustees. On 24 July 2007, the University of Colorado Board of Regents, by an 8 to 1 vote, fired Ward Churchill for academic misconduct. For those who ask, What is to be done? Mr. Kimball provides a lucid answer: "We all know, well enough, what a good liberal education looks like, just as we all know, well enough, what makes for a healthy society. It really isn't that complicated. It doesn't [pace trustees] take a lot of money or sophistication. What it does require is candidness and courage, moral virtues that are in short supply wherever political correctness reigns triumphant." The AHI congratulates Mr. Kimball on his many accomplishments.

Article Published on AHI's First Colloquium

AHIadmin — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:07:26 +0000

Robert Lewit, board member of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, has published an article on the AHI's inaugural colloquium inInside Academe (volume 3, no. 3-4, 2008), an ACTA publication. Mr. Lewit attended "Liberty and Slavery: The Civil War between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh, on April 10-12, at the Turning Stone Resort."While over 200 attended the conference [on the meaning of freedom]," Mr. Lewit noted, "most significant were the 60 students from Hamilton, Harvard, and Colgate who had studied the [prescribed] primary source material and made significant contributions to the colloquium." Mr. Lewit went on to say, "[T]he AHI is creatively demonstrating what can be done for student education by a small, determined group of alumni and faculty who brought 'this oasis of excellence' to fruition." Samantha Feldman, a recent graduate of Colgate University who was awarded one of the inaugural Menges Prizes for the quality of her contributions to the colloquium, had this to say in a recent communication: "Participating in the colloquium was the only experience of it's kind that I had while at Colgate -- I appreciate what the AHI put together. Writing the paper was an equally unique experience -- I constantly found myself in a state of flow while researching and writing (I'm actually a psych major)!" The AHI thanks Mr. Lewit and Ms. Feldman for their generous words. Those interested in attending our second major colloquium--on property rights--should mark April 30-May 2. The Turning Stone Resort will once again host the event. We will post details in the weeks ahead. Direct questions to bob@theahi.org

Bradfield and Menges to Present on 'Turbulence in the Financial Markets,' 1 November

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:33:38 +0000

James Bradfield and Carl Menges will present on "Turbulence in the Financial Markets," Saturday, 1 November, at 4 p.m. in the headquarters of the AHI. Bradfield, AHI co-founder and Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics at Hamilton College, will present an economic analysis of the causes of the current global market turbulence and of the proposed governmental action to alleviate it. Professor Bradfield teaches courses in finance at Hamilton College. His analysis will discuss the meaning and function of liquidity, the creation of money by the banking system, the alleged role of "greed," in generating the turbulence, and the Federal Reserve System as a monetary authority rather than as a bank. Carl Menges, a member of the AHI's Board of Trustees, will also present his thoughts on the present crisis and the future of Wall Street. Mr. Menges received his A. B. cum laude in 1951 from Hamilton College and his M.B.A in 1953 from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. In 1966 he joined the investment banking firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where, before its purchase in 2000 by Credit Suisse, he rose to the position of Vice Chairman. Hamilton College families celebrating Family Weekend are most welcome. The event is open to the public. A reception will follow.

AHI Fellows and Directors Attend Athena Roundtable

AHIadmin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:53:43 +0000

AHI director Anne Neal also serves as President of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, "a nonpartisan, nonprofit, educational organization committed to academic freedom, excellence and accountability at America's colleges and universities." Each year ACTA organizes a major conference--The Athena Roundtable--around a particular theme. This year's roundtable at the New-York Historical Society focused on "The Campaign for the American Mind." The conference began on Thursday afternoon, October 16, with AHI board member General Josiah Bunting III leading a tour of the Grant-Lee Exhibit at the NYHS. Andrew Ferguson, a senior editior at The Weekly Standard, regaled Thurday night's dinner audience with a battery of amusing stories about the research that went into his Land of Lincoln: Adventure's in Abe's America (Grove Press, 2008). AHI board members J. Hunter Brown, Stephen Balch, and Carl Menges participated in the Friday morning and afternoon sessions as did AHI founders James Bradfield and Robert Paquette. Distinguished participants included Benno Schmidt, John Silber, Senator Hank Brown, Herbert London, and Roger Rosenblatt AHI friends Barry Shain, Jim Piereson, and Mike Andrews were also in attendance. Grade inflation, declining standards, the open curriculum, trustee accountability and transparency, the Ward Churchill affair, and faculty activism numbered among the issues discussed. Bradfield and Paquette integrated into the discussion information from their own experience at Hamilton College to drive home the point about an academy in crisis. On Friday evening, the Honorable Jose Cabranes, Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, introduced Donald Kagan, Professor of History and Classics at Yale University. Professor Kagan received the Philip Merrill Award, which annually honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions "to the advancement of liberal arts education, core curricula and the teaching of Western civilization and American history. " Previous winners include AHI academic advisors Harvey Mansfield and Robert George. Congratulations to Professor Kagan, a most worthy recipient of this distinguished award. Special thanks go to Liz and Joe Kaming who hosted on Saturday a wonderful post-conference brunch in their Manhattan home, where conference attendants continued their discussions. Kudos to Anne Neal and her staff for another memorable event.

Bakwin Fellowship Announced

AHIadmin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:27:35 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the creation of the E. M. Bakwin Fellowship. Mr. Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961), served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. Mr. Bakwin has had a long-standing interest in the history, literature, and art of Western culture. His generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Doctoral and post-doctoral researchers are encouraged to apply. Recipients of the award will reside, free of charge, for one summer month (June or July) in the Jane Fraser Room of the AHI’s headquarters, a historic mansion located in 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. A panel comprised of AHI fellows and board members will evaluate the applications. Deadline for their receipt is Monday, March 2, 2009; the AHI will announce the award winner on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. To apply, candidates will need to fill out a fellowship application. It must include a copy of the applicant’s résumé, two letters of reference, and a proposal that should not exceed five double-spaced pages. Proposals should reference the manuscript or rare book collections to be consulted and how precisely they will contribute to the intellectual significance of the project. Area repositories include the Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University; the Oneida County Historical Society; Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University; Special Collections and Archives, Colgate University; Rare Books and Special Collections, Hamilton College. In assessing proposals, evaluators will follow closely those criteria spelled out in the fellowship program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Thus, 1. The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to scholars and general audiences. 2. The scholalrly quality or promise of quality of the applicant's work. 3. The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant's clarity of expression. 4. The feasibility of the proposed plan of work, including, when appropriate, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans. 5. The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project. Recipients of the award will be expected before their departure to present a public lecture on their research topic at the AHI. Completed applications should be sent to Robert L. Paquette, Alexander Hamilton Institute, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY. 13323.

AHI Featured in New Student Publication

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:51:38 +0000

Dexter, an independent student newspaper at Hamilton College with the motto de omnibus dubitandum est (everything is to be doubted), has published its first issue (be patient for download), which features stories about a number of events sponsored by the AHI. Editors Liz Farrington and Tim Minella, speaking as students who "fear for the future" of their institution, intend to "boldly enter" on campus "the arena of ideas." Dexter's reporting will strive to hold students, faculty, and administrators "accountable" for their actions and policies. Accountability requires vigilance. The distribution of "vast sums" by Hamilton's Student Assemply, for example, will come under Dexter's scrutiny. The editors have no illusions about the magnitude of their task. If they ultimately play the role of King Canute trying to hold back the tide that is steadily eroding Hamilton's proud 200-year tradition of liberal arts education, they declare, let history record that some of Hamilton's students opposed such "a headlong dive into the future." Funded by the Leadership Institute, a conservative non-profit educational organization located in Arlington, Virginia, Dexter begins publication with stories on the role of diversity in strategic planning, the proposed Cultural Education Center at Hamilton College, and the lectures by AHI-sponsored guests Barry Shain, Gerald Russello, and Judge Jeffrey Sutton. The founders of the AHI applaud Liz and Tim and their staff for their courage and initiative. Let history record that the AHI stands with you.

AHI Open House on 1 November

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:53:04 +0000

The AHI will hold an open house on Saturday, 1 November, starting at 9 a.m. AHI fellows and founders will be on hand to welcome Hamilton College students and their families on campus for Family Weekend. Over the last few months, the AHI has begun a staged renovation of the building to accommodate future activities. Visitors will be given a tour of our renovated headquarters, including the Jane Fraser Room, and the founders will be pleased to answer any questions about our future plans. The highlight of the day will be presentations at 4 p.m. by AHI founder James Bradfield and AHI board director Carl Menges on "Turbulence in the Financial Markets." Professor Bradfield, Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics at Hamilton College, will present an economic analysis of the causes of the current global market turbulence and of the proposed governmental action to alleviate it. Professor Bradfield teaches courses in finance at Hamilton College. His analysis will discuss the meaning and function of liquidity, the creation of money by the banking system, the alleged role of "greed," in generating the turbulence, and the Federal Reserve System as a monetary authority rather than as a bank. Carl Menges, a member of the AHI's Board of Trustees, will also present his thoughts on the present crisis and the future of Wall Street. Mr. Menges received his A. B. cum laude in 1951 from Hamilton College and his M.B.A in 1953 from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. In 1966 he joined the investment banking firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where, before its purchase in 2000 by Credit Suisse, he rose to the position of Vice Chairman. The event is open to the public. A reception will follow.

Publius Meeting Rescheduled for 5 November

AHIadmin — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:25:52 +0000

Robert Nagel, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Colorado, Boulder, argues that political and judicial revolutions have usurped the power of the estates and thereby enervated local associational life. Although Kimberly Hendrickson, a public policy analyst, agrees with much of Nagel’s argument about the implosion of federalism, she lauds the emergence of a “moral federalism” through plebiscitary democracy on issues ranging from abortion to euthanasia to affirmative action to medical marijuana to homosexual marriage. Is federalism dead? If so, should we mourn or celebrate its demise? Is the rise of moral federalism a sign of life for American democracy or a threat to individual rights? The Publius Society cordially invites you for refreshments and discussion of these issues at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, at the Alexander Hamilton Institute in the Village of Clinton. Rides to the AHI will be available at KJ circle at 7:15. Refreshments and dessert will be served. The event is open to the public. Please prepare for the discussion by reading the essays by Nagel and by Hendrickson before our gathering. For more information, see the Publius Blog http://hamiltonpublius.blogspot.com/

Record Crowd Attends AHI Event

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:43:25 +0000

The AHI's headquarters hosted a standing-room only crowd of more than 150 persons on Saturday afternoon, 1 November. They attended the presentations of AHI co-founder James Bradfield and AHI board member Carl Menges on "Turbulence in the Financial Markets." Mr. Menges, a retired Wall Street executive, began by underscoring the severity of the global credit crisis, calling it an event "the likes of which the financial world has never seen before." The current crisis, he argued, derived largely from two sources: 1. "Government policies that encouraged mortgage lenders to lend to financially unworthy and unqualified borrowers" 2. "A super aggressive financial industry that overreached all sensible, prudent, and risk-appropriate banking and investment practices." The list of the culpable proves long: federal regulators, mortgage lenders, home-buyers, financial intermediaries, security rating agencies, insurance companies, banks, managers of investment funds, and, most importantly, quasi-federal agencies like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, who "indiscriminately brought trillions of dollars of mortgages from the originators without prudent credit/risk analysis to keep a continuous supply of liquidity in the system." Mr. Menges sketched the history of such GSO's (government-sponsored organizations). President Carter's signing of the Community Reinvestment Act (1977) speeded travel on a road to hell paved with good intentions by forcing banks to provide billions of dollars of credit to persons who could not afford the homes they were buying. Bear Stearns, whose rapid collapse stunned the financial world, honed the practice of "securitizing" loans made under the Community Reinvestment Act. The investment community, seeking high-yielding securities and thinking that housing prices would continue to rise interminably, gobbled up bundles of these toxin-laden mortgages. The five big investment banks (Goldman-Sachs, Merrill-Lynch, Morgan-Stanley, and Bear Stearns), according to Mr. Menges, pursued these new securities with gusto after the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2004 loosened the capital rules for borrowing. The insurance industry, most notably American International Group (AIG), responded by offering insurance policies to the holders of these new, opaque securities. These insurance policies-- called Credit Default Swaps--"drive their value from the underlying security and were sold "without any credit or collateral; security, no oversight or regulation." Professor Bradfield began by stating that the economic history of the United States since its founding has been growth with turbulence. Some of these turbulent episodes have resulted in precipitous and deep destruction of liquidity. The most severe episode is the Great Depression of the 1930s. During the financial panics prior to and including the Depression, the Federal Reserve System exacerbated the destruction of liquidity by acting as a bank would; the Fed called in problematic loans, thereby accelerating the destruction of liquidity. Following the Depression, the Fed began acting as a monetary authority, rather than a bank. In each of the panics since the Depression the Fed acted to increase liquidity, as it is doing now. As a consequence, the panics have been less severe than they would otherwise be. Bradfield agreed with Menges that the unusual severity of the current situation raises the question of how effective the Fed can be in bringing timely relief . Bradfield contended that the primary cause of the current crisis is the persistence of the Federal Government in using Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other similar Governmental Sponsored Enterprises, to induce banks and other financial institutions to originate, and then securitize, mortgaged loans that private markets, left to their own, would have rejected. Bradfield rejected the argument that deregulation was a major cause of the current crisis. He emphasized that a necessary condition for free markets to regulate themselves is the absence of governmental interference in setting prices, including the prices of securities, such as mortgages. The function of prices is to transmit information. In markets for mortgages, prices be must free to transmit information about the ability (or lack thereof) of prospective borrowers to meet contractual obligations. Governmental interference, through such agencies as Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, distort the ability of prices to transmit correct information, with the result that individuals make decisions and take risks that are based on distorted, and thus incorrect, information.

AHI Co-Sponsors Lecture on Abolitionism

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:29:26 +0000

Why was upstate New York the most important theater in the United States for the development of political abolitionism? What role did Charles Grandison Finney, the most famous revivalist preacher of his day, and the Second Great Awakening play in fostering immediatism, the belief that morally re-centered indivduals must make a conscious commitment, without delay, to work for the abolition of the sin of slavery? How did a small group of theoretical abolitionists, frequently mobbed and beaten as troublemakers by their fellow Northerners during the Jacksonian Period, translate their activism in the North into a broad-based antislavery crusade that appealed to the working-class masses? What were the contributions of Gerrit Smith and Theodore Dwight Weld, both, at one time, connected to Hamilton College, in shaping the abolitionist movement? Judge Hugh C. Humphreys, a 1961 graduate of the Columbia Law School and a member of the governing board of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) in Peterboro, New York, addressed these and other questions on 11 November to undergraduates at Hamilton College in the introductory course in American history co-taught by Professors Robert Paquette and Maurice Isserman. Judge Humphrey's presentation included a remarkable collection of slides on the history of abolitionism. His article " 'Agitate! Agitate Agitate!' The Great Fugitive Slave Law Convention and Its Rare Daguerrotype," Madison County Heritage 19 (1994) has received applause from specialists for the painstaking research that led to his deciphering of a Daguerrean photograph of the black and white attendants with Gerrit Smith and Frederick Douglass at the Fugitive Slave Convention held in Cazenovia, New York, in August 1850. The AHI congratulates Judge Humphreys for his outreach to diverse audiences in seeking to awaken interest in American history and to elevate civic discourse.

AHI Invited to Encounter Books Celebration

AHIadmin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:39:37 +0000

Roger Kimball, co-editor and publisher of The New Criterion, President and Publisher of Encounter Books, and academic adviser to the AHI, served as master of ceremonies for a gala tenth anniversary celebration of Encounter Books, held at the New-York Historical Society on Wednesday, 12 November. Several hundred business leaders, philanthropists, and scholars from across the country attended. The list of invited guests included three persons with AHI affiliations: Carl Menges, Candace de Russy, and Robert Paquette. Under Mr. Kimball's leadership, Encounter Books has received national recognition for publishing an impressive series of lucid, against-the-grain volumes that combine intellectual depth with mass appeal. On Wednesday evening, the audience heard from such best-selling authors as Peter Collier, Destructive Generation; Herbert London, America's Secular Challenge; Roy W. Spencer, Climate Confusion; and Melanie Phillips,Londonistan. One of the highlights of the evening was the showing of a taped interview by Peter Robinson, a Hoover Institution fellow, of Thomas Sowell. Professor Sowell, one of this country's most visible public intellectuals, discussed race relations in the United States and the major themes of his best-selling book Black Rednecks and White Liberals. Melanie Phillips, an intrepid, prize-winning columnist for London's Daily Mail, provided the evening's most sobering words on the state of Western civilization in discussing how the ideology of multiculturalism in Great Britain and continental Europe has fostered the rise of an Islamicimperium in imperio. In the United States, declared Ms. Phillips, you still have a culture war. In Great Britain, the West has already surrendered.

Edmund Burke Association Meeting 17 November

AHIadmin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:18:25 +0000

Is conservatism an ideology? Is equality a conservative value? How does a conservative distinguish between liberty and license? Is Hamilton College hostile to conservative students? The Edmund Burke Association, a student organization founded within the Hamilton College Republican Club, will meet at the AHI on Monday, 17 November, at 7:30 p.m. to discuss, What does it mean to be a conservative? Attendants will examine Russell Kirk's, "Ten Conservative Principles" and Michael Oakeshott's "On Being Conservative." Dessert and refreshments will be served. The gathering is open to the public.

EBA Hosts Christina Hoff Sommers 19 November

AHIadmin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:09:45 +0000

The Edmund Burke Association, a student organization, founded within the Hamilton College Republican Club and devoted to the study of political thought and political theory, will host Christina Hoff Sommers. She will lecture on "The Failure of Feminism." Ms. Sommers earned her B.A. at New York University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Brandeis University. She worked as a philosophy professor in Ethics at Clark University and is currently a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and serves on the Board of Advisors of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. She is one of the founding members of the Independent Women's Forum. Sommers is the author of Right and Wrong: Basic Readings in Ethics (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1986); Who Stole Feminism; How Women Have Betrayed Women (Simon & Schuster 1994); The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men (Simon & Schuster,2001); Vice & Virtue in Everyday Life (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1985); and OneNation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture Is Eroding Self-Reliance(St. Martin's Griffin, 2006). The public lecture will take place at 7 pm in the Events Barn on the campus of Hamilton College. The AHI will host a private dinner in her honor before the event.

Kimball References AHI to Manhattan Institute

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 09:08:51 +0000

Roger Kimball, co-editor and publisher of The New Criterion, President and Publisher of Encounter Books, and adviser to the AHI addressed the Manhattan Institute on 19 November at a celebratory luncheon that marked the publication of the second revised edition of Tenured Radicals, an influential critique of the state of higher learning in the United States. The Manhattan Institute has published Mr. Kimball's address, "Still Tenured, Still Radical," in its entirety on the Institute's Minding the Campus website. In his remarks, Mr. Kimball references the AHI and events at Hamilton College that precipitated the Alexander Hamilton Center's re-creation off-campus as an independent scholarly institute.

Dear Friends of the Alexander Hamilton Institute

AHIadmin — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:33:08 +0000

We thought we’d share some thoughts on the first year of our existence. As a start up organization we are proud of the significant, though not perfect, progress we have made. We do so because we seek your financial support to continue our important work. The Fellows have delivered The Fellows have created world class, traditional scholarly programs & initiatives of which we can be proud. They have done so with rigorous scholarly discipline and the highest standards. The AHI has provided much needed intellectual diversity and an open forum of scholarly debate. And they have done so without course relief or compensation. Student engagement & participation is strong The students have responded enthusiastically. All who have participated in or observed our programming, including friends of the AHI, public and private scholars, and alumni, have come away impressed by the quality and creativity of the scholarship. More important is the degree of engagement by the students . We invite you to explore their comments. Annual colloquium a great success Our inaugural colloquium on the meaning of freedom was a spectacular success. Over 200 students, scholars, alumni, and citizens participated, including classes from Hamilton, Colgate, and Harvard (both graduate and undergraduate). Students and professors--including Harvard's John Stauffer--commented that it was one of the most stimulating intellectual events of their lives.We note that Professor Stauffer is revising his keynote address for publication by the AHI for national distribution. This year’s colloquium has a theme of property rights. We are arranging a collaborative endeavor with the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester and anticipate that the University of Rochester will provide our third undergraduate class (along with those from Hamilton and Colgate). All indications are that this year’s event will be another success. Certainly, current events in the global economy and capital markets in concert with ongoing regulatory and legislative reforms make property rights a core issue of national attention. Lectures The AHI has sponsored or co-sponsored approximately 14 lectures including appearances by The Honorable Jeffrey S. Sutton ; Christina Hoff Sommers; Professor Barry Alan Shain of Colgate University; The Honorable Judge Hugh C. Humphreys ; Professor Robert Kraynak , Director of the Center for Freedom & Western Civilization at Colgate University; Professor Kathleen Marks , Assistant Professor of English at St. John's University; Gerald Russello ; Carla Main , author of the prize-winning book Bulldozed ; and others. We invite you to explore the quality of speakers and the nature of topics supported by the AHI. AHI receives national recognition (the good kind) The AHI and its affiliations have brought national attention to our efforts. We are proud to note that President George W. Bush forwarded to the United States Senate the nomination of Robert L. Paquette for a seat on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is a first for any NESCAC school. Stephen Balch , a member of the the AHI's Board of Directors and founder and president of the National Association of Scholars, received the prestigious National Humanities Medal. Jane Fraser, a director of the Alexander Hamilton Institute, was honored as the Non Profit Times executive of the year for her work with the Stuttering Foundation of America. Organizational progress Today, the AHI is an established, independent 501(c)(3) not for profit corporation. We have a board of directors of national prominence and a growing programmatic footprint. Our bylaws segregate our scholarly and business functions , thereby ensuring academic freedom for our Fellows and professional expertise for our business operations. The scholarly activities are managed by the Fellows with support from our Board of Outside Academic Advisors , while our business functions are managed by officers, typically alumni, all with significant business expertise. No director or officer of the AHI is paid: we are a volunteer organization and dedicated to the efficient delivery of scholarly product. We have reached an agreement in principle and anticipate entering into a long term lease of our headquarters at the Alexander Hamilton Inn which is newly refurbished and ready to welcome new students, parents, and supporters. Lastly, we are in process of putting our structure under the domain of the Board of Regents of New York as a cultural institution. How you can help If you wish to make a donation to support the Alexander Hamilton Institute, please send your contribution to:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Inc. at The Alexander Hamilton Inn 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323

The AHI is a tax-exempt organization within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Accordingly, contributionsare deductible to the fullest extent provided by law. The AHI does not provide tax or legal advice, and we encourage all donors to check with their professional advisors. Please contact us if you have special concerns, wish to coordinate estate planning issues, or need instructions to wire funds or deliver securities. A member of our board of directors will respond. Institutional inquiries are welcome. The AHI is a work in process. The notions of quality, performance, and accountability were implicit in the design of the AHI from inception. We are pleased to see growing awareness, enthusiasm, and participation by students, alumni, parents, and outside scholars. We are acutely aware of the profound impact the economy and markets have had on all of us. Nevertheless, our work continues. We ask that you take a moment to consider the progress we have made, and if you can, consider making a donation. Robert Paquette , Charter Fellow James Bradfield , Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose , Charter Fellow J. Hunter Brown , President & Director

AHI Adviser Publishes on Lincoln and Obama

AHIadmin — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:23:55 +0000

"Much has been written about what Mr. Obama thinks about Lincoln," writes John Stauffer in an essay coauthored with Henry Louis Gates. "But not much has been said about what Lincoln would think of Barack Hussein Obama." In an op-ed "A Pragmatic Precedent" in today's New York Times, Professor Stauffer, an academic adviser to the AHI, Professor of English, American Literature, and Language at Harvard University, and author ofGiants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln(Twelve, 2008) imaginatively examines race and politics and how Lincoln's pragmatism might hold lessons for President Obama.

Ambrose Attends Liberty Fund Colloquium

AHIadmin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:55:01 +0000

Pierre Goodrich, an Indianapolis lawyer and businessman, founded Liberty Fund in 1960 "to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals." Over the years the activities of this prestigious educational organization has expanded to include the construction of a remarkable on-line Library of Economics and Liberty and the sponsorship of scores of colloquia annually in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. In 2009, for example, Liberty Fund will bring together scholars to discuss in New Orleans the "Ethics and Economics of Healthcare"; in Cartagena, Colombia, "Jeremy Bentham and Liberalism in Nineteenth-Century Colombia"; and in Avignon, France, "Human Nature, Civility, and Mores." Typical gatherings include more than a dozen scholars who are invited to read and debate a carefully prepared set of prescribed readings in six sessions over two days. In civility, hospitality, and stimulation, these colloquia, for many scholars, approach the gold standard. At the invitation of Liberty Fund, AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose traveled to Savannah, Georgia, on 22 January to attend a two-day colloquium on "Liberty and the Moral Life in the Works of Spanish Traditionalists and Francis Graham Wilson." Wilson, an erudite political scientist, a Catholic, and one of the intellectual godfathers of modern conservatism in the United States, looked to Spain for insight into the process of recovery by Spanish traditionalists of what he called those "deposits" of truth in a country's history. For Wilson, defense of the enduring values of the moral society required a continuous evaluation of the past to find patterns that "may give us some clues as to the possible and impossible in politics." Professor Ambrose joined with historians, ministers, political scientists, and other educators in examining such Spanish traditionalists as Juan Donoso Cortés, Jaime Balmes, Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo, and Ramiro de Maetzu. The colloquium featured the participation of Stanley Payne, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Wisconsin, and widely regarded as one of the foremost historians of Spain of his generation.

Second AHI Colloquium Announced

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:57:07 +0000

Man faces the world, as David Hume observed, with basically three kinds of goods: his physical capacity, his mental capacity, and his acquired possessions. How the world's peoples have translated Man's goods from possessions into property--legally demarcating what is mine from thine--remains fundamental to conceptions of the proper ends of government, standards of justice, the existence of civil freedom, sustained economic growth, and the continuation of society itself. Marxists have referred to private property as a kind of theft. Free-market economists like Milton Friedman, by contrast, regard the economic freedom rooted in private property as an indispensable prerequisite for the creation of political freedom. In recognition of the centrality of the idea and institution of property to civilized life, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization in conjunction with the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester proudly announces that the AHI's second annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium will be devoted to "Property Rights." This three-day event, to be held 30 April-May 2 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, will bring together in six sessions over two days dozens of scholars, students, and informed citizens for intensive conversation on the following themes: 1. the meaning of property; the evolution of property rights as a concept and as an institution; 2. property rights in human beings; 3. property rights in developing nations: the case of China; 4. property rights and the incidence of war; 5. property rights and eminent domain; 6. Kelo v. New London. The Thursday night kick-off will include a sumptuous feast. F. Scott Kieff, Professor, School of Law and School of Medicine, Department of Neurological Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis, an authority on intellectual property, will provide the colloquium's opening address. Later in the evening, James W. Ely, the Milton R. Underwood Chair in Free Enterprise at the Vanderbilt Law School, will give the second annual Carl B. Menges Address in honor of one of the driving forces in the creation of the AHI. Professor Ely is one of the world's foremost scholars on thehistory of property rights in the United States. The Friday and Saturday sessions will include historians, economists, lawyers, political scientists, and public intellectuals. Undergraduate classes from the University of Rochester, Colgate University, and Hamilton College will also participate. A tentative schedule is below. For additional information, please contact the AHI through the website: James Bradfield (jim@theahi.org), or Robert Paquette (bob@theahi.org). Tentative Schedule Second Annual Carl B.Menges Colloquium "Property Rights" 30 April – 2 May, 2009 Turning Stone Resort & Casino 5218 Patrick Road Verona, NY 13478 Thursday, 30 April 2009: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Hospitality Suite 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception 5:00 - 5:30 p.m. Introduction to the conference J. Hunter Brown, President, AHI James Bradfield, Charter Fellow AHI 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Keynote Address in honor of Howard W. Morgan Professor F. Scott Kieff Professor of Law, Washington University in St. Louis Title: To be announced. 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Banquet 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. Carl B. Menges Lecture Professor James W. Ely Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Title: To be announced. 9:30 – Hospitality Suite Friday, 1 May 2009: 7:30 – 8: 30 a.m. Continental Breakfast 8:45 – 10:30 a.m. Session I: The meaning of property. The evolution of property rights as a concept and as an institution. 8:45 – 10:00 Panel Discussion 10:00- 10:30 Questions from participating students 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. Break 11:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Session II: Property rights in humans 11:00 – 12:15 Panel Discussion 12:15 - 12:45 Questions from participating students 12:45 – 1:45 p.m. Lunch 1:45 – 4:00 p.m. Free time 4:00 – 5:45 p.m. Session III: The emergence of property rights in developing nations: the particular case of China. 4:00 – 5:15 Panel Discussion 5:15 - 5:45 Questions from participating students 6:45 – 9:00 p.m. Dinner at the headquarters of theAHI in Clinton, NY (Transportation provided) 9:00 – midnight Hospitality Suite Saturday, 2 May 2009: 7:30 – 8: 30 a.m. Continental Breakfast 8:45 – 10:30 a.m. Session IV: Property rights and the incidence of war. 8:45 – 10:00 Panel Discussion 10:00- 10:30 Questions from participating students 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. Break 11:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Session V: Property rights and eminent domain: the conflicts between economic efficiency and justice. 11:00 – 12:15 Panel Discussion 12:15- 12:45 Questions from participating students 12:45 – 1:45 p.m. Lunch 1:45 – 3:00 p.m. Free time 3:00 – 4:45 p.m. Session VI: Kelo vs. New London: An analysis of the majority and minority opinions of the U. S. Supreme Court. 3:00 – 4:15 Panel Discussion 4:15 - 4:45 Questions from participating students 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Dinner at the Turning Stone 7:30 – midnight Hospitality Suite Sunday, 3 May 2009: Breakfast and departure at your convenience. Colloquium Organizer: James Bradfield Department of Economics Hamilton College Clinton, NY, 13323 Telephone: 315 – 859 – 4118 Electronic mail: jbradfie@hamilton.edu

Student Presentation 16 February on Financial Crises

AHIadmin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:29:24 +0000

In August 1832, a deadly outbreak of cholera in Utica, New York, prevented a public commencement at Hamilton College. General Prosper M. Wetmore, a poet of some local repute, defied warnings, entered the region, and delivered moving verse on the nobility of ambition to a packed chapel that included little more than ninety students. The College, according to newspaper reports, was slowly recovering from "serious difficulties"--financial, religious, and political--that had nearly caused its total collapse. The previous year's senior class had fewer than ten students. At about the same time, the Reverend Henry Davis, to the relief of many in the community, resigned his position as president; a year later he would publish a 150-page apology entitled A Narrative of the Embarrassments and Decline of Hamilton College. Hamilton's visible difficulties spurred an ambitious undergraduate named Samuel Eells to found on campus in 1832 a literary society called Alpha Delta Phi. Eells intended the private association to debate the searing issues of the day in a way that would promote both freedom and academic excellence. The AHI since its inception has opened its doors to public presentations by the young gentlemen from the fraternity of which AHI co-founder James Bradfield is a member. On Monday evening, 16 February, at 7:30 pm, Christopher Warren, an undergraduate government major and economics minor at Hamilton College, continues one of the founding traditions of his fraternity by speaking at the AHI on "The United States Government in Financial Crises: A Historical Perspective." Mr. Warren's talk is open to the public. A reception will follow.

Dawson Society Discusses Neuhaus 18 Feburary

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:00:20 +0000

Father Richard John Neuhaus, who died in January of this year at the age of 72 after long battle with cancer, was arguably “the most consequential public theologian in America since the days of Reinhold Niebuhr and John Courtney Murray, S.J.” The Canadian-born Neuhaus was a Lutheran minister who in the 1960s marched with Martin Luther King and in the 1970s emerged as a fervent opponent of legalized abortion. He published in 1983 the enormously influential book The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America. Less than a decade later he converted to Catholicism and was ordained a Catholic priest. In 1990, Father Neuhaus founded First Things, the most important journal on religion and politics in America. Throughout his life, Neuhaus pondered with courage and insight the role of faith in public life. Steadfastly defending the right and duty of people of faith to participate in “the public square,” he also maintained that all citizens, believers and nonbelievers alike, suffered when religious voices were excluded from “the public square.” On Wednesday 18 February at 6:30 PM, the Christopher Dawson Society will meet at the headquarters of the AHI to discuss Father Neuhaus’s legacy. Attendants will read Father Neuhaus's "Can Atheists Be Good Citizens" and a brief obituary, John Hylden's "Richard John Neuhaus: Witness to Truth," that provides some background on Neuhaus's life and work. Gatherings of the Christopher Dawson Society are open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Professor to Speak 19 February on Meaning of Diversity on College Campuses

AHIadmin — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:01:20 +0000

Bonnie Urciuoli, a professor of anthropology at Hamilton College and a specialist in linguistics, has published extensively on how colleges and universities use diversity to market themselves. The images that they convey of their campuses through increasingly elaborate, well-heeled marketing arms often distort as much as they reveal. These projections also raise complex questions about the ownership of property rights in one's person and in his or her creative endeavors. At 7 pm on Thursday evening, 19 February, at the AHI's headquarters, Professor Urciuoli will present on "Skills and Selves in the New Workplace." She describes her talk as an exploration into how " 'diversity' has become conceptualized as an institutional skill." In most colleges and universities as well as in the corporate world, she points out, "diversity is conceptualized as something that an individual can bring to an institution for that institution's benefit. To the extent that it is so conceptualized,diversity is routinely talked and written about as something an individual possesses, something like a skill set, e.g. communication skills, time management skills, social skills, and so on. At the same time, diversity is routinely a way for institutions to talk about racial categories." Professor Urciuoli has derived much of her data from interviews with Hamilton College students, faculty, and administrators. Her presentation is open to the public. A reception will follow.

Medievalist to Speak on Origins of Liberalism 24 February

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:32:37 +0000

Christopher Hill, Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Hamilton College, specializes in the history of medieval Europe. His research focuses on the relations between law and religion in the pre-modern world and in the development of Western political philosophy. On Tuesday evening, 24 February, at 7 pm in the AHI's headquarters, Professor Hill will explore "The Liberal Legacy of the Barbarian West." Protection of the individual as a central aim of governance, he contends, has "roots that stretch deep into the medieval period, before the apparatus of centralizing states had the ability to dominate the populace in any meaningful way. As societies became more complex in the waning years of the Middle Ages, the tenets associated with liberalism declined as the political theory of absolutism gained currency. During the English Civil War and the Enlightenment, when Europeans began discussing political theories that considered popular sovereignty, they were able to do so because of the unusual documents and political traditions that linked their world with an earlier, in some ways more primitive, one." Thus liberalism, according to Professor Hill, is less a triumph of the modern world than an echo of a simpler time when sovereignty did not mean a final arbiter, an absolute power to which persons of a country must adhere. Liberalism, suggests Hill, "might well have disappeared entirely, were it not for the accidents of history that preserved it until a period when its utility was more easily recognized." In preparation for his talk, Professor Hill recommends several documents on medieval liberty. His talk is open to the public. A bountiful reception will follow, and first arrivals will receive priceless gifts.

President of National Association of Scholars to Speak on Academic Freedom

AHIadmin — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:00:22 +0000

"When the AAUP [American Association of University Professors] speaks on academic freedom today," maintains Peter Wood, President of the National Association of Scholars (NAS), "it is in the awkward spot of invoking the authority of documents and traditions that it has, in substance, repudiated." The Edmund Burke Association and the Alexander Hamilton Insititute will sponsor the appearance of Professor Wood on the Hamilton College campus. He will speak on "The Meaning of Academic Freedom," in the Kennedy Auditorium, Science Building, at 4:15 pm on Friday, 27 February. Professor Wood taught anthropology at Boston University before joining the NAS, an organization "working to foster intellectual freedom and to sustain the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America’s colleges and universities. He is the author of Diversity: The Invention of a Concept (Encounter Books, 2004) and A Bee in the Mouth: Anger in America (Encounter Books, 2006). The AHI will host a private dinner for Professor Wood after his presentation.

AHI Fellow Invited to the Vatican

AHIadmin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:21:18 +0000

AHI Fellow Sheila O'Connor-Ambrose has been invited to participate in the first international conference of the World Women's Alliance for Life and Family (WWALF), to be held in Rome, Italy, March 20-21, 2009. WWALF, in association with Cardinal Renato R. Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will bring together women from around the world to discuss the role of women in such issues as justice and peace, education and culture, poverty and marginalization, bioethics and bio-politics with a view toward elaborating innovative proposals rooted in the "New Feminism" invoked in the cyclical letter Evangelium Vitate. The conference, "Life, Family, and Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights," will revisit concerns previously addressed by international conferences on women and population, held in Cairo (1994) and Beijing (1995). Participants will reexamine these concerns through the lens of Christian anthropology and Catholic social doctrine. Dr. O'Connor-Ambrose studied in Rome for two undergraduate semesters and received her doctorate in women's studies from Emory University. The AHI congratulates Sheila on receiving this distinguished honor.

National Association of Scholars Praises 'Dexter'

AHIadmin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:30:57 +0000

Dexter, an independent student newspaper at Hamilton College, received praise from Peter Wood, President of the National Association Scholars, in Sunday Blog of the NAS website. Professor Wood spoke at Hamilton College Friday, 27 February, on the meaning of academic freedom. He returned from the campus with various publications in hand and contrasted the seriousness of Dexter's reporting with the vulgarity, feeble "exhibitionism," and blandness of the official campus newspaper. Dexter has received praise from the AHI for its attempts to hold students, faculty, administrators, and trustees accountable for their actions and policies. We congratulate editors Liz Farrington and Tim Minella on receiving this recognition and look forward to their next issue.

AHI Director Receives Jeanne Kirkpatrick Award

AHIadmin — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:20:17 +0000

On 26 February Stephen Balch, Chairman, National Association of Scholars and a member of the AHI's board of directors, received the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Academic Freedom Award, sponsored by the Bradley Foundation. Dr. Balch received this distinguished award in Washington D. C. at the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The award "recognizes the promotion and defense of academic freedom and individual liberties at institutions of higher learning" in the United States. In his acceptance speech Dr. Balch made several telling points about academic freedom. It is a "profound mistake," he stressed, to consider academic freedom as some kind of private property owned exclusively by members of the academy. "Academic freedom belongs to the people of America, who, through a variety of corporate bodies . . . bestow it upon university and college faculties." Thus, the argument that, say, the Ward Churchill or Susan Rosenberg affairs at Hamilton College should have remained subjects of in-house debate, outside of public purview, for Hamilton College stakeholders only, cannot stand serious intellectual scrutiny. Academic freedom, as the great University of Chicago sociologist Edward Shils reminds us, grew out of a public recognition that scholars should be protected seekers of the truth. Academic freedom represents a qualified right on campus for genuine scholars, not a license for activists to use there lectern as a pulpit. Academic freedom, Shils maintained, "postulates the possibility of arriving at truthful statements and of discriminating among statements as to their truthfulness in the light of evidence which is available to assess them." Put another way, academic freedom does not protect an economist teaching as gospel the labor theory of value or an ethnic studies professor's fabricating of evidence to preach a pet theory about the alleged genocide of Indians at the hands of white settlers. The founders and friends of the AHI heartily congratulate Steve on adding yet another impressive pelt to his collection.

Economics Student Speaks on Democratization in China

AHIadmin — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:55:08 +0000

Garvin S. Kiernan, a junior economics major and brother of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, spoke at the AHI's headquarters on Wednesday evening, 11 March, at the invitation of AHI co-founder James Bradfield. Mr. Kiernan, a student of both economics and Chinese at Hamilton College, presented on "Democratization in China." Mr. Kiernan explored in light of recent events in China Francis Fukayama's Hegelian argument in The End of History and the Last Man (Free Press, 1992) that Mankind is progressing on course to the advancement of liberal, capitalist democracy around the globe. Mr. Kiernan discussed the Chinese Communist Party's experiments with intraparty democracy and changes in the legal system that have advanced property rights. He argued that communist ideology in China is indeed becoming ever more "marginalized." Reforms that were once a means to enhance legitimacy and stability, he predicted, will eventually be the party's undoing. To the Western world, he counsels patience for the arrival of liberalism. Democracy will come to China, although perhaps not in the form that those in the United States will readily recognize. Mr. Kiernan's presentation was open to the public and was preceded by a dinner in his honor.

AHI Fellow Brings Newt Gingrich to Colgate

AHIadmin — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:21:54 +0000

Robert Kraynak, Professor of Political Science at Colgate University, Department Chairman, Director of The Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, and an AHI Senior Fellow, will host the appearance of Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich at Colgate University. Mr. Gingrich will speak on "President Obama and the Future of American Freedom." The event, co-sponsored by Colgate's College Republicans,will take place Thursday evening, 26 March, 7:30 pm, at the Colgate Memorial Chapel. The event is open to the public.

AHI Fellow Cheek Debates Ravoke on the Anti-Federalists

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:05:37 +0000

Were the Anti-Federalists Right to oppose the ratification of the United States Constitution? Has the unarrested growth of federal power justified their worst fears and endangered civil liberty? H. Lee Cheek, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Brewton-Parker College and an AHI Senior Fellow, and Jack Rakove, William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University, will debate these and other questions on 1 April, at 7 pm, in room 250 of the Humanities Building, University of Colorado, Boulder. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, an educational non-profit organization devoted to furthering " a better understanding of the values and institutions that sustain a free and humane society" will sponsor the deabte in conjunction with the university's Center for Western Civilization.

Richard Erlanger Joins AHI Board of Directors

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:59:25 +0000

The AHI's Board of Directors approved at its February meeting the elevation of Richard A. Erlanger of New Canaan, Connecticut, to a seat on the board. Mr. Erlanger, a 1963 graduate of Hamilton College, has spent his entire career advising, managing, and investing in venture and private equity portfolio companies as an individual and as a member of investment groups. He has also taken full-time operating positions in troubled companies where his investment was at risk and hired successors once the operations were stabilized. His early career included stints at Arthur D. Little, Inc. and McKinsey & Company as well as GE Finance. Recent private equity and venture investments include LivHome (Home Health Care), Cape Cod Potato Chips, and Yofarm Yogurt. He was graduated from the Taft School (1959), Hamilton College (1963) and Columbia University Graduate School of Business (1969) with an MBA in Operations Research and Finance. During the Vietnam War Mr. Erlanger served as Engineering Officer on a destroyer in the Tonkin Gulf. He has been an active participant in the AHI since its inception. "Dick Erlanger has proven to be a tower of strength in the founding and development of the AHI," observed AHI co-founder Robert Paquette. "His business acumen, energy, counsel, and good cheer have proven to be invaluable assets in advancing the AHI to its stated goal of becoming an enduring scholarly edifice of the first rank. My co-founders and I could not be more pleased with this appointment."

AHI Fellow Publishes on Socrates

AHIadmin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:53:21 +0000

AHI Senior Fellow Mary Nichols chairs the department of political science at Baylor University. She has recently published with Cambridge University Press Socrates on Friendship and Community: Reflections on Plato's Symposium, Phaedras, and Lysis. The book addresses Kierkegaard's and Nietzsche's criticism of Socrates and recovers the place friendship and community in Socratic philosophizing. Professor Nichol's approach stands in contrast to the modern philosophical tradition, in which Plato's Socrates has been viewed as an alienating influence on Western thought and life. Nichols' rich analysis of both dramatic details and philosophic themes in Plato's Symposium, Phaedrus, and Lysis shows how love finds its fulfillment in the reciprocal relation of friends. Nichols also shows how friends experience another as their own, and themselves as belonging to another. Their experience, she argues, both sheds light on the nature of philosophy and serves as a standard for a political life that does justice to human freedom and community. Professor Nichols is the author of numerous books and articles on the history of political thought and in politics, literature, and film. Her main areas of research are classical political theory (see, for example, Citizens and Statesmen: A Commentary on Aristotle's "Politics"), Shakespeare, and film directors such as Woody Allen, John Ford, and Alfred Hitchcock. The AHI congratulates Professor Nichols on her significant contribution to Western political thought.

Philosopher to Speak on David Hume and the American Revolution 1 April

AHIadmin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:26:00 +0000

David Hume ranks as one of the pivotal figures in modern Western political philosphy. His paradigm-breaking Treatise of Human Nature(1739-40) challenged accepted theories of natural law and understandings of reason and exerted a profound influence on the development of social theory, ethics, and politics. Donald Livingston, Professor of Philosophy at Emory University, is one of the world's foremost experts on Hume and sits on the editorial board ofHume Studies. His books include Hume's Philosophy of Common Life(Chicago, 1984) and Philosophical Melancholy and Delirium: Hume's Pathology of Philosphy (Chicago, 1998). On 1 April at 4:15 in the Hamilton College Science Auditorium, Professor Livingston will speak on David Hume's position on the American Revolution: "Why Did David Hume Support American Secession?" The AHI's headquarters will hold a reception and private dinner in Professor Livingston's honor after the lecture.

George Nash to Speak at AHI and Hamilton College 9 April

AHIadmin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:44:54 +0000

George H. Nash, Senior Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in Mecosta, Michigan, will deliver two lectures sponsored by the AHI on 9 April. Dr. Nash was graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College (1967) and received a Ph. D. in history from Harvard (1973). An authority on Herbert Hoover, he published The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America since 1945 (Basic Books, 1976), widely regarded as one of the foundational texts on the history of modern conservatism in the United States. History 211, a survey course in American history, co-taught at Hamilton College by Professors Maurice Isserman and Robert Paquette. will host Dr. Nash as guest lecturer on 9 April at 1 pm in room 104 Benedict Hall. He will speak on Friedrich Hayek and the impact of World War II on the origins of the modern conservative movement. Dr. Nash will deliver a public lecture, "The Future of Conservatism," in the evening at 7:30 pm at the AHI's headquarters, 21 West Park Row in Clinton. A reception will follow.

Dr. Walter Brumm Wins Inaugural Bakwin Fellowship

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:25:49 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has awarded Dr. Walter Brumm, an independent scholar, the inaugural E. M. (Peter) Bakwin Fellowhip. Dr. Brumm received his Ph. D. in sociology in 1970 from the Ohio State University. He has published extensively on Shaker communities. The Bakwin Fellowhip will allow Dr. Brumm to research holdings in various regional repositories, making as his base of operations the Hamilton College Archives, which has extensive holdings on utopian societies. Dr. Brumm's research focuses on the expansion and disappearance of Shaker communities in upstate New York and how they adapted-- and failed to adapt-- to changing social conditions. He will explore in particular the interaction between religious values and economic change. The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Recipients of the award reside, free of charge, for one summer month (June or July) in the Jane Fraser Room of the AHI’s headquarters, a historic mansion located in 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. The fellowship honors E. M. (Peter) Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961). He served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. Mr. Bakwin has had a long-standing interest in the history, literature, and art of Western culture. His generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions.

President of Shimer College to Speak on the Founding 29 April

AHIadmin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:16:00 +0000

Thomas K. Lindsay, President of Shimer College, "The Great Books College of Chicago," will speak on "Teaching the Principles of the Founding," at 7:30 pm, Wednesday, 29 April, at the headquarters of the AHI. Dr. Lindsay received his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago. He served as Dean of the Graduate School and Director of the Institute of Philosophical Studies as well as Provost at the University of Dallas before being appointed Deputy Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has published extensively on political philosophy and in 1999 won the Pi Sigma Alpha/American Political Science Association Award for outstanding teaching. In the afternoon of the 29th, the AHI will sponsor Dr. Lindsay's appearance at Hamilton College where he will discuss grantsmanship with faculty and administrative officials. Dr. Lindsay's lecture will be preceded by a private dinner at the AHI. His lecture, co-sponsored by the Edmund Burke Association of the Hamilton College Republican Club, is open to the public.

Publius Meeting 3 May at 3 PM

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:44:49 +0000

The Publius Society, a politically diverse student organization dedicated to the study of the political thought of the founding fathers, the framing of the Constitution, and their relevance to contemporary issues, cordially invites students, faculty, and the public to a discussion about "Liberalism and Conservatism in the Era of Obama" at 3 PM, Sunday, May 3 at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. In preparation for the discussion, interested parties should read the following articles: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=practical_liberalism_redux http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/17/081117fa_fact_packer http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=1210 http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/38230109.html Publius meetings are open to the public; refreshments will be served.

AHI Fellow Kraynak Guest of Hamilton College Republicans

AHIadmin — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:49:54 +0000

On 28 April 2009, the Hamilton College Republican Club hosted AHI Senior Fellow Robert Kraynak of Colgate University. Professor Kraynak received his Ph. D. from Harvard University, teaches in the political science department at Colgate University, directs its Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, and advises Colgate's College Republicans. He has published extensively on both religious and political thought. The AHI prefaced Professor Kraynak's talk by hosting a dinner that included the College Republicans and members of the Hamilton College faculty. Conversation turned to such issues as differences in the political climate on the Hamilton College and Colgate University campuses, the creation of a ROTC program at Hamilton College, gay marriage, and the presidential prospects of Newt Gingrichin 2012. Professor Kraynak's Western Civilization program had recently sponsored the appearance of Mr. Gingrich at Colgate University. After dinner, Professor Kraynak delivered a lecture at Hamilton College entitled “The Future of the Republican Party and the Conservative Movement.” His lecture focused on the presidency of George W. Bush, theimpact of the Obama administration on national politics, the pros and cons of the conservative entertainment movement, and the flaws in the McCain 2008 presidential campaign. He ended his lectureby discussing themultiple strands of contemporary conservatism.He offered the members of the audience “the homework for the next fifty years [of their lives].” Young conservatives, he argued,should arm themselves for the war of ideas by reading great works by the leaders of the American Right: Russell Kirk, Harvey Manfield, Samuel Huntington, for example. The AHI applauds the work of the Hamilton College Republican Club against the odds in attempting to bring intellectual diversity to Hamilton College.

Announcements at Second AHI Colloquium

AHIadmin — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:23:50 +0000

1.The AHI announced publicly a partnership with Encounter Books, a leading publisher of non-fiction books devoted “to strengthening the marketplace of ideas and engaging in educational activities to help preserve democratic culture.” The AHI will soon open an Encounter Book bookstore within its headquarters, and Encounter Books and the AHI will co-sponsor book-signings and lectures from Encounter’s leading authors. Roger Kimball, editor and publisher of The New Criterion, the leading journal of arts and culture in the English-speaking world, is the publisher of Encounter Books. Best-selling authors include Thomas Sowell, Victor Davis Hanson, and John Fund. The partnership is being funded by a grant from VERITAS, a fund for educational reform created by the Manhattan Institute. The AHI/Encounter bookstore will be housed in a room named after the Robert S. Ludwig Family. Mr. Ludwig, Hamilton College class of 1972, has supported the AHI from its inception, and his unrestricted gift in 2008 permitted major renovations to our headquarters. 2. In April, the Armstrong Foundation awarded a $5000 grant to the AHI. The Armstrong Foundation supports organizations that seriously explore in their educational programming “the free enterprise system, the benefits of limited government, and the basic principles of American ideals espoused by the founding fathers.” The $5000 award, which will support programming, was the maximum allowable for a first-time applicant to the foundation. 3. On 1 April, Dr. Walter Brumm received the AHI’s inaugural E. M. (Peter) Bakwin Fellowship, a competitive award that provides a stipend of $1600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Recipients of the award reside, free of charge, for one summer month (June or July) in the AHI’s headquarters. 4. On July 6-7, the AHI, in partnership with Baylor University and Notre Dame University, will hold a conference that will compare the politics of Shakespeare and of Machiavelli. Mary and David Nichols, AHI Senior Fellows and professors in the Department of Political Science at Baylor are organizing the conference, which will be open to the public. The conference will feature the participation of graduate students from several major universities and observers will include Hamilton College undergraduates. Summer seminars and conferences of this type will be a regular feature of AHI programming. 5. On 17 September 2009, the AHI will be celebrating its second anniversary. Professor Paul Finkelman, President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy at Albany Law School, will deliver at the Hamilton College chapel the second annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. The lecture is named for David Aldrich Nelson, valedictorian of his Hamilton class, 1954, who served as a distinguished federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals on the Sixth Circuit. Professor Finkelman is widely regarded as perhaps this country’s foremost authority on the legal history of slavery in the United States. His lecture on the principles of the founding will be open to the public. 6. In April 2010, the AHI will be holding at the Turning Stone Resort the third annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium. The colloquium, named after the Hamilton alumnus who became a driving force in the AHI’s creation, will center in 2010 on the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. 7. The AHI honors the “Rochester Group,” headed by Harlan Calkins, Hamilton Class of 1954 and CEO of Rochester Midland Corporation, for their generous support to the AHI. Members include Mary Lou and Jerry Huff, the James Ryan family, Jan Mahood, Kraig Kayser, Drew Costanza, Fritz and Maura Minges, and Sam Reeder.

AHI Adviser Paul Rahe Speaks at Heritage on Tocqueville

AHIadmin — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:16:49 +0000

Paul Rahe, The Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the Western Heritage at Hillsdale College and an AHI academic adviser, published in 1994 a monumental multivolume work on Republics: Ancient and Modern. His Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and the Modern Prospect (2009) sounds a timely warning about the perils of state centralization. "We may still take pride in being a self-governing people," Rahe contends, "but to an ever-increasing degree that pretense is unsustainable." In a work of remarkable erudition, Professor Rahe recalls Alexis de Tocqueville's warnings about the potential for democracy's drift to "soft despotism." The Heritage Foundation invited Professor Rahe to speak about his most recent book, which also received close attention from Pulitzer-prize winning columnist George Will in a Sunday column in the Washington Post. The AHI congratulates Professor Rahe on his achievements and looks forward to his appearance in the near future at our headquarters to discuss his latest book.

AHI Open House June 5-6; Panel Discussion, 6 June at 4 PM

AHIadmin — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:32:51 +0000

The AHI will hold an open house for Hamilton alumni and their families on June 5-6, 9 am to 5 pm. Visitors will have a chance to see the Encounter Book Bookshelf, an on-site bookstore formed as a result of a partnership between Encounter Books and the AHI, before the grand opening. Professors Douglas Ambrose, James Bradfield, Ted Eismeier, and Robert Paquette will hold a panel, "The Real Story of the AHI: Who We Are, What We're Doing, and Why It's Important," on Saturday, June 6, at 4 pm. Alums are invited to ask questions. The panel will be preceded by tours of the AHI headquarters, beginning at 2 pm. A bountiful reception will follow the panel discussion.

AHI to Hold First Annual Summer Seminar

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:09:57 +0000

The AHI will hold hold its first annual summer seminar, “Machiavelli and Shakespeare: Alternative Visions of Modern Politics, ” July 6-7, at the AHI’s headquarters, 21 West Park Row in Clinton, New York. The conference is being held in partnership with Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Mary and David Nichols, AHI Senior Fellows and professors in the Department of Political Science at Baylor. have organized the seminar and will serve as discussion leaders. The seminar will also feature 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 conference will include the participation of more than a dozen graduate students from Baylor University and Notre Dame University. A select group of Hamilton College undergraduates will also be participating. Reserved seating is available to interested members of the public. A schedule and reading list for the five conference sessions and a list of participants may be obtained here. For more information contact Professor Robert Paquette at Bob@theahi.org.

Ambrose Attends Liberty Fund Colloquium on Alexander Hamilton

AHIadmin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:15:49 +0000

Liberty Fund, an educational non-profit organization dedicated to "the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals," furthers its mission each year by holding dozens of colloquia in the United States and abroad. Invited participants typically include persons of diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise who engage over several days in intense, serious conversation centered on a prescribed set of readings issued well in advance of the gathering. To be invited to a Liberty Fund colloquium is to enjoy an intellectual feast; repeated invitations to Liberty Fund events confer a distinct honor on the invitee. AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose participated in a Liberty Fundcolloquium, "Alexander Hamilton on Executive Power as the Guarantee of Liberty," held in Indianapolis, June 11-14. Professor Ambrose joined a group of fifteen panelists who included historians, political scientists, judges, and lay persons. They examined writings by Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke on the relation of executive power to liberty. Topics discussed included "The Theoretical Foundations of Executive Power," "Executive Power and the Constitution," and "The Administration of Executive Power." Professor Ambrose reports that the colloquium was "a stimulating intellectual experience, marked by intense but civil debate and warm collegiality." The AHI congratulates Professor Ambrose on receiving the invitation.

AHI Appoints Richard A. Erlanger as President

AHIadmin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:36:48 +0000

Richard A. Erlanger, H ‘63, has been appointed President of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization effective June 30, 2009. Mr. Erlanger, an early-stage supporter of the AHI, formerly served as Vice President and is currently a Director of the AHI. “When it became clear that the AHI would be off campus, I indicated to the Fellows and other supporters that I would continue my efforts and establish the AHI as an independent entity. That work is now done,” commented J. Hunter Brown, founding President and Director. The recent execution by the AHI of a renewable, long-term lease of its headquarters with an option to buy is a significant milestone. “It’s a pleasure to see Dick assume the Presidency. With his leadership and the support of the Fellows and alumni, the Institute will continue to grow as an irreplaceable producer of high quality scholarship and unparalleled intellectual experience.” "The AHI is off to a great start and stands on a solid foundation,” commented Mr. Erlanger, “I look forward to helping build its future.”

AHI Concludes Summer Seminar on Machiavelli and Shakespeare

AHIadmin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:56:17 +0000

On 7 July, the AHI concluded its first annual summer seminar. To judge by the comments of students, faculty, and observers--some of whom traveled hundreds of miles from as far away as Canada to participate--the two-day event proved intellectually stimulating and rewarding. The AHI would like to thank Mary and David Nichols of Baylor University for assuming a lead role in organizing the event. They and Michael and Catherine Zuckert from Notre Dame University led the attendants during five sessions in searching discussion of fundamental questions about the human condition and of the challenges posed by the quite different responses to these questions in Machiavelli's and Shakespeare's writings. One of the graduate student attendants thanked the AHI for providing an opportunity to explore understudied issues in political theory and republicanism. "As a young scholar with a serious intellectual interest in the traditional ways of studying the Western civilization and the Western intellectual tradition," he added, "it is indeed encouraging to see that there are places like the AHI where such endeavors are taken so seriously." Said one informed layperson who traveled to the seminar from Batavia, New York: "It was an honor to be in the audience and listen to the analysis and interpretations of the professors and graduate students . . . .This seminar provided many opportunities for introspection and laughter as we enjoyed reviewing the different human qualities and flaws and motivations of the authors and their literary characters in relation to each other and their duties. . . . These professors evoked in me a desire to return to college." Impressed by the quality of the conversation from the attending graduate students from Notre Dame and Baylor, AHI co-founders Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette noted that the graduate programs in political science at both universities set an admirably high standard that would be a challenge for the best undergraduates at elite institutions like Hamilton College who might be thinking of attaining an advanced degree in the field.

AHI Adviser Eugene Genovese Honored at Georgia Colloquium

AHIadmin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:18:31 +0000

Eugene D. Genovese, an AHI adviser and one of the most influential historians of his generation, was honored on Thursday evening, 20 August, at the T. R. R. Cobb House in Athens, Georgia. After introductory remarks by Tad Brown, President of the Watson-Brown Foundation, AHI co-founder Robert Paquette, one of Professor Genovese's former students, delivered the keynote address "Honoring the Master." Thursday night's festivities preceded a two-day colloquium, "Liberty and Slavery: The Challenge of T. R. R. Cobb, attended by fifteen scholars, including Douglas Ambrose, another one of Genovese's former students, who also spoke on Thursday evening. In six sessions over the next two days, participants explored the history and law of slavery as understood by T. R. R. Cobb, the chief architect of the Confederate Constitution, in his magnum opus An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America (1858). Topics included slavery, ancient and modern; abolition and emancipation; the law of nature, the will of God, and race; persons and property; the meaning of freedom in the Constitution, fugitive slaves and the law of comity; slavery and the defense of southern nationalism Cobb had remained a Unionist until well into the 1850s. In this volume, he prefaced an exposition of the treatment of slaves as persons under the law with one of the first attempts in the nineteenth century to write a history of slavery from a global perspective. Besides Paquette, Ambrose, and Genovese, conferees included Al Brophy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Marshall DeRosa, Florida Atlantic University; John Devanny, St. Joseph's Catholic School, Easley, SC; Henry (Hank) Edmondson III, Georgia State University; Paul Finkelman, Albany Law School; Paul Hoffer, University of Georgia; Daniel Littlefield, University of South Carolina; Bernard Powers, College of Charleston; Barry Shain, Colgate University; John Stauffer, Harvard University; Adam Tate, Clayton College; Jenny Wahl, Carleton College; and Clyde Wilson, University of South Carolina,

Paul Finkelman to Deliver Second David Aldrich Nelson Lecture

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:44:28 +0000

Dawson Society Meeting on Muggeridge, 16 September

AHIadmin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:49:55 +0000

Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990) had a long and distinguished career in Britain as a writer and journalist. At the age of 65 he became a Christian. His conversion shocked many. He devoted most of his remaining years to writing and talking about faith, becoming, in the words of Archbishop Marcus Loane, “the most significant [Christian] layman since C. S. Lewis.” At the time of his conversion, Muggeridge was one of the most widely known personalities in Britain, a controversial journalist, author, and television personality. As a socialist working in Moscow for the Manchester Guardian, Muggeridge gathered information for Winter in Moscow (1933), a devastating first-hand account of Soviet communism. He went on to become in the 1950s the editor of Punch, the legendary British humor magazine. His brilliant, satirical wit, formidable intellect, and humor endeared him to both literary and television audiences in the 1960s. Muggeridge announced on the BBC his conversion and followed it withJesus Rediscovered, a classic collection of essays. In them he summed up what had been, in effect, a pilgrimage that ended in Christ: "Many people have asked me how it was that I came ultimately to be convinced that Christ was the answer. It was because in this world of fantasy in which my own occupation has particularly involved me, I have found in Christ the only true alternative. The shadow in the cave is like the media world of shadows. In contradistinction, Christ shows what life really is, and what our true destiny is. We escape from the cave. We emerge from the darkness and instead of shadows we have all around us the glory of God’s creation. Instead of darkness we have light; instead of despair, hope; instead of time and clocks ticking inexorably on, eternity, which never began and never ends and yet is sublimely now." In 1978, William F. Buckley interviewed Muggeridge on Firing Line, Buckley’s magnificent television series on which Muggeridge appeared several times. In this 1978 interview, “How Does One Find Faith,” Muggeridge talks about his own journey into the mystery and joy of faith. The interview proved so popular that it was broadcast annually as Firing Line’s Christmas episode. The Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason invites the public to a viewing of Muggeridge’s “How Does One Find Faith”Firing Line interview. Conversation and refreshments will follow. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, 16 September at 6:30 at the Red Pit (room 127) in the Kirner Johnson building on the Hamilton College campus.

Second Annual Menges Awards Announced

AHIadmin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:46:58 +0000

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="273" caption="Carl B. Menges (upper left) chats with students and other guests who attended the Constitution Day award ceremony at the AHI"][/caption] On 17 September, Constitution Day, the AHI celebrated its second birthday by holding the Second Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. During the dinner that preceded the lecture, the AHI's founders awarded three students with prizes for scholarly excellence. The students attended the AHI's second annual colloquium and produced outstanding papers that explored the nature of property rights and their connections to liberty. The AHI is pleased to announce that Justin Villa of the University of Rochester and Timothy Minella of Hamilton College received first prizes--a one year's subscription to the Wall Street Journal--for their papers on property rights. Max Brindle from Hamilton College received honorable mention and was awarded an inscribed copy of Carla Main's Bulldozed(Encounter Books, 2007), a riveting account of the abuse of the power of eminent domain in the city of Freeport, Texas. Carl B. Menges, a graduate of Hamilton College and the Harvard Business School, established these awards in 2007 to recognize student achievement at the innovative colloquium that the AHI holds each year. The third annual colloquium will be held at the Turning Stone Resort April 15-18 2010 and will be devoted to an exploration of the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Robert George, founder of the Madison Program at Princeton University, will keynote the event.

Is Federalism Dead? Publius Discussion Sunday, 3 October

AHIadmin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:27:32 +0000

The accretion of power in the United States by the federal government stands as one of the most important political developments of the last century. Advocates of state sovereignty have mounted resistance to this trend recently, introducing resolutions that assert the powers of states under the ninth and tenth amendments. The New York Times chimed in as recently as 28 September that some state legislatures are currently considering constitutional amendments that would block Congress from mandating that their citizens have health insurance. Is the state sovereignty movement the wave of the future or a futile last gasp? Is Federalism dead? If so, why should we care? On Sunday, 3 October at 7 PM at the AHI, the Publius Society will sponsor an hour-long discussion of these issues. It will draw on these prescribed readings: 1. Randy E. Barnett, Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University, "Is Federalism Dead?" 2. The 2009 Bill of Federalism 3. Jay S. Bybee, "The Tenth Amendment among the Shadows: On Reading the Constitution in Plato's Cave" As always, meetings of the Publius Society are open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

Dawson Society to Discuss Conversion of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese

AHIadmin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:14:42 +0000

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, a prize-winning historian, prominent public intellectual, and prolific scholar, died in 2007 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. Her writings spanned the disciplines of history, literary criticism, and women's studies. She founded at Emory University this country's first Ph.D. program in Women's Studies. In 2004, she received the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush. Betsey, as she was affectionately called by her students, began her academic career as a Marxist and feminist. In 1995, she converted to Catholicism. "For secular academics," she observed, "the language and practice of faith belong to an alien world. Not understanding faith, they are ill prepared to understand conversion to it. Having long participated in the reigning discourse of secular intellectuals, I understand all too well where they are coming from, and I readily acknowledge that indeed 'there but for the grace of God go I.' More important, however, my long apprenticeship in their world allows me to reflect upon their unreflective assumptions, for those assumptions cut a broad swath through our culture as a whole, challenging faith at every turn. So firm is their hold upon our culture that they are imperceptibly permeating the fabric of faith itself, constantly challenging the faithful to justify and rejustify our beliefs." Please join the Christopher Dawson Society on Wednesday, 7 October at 6:30 PM at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for an informal conversation about the role of faith in Fox-Genovese's intellectual journey and the challenges facing the faithful in the secular academy. A copy of Fox-Genovese's conversion story is available here. Meetings of the Christopher Dawson Society are open to the public; refreshments will be served.

Author of The Dumbest Generation at AHI

AHIadmin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:09:55 +0000

Mark Bauerlein, Professor of English at Emory University, will deliver a public lecture “Smart Kids in a Stupid Culture: History, Politics, Literature vs. Twitter, Facebook, iPhone" at 7:30 in Room GO27, Kennedy Auditorium, Science Center, at Hamilton College. A reception and book-signing at the AHI will precede the lecture at 4:30 pm. Professor Bauerlein is the author most recently of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future(Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30) (Tarcher, 2009) and Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906 (Encounter 2002).

AHI to Host Leadership Luncheon with James Piereson, 27 October

AHIadmin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:45:49 +0000

On 27 October, the AHI will host at its headquarters a Leadership Luncheon that features James Piereson, Senior Fellow and Director of Manhattan Institute's Center for the American University and president of the William E. Simon Foundation. Dr. Piereson is the author of Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism(Encounter 2007) and The Pursuit of Liberty: Can the Institutions that Made America Great Serve as a Model for the World? (Encounter 2009). Fifteen invited undergraduates from Hamilton College will converse over lunch with Dr. Piereson on two prescribed readings: Piereson's review of Samuel Tanenhaus's Is Conservatism Dead? and Mark Lilla's "Taking the Right Seriously," a recently published essay in The Chronicle of Higher Education by a non-conservative who wonders why so few self-identified right-of-center intellectuals exist on today's college campuses. This event will kick-off a series of luncheons in which the AHI will invite select students from area colleges and universities to meet and converse with distinguished guests.

Meet William Murchison at the AHI, Friday, 23 October

AHIadmin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:05:43 +0000

The Christopher Dawson Society will host an appearance at the AHI of William Murchison, author of Mortal Follies: Episcopalians and the Crisis of Mainline Christianity (Encounter, 2009). Mr. Murchison has worked as a professional journalist since 1964. His columns in the Dallas Morning News became nationally syndicated in 1981. He is currently Radford Visiting Professor of Journalism at Baylor University. Mortal Follies tells "the story of the Episcopal Church’s mad dash to catch up with a secular culture fond of self-expression and blissfully relaxed as to norms and truths. An Episcopal layman, William Murchison details how leaders of his church, starting in the late 1960s, looked over the culture of liberation, liked what they saw, and went skipping along with the shifting cultural mood—especially when the culture demanded that the church account for its sins of “heterosexism' and 'racism.' Episcopalians have blended so deeply into the cultural woodwork that it’s hard sometimes to remember that it all began as a divine calling to the normative and the eternal." Mr. Murchison's presentation will occur at the AHI on Friday, 23 October at 7 pm and is open to the public. A reception and book-signing will precede his talk, beginning at 5 pm.

Publius Meeting on John Yoo and the Constitution, Sunday, 25 October

AHIadmin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:32:40 +0000

The administration of President George W. Bush argued that the Constitution gives presidents broad authority and discretion, especially in matters of national security. Critics dispute this interpretation and worry about an imperial presidency. On Sunday, October 25 from 7-8 PM at the Alexander Hamilton Institute, the Publius Society will sponsor a discussion of these issues, focusing on John Yoo and his critics. Yoo, Professor of Law at Berkeley, developed and defended President Bush's broad warrants of authority. Liz Farrington '09, President of the Hamilton College Republicans and Undergraduate Fellow of AHI, and Will Leubsdorf, President of Hamilton College Democrats and Undergraduate Fellow of AHI, will frame the issues for a lively discussion of the following materials: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124770304290648701.html http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/960315in.html http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060501/holmes We will also consider to what extent the policies of the Obama presidency represent change or continuity: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/us/politics/04bar.html?_r=3 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/us/politics/09signing.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper Publius gatherings are open to the public. Refreshments will be served. To see who else is attending, go to John Yoo's Constitution event on Facebook. The Publius Society and the Alexander Hamilton Institute have Facebook groups.

Panel Discussion: 'Liberal Arts Education in the 21st Century,' Monday, 26 October

AHIadmin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:59:40 +0000

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'Hamilton's Curriculum: Then and Now' - Monday, 2 November

AHIadmin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:08:00 +0000

A Failure of Capitalism? AHI Hosts Panel Discussion, 1 PM, 31 October, at AHI

AHIadmin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:29:48 +0000

Economist Michael Rizzo Joins AHI Fellows

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:45:13 +0000

Professor Michael Rizzo, an economist at the University of Rochester, has joined the AHI as a senior fellow. A 1996 graduate, magna cum laude, of Amherst College, Professor Rizzo received his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University. "Professor Rizzo brings a wealth of learning, enthusiasm, and energy to the AHI," observed Robert Paquette, co-founder of the AHI. "He made notable contributions to our colloquium on property rights, and his stimulating economic blog "The Unbroken Window," comports with one of the AHI's central goals: to elevate civic literacy. Each of three co-founders of the AHI has a University of Rochester connection, and we look forward to working with Professor Rizzo on programmatic endeavors that will advance his interests and the mission of the AHI."

Ambrose Invited to NEH Initiative

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:28 +0000

On 30 October, AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose participated in an NEH-sponsored faculty development initiative at CUNY's Hostos Community College in the South Bronx. The initiative's "goal is to promote the study of the humanities through workshops and seminars centered on the theme of 'conflict and dialogue.'” Professor Ambrose spoke on "The Past is Another Country: Reflections on History and the Humanities." One of the main objectives of historical inquiry, he told attendants, was to enable students to develop "historical sympathy" with the subjects they study. Doing so requires students to enter the worldviews of people with fundamentally different understandings and assumptions about everything from human nature, social and familial relations, the nature of the "good," and the ends of human striving. Practicing historical sympathy enriches students by helping them to recognize their own assumptions and beliefs as, in some ways, historically conditioned. It thus broadens their understanding of what it means, and has meant, to be human. It also allows students to recognize those aspects of the human condition that are not historically specific or conditioned, that there are fundamental questions of human existence that all people and societies must ask and, explicitly or implicitly, answer. We gain through historical study an appreciation for both the differences and the commonalities that mark the human experience across time and space. Professor Ambrose also conducted a workshop in which he and more than a dozen participants examined a text that would help them understand how historians practice their craft. He focused on James Henley Thornwell's sermon The Rights and Duties of Masters (Charleston, 1850), which Thornwell delivered at the 1850 dedication of Charleston's Zion church. Thornwell (1812-1862), born and raised in South Carolina, a Presbyterian minister, and one of the most influential antebellum theologians, published widely on theological matters, although he is best known to historians for his writings in defense of slavery. The subtitle of The Rights and Duties of Masters clearly establishes the sermon's context: A Sermon Preached at the Dedication of a Church Erected in Charleston, S.C. for the Benefit and Instruction of the Colored Population. According to Professor Ambrose, a lively discussion on Thornwell, proslavery thought, the clash of civilizations, and the limits of "dialogue" during certain historical--and contemporary--conflicts ensued.

Dawson Society Examines 'Challenge of Secularism,' 11 November

AHIadmin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:28:24 +0000

In his 1956 essay “The Challenge of Secularism,” the English historian Christopher Dawson notes how the “consciously anti-religious ideology” of Communist education—an education that effectively works to eradicate religious faith from the entire populace—“is only completing the work that the liberal state began.” For, as Dawson continues, “already in the nineteenth century the secularization of education and the exclusion of positive Christian teaching from the school formed an essential part of the program of almost all the progressive, liberal and socialist parties everywhere.” Dawson, a Catholic with a grounded faith in the veracity of Christianity, believed that Christians must counter such claims with a response that demonstrates the truth of their faith in age of growing skepticism and disbelief. Himself an academic who held the Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University, Dawson believed in the essential role of the academy in countering this wave of secularization. Indeed, as Dawson writes, “today the intellectual factor has become more vital than it ever was in the past.” On Wednesday evening, 11 November, at 7:30 pm , the Christopher Dawson Society, a student group that explores the relation between religious belief and intellectual inquiry within the Western intellectual tradition, will explore at "The Challenge of Secularism." The meeting, at the Alexander Hamilton Institute, is open to the public, and refreshments will be served. Those who intend to participate should read Dawson's "The Challenge of Secularism" and another article by Dawson, Os Guinness, or someone similar that you believe complements Dawson's article, available here andhere.

AHI Hosts Leadership Luncheon on 'Sustainability' with University of Rochester Economist

AHIadmin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:26:36 +0000

On Wednesday, 2 December at 11:45 am, the Alexander Hamilton Institute will host a Leadership Luncheon featuring Professor Michael Rizzo, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester. Professor Rizzo will converse with the AHI's undergraduate fellows on the various meanings and implications of "sustainability."

Second Bakwin Fellowship Announced

AHIadmin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:07:34 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the opening of competition for the second annual E. M. Bakwin Fellowship. Mr. Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961), served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. Mr. Bakwin has had a long-standing interest in the history, literature, and art of Western culture. His generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Doctoral and post-doctoral researchers are encouraged to apply. Recipients of the award will reside, free of charge, for one summer month (June or July) in the Jane Fraser Room of the AHI’s headquarters, a historic mansion located in 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. A panel comprised of AHI fellows and trustees will evaluate the applications. Deadline for their receipt is Monday, 15 March 2010; the AHI will announce the award winner on Wednesday, 5 April 2010. To apply, candidates will need to fill out a fellowship application. It must include a copy of the applicant’s résumé, two letters of reference, and a proposal that should not exceed five double-spaced pages. Proposals should reference the manuscript or rare book collections to be consulted and how precisely they will contribute to the intellectual significance of the project. Area repositories include the Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University; the Oneida County Historical Society; Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University; Special Collections and Archives, Colgate University; Rare Books and Special Collections, Hamilton College. In assessing proposals, evaluators will follow closely those criteria spelled out in the fellowship program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Thus, 1. The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to scholars and general audiences in the humanities. 2. The quality or promise of quality of the applicant's work as an interpreter of the humanities. 3. The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant's clarity of expression. 4. The feasibility of the proposed plan of work, including, when appropriate, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans. 5. The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project. Completed applications should be sent to Robert L. Paquette, Alexander Hamilton Institute, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY.

Publius Meeting Wonders: 'Is Conservatism Dead?' - Sunday, 6 December

AHIadmin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:51:40 +0000

On Sunday, December 6 at 7PM the Alexander Hamilton Institute 21 West Park Row the Publius Societywill hold a lively discussion about conservatism open to all students, faculty, and citizens. AHI Undergraduate Fellows Woodger Faugas and Adam Vorchheimer will spark the discussion with brief presentations about the essays by Sam Tanenhaus and James Piereson linked below. http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/conservatism-dead http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Is-conservatism-dead--4166 The Publius Society is a politically diverse group of students and faculty interested in issues of American constitutionalism. Publius meets monthly in the Alexander Hamilton Institute, a parallel safe zone for intellectual diversity and civility. You are cordially invited to join the Facebook groups of AHI and Publius.

Dawson Meeting 9 December: 'Is Marriage a Sacrament?'

AHIadmin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:45:04 +0000

On Wednesday, 9 December at 7 pm, the Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason will discuss the historical debates surrounding sacraments is and whether marriage qualifies as one. Liz Farrington, Hamilton College, Class ’10, will lead the discussion with a brief talk on the challenge to the sacramentality of marriage from 1517-1537. Her presentation derives from a history department senior honor's thesis, dirested this semester by Professor Christopher Hill. Ms. Farrington will touch on the views of Protestant challengers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, a few key Catholic respondents, and the ambivalent legacy of Henry VIII. Refreshments will be served; the presentation is open to the public.

Liz Farrington Inaugurates AHI Undergraduate Fellows Lecture Series

AHIadmin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:26:35 +0000

AHI undergraduate fellow Liz Farrington receives a gift from her thesis advisor Christopher Hill after presenting at the AHI on "Is Marriage a Sacrament?" Her talk focused on the sixteenth-century challenges to the sacramentality of marriage posed by Henry VIII, Martin Luther, and John Calvin and to the ambivalent legacy of their challenges.

Publius Meeting, 25 January: 'What Would the Founders Think of Health Care?'

AHIadmin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:46:52 +0000

The Publius Society, a student-run organization devoted to the study of the American political tradition, will begin the spring semester with a discussion of "What Would the Founders Think of Health Care?" The discussion will center on such issues as party politics, partisanship, majority factions, filibusters, and the role of the federal government. The gathering, which is open to the public, will take place at 7 pm at the Alexander Hamilton Institute, 21 West Park Row, Clinton. Refreshments will be served. Participants are encouraged to read the following brief articles in preparation for the event. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703478704574612630389421904.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703278604574624021919432770.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/23/AR2009122301319.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2009/12/why_the_filibuster_is_more_ess_1.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/01/15/healthcare_and_progressivism_99904.html

Paquette Speaks on Freedom and History in New Orleans

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:52:58 +0000

The Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC) ranks as New Orleans' premier center devoted to the study and preservation of the history of lower Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. The HNOC operates a complex of buildings in the French Quarter, including a museum and research center. Each year the HNOC holds an annual symposium open to the public. The Omni Royal Orleans Hotel hosted the fifteenth symposium, "Between Colony and State: Louisiana in the Territorial Period." Organizers invited AHI co-founder Robert Paquette to speak about one of the most dramatic events during the period, a slave insurrection that broke out in the United States' first major sugar-producing zone, about 30 miles upriver from New Orleans. The insurrection, as Paquette pointed out, although the largest in US history, remains something of a mystery even to specialists. In 2009, the journal Historical Reflections invited him to publish an analysis of the event in a special issue devoted to historical understandings of collective violence. This article "A Horde of Brigands?: The Great Louisiana Slave Revolt of 1811 Reconsidered," 35 (Spring 2009) forms the core of a forthcoming book on the subject. Paquette discussed the event in front of an audience of 400. He spoke about the causes, content, and consequences of the insurrection, which, in part, reflected new understandings of the meaning of freedom in an age of democratic revolution. A rich folkloric tradition surrounds the event in lower Louisiana to this day, and Paquette attempted to separate fact from fiction in light of available evidence drawn from archival research on both sides of the Atlantic. The HNOC, said Paquette, "is a world-class repository populated by first-class professionals. Their hospitality sets a high standard indeed." The symposium closed with a sumptuous dinner with HNOC officers and trustees at Arnaud's Restaurant on Bienville Street. "In addition to discussing Louisiana history," Paquette added, "I received many questions from attendants about the AHI. Their interest was most gratifying."

Colleen Sheehan to Speak Thursday on Madison and Republicanism

AHIadmin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:04:22 +0000

AHI academic adviser, Colleen Sheehan, Professor, Department of Politcal Science, Villanova University, will speak on James Madison and the meaning of republican self-government at Hamilton College on Thursday, 18 February, at 4 pm in room 127 Kirner-Johnson Building. The AHI is co-sponsoring Professor Sheehan's appearance, and on Friday afternoon she will be heading a Leadership Luncheon at the AHI with its undergraduate fellows. Professor Sheehan is widely recognized as one of this country's leading scholars on the political thought of the founding period. Her recent bookJames Madison and the Spirit of Republican Self-Government (Cambridge 2009) has earned wide praise for its examination of the mind of James Madison and his hopes and fears about the great experiment in popular government. AHI adviser Paul Rahe of Hillsdale College calls the book "the most important contribution to the scholarship on James Madison produced in recent memory."

Dawson Society Meeting on 24 February, 6 PM, at AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:04:22 +0000

The Christopher Dawson Society seeks to foster searching conversation about the relation of faith and reason in the Western tradition. The next meeting, which will begin at 6 pm at the Alexander Hamilton Institute, will explore "What hath Jerusalem to do with Athens?" The prescribed reading will be Paul G. Tyson’s “Transcendence and Epistemology: Exploring Truth via Post-Secular Christian Platonism.” In this essay, Tyson discusses the ideas of Plato and Aristotle and how they have influenced both orthodox Christian theology and modern secular rationalism. The gathering is open to the public; refreshments will be served.

Publius Meeting on 25 Feburary Postoned Until March

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:17:19 +0000

The meeting of the Publius Society scheduled for 7PM on Thursday, February 25 at the Alexander Hamilton Institute has been postponed because of bad weather. The event will be rescheduled for March. Check the AHI homepage for further details as to the precise time. In March, AHI Undergraduate Fellows Jenna Cohen, Jack Dunn, Will Eagan, and Will Leubsdorf will lead a lively discussion about Citizens United v FEC, a recent SCOTUS decision holding restrictions on independent expenditures by corporations in support of or opposition to candidates to be unconstitutional. The decision leaves in place bans on direct corporate contributions to federal candidates and limits on direct contributions by individuals and political action committees. The first link below is a summary of the case and decision. The next links are a sampling of opinion about the merits of the decision and its possible effects. Supporters of the decision see it as a victory for the first amendment; critics see it as an activist conservative court tilting American democracy toward corporate power. The last link includes the text of a recently introduced constitutional amendment that would exclude corporations from the protections of the First Amendment. We suggest that you read the first linked piece and sample the rest. You are cordially invited to join the discussion. The Publius Society is a merry band of students, faculty, and citizens with diverse political views and a shared interest in issues of American constitutionalism. We meet once a month for lively discussion, good cheer, and good food at the Alexander Hamilton Institute We hope you will join us. To rsvp and see who else is attending, you can go to this event on AHI's Facebook pagehttp://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=25554939255&ref=ts .To stay informed about Publius and other AHI events, join the more than 400 Facebook fans of AHI. If you need a ride or can give a ride, come to KJ Circle at 6:45PM. http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2008/2008_08_205 http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/01/22/what-the-smart-erotti-are-saying-about-citizens-united/ http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/what-is-the-first-amendment-for/ http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/01/what-should-congress-do-about-citizens-united/#more-15469 http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/02/citizens-united-shareholder-rights-and-free-speech-restoring-the-primacy-of-politics-to-the-first-amendment/ http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/02/citizens-united-shareholder-rights-and-free-speech-restoring-the-primacy-of-politics-to-the-first-amendment-2/ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31878.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704820904575055922496646104.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704820904575055340863805062.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion http://donnaedwards.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=54§iontree=29,54&itemid=121

AHI Receives Veritas Grant

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:42:36 +0000

In a letter dated 19 February, the Board of Directors of DonorsTrust announced that the AHI had received a major grant from VERITAS to support the continued partnership of the AHI with Encounter Books. In October 2009, the AHI unveiled at its headquarters, the Encounter Bookshelf, a bookstore that features publications by Encounter Books and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. "The AHI family could not be more delighted with this news, said AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose. The grant will advance our common interests at educational reform and in elevating civic literacy." "That VERITAS saw fit to continue to fund our efforts with a major grant honors us," observed Robert Paquette, "and also energizes us to greater deeds. James Piereson has stood as a steadfast supporter of the AHI from its inception, and his presence at our headquarters in October allowed us to show what we have accomplished in little more than two years of operation. We are deeply grateful to him in particular." Encounter Books seeks to strengthen "the markeplace of ideas" and to promote "educational activities to help preserve democratic culture." Encounter specializes in the publication of non-fiction, including current affairs, biography, history, political science, and public policy. Roger Kimball serves as President and Publisher of Encounter Books. "We are thrilled to be working with the Alexander Hamilton Institute to bring a bit of genuine intellectual diversity to Clinton, NY, and environs. Imagine introducing students to the ideas of writers like Thomas Sowell! Imagine exposing them to the idea that 'global warming' is not exactly what Al Gore told them it was! Imagine books and magazines that do not present America as a racist, homophobic, patriarchal exercise in oppression but as one of history’s signal success stories! Imagine writers who come to the AHI and local institutions who challenged the reigning politically correct orthodoxy on a wide range of social, moral, and aesthetic questions! That’s what this collaboration between Encounter and the AHI aims to do and I am delighted that our efforts have succeeded so well in the first year that our generous supporters have enabled us to carry on for another year. "

Scholar to Speak on John Dewey and Flannery O'Connor

AHIadmin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:38:40 +0000

The AHI and the Hamilton College Department of History will co-sponsor the appearance of Henry T. Edmondson III, Professor of Political Science at Georgia College and State University, on Thursday, 4 March and Friday, 5 March. Professor Edmondson has authored books and essays on politics, literature, ethics, and education. He directs the Georgia State’s University Center on Transatlantic Studies. He is a leading authority on John Dewey and will be speaking on "Dewey and the Decline of American Education" on Thursday in the Red Pit (127 Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College) at 4:15 pm. On Friday, 11:45-1:30, Professor Edmondson will be directing a Leadership Luncheon with the AHI’s undergraduate fellows. He has chosen for discussion a marvelous essay “The Enduring Chill” by Flannery O’Connor.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Wins McKinney Prize

AHIadmin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:20:33 +0000

The Charles McKinney prizes, established in 1878, award excellence in oratory. This year AHI undergraduate fellow Xiaohan Du, Hamilton College class 2012, won first prize for her speech "A Call for the Revival of Humanism in Liberal Arts Education: When the Diversity of Ideas meets the Ideas of Diversity." Ms. Du, a native of China who had studied math and science in Shanghai, "had long felt an urge to understand where I come from, to locate myself within the vastness of time and space, to process the phenomenon of today's world, to lead an examined life in a most meaningful way." Arriving in the United States in transit on her intellectual journey, she embraced her newfound freedom, began enjoying it, but eventually wondered where the freedom was taking her and toward what end. She found the anything-as-you go education enshrined by an open curriculum ultimately unsatisfying. She had no desire to run "adrift in a sea of nihilism, relativism, and political correctness." Ms. Du's peroration, drawing on the work of James Piereson and Allan Bloom, called for a return to the traditional understanding of a humanistic education as the real meaning of "diversity" in a liberal arts education. The AHI congratulates Ms. Du on her award-winning performance.

AHI/Baylor University Receive Watson-Brown Foundation Grant

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:30:23 +0000

The Watson-Brown Foundation seeks to "improve education in the American South by funding its schools and students, preserving its history, encouraging responsible scholarship, and promoting the memory and values of our spiritual founders." In a letter dated 24 February, Tad Brown, President of the Watson-Brown Foundation, announced that the AHI and Baylor University had received a major grant to support the participation of students in the University's graduate program in Political Science Department to participate in the AHI April Colloquium: "Dedicated to a Proposition: Examining the Relation between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution," April 15-18, at theTurning Stone Resort. “This is a wonderful opportunity for a group of talented Baylor graduate students with a serious interest in the American Founding to participate in the AHI conference on the Declaration and the Constitution," commented Mary Nichols, Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Baylor University. "The AHI has gathered a group of distinguished scholars who will have much to contribute to the education of these future professors. We at Baylor are most grateful to AHI and Watson-Brown for making this possible.” "Baylor University has an outstanding Department of Political Science," observed AHI co-founder Robert Paquette, "and the University, now with Kenneth Starr at the helm, will continue its advance to the front ranks of elite universities in this country. We are most grateful to Tad Brown, who presides over the premier foundation for the promotion of southern history and culture in the country, for supporting the participation of a southern contingent in the AHI colloquium. Stay tuned for major announcements about other collaborative endeavors."

AHI Co-Sponsors Conference on Love and Fidelity, 10 April

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:19:10 +0000

The Christopher Dawson Society, a student organization advised by AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose, has organized a one-day conference, "Relationship 101: Finding True Love in Today's World" for Saturday, 10 April on the Hamilton College campus. The AHI will be cosponsoring the event with the Dean of Student's Office at Hamilton College, the College's chaplaincy, Student Assembly, and the Love and Fidelity Network at Princeton University. For the schedule of events, registration, and list of speakers go here. The Reverend Dale Kuehne will speak on "Standing on the Threshold of an Inconceivable Age: Sexuality in the 21st Century"; Dr. Toby Taylor will address Physical and Emotional Responses to Sexual Intimacy"; and Dr. W. Bradford Wilcox will discuss "Wedded Bliss: How to Find and Maintain Lasting Love in Contemporary America."

Rescheduled Publius Meeting, 8 April at AHI

AHIadmin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 11:56:57 +0000

The meeting of the Publius Society scheduled for 7PM on Thursday, February 25 but postponed because of bad weather will take place on 8 April at 7 pm at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. AHI Undergraduate Fellows Jenna Cohen, Jack Dunn, Will Eagan, and Will Leubsdorf will lead a lively discussion about Citizens United v FEC, a recent SCOTUS decision holding restrictions on independent expenditures by corporations in support of or opposition to candidates to be unconstitutional. The decision leaves in place bans on direct corporate contributions to federal candidates and limits on direct contributions by individuals and political action committees. The first link below is a summary of the case and decision. The next links are a sampling of opinion about the merits of the decision and its possible effects. Supporters of the decision see it as a victory for the first amendment; critics see it as an activist conservative court tilting American democracy toward corporate power. The last link includes the text of a recently introduced constitutional amendment that would exclude corporations from the protections of the First Amendment. We suggest that you read the first linked piece and sample the rest. You are cordially invited to join the discussion. The Publius Society is a merry band of students, faculty, and citizens with diverse political views and a shared interest in issues of American constitutionalism. We meet once a month for lively discussion, good cheer, and good food at the stately Alexander Hamilton Institute http://www.theahi.org/, a nationally acclaimed center of scholarly excellence founded by Professors Ambrose, Bradfield, and Paquette and home for a variety of student groups at Hamilton. We hope you will join us. To rsvp and see who else is attending, you can go to this event on AHI's Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=106267586072371&ref=mf.To stay informed about Publius and other AHI events, join the 440 Facebook fans of AHI. If you need a ride or can give a ride, come to KJ Circle at 6:45PM. http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2008/2008_08_205 http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/01/22/what-the-smart-erotti-are-saying-about-citizens-united/ http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/what-is-the-first-amendment-for/ http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/01/what-should-congress-do-about-citizens-united/#more-15469 http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/02/citizens-united-shareholder-rights-and-free-speech-restoring-the-primacy-of-politics-to-the-first-amendment/ http://www.scotusblog.com/2010/02/citizens-united-shareholder-rights-and-free-speech-restoring-the-primacy-of-politics-to-the-first-amendment-2/ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31878.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704820904575055922496646104.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704820904575055340863805062.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion http://donnaedwards.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=54§iontree=29,54&itemid=121

Harvard Professor Visits AHI

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:55:46 +0000

John Stauffer, Chairman of the doctoral program in the History of American Civilization and Professor of English and African and African American Studies at Harvard University, spent four days, 30 March- 2 April, at the Alexander Hamilton Institute, conducting a series of scholarly events for faculty, students, and the public. Professor Stauffer the author of two recent best-selling books, The State of Jones (Doubleday, 2009; coauthored Sally Jenkins) and GIANTS: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln (Twelve 2009). Professor Stauffer, one of the leading scholars of the history of abolition and emancipation of his generation, was co-winner of the prestigious Frederick Douglass prize for his Black Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionisnm and the Transformation of Race (Harvard University Press, 2004) On 30 March, Professor Stauffer delivered a lecture "Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and the Great Books," to a full house in the Kennedy auditorium at Hamilton College. Professor Stauffer discussed the self-making of both Lincoln and Douglass and the role that six great books in common had in advancing both men from youthful awkwardness and struggle into rhetorical and intellectual greatness. On 31 March, Professor Stauffer directed a Leadership Luncheon attended by the AHI's undergraduate fellows. Professor Stauffer assigned as the prescribed reading his essay "Douglass's Self-Making and the Culture of Abolitionism in the Cambridge Companion to Frederick Douglass (2009). On 1 April, Professor Stauffer joined the class on the Old South taught by AHI co-founders Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette to speak about the meaning of the antislavery crusade at a both a global and national level. The ecumenical crusade against slavery originated in England during the second-half of the eighteenth-century and registered a seismic shift in moral sensibility that would eventually capture the world. Professors Stauffer, Ambrose, and Paquette discussed with students how northern abolitionists like Gerrit Smith, one of Hamilton College's most famous alumni, transformed within a few decades theoretical abolitionism into a mass antislavery movement with appeal to common working white men and women in the North. The class ended with Professor Stauffer leading a searching discussion of Frederick Douglass's famous speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" On 2 April, Professor Stauffer led a caravan of vehicles with students, faculty, and others to Peterboro, New York to visit the National Abolition Hall of Fame and the remnants of the Gerrit Smith estate. Along with Professor Stauffer, representatives of NAHOF and local historical societies provided a guided tour of relevant buildings and artifacts. Beth Spokowsky of the Peterboro Area Historical Society, added to the rewards by disclosing to Professor Stauffer the discovery of a letter from George Fitzhugh, a prominent proslavery thinker, to Ann Smith. Professor Stauffer and Douglas Ambrose are preparing for publication a volume on the remarkable correspondence between Gerrit Smith and George Fitzhugh. Fitzhugh was related to Gerrit Smith's wife Ann. The AHI would like to thank Professor Stauffer publicly for his uncommon generosity in lending his time, energy, and intellect to these special events.

Dawson Society Meeting, 7 April at 6 PM

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:27:30 +0000

The Christopher Dawson Society will hold its monthly meeting at the Alexander Hamilton Institute on Wednesday evening, 7 April, at 6 pm. Attendants are asked to prepare for the gathering by reading St. Augustine's City of God, book 19, chapters 17-28. The Christopher Dawson Society (CDS) seeks to foster conversation in which people of all religions can pursue truth, learn the connection between academics and vocation, and live accordingly with a purpose and vision. We explore both the big ideas that shaped Western civilization and religion, which Christopher Dawson argued is the soul, or life-blood, of a culture. People of any faith, or lack thereof, are welcome. The public is welcome and refreshments will be served.

Chris Hill Awarded Bakwin Fellowship

AHIadmin — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 10:59:21 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute has awarded its second annual E. M. (Peter) Bakwin Fellowship to Dr. Christopher Hill, who will be leaving his position as visiting assistant professor of history at Hamilton College in May. Before departure, Professor Hill received the Sidney Wertimer award, given by Hamilton College's Student Assembly. The annual award recognizes a faculty member "who is recognized as a mentor and active participant within the Hamilton community." Professor Hill received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas, Austin, in 2008. His dissertation reexamined the celebrated struggle between Henry II of England and Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas a Becket by analyzing the thinking of Becket's key clerical opponent Gilbert Foliot. A voluminous literature exists on this crisis in twelfth century England because of its implications for church-state relations. The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Recipients of the award reside, free of charge, for one summer month (June or July) in the Jane Fraser Room of the AHI’s headquarters, a historic mansion located in 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. A panel comprised of AHI fellows and trustees evaluated the applications. Mr. Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961), served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. Mr. Bakwin has had a long-standing interest in the history, literature, and art of Western culture. His generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. Professor Hill, a specialist in the origins of the common law, will use the Bakwin Fellowship to explore the pre-modern roots of the concept of liberty. In particular, Professor Hill will explore how medieval thinkers understood and applied the concept of libertas. This inquiry will feed into a larger contrarian project on what Professor Hill contends is the medieval origins of the liberal tradition. The AHI congratulates Professor Hill and looks forward to his public presentation on the subject at the AHI.

AHI Fellow Lee Cheek Publishes 'Confronting Modernity'

AHIadmin — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:06:24 +0000

H. Lee Cheek, Jr., an AHI Senior Fellow, has published an essay Confronting Modernity: Towards a Theology of Ministry in the Western Tradition for the Wesley Studies Society Monograph Series. Dr,. Cheek, a United Methodist minister who served as chaplain in the U.S. Army, also holds a doctorate in political science from Catholic University. He currently is Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Political Science and Religion at Athens State University in Athens, Alabama. His books include Calhoun and Popular Rule(University of Missouri Press, 2004). Professor Cheek's monograph "seeks to define and explicate a theology of ministry as an attempt to understand God working in the world as part of a persistent dialectical enterprise, grounded in a desire to participate in the ancient conversation between God and the people of God, and to facilitate sharing among the People of God. It is faith seeking understanding, which requires an intellectual appreciation of God, namely, reflective theology. At the center of this activity is faith, which makes the enterprise possible. The foundational element in this worldview is a transcendent God, the creator of heaven and earth. The pursuit of this appreciation must involve a comprehensive view of reality. It must concern itself with life before human existence, the interaction of the creations of God and ultimate heavenly union with God."

AHI Summer Seminar, 'Race, Liberalism, and the Meaning of America,' 5-6 July

AHIadmin — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:39:27 +0000

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 atbob@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)http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1107 “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” (1852) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=162 “The Constitution of the United States: Is it Pro-slavery or Anti-slavery?” (1860) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1128 “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) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=39 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 http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=574 “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

Chris Hill Joins AHI as Resident Fellow

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:26:55 +0000

Dr. Christopher Hill, a specialist in the origins of the common law, has agreed to join the Alexander Hamilton Institute as a resident fellow. Dr. Hill earned his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and has advanced degrees in both medieval and modern European history. He has taught at the University of Texas and Hamilton College, where he received the Sidney Wertimer Award for excellence in teaching in 2010. A legal historian by training, he is particularly interested in the relationship between religion and law during the high Middle Ages and the impact that relationship had on the idea of individual liberty in the development of English common law. An ardent critic of political orthodoxy in academe, he wrote while a graduate student a novel satirizing political correctness on a fictional college campus. The book, Virtual Morality, won the Editors’ Book Award from Pushcart Press in the year 2000. His reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal. He is currently researching the history of the concept of liberty as a Bakwin Fellow at the AHI. He and his wife, Stephanie, live with their three children in Waterville, NY. "Chris Hill, is an outstanding teacher and scholar whose wide-ranging interests are a perfect fit for the AHI, observed Professor Ted Eismeier of the Hamilton College Department of Government. "As the AHI continues to expand its national reach, Chris will be a great asset in programming and management." "The AHI is thrilled with Chris Hill's acceptance of our offer and very thankful to those Hamilton College alumni and foundations who stepped forward in recent weeks with substantial donations to make his residency possible," said AHI co-founder Robert Paquette. "We envision several major projects for Chris when the academic year begins in the fall, and the AHI will also support his budding scholarship on an important topic in medieval history."

AHI to House Media Center/Classroom and Archives

AHIadmin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:58:42 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute's staged renovation continues this summer. A room on the second floor of our headquarters will serve as an archive for documents pertaining to its attemped beginnings as an on-campus center at Hamilton College and to its eventual establishment as an independent edifice of learning. File cabinets are also in place to house collections that will be donated by friends and supporters. AHI co-founder Robert Paquette has committed his extensive collection on the history of slavery and slave resistance to the AHI. A large part of the extensive basement area, which now contains the The Encounter Bookshelf, is being renovated into a stylish media center and classroom, complete with lounge area. "Thanks to a grant from a philanthropic foundation," Paquette observed, "the AHI will be holding during the fall 2010 its first ever course, "The Making of American Scripture," to be taught by AHI fellow Chris Hill as well as other AHI fellows." The Media Center will allow lecturers and students to engage in a full range of teaching possibilities using new technologies. The AHI will also hold summer film series with guest speakers in the Media Center. AHI undergraduate fellows and other students and interested adults will find in the renovated rooms a comfortable gathering spot where they can read an Encounter Book, proudly watch a John Wayne movie, or pop in a DVD of Friedrich von Hayek in an episode of William F. Buckley's Firing Line.

AHI Receives Grant for 'The Making of American Scripture' Seminar

AHIadmin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:28:44 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has received a grant to offer free to the public two seminars on the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. One seminar will be taught beginning in September 2010 and the other will be taught beginning in January 2011. The fall seminar will be located at the Media Center Room in the AHI’s headquarters, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY. “The Making of American Scripture” builds on a major colloquium sponsored by the AHI in April 2010 and focuses on how the interpretation of these two cherished documents by prominent thinkers and politicians shaped the meaning of America. The course will explore the differing philosophical and political assumptions that underlie the documents and will cover the period from the American founding to the Fourteenth Amendment. With the current political debate on the relationship between the rights of the federal government, the states, and individuals, the AHI hopes that this course will provide a timely discussion of the origins and importance of liberty. Both the fall and spring courses will be led by AHI resident fellow Dr. Christopher Hill, a prize-winning teacher and author, and will feature contributions from several other prize-winning teacher/scholars. The seminar will meet Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9:30 PM, beginning 8 September. The seminar will end the evening of 8 December. We are currently seeking applicants for the course and hope to reach teachers, attorneys and others with a particular interest in this subject. The seminar is free and open to the public, but enrollment for each course will be limited to twenty. If you are interested, please contact Bob Paquette atbob@theahi.org or Christopher Hill at chill@theahi.org We hope to see you there! The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) promotes rigorous scholarship and vigorous debate in the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. The AHI offers a rich menu of scholarly activities--lectures, colloquia, conferences, fellowships, internships, and awards--to educational institutions in upstate New York and across the country, in support of scrupulous research and reasoned conversations on American history and Western culture.

AHI Receives Grant from Charles G. Koch Foundation

AHIadmin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:29:40 +0000

The AHI is pleased to announce the receipt from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation of a grant for the establishment of two student educational groups devoted to the study of Friedrich Hayek. The mission of the Koch Foundation “is to advance social progress and well-being through the development, application, and dissemination of the Science of Liberty.” The word “freedom,” as the AHI’s charter observes, “had no equivalent in the vocabularies of non-Western civilizations until imported from the West. . . . While the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange seems to have been inscribed in humanity’s genes, a full-blown capitalist system, one based on the private ownership of the non-personal means of production, originated in England.” Yet at many elite institutions of higher learning the undergraduate study of free-market economics and of Western culture generally has waned. On June 9^th Friedrich Hayek’s Road to Serfdom reached #1 on Amazon’s list of best sellers. Interest in Hayek has probably never higher, even as his contributions remain totally underappreciated within the disciplines of history and economics. With funding from the Koch Foundation, the AHI will establish during the 2010-2011 academic year two Hayek reading groups: one formed from students at the University of Rochester and one formed from students who are AHI undergraduate fellows, from Hamilton College, Utica College, and other neighboring institutions. Each reading group will consist of between fifteen and twenty students. They would have a common set of core readings. During the course of the year, the groups will meet together at least twice for collaborative discussion centered on a featured speaker, an expert on Hayek. One of the joint gatherings will occur at the University of Rochester; one of the joint gatherings will occur at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. The collaborative sessions that feature guest lecturers on Hayek will be open to the public. Each reading group will consist of fifteen to twenty students. The Rochester group will be directed by Professor Michael Rizzo, an AHI Senior Fellow and Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester. The AHI group will be directed by Professor James Bradfield, co-founder of the AHI and Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics, at Hamilton College. Each reading group will have a common core of readings: 1. The Road to Serfdom 2. The Constitution of Liberty 3. The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism 4. “The Use of Knowledge in Society” (available on-linehttp://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html) The Hayek Society at the London School of Economics provides a list of other recommended readings, and Professors Rizzo and Bradfield will draw on those recommendations for additional readings. Both Professors Bradfield and Rizzo envision the reading group as a site where Hayek’s major ideas are analyzed and then applied to contemporary issues of interest, including but not limited to, eminent domain and property rights, the current fiscal state of many governments, the extension of government activities into the economy, private money, technological change, innovation, social change, institutional progress, legal culture, and developmental economics. Many of themes that Hayek emphasizes throughout his works are woefully mishandled or ignored even by economists. Hayek focuses on how order emerges without a conscious planner, on the role of “prices” in accumulating and disseminating dispersed, on decentralized knowledge (and the limits to planning in such an environment), and on the underlying incentive structures in institutions that do not fully respect or protect private property rights. Students in the proposed reading groups will work on brief case studies in planning and development, which serve to highlight Hayek’s major insights in these areas in ways that are not commonly presented in the academic or popular literature. In expressing his thanks to the Koch Foundation and his enthusiasm for the work ahead, Professor Rizzo commented: “Hayek defined the ‘curious task of economics’ as the need ‘to demonstrate to men how little it is they really know about what they imagine they can design’ Studying Hayek allows us to apply this idea more broadly to all human behavior, not just that which falls within the traditional economic realm.”

Summer Conference 2010 on 'Race, Liberalism, and the Meaning of America'

AHIadmin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:03:48 +0000

Conference participants enjoyed two days of discussion this summer on the writings of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and Ralph Ellison. The annual Baylor University/AHI summer conference, held July5-6, was organized by David and Mary Nichols of Baylor University. Discussion leaders were Pamela Jensen, of Kenyon College, and Flagg Taylor, of Skidmore College.

Mark Garcia Awarded First William Vick AHI Internship

AHIadmin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:39:17 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute is pleased to announce the award of the first annual William Vick AHI Internship to Mark Garcia, a member of the Hamilton chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity. Mark, a 2010 graduate of Hamilton College will be attending Vanderbilt Law School in the fall. The William Vick AHI internship honors William "Bill" Vick, a 1964 graduate of Hamilton College. Bill placed a high value on the sacred Constitutional right of private association and on his membership in the Hamilton chapter of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In adulthood, he tenaciously fought to preserve the the rights of private societies in the face of opposition from hostile forces on campus. Jon Vick, Bill's son and the President Emeritus of Alpha Delta Phi, has committed funds to support the internship on an annual basis. The internship will be awarded annually to a member of the Hamilton chapter of Alpha Delta Phi. Candidates will be judged by the standard of character and accomplishment exemplified by Bill Vick. Each intern will receive a $2000 summer stipend and be housed free of charge in the AHI's headquarters. He will participate in AHI functions and help AHI fellows in an administrative capacity. Anthony Mark Garcia, the inaugural winner, arrived at Hamilton College after graduating from the Pingry School in Martinsville, NJ. At Pingry, he participated in a variety of extracurricular and athletic activities, earning 10 varsity letters in 4 different sports. He continued his athletic career as a member of the Hamilton Men's soccer program. He was also a dedicated member of the fraternity Alpha Delta Phi. Under the guidance of AHI co-founder James Bradfield, Mark majored in economics and earned a minor in Hispanic Studies. He graduated receiving honors from the economics department after undertaking in his senior thesis an empirical research study of the efficiency in prediction markets. Mark was inducted into the national honor societies for both economics and foreign languages. During the school year, Mark worked as both a teaching assistant to Professor Bradfield and as a peer tutor in the economics department. In upholding the literary traditions of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, Mark became heavily involved in the work of the Alexander Hamilton Institute, where he became one of members of the first class of undergraduate fellows. "Mark Garcia," observed Professor Bradfield, has an impressive bundle of gifts. He is intelligent, gentlemanly, reliable, and industrious." The AHI family could not be more proud of his achievements and thankful for his service to our enterprise. Good luck at Vanderbilt Mark, and many thanks.

Jay Sekulow to Speak on Constitution Day, 17 September

AHIadmin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:05:07 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute is pleased to announce that Jay Sekulow will deliver the Third Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. Mr. Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice will speak on academic diversity and academic freedom on Friday, 17 September, Constitution Day, at 7:30 pm in the Hamilton College Chapel. Mr. Sekulow is one of this country’s most conspicuous legal defenders of religious freedom. He has argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FECand Pleasant Grove City v. Summum. Mr. Sekulow's lecture is free and open to the public. The AHI is co-sponsoring the event with Libertas Americana, a campus initiative designed to promote dialogue at Hamilton College about the meaning of freedom.The lecture is named for Judge David Aldrich Nelson, valedictorian of his Hamilton class, 1954, who served as a distinguished Federal Judge on the United States Court of Appeals in the Sixth Circuit.The lecture is given each year on Constitution Day, the birthday of the AHI. A reception and book signing will precede the lecture from 4:30 to 5:30 P.M. at The AHI, located in the former Alexander Hamilton Inn at 21 West Park Row in Clinton, New York. Hardcover copies of Witnessing Their Faith (2007) will be available at the AHI's Encounter Bookshelf, located on site.

AHI Kicks Off 2010-2011 Programming with Reception and Ayn Rand Night

AHIadmin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:43:11 +0000

On Sunday, 5 September, the AHI held a special reception for the fifty-five current undergraduate fellows who participate in the intellectual life of the AHI in a variety of ways. Each of the fellows received gifts. Professors Chris Hill, Ted Eismeier, Jim Bradfield, and Robert Paquette spoke about the history of the AHI and the exciting opportunities and programming ahead for the fellows. Leadership luncheons give fellows the opportunity to engage scholars and public intellectuals brought to Clinton by the AHI. Fellows are among the leaders of student groups hosted by AHI, including the Publius Society, which sponsors discussions about American constitutionalism, and the Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason. Fellows also launch their own new initiatives and events. Thomas Cheeseman ’12 helped develop the Friedrich Hayek reading group supported by AHI in conjunction with the Charles Koch Foundation. Kayla Safran ’13 and Andre Zakoworotny ’11 were the leaders of evening session devoted to the movie Fountainhead and the consideration of the ideas, novels, and films of Ayn Rand. Kayla and Maggie Goulder ’13 are the campus representatives of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows. Welcome to you all.

Publius Society to Discuss Tea Party Movement at AHI on 9/13

AHIadmin — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 10:50:23 +0000

What Is The Tea Party, And Do They Matter? What is the Publius Society? Second question first: The Publius Society," writes Cip Sinton, this year's mayordomo of the organization, "is an all-partisan, monthly intellectual discursive club of students and professors that attempts to tackle the issues of today with a depth and from angles not normally found in cafes and lecture halls." Publius engages in intellectual sparring, sort of like political boxing for smart people but a tad more civil than Ali-Frazier. We dress nice, talk pretty and venture to find some truth in a world that often lacks it." THIS MONTHS QUESTION: What Is The Tea Party, And Do They Matter? "Some say Tea-Partiers represent a unique populist constitutionalism. Others contend they are angry commoners, who are rising up against Elites and their power structure. But perhaps they are libertarians who are being used to reignite the culture wars? Some on the left, applying Umberto Eco, think they are crypto-Fascist. Or wait, is that supposed to be some on the right, applying Hofstader, think they are merely psuedo-conservative?" Publius meetings are open to the public; come join the AHI family for a rousing conversation at the AHI's headquarters. Refreshments will be served. Come armed with the following readings: Tea Party Jacobins -http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/27/tea-party-jacobins/ The Psuedo-Conservative Revolt - http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-pseudo-conservative-revolt/ Beyond the Tea Party - http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/beyond-tea-party Eternal Fascism: 14 Ways of Looking At a Blackshirt -http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_blackshirt.html Populist Constitutionalism and the Tea Party -http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/populist_constitutionalism_and.html Tea Time in America - http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/wolf21/English For Hamilton students who need a ride, cars will be at the KJ Circle at 5:45 pm.

Menges Prizes Awarded on Constitution Day

AHIadmin — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:26:38 +0000

Each year on 17 September, Constitution Day, the AHI awards prizes to those students who have demonstrated excellence in scholarship based on their participation in the AHI's annual April colloquium at the Turning Stone Resort. The 2010 colloquium, keynoted by Robert George of Princeton University, focused on the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution from the time of the founding to the Fourteenth Amendment. Students from the various colleges and universities who attend the annaul colloquium are enjoined to read the same thick packet of readings as the colloquium panelists, and the students' instructors prepare a challenging written assignment based on both the prescribed readings and the intensive discussions that occur during the colloquium's six sessions. Three Hamilton College students received awards at the AHI's headquarters during this year's Constitution Day dinner, which featured Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the American Center of Law & Justice. Grace Jacobson, an anthropology major, received an award for a paper that explored the meaning of freedom in the political thought of John C. Calhoun. Antebellum white Southerners, unlike white Northerners, Jacobson explained, developed an undertanding of freedom that increasing rejected Lockean conceptions of pre-social rights, preferring a particularistic, historically grounded freedom suspicious of abstracts and universals. In reaching her conclusions, Jacobson assessed Calhoun's 1848 speech on the Oregon Bill. Will Eagan, a mathematics major, received an award for connecting Anti-Federalist thought both to antebellum southern conservatism and the twentieth-century Agrarian movement. His paper proved particularly discerning in investigating the anti-individualist and anti-capitalist dimensions of antebellum southern conservatism. Noah Bishop, a philosophy major, composed an award-winning essay that explored the founders connection of liberty to private property rights. Mr. Bishop highlighted the fundamental tension in Early Republican and antebellum Southern discourse between equality and property (liberty). In recognition of their outstanding performance, AHI fellows awarded each student with inscribed copies of the recently published Oxford Handbook on Slavery in Americas. Multiple AHI fellows and academic advisers contributed to this 800-page reference work. The AHI also bestowed a special recognition award--an inscribed copy of Jay Sekulow's Witnessing Their Faith: Religious Influence on Supreme Court Justices and Their Opinions (2007), to Lauren and Chris Love, recent graduates of Hamilton College, AHI undergraduate fellows, and student leaders of the AHI's Christopher Dawson Society. Chris will be serving his country as a junior officer in the United States military and will be deployed to Japan in a few months. Congratulations to you all!

Koch Foundation Official Stephen Sweet at AHI, Monday 27 September

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:29:39 +0000

Stephen Sweet, Program Coordinator, Marketing and Recruiting for the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, will be visiting the AHI on Monday 27 September. The Charles G. Koch Foundation, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, seeks "to advance social progress and well-being through the development, application, and dissemination of the Science of Liberty." At 7 pm in the Banquet Room of the AHI, one hour before the meeting of the Hayek Group, Mr. Sweet will make a formal presentation on a wide variety of internships and fellowships available through the Koch Foundation. He will also have time to meet with students on an individual basis at the AHI in the late afternoon. For further details contact Professor Paquette at bob@theahi.org.

Wisdom of the Founders Conference, NYC, 9 November

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:05:19 +0000

"The Wisdom of the Founders: The Fate of Limited Government in an Age of Uncertainty." "Democracy is less a system of government than it is a system to keep government limited, unintrusive: A system of constraints on power to keep politics and government secondary to the important things in life, the true sources of value found only in family and faith." RONALD REAGAN This conference, sponsored by The New Criterion, will feature Roger Kimball, William Kristol, Harvey Mansfield, Andrew C. McCarthy, James Piereson, Jeremy Rabkin, and Amity Shlaes. John Bolton will deliver the keynote address. For details contact Callie Siskel at (212) 247-6980 or siskel@New Criterion.com

Judge David Aldrich Nelson (1932-2010)

AHIadmin — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:57:26 +0000

It was with deep regret that the AHI family learned of the passing ofJudge David Aldrich Nelson. Judge Nelson stood as a stalwart supporter of the AHI from its inception. "In my relations with Judge Nelson," observed AHI co-founder Bob Paquette, "I saw a man of not only great intelligence and perspicacity, but of great character and dignity as well. He was a steady source of wisdom and counsel for the AHI. He did not speak often, but when he did speak everybody listened." "Judge Nelson's understated confidence, equanimity, and friendliness struck me as the essence of judicial demeanor, noted AHI charter fellow James Bradfield. "He looked like a judge, and he sounded like a judge. In conversation, he spoke with economy. He was in no sense condescending. In spite of his ease of manner, one clearly sensed the presence of a towering intellect." The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on his life and some of his accomplishments here. Fred Nelson, Judge Nelson's oldest son, has provided the AHI with the following information about his father and his family: "David Aldrich Nelson, a retired judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, died at his home in Indian Hill (Cincinnati) on Friday evening, October 1st. His death was attributed to heart and lung disease, from which he had suffered for several years. 'David Nelson was exactly what a judge should be. He was a brilliant and temperate judge; a man of unquestioned and unquestionable integrity; a colleague always willing to share his insight and experience; and a truly good man,' said Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Alice Batchelder. Judge Jeffrey Sutton, Nelson’s successor on the court, added: 'Dave Nelson set the gold standard on our court for fair-minded judging, masterful opinion writing, and ever-warm collegiality. He was a valued mentor to me and an irreplaceable friend. Lawyers and judges will be reading and admiring Judge Nelson’s opinions, with their flashes of bracing wit, for years to come.' Judge Nelson was born at Watertown, New York, on August 14, 1932, the son of Carlton Low Nelson and Irene Demetria Aldrich Nelson. He was educated in the public schools of East Aurora, New York, and at Hamilton College, from which he was graduated in 1954 as valedictorian. Nelson began his legal studies that year as a Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge University in England. On the ship to England, he met Mary Dickson, a recent Vassar College graduate who also was a Cambridge-bound Fulbright Scholar. The couple became engaged in England; they were married for the last fifty-four years. Judge Nelson took first class honours at Cambridge in 1955, on the strength of which he was retrospectively made a scholar of his college, Peterhouse. Nelson received his law degree from Harvard, cum laude, in 1958. Admitted to the Ohio bar in that year, he began the practice of law in Cleveland with the firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. From 1959 to 1962 he served on active duty with the United States Air Force at the Pentagon, assigned to the Secretary of the Air Force – General Counsel’s office. He remained in the Air Force Reserve for several years thereafter, attaining the rank of Major. Admitted to partnership in Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in 1967, Nelson resigned in 1969 to accept appointment by President Nixon as General Counsel of the Post Office Department. Postmaster General Winton M. Blount awarded Nelson the Department’s Benjamin Franklin award for his work on what became the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. After the enactment of that legislation, Nelson became Senior Assistant Postmaster General and General Counsel of the newly established United States Postal Service. Nelson rejoined his former law firm in 1972, remaining a partner in Cleveland until President Reagan appointed him to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1985. The Sixth Circuit adjudicates appeals from federal courts in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee; one level below the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals effectively is the court of last resort for most federal litigants. As a Circuit Judge, Nelson served two terms on the Criminal Law Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Because of his gradually deteriorating health, Judge Nelson closed his courthouse chambers in 2006. Judge Nelson was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Life Fellow of the Ohio State Bar Foundation, and a Sergeant Emeritus of the Court of Nisi Prius in Cleveland. He served in the past as a member of the National Council of the Ohio State University College of Law, a trustee of Hamilton College, and a director of Blount, Inc. At the time of his death he was a director of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, based in Clinton, New York. In addition to his wife Mary, Judge Nelson is survived by son Frederick Nelson, a Cincinnati lawyer and former judge of the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court; daughter Claudia Nelson, a professor of English Literature at Texas A&M University; son Caleb Nelson, a law professor at the University of Virginia; grandchildren Max and Katy Nelson of Charlottesville VA, Mary Isabel Nelson of College Station TX, and Gabrielle and Alex Nelson of Cincinnati; and sister Marjorie Nelson Smart of Ithaca, NY. A memorial service will be held at Covenant-First Presbyterian Church, 717 Elm Street, Cincinnati, at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 11th. There will be no internment. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be directed to the Salvation Army (P.O. Box 596, Cincinnati OH 45201), the Alexander Hamilton Institute (21 West Park Row, Clinton NY 13323), or a charity of the donor’s choice."

Meeting of Christopher Dawson Society, 11 October, 6 PM

AHIadmin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:10:24 +0000

The first fall semster meeting of the Christopher Dawson Society, under the leadership of Professor Douglas Ambrose, will take place at the AHI at 6 pm, Monday evening at the AHI's headquarters, 21 West Park Row in Clinton. Come join us to discuss "The Grand Inquisitor," a chapter from Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. A wide array of intellectuals including Freud, Einstein, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Cormac McCarthy, and Pope Benedict XV have praised The Brothers Karamazov, a novel beloved by readers throughout the world. "The Grand Inquisitor" itself has become famous in its own right, showcasing the struggles between faith and material comfort in the modern age. Believers, nonbelievers and those in between are all welcome. The event is open to the public; refreshments will be served. Rides to the AHI will be available at the KJ circle at 5:45. "The Grand Inquisitor" is available at the following website on pages 259-279: http://books.google.com/books?id=mMNKAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+brothers+karamazov&source=bl&ots=-Es25vkh-j&sig=HOLwWCkukXdvVZPTyRA6h458Os4&hl=en&ei=SFGqTOeIO4SBlAeHxozpDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

NAS and AHI Partner in Series on Educational Reform

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:51:19 +0000

During the 2010-2011 academic year, the AHI will explore issues of reform in higher education and what constitutes greatness in the liberal arts. The National Association of Scholars, an organization dedicated to the pursuit of intellectual freedom and to "the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America’s colleges and universities," has agreed to partner with the AHI during the academic year in the presentation of relevant programming. “The National Association of Scholars is delighted to partner with the Alexander Hamilton Institute on this important project," said Peter Wood, President of the NAS. "Liberal arts education is in serious disrepair in the United States, and reforming higher education as a whole hinges on finding a way to restore its liberal arts core. What went wrong? Some critics blame the students for being too career-oriented to pay mind to the ‘critical thinking’ they say is the essence of liberal education. Others, including the NAS, see the problem as arising from the dissolution of the old structured curriculum, which came hand-in-hand with diminished intellectual standards. Students turn away from the liberal arts because they sense, correctly, that in many colleges the liberal arts have lost their serious purpose. Terms like 'critical thinking,' 'perspective taking,' and 'liberal arts' are flung around like confetti at the perpetual New Year’s Eve party of the co-curriculum that now substitutes for patient and disciplined academic inquiry. Reforming higher education will require that we put the noise-makers and streamers away and get back to reading the best books by the best minds taught by the best teachers.” Several years ago, Harvard professor and AHI academic adviser Harvey Mansfield asked, "What is Greatness in a Democratic Education?" We live in an age, he noted, suspicious of greatness, elaborating institutions of higher learning ever more rife with "claims for unearned praise." Higher education costs continue to spiral upward, well above the annual rate of inflation. Yet, as educators of various political stripes have observed, rising costs have little to do with the hiring of new faculty. In introducing a forthcoming volume on the selected essays of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, AHI co-founder Robert Paquette points to a growing crisis in liberal arts education. "The core curriculum, which paid homage to a collective culture and a collective good, capitulated to the open or near-open curriculum based on consumer preference. Grades inflated, and academic standards declined as a result. In the post-modern classroom, well-directed sentiment in the service of a feminized social justice could earn you more stripes in a humanities course from a professor than the configuring of evidence by argument into a meaningful pattern with explanatory power. Instead of foundational courses rooted in traditional disciplines that teach undergraduates how to think by exposing them to different approaches to the acquisition of knowledge, the post-modern campus was increasingly serving cafeteria-style an abundance of specialized dishes concocted to teach students what to think by first titillating their appetite. Professors were exhorting their students in, for example, black history and women’s history to act on a consciousness of oppression without an honest or adequate understanding of the historical conditions that produced it." On Saturday, 9 October, at the AHI's headquarters, Richard Vedder, Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University, inaugurated the joint NAS-AHI series with a sobering address on "The Coming Revolution in Higher Education." Professor Vedder's entire address can be read here.

AHI and Colgate's Center for Freedom Sponsor Andrew Roberts

AHIadmin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:59:32 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute and Colgate's Center for Freedom & Western Civilization, directed by Robert Kraynak, sponsored the appearance Thursday evening at Colgate University of the British historian Andrew Roberts, one of the leading military historians of his generation. Mr. Roberts, a honors graduate of Cambridge University, has published more than a dozen major books on the history of warfare, includingMasters and Commanders (Harper 2009) and The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War (Allen Lane 2009). In his presentation to a packed house at Perrson Hall, Mr. Roberts discussed the role of personality and contingency in the formulation of the Anglo-American alliance that ultimately helped send Hitler to defeat and death. Drawing on Masters and Commanders, Mr. Roberts described the uneven relations between Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, George Marshall, and Sir Alan Brooke in the formation, largely by Marshall's design, of the Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee and in the making of such crucial decisions about strategy as the timing of and location of D-Day. One of the most powerful lessons that General Marshall had learned from the disaster of Pearl Harbor was the importance of a unified command structure. That innovative command structure made the vital decision to concentrate on the defeat of Germany first, while conducting a holding operation against Japan in the Pacific. Congratulations to Mr. Roberts on an engaging performance. We look forward to his promised return to the AHI.

AHI Brings Nicole Gelinas and Waller Newell to Clinton During Hamilton's Family Weekend

AHIadmin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:00:27 +0000

What caused the near collapse of Wall Street? Who created the policy of “Too big to fail”? Why was Goldman Sachs treated differently than Lehman Brothers? What explains the AIG bailout? For answers to these and related economic questions, the public is invited to attend a lecture by Nicole Gelinas, the Searle Freedom Trust Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, who will speak on her recently published book, After the Fall: Saving Capitalism from Wall Street and Washington (Encounter 2009).The lecture will be delivered by Ms. Gelinas in the Banquet Room of the Alexander Hamilton Institute on Saturday, 30 October, at 4:00 PM. A reception and book signing will follow her lecture, which is co-sponsored by Encounter Books and the National Association of Scholars. A graduate of Tulane University, Ms. Gelinas is also a contributing editor of City Journal. She has written numerous essays and opinion pieces on financial and business issues for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times,Boston Herald, New York Post, and many other major newspapers. She holds the position of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and is a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts. Professor Waller Newell of Carleton University will follow on Sunday evening at 7:30 pm in the Science auditorium at Hamilton College with a lecture "The Code of a Man: Love, Courage, Pride, Family, and Country." Professor Newell is Professor of Political Science and Philosophy and co-director of the Centre for Liberal Education and Public Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Men of the millennial generation have been pitied, pathologized, and protested by the chattering class as immature, benighted, and even dangerous. Lost in much of this pop psychology about "the end of men" is a foundational understanding of traditions of manly virtue. Along withHarvey Mansfield's Manliness, the work of Professor Waller Newell reclaims these traditions. Francis Fukuyama wrote of Newell's anthology that What Is A Man?violates all of the norms of political correctness by reminding us that men have specific virtues – virtues that are neither the watered-down qualities of niceness and compassion, nor aimless and violent aggression. This rich anthology will be an eye-opener for many, but particularly for the young men who are most confused about how they are to act in life.” Professor Newell describes his The Code of a Man as "a broad and open-minded, but at the same time morally rigorous, exploration of the manly virtues drawn from the speculative, historical, and literary treasures." The answer to the current agony of manliness, according to Newell, "is to return neither to a primordial Mother Goddess nor to primeval fantasies of male shamanism and campfire dances.Responsible and satisfying friendships between men an women can only be lost in the pursuit of a sectarian and rejectionist 'gender identity.' Indeed, we need to aim for the highest fulfillment of which all people are capable-- moral and intellectual virtues that are the same for men and women at their peaks-- while recognizing the diverse qualities that men and women contribute to this human endeavor for excellence. We need a sympathetic re-engagement with traditional teachings that stress that while men and women share a capacity for the same highest virtues, their passions, temperaments, and sentiments can differ, resulting in different paths to those common pinnacles." Professor Newell's lecture will launch a sustained conversation among citizens of Hamilton-- women and men-- about manliness properly understood. This important conversation will be sponsored and hosted by the Alexander Hamilton Institute and the AHI Undergraduate Fellows along with Libertas Americana Project and the Dean of Faculty's Office, Hamilton College.

AHI Senior Fellow Lee Cheek Edits Book on Conservative Thinker

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:48:46 +0000

AHI Senior Fellow Lee Cheek has edited and provided a new critical introduction for a few edition of Francis Graham Wilson's A Theory of Public Opinion, to be published in early 2011 by Transaction Books at Rutgers University. With extraordinary understanding, this book traces the emergence of the ideas and institutions that evolved to give people mastery over their own destiny through the force of public opinion. The Greek belief in citizen participation is shown as the ground upon which the idea of public opinion began and upon which it grew. A fascinating description follows of the gradual development of the channels necessary before the upward flow of public opinion to those governing became possible. For Wilson, public opinion is always an “orderly force,” contributing to social and political life. According to Cheek, the book “appraises the influence of modern psychology, with its techniques and ideas, and the slow and at first scarcely recognized appearance of the methodologies that would enable people not only to measure the opinions of others, but to mold them as well. He examines the relation of the theory of public opinion to the intellectuals, the middle class, and the various revolutionary and proletarian movements of the modern era. He also considers the position of ordinary people, and the circumstances in which the individual may refuse to follow the opinions of the experts are succinctly and movingly analyzed.” This study is a historical and philosophical evaluation of a concept that has played a decisive part in history and whose overwhelming force is today most peculiarly underestimated. The author's penetrating insight brings an understanding that is invaluable at a time when public opinion, the very force developed to enable the ruled to restrain their rulers, has become itself controllable and attempts to manipulate it are made by those who would impose their will upon their fellow men Francis Graham Wilson was an eminent professor of political science who served as one of the central figures in the revival of scholarship in American and Latin American political thought during the middle of the twentieth century. He taught at numerous universities, including Stanford University, University of Washington, University of Illinois, and Long Island University. He is best known for establishing a historical theory of public opinion as distinct from the methodology. He is the author of numerous articles and books on public opinion including The American Political Mind, Order and Legitimacy: Political Thought in National Spain, and Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal. H. Lee Cheek, Jr. is also associate vice president for academic affairs and professor of political science at Athens State University. He is the author or editor of numerous works including Order and Legitimacy, Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal, Calhoun and Popular Rule, andConfronting Modernity.

AHI Senior Fellow Daniel J. Mahoney Publishes on Muggeridge

AHIadmin — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 13:56:55 +0000

Daniel J. Mahoney, an AHI Senior Fellow and Chairman and Professor of Political Science at Assumption College, has published an essay on Malcolm Muggeridge, "Rediscovering St. Mugg," in the 13 October issue of The Catholic Thing. Muggeridge, at one time a left-wing reporter for the Guardian, shifted rightward after witnessing firsthand the horrors of Stalinism in the 1930s. His rethinking of the meaning of modern ideologies with their heaven-on-earth designs led him to Christianity and eventually, in 1982, to communion in the Catholic Church. Malcolm went to Moscow," writes Professor Mahoney, "expecting to find 'the green stick,' the fabled this-worldly source of human happiness. Instead he discovered unprecedented tyranny based upon a 'General Idea' that had no place for human fallibility or the liberty and dignity of ordinary human beings.”

Competition for Third Annual Bakwin Fellowship Announced

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:03:43 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the opening of competition for the third annual E. M. Bakwin Fellowship. Mr. Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961), served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. Mr. Bakwin has had a long-standing interest in the history, literature, and art of Western culture. His generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Doctoral and post-doctoral researchers are encouraged to apply. Recipients of the award will reside, free of charge, for one summer month (June or July) in the Jane Fraser Room of the AHI’s headquarters, a historic mansion located in 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. A panel comprised of AHI fellows and trustees will evaluate the applications. Deadline for their receipt is Monday, 18 April 2010; the AHI will announce the award winner on Monday, 2 May 2010. To apply, candidates will need to fill out a fellowship application. It must include a copy of the applicant’s résumé, two letters of reference, and a proposal that should not exceed five double-spaced pages. Proposals should reference the manuscript or rare book collections to be consulted and how precisely they will contribute to the intellectual significance of the project. Area repositories include the Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University; the Oneida County Historical Society; Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University; Special Collections and Archives, Colgate University; Rare Books and Special Collections, Hamilton College. In assessing proposals, evaluators will follow closely those criteria spelled out in the fellowship program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Thus, 1. The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to scholars and general audiences in the humanities. 2. The quality or promise of quality of the applicant's work as an interpreter of the humanities. 3. The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant's clarity of expression. 4. The feasibility of the proposed plan of work, including, when appropriate, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans. 5. The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project. Completed applications should be sent to Robert L. Paquette, Alexander Hamilton Institute, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY, 13323

AHI Fellow Michael Rizzo Wins Teaching Prize

AHIadmin — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 22:50:47 +0000

Michael Rizzo, an AHI Senior Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Rochester, has won Professor of the Year Award as voted by students at the University of Rochester. The University of Rochester Students' Association selects one professor in each academic division for the honor of Professor of the Year. All undergraduate students are eligible to vote for this annual award, which honors professors who demonstrate outstanding teaching skills. Professor Rizzo won the award for the social sciences. Professor Rizzo was graduated in 1996 magna cum laude from Amherst College. He received graduate degrees in economics at Cornell University, an M. A. in 2002 and Ph. D. in 2004. He is the author of “The Unbroken Window,” a website that aims at educating the public in basic economics. As an AHI Senior Fellow, Professor Rizzo leads one of two undergraduate student groups, funded by the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, that are intensively exploring the writings of Friedrich Hayek. “One need to be in a room for only minutes to register Professor Rizzo’s impressive combination of intelligence, charisma, and seriousness of purpose,” said AHI co-founder Robert Paquette. "He is a splendid addition to our list of prize-winning teacher/scholars, and we have ambitious plans to expand his role."

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Celebrate Busy Semester

AHIadmin — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:49:39 +0000

On Sunday, 5 December, the Alexander Hamilton Institute celebrated its Undergraduate Fellows at a holiday party featuring a performance by Special K, a Hamilton College chorale group. More than seventy AHI Undergraduate Fellows participate in the intellectual life of AHI. [caption id="attachment_451" align="aligncenter" width="498" caption="From left to right, Laura Stern, Andre Zakowrotny, Kristina Zambelli, Nathan Burbank, Holly Donaldson"][/caption] Fellows are among the leaders of the Publius Society and the Christopher Dawson Society. Fellows Thomas Cheeseman and Adam Vorcheimer helped launch a reading group about Friedrich Hayek, which convened recently with its counterpart at the University of Rochester for a meeting with Duke University Professor Bruce Caldwell, author of Hayek’s Challenge (University of Chicago Press, 2004). Other fellows participate in AHI’s American Scripture program, headed by resident fellow Christopher Hill, a prize-winning teacher and author. Professor Hill teaches a course, open to the public and free of charge, that combines students, local educators, professionals, and other citizens in reading and discussing core documents in American history. This spring, two AHI undergraduate fellows will present papers at a conference on the American polity sponsored by Princeton’s James Madison Program and Georgetown’s Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy. All AHI undergraduate fellows are encouraged during their college career to make public presentations about their ideas and academic research. The campus representatives of AHI Undergraduate Fellows are Maggie Goulder ’13 and Kayla Safran ‘13

AHI Establishes Mohawk Valley Monthly Book Club

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:52:47 +0000

Two high school teachers, Lou Parrotta of Proctor High School and Peter Anderson of New Hartford High School, attended the AHI's inaugural adult education course, "The Making of American Scripture." They have taken a lead role in forming the Mohawk Valley Monthly Book Club. Beginning on the evening of Monday, 28 February, fom 6:30 to 8:30 pm, the AHI will sponsor a reading club devoted to serious works of non-fiction. Mr. Parrotta and Mr. Anderson will serve as discussion leaders. Each meeting will include a guest appearance by a college professor or other scholar who is a specialist in the field. Books will be provided free of charge by the AHI. Twenty seats are available on a first come, first serve basis. Those interested should contact Lou or Peter at lfparrotta@aol.com and panderso@nhart.org ,respectively. "The AHI could not be more pleased with this initiative from two of the area's best high school teachers," said Robert Paquette, co-founder of the AHI. "We saw the worth of both Lou and Peter at the AHI's 'American Scripture' course, and with their help the AHI will broaden its outreach to regional high schools." Refreshments will be served SCHEDULE February 28, 2011: Gordon S. Wood, Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different(Penguin 2007), lead discussant, Professor Douglas Ambrose, Hamilton College March 29, 2011: Garry Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America (Simon & Schuster, 2006), lead discussant, Professor Robert Paquette, Co-founder Alexander Hamilton Institute. April 26, 2011: Roger Kimball, The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art (Encounter 2005), lead discussant, Professor Stephen Goldberg, Hamilton College May 24, 2011: James Piereson, Camelot & the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism(Encounter 2009), lead discussant Professor Chris Hill, Resident Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute

AHI Announces Series on Entrepreneurship for 2011-2012

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:26:48 +0000

Wilhelm Röpke, the great architect of West Germany's post-World War II economic recovery, understood better than most the cultural endowment required for the long-term maintenance of a free-market system. "[A] sense of justice, honesty, fairness, chivalry, moderation, public spirit, respect for human dignity, firm ethical norms—all of these are things which people must possess before they go to market and compete with each other. These are the indispensable supports which preserve both market and competition from degeneration." During the 2011-2012 academic year, the AHI, thanks to a major grant from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation, will devote its programming to the links between limited government, private property, free markets, and personal freedom. A featured part of that programming will be the meaning of entrepreneurship. One initiative will be to create clusters of AHI undergraduate fellows at different locations to form reading groups. They will study intensively writings on entrepreneurship by such seminal thinkers as Joseph Schumpeter and Hernando De Soto. The series will emphasize both theory and experience. The AHI will book a train of successful businessmen to speak to students about the practical difficulties in the United States and elsewhere of being an entrepreneur given the burgeoning growth of the regulatory state. "We want to encourage young entrepreneurs," observed AHI co-founder Robert Paquette, "and at the same time make them mindful of the statist hurdles, many of them needless, that threaten private property, impede economic growth, and stifle individual prosperity to the detriment of all. As the economic unpleasantness of 2008--particularly the AIG mess--demonstrated, there is a meaningful difference that needs to be drawn between entrepreneurs and rent-seekers, between those who own the means of production and those who seek to control it. The former speaks to the best values of a capitalist system; the latter corrupts it and threatens vital organs."

AHI Begins 'The Making of American Scripture: Part II'

AHIadmin — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:38:01 +0000

"The Making of American Scripture: Course II" began to a packed house on Wednesday evening, 19 January, in the Westlake Media Center at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Professor Christopher Hill, resident fellow at the AHI and a prizewinning teacher and author, heads the course that also includes contributions from Professors Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette, co-founders of the AHI. "The Making of American Scripture" focuses on the evolving historical relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution from the time of the founding of the United States to the end of the Civil War. Attendants will have to digest food from a healthy list of primary sources that begins with key documents from English history. Those who have signed up for the course include Hamilton College undergraduates, lawyers, business executives, veterans, institutional leaders, and high-school teachers. They will join with students in Professor Paquette's seminar in "The History of the Early Republic" for collaborative educational enhancements such as attendance 29 March at the presentation by Dr. Bruce Cole, President and CEO of the American Revolution Center in Philadelphia, on "The American Revolution: Who Cares?" "The Making of American Scripture" is funded by the VERITAS Fund for Higher Education Reform. The Thomas W. Smith Foundation will be funding Professor Hill's course in 2011-2012 on the Western legal tradition. For information contact Robert L. Paquette at bob@theahi.org.

Slavery and Southern History

AHIadmin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:50:04 +0000

View full schedule.

Preston Presents on 'Southern Intellectuals in the American Old South'

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:27:20 +0000

Will Preston, former president of the Hamilton Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, presented a public lecture on his senior thesis: "A Lost Cause: Intellectuals in the American South." The presentation took place at 8 pm, Monday 28 February, in the Banquet Room of the Alexander Hamilton Institute. About forty students and adults attended, including Mr. Preston's parents David and Shelley. American historians have often written as if the antebellum South had no intelligentsia worthy of respect or that the very idea of an antebellum "southern intelligentsia" is an oxymoron. Mr. Preston countered such flaccid stereotyping by discussing the southern critique of modernity, its dislike of abstractions and rationalism, and its concern about the excesses of freedom and individualism. In his talk, Mr. Preston ranged from John Locke to John Calhoun to Sarah Gayle. By 1860, many southern intellectuals, in defending slavery as a positive good, had come to reject entirely the concept of pre-social rights and raised important questions about the dangers of radical individualism in the antebellum North and the potential there for class warfare in a world where David Ricardo's iron law of wages held sway for slaveholders and non-slaveholders alike. Samuel Eells founded the ADP Fraternity as a literary society at Hamilton College in 1832. ADP has a significant intellectual tradition of its own. The AHI has teamed up with the Hamilton chapter so that current members of the fraternity can showcase their research and speaking skills by presenting a series of public lectures on topics consonant with the mission of the AHI.

Peter Wood, President of the National Association of Scholars, to Lecture on Diversity, 4 March

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:31:18 +0000

Peter Wood, President of the National Association of Scholars, will deliver a lecture on his book, Diversity: The Invention of a Concept (Encounter Books, 2004). His lecture will be held at 4:15 pm in the Kennedy Auditorium, Hamilton College Science Center at 4:15 pm. The lecture will be followed by a book signing at the Alexander Hamilton Institute at 6 pm. Professor Woods appearance continues a partnership between the NAS and the AHI in addressing issues of importance to higher educational reform. Professor Wood received a Ph. D. in anthropology from the University of Rochester in 1987. Before becoming president of NAS, he held administrative posts at Boston University and King's College in New York City. The lecture will be open to the public. "Diversity is America’s newest cultural ideal. Corporations alter their recruitment and hiring policy in the name of a diverse workforce. Universities institute new admissions rules in the name of a diverse student body. What its proponents have in mind when they cite the compelling importance of diversity, Peter Wood argues in this elegant work, is not the dictionary meaning of the word—variety and multiplicity—but rather a set of prescribed numerical outcomes in terms of racial and ethnic makeup. Writing with wit and erudition, Wood has undertaken in this entertaining book nothing less than the biography of a concept. Drawing on his experience as a social scientist, he traces the birth and evolution of “diversity.” He shows how diversity sprawls across politics, law, education, business, entertainment, personal aspiration, religion, and the arts, as an encompassing claim about human identity. It asserts the principle that people are, above all else, members of social groups and products of the historical experiences of those groups. In this sense, Wood shows, diversity is profoundly anti-individualist and at odds with America’s older ideals of liberty and equality. Wood warns that as a political ideology, diversity undercuts America’s long effort to overcome racial division. He shows how the ideology of diversity has propelled the Neo-racialists on the political Right as well as those on the multi-culturalist Left. But even if the diversity movement did not exacerbate racial and social division, he believes that it would be a questionable cultural ideal. As Wood points out, “Our liberty and our equality demand that we hold one another to common standards and that we reject all hierarchy based on heredity—even the hierarchy that comes about when we grant present privileges to make up for past privileges denied.”

National Security Expert James S. Robbins to Lecture on West Point

AHIadmin — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:02:27 +0000

James S. Robbins, Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs at the Washington Times, will deliver a lecture on "West Point's Goats Go to War" at 4:15 pm, 10 March, in Room 127 (Red Pit), Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. Dr. Robbins received his Ph. D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He has taught at The Fletcher School, Boston University, Marine Corps University, and the National Defense University. He serves as Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council and on the Advisory Board of the National Civil War Museum. In addition to Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett and the Goats of West Point (Encounter Books, 2006), Dr. Robbins has published This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive (Encounter Books, 2010) What is a Goat? He was the person at West Point who graduated last in his class. George Pickett and George Armstrong Custer number among the most famous of West Point's Goats. Dr. Robbins lecture will focus on West Point culture and the meaning of soldiering during the Civil War. Open to the public. A reception and book signing, beginning at 6 pm at the Alexander Hamilton Institute will follow Dr. Robbins lecture.

Publius Meeting on Earmarks, Monday, 28 February, 7 PM, at AHI

AHIadmin — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:25:28 +0000

The Publius Society, a diverse group of students, faculty, and citizens, invites you to a lively discussion about congressional spending earmarks on Monday evening, 28 February, at 7 pm in the main dining room of the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Fair, balanced, and unafraid, Publius suggests these different points of view to spark the discussion. Attendants are asked to examine the following relevant articles: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=getting_over_earmarks http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/st_20090314_4955.php http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/253028/earmark-myths-and-realities-sen-tom-coburn http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/earmarks-are-the-gateway-drug-to-big-government-addiction/ To rsvp and see more information about the event, go to the event on Facebook group of the Alexander Hamilton Institute: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=25554939255

Lecture by Stephen Moore at Colgate University, 2 March, 4:30 PM

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:30:24 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Cheeseman and Bishop to Present at Princeton, 26 March

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:18:49 +0000

Event: The Fourth Annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference on the American Polity Host: The James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University Cosponsors: The Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy, Georgetown University and The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, Boston College AHI Undergraduate fellows Thomas Cheeseman and Noah Bishop have been chosen to present papers at this prestigious annual conference for undergraduates. Mr. Cheeseman, from Chardon, Ohio, a major in mathematics and economics, will deliver on "The Natural Rights Dilemma: Organic Order and the Constructivist Fallacy"; Mr. Bishop, from Summit, New Jersey, a major in economics and philosophy, will present on "Rational Belief in the Existence of God" Event Description: This conference features noteworthy undergraduate research relevant to the shared intellectual missions of the sponsoring programs. Paper submissions should concern the principles and practice of American political life. We are not seeking papers from a particular disciplinary perspective, but rather encourage a variety of approaches, including philosophical and moral, historical, legal and constitutional, and religious and cultural inquiries. Schedule: Non-Princeton students should arrive on Friday evening, March 25. On-campus accommodations will be provided for all visiting students on Friday and Saturday nights. On Saturday, a series of three discussion panels will take place, beginning at 9:00 a.m. At each panel, three students will present their papers for approximately 20 minutes each. They will receive comments from a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow, and then a question and answer session will follow. Breakfast and dinner will be provided on Saturday (lunch is on your own) with a keynote address from a special guest speaker at the dinner. The conference will conclude on Saturday evening around 8:00 p.m.

James Madison Program and AHI Sponsor Genovese Conference

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:07:09 +0000

View full information.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Steven Pet Receives Gilder-Lehrman Fellowship

AHIadmin — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:09:31 +0000

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has chosen AHI undergraduate fellow Steven Pet as one of thirty recipients nationwide of a National Scholars award to attend a summer seminar in June of this year in New York City. Mr. Pet, a resident of Milford, Connecticut, and major in history at Hamilton College, will attend lectures by leading historians and enter into conversations with them about history as both subject and career. The program will include visits to major archives, museums, and libraries in and around the city. "Steve Pet is an exemplary young man who combines intellectual gifts with the passion to undertake hard work and the willingness to improve himself by responding to the criticisms of his professors," said AHI co-founder Robert Paquette. "Those who have had him in class will not be surprised by this award." Mr. Pet is advised at Hamilton College by AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose. The AHI family congratulates Mr. Pet on his achievement. He will be recognized at the AHI's annual colloquium in April at the Turning Stone Resort.

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Cheeseman and Bishop Recognized at Princeton Conference

AHIadmin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:32:33 +0000

The AHI sponsored the appearance on Saturday, 25 March, of undergraduate fellows Noah Bishop and Thomas Cheeseman at The Fourth Annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference at Princeton University. The James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions sponsors this prestigious conference annually, this year in collaboration with the Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy, Georgetown University, and the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, Boston College. Students from Princeton University, Boston College, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Hamilton College participated. Mr. Cheeseman and Mr. Bishop presented on the second of three panels "Philosophical Foundations of American Ideals and Institutions" with Katherine Bermingham of Georgetown University. Mr. Cheeseman presented on "The Natural Rights Dilemma: Organic Order and the Constructivist Fallacy"; Mr. Bishop on "Rational Belief in the Existence of God." Sherif Girgis, Princeton University, and Matthew O’Brien, University of Texas at Austin served as respondents. Mr. Bishop's and Mr. Cheeseman's performances received high praise. Said AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose: "Messrs. Bishop and Cheeseman distinguished themselves with their confidence, poise, and intelligence. Their papers were nuanced and insightful, and they responded thoughtfully and respectfully to the questions that the audience posed to them. They brought great honor to Hamilton College and to the AHI. I was enormously proud of them." Indeed, on 30 March Dr. Bradford P. Wilson, Executive Director of the James Madison Program, communicated to the AHI the following: "I wish to thank you, Professor Ambrose, and the [Alexander] Hamilton Institute for your participation in the 4th Annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference last weekend at Princeton University. I especially wish to thank your students, Noah Bishop and Thomas Cheeseman, for their superb presentations of their first-rate scholarship. I can imagine how proud you must be of these young men, who exemplify the virtues we associate with a liberal education. Their admirable performance at Princeton University has secured a permanent invitation to the [Alexander] Hamilton Institute to recommend its affiliated students as presenters at future Undergraduate Scholars Conferences — one of which, I can hope, will be hosted by the [Alexander] Hamilton Institute." Needless to say, the AHI family thanks Dr. Wilson for this great honor of future collaboration with the Madison Program, the gold standard of programs of its kind, and congratulates Mr. Cheeseman and Mr. Bishop as expressions of excellence in a liberal arts education.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Brindle Receives Koch Position

AHIadmin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:30:59 +0000

Max Brindle, an AHI Undergraduate Fellow, has received a position in the Associate Program of the Charles G. Koch Foundation in Washington, D. C. Max, from Alexandria, Virginia, is a senior government major at Hamilton College. According to the Koch Foundation website, "The Koch Associate Program is a challenging job opportunity in DC for professionals who are passionate about free-market ideas, and want to become more effective at advancing liberty throughout their careers. The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation's aim is to develop the capabilities of the Associates through the program by providing management training, professional development, and the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their career potential. Associates come from a wide range of backgrounds from recent college graduates to PhDs, former employees of the public and private sectors, and students of subjects from economics to communications. What distinguishes the Associates is the drive to effectively advance the ideas of liberty throughout their careers." Max Brindle is "an active member of the undergraduate fellows of the Alexander Hamilton Institute," observed AHI co-founder James Bradfield. "I know Max and his work well. He works industriously (and successfully!) to acquire sophisticated knowledge of whatever he is studying, and he speaks and writes well. He also has good insights into the current political situation in the nation." "Max Brindle has become something of a fixture at the AHI since its inception in 2007," observed AHI director Robert Paquette. "He received a prize for a paper on property rights; he participates in the AHI's Hayek group; he undertook an independent study, "The Making of American Scripture," based on a colloquium the AHI organized in 2010. He has toughness, intelligence, and spirit--entrepreneurial spirit. The AHI could not be more pleased with this news."

Cobus van der Ven Presents on Speech Codes

AHIadmin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:58:21 +0000

Cobus van der Ven, an AHI undergraduate fellow, graduating senior, math major, and member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity of Hamilton College, will present "A Philosophical Defense of a Moderate College Speech Code." His presentation will take place on 19 April at 7:30 in the Banquet Room of the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Each year the AHI hosts select graduates of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity to present public lectures on themes consonant with the mission of the AHI. Mr. van der Ven's lecture is open to the public; refreshments will be served.

Mary Grabar Awarded Third Annual Bakwin Fellowship

AHIadmin — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:13:18 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute has awarded the third annual Bakwin Fellowship to Mary Grabar, an instructor in English at Emory University. Dr. Grabar received her Ph. D. in English in 2002 from the University of Georgia. The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. The fellowship honors E. M. (Pete) Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961). Mr. Bakwin served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. A long-standing student of Western culture, his generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. Dr. Grabar will spend July at the AHI researching George Samuel Schuyler (1895-1977), an African-American journalist who moved intellectually from socialism in the 1920s to conservatism during the 1950s. When contacted by the AHI about the award, Dr. Grabar expressed her delight "to have the opportunity to research and write about George Schuyler, the freedom-loving, anti-communist journalist and fiction writer whose voice has been muffled. His singular perspective deserves respectful study and dissemination. As a Bakwin Fellow, I hope to add to the discussion about American history and letters, particularly in the area of civil rights. I am honored by the invitation and look forward to my month engaged in exciting scholarship among the AHI family."

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson Awarded Internship

AHIadmin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:08:10 +0000

Hamilton College has awarded AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson from Austin, Texas, the Katharine Eckman '09 Internship for 2011. The internship was established in memory of Katharine C. Eckman (Hamilton Class '09) and provides a generous summer stipend for a student interested in advancing his or her interest in politics, government, and public policy. The stipend will allow Ms. Johnson, a major in both economics and the Classics, to intern at the AHI, where she will help develop programming for 2011-12 on limited government. She will also prepare to serve as a student leader of a group independent study devoted to the work of Bertrand de Jouvenel, one of the great anti-totalitarian thinkers of the twentieth century. The AHI congratulates Ms. Johnson on receiving this award and thanks Richard and Susan Eckman, parents of Katharine, for their fortitude and grace in making this educational opportunity available.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Steven Pet Receives Ethics Award

AHIadmin — Sun, 08 May 2011 14:47:23 +0000

Steven Pet, an AHI Undergraduate Fellow, has received the Robert G. Bottoms Award from DePauw University, Greencastle Indiana, for "best analytical essay" at the Fourth Annual Undergraduate Ethics Symposium. Mr. Pet, a history major at Hamilton College from Milford Connecticut, is advised by AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose. According to the Depauw University press release, "Twenty-five student scholars representing 19 colleges – selected from among a total of 76 student submissions from 51 colleges – participated in the symposium, which focused on the theme of personal morality. Pet’s paper was titled “Spreading the Alarm: The Appeal and Importance of Secular Arguments Against Human Germline Enhancement.” The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics, located in the DePauw University Nature Park, is a place for rigorous inquiry and probing discourse about the most important ethical questions of the day, encouraging students to explore the moral challenges of the 21st century. The Annual Undergraduate Ethics Symposium is designed to encourage interdisciplinary scholarship and artistic work by undergraduate students. This is the first year that the award was named in honor of Robert G. Bottoms, the first director of The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics. Bottoms, president of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and president emeritus of DePauw University, attended the symposium and delivered the keynote address." Mr. Pet had previously received the award of a summer internship at the Gilder Lehrman Institute in New York City. The AHI family congratulates Mr. Pet on his outstanding performance in pursuit of a genuine liberal arts education.

AHI Receieves Apgar Foundation Grant to Support AHI-WEST

AHIadmin — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:14:22 +0000

At the AHI's April Colloquium, Robert Paquette announced the creation in Rochester, New York, of the first branching of the AHI: AHI-WEST. Professor Michael Rizzo, a senior fellow of the AHI and an economist at the University of Rochester, will direct AHI-WEST. The AHI is pleased to announce that the Apgar Foundation, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, has awarded the AHI a major grant to support the programmatic activities of AHI-WEST for the forthcoming academic year. "Professor Rizzo brings an uncommon constellation of talents to the AHI," AHI co-founder Robert Paquette observed." "He has won multiple teaching prizes at the University of Rochester; he has committed himself to redressing the economic illiteracy among high school and college students, and, above all, he stands committed to the principles of freedom established by the founders of this country." Indeed, the grant proposal, jointly authored by Professor Rizzo and Professor Paquette, underscored how the AHI had "been inspired and impressed by the emergence of freedom supporting organizations over the previous decade. This 'bottom-up' emergence lends credence to the idea that 'ideas matter' and that there is no single model that is understood to move societies in the direction of liberty--hence the continued importance of new organizations, entrepreneurial organizations, and a dedication to the ideas of liberty. The success of modern corporatism, nanny-statism, and destructive welfare statism are examples of the power that ideas have to sway us in destructive ways." “We are thankful for, and inspired by, the vision of the APGAR Foundation to support undergraduate education in the classical liberal tradition," said Professor Rizzo. "Our students are already enthusiastically planning programming events to support our five core initiatives: dedicated reading groups; guest speaker series; our ELFS program; undergraduate research program; and our series of 'micro-programming' events. APGAR’s support is vital both for the development of such programming and for enabling our students to share what they are learning with the world outside of the AHI-West.” Some of the possible topics to be engaged by AHI-WEST and University of Rochester students include Public Choice; Social Reforms: Anarchy and Minarchy in the Past and Future; an in-depth study of The Great Depression; the Founding Fathers; History of Monopoly and Corporatism; Financial Regulation; Property Rights; An Examination of Marxism and its Criticisms; the works of Joseph Schumpeter; Economics 2.0 (How Entrepreneurial Dynamics Changes the Textbook view of Economic Activity); George Stigler; Ronald Coase, Harold Demsetz and Armen Alchian; Austrian economics; The Ethical Foundations of Economics; and other topics such as case studies in Environmental Economics and Policy. The AHI congratulates Professor Rizzo on his achievements and looks forward to the flowering under his care of the AHI's first branch.

AHI's Third Annual Summer Conferene, June 27-28, to Feature Paul Cantor

AHIadmin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:31:48 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute will hold its Third Annual Summer Conference June 27-28. Paul Cantor, Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English at the University of Virginia, will direct five sessions on the theme of "Economic Liberty and Literature in the plays of William Shakespeare and Benjamin Jonson." Professor Cantor is not only an internationally known authority on Shakespeare but an intellectual of great range and erudition. He was Ludwig von Mises last student and has taught courses in political theory with Harvey Mansfield of Harvard University. The AHI co-sponsors a summer conference annually with the Department of Political Science at Baylor University. Professor Mary Nichols and Professor David Nichols of Baylor’s Department of Political Science, organize the conference in conjunction with the AHI. Conferees will include professors from colleges and universities across the United States as well as graduate students from Baylor's political science department. At the end of each session members of the audience will be allowed to ask questions of the conferees. The conference is open to the public, although limited seating is available. Several Hamilton undergraduates will be attending. Those interested in attending should contact Professor Robert Paquette, co-founder of the AHI, at bob@theahi.org or 315-859-4410. Schedule Monday June 27 9:30 Breakfast at the Alexander Hamilton Institute 10:45 Welcome and Introduction – Robert Paquette and Mary Nichols Session 1 11:00-12:30 Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe Recommended edition: Signet Classic, ed. Sylvan Barnet (ISBN 0-451-52779-8) 12:30-1:30 Lunch, Alexander Hamilton Institute Session 2 1:30-3:00 The Alchemist, by Ben Jonson Recommended edition: Penguin Classic, Volpone and Other Plays, ed. Michael Jamiesen (ISBN 0-141-44118-6) Session 3 3:30-5:00 (Reading is the same as session 2) 6:30 – Picnic at Hatch Lake, hosted by the Nichols and sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute Tuesday, June 28 9:30 Breakfast at the Alexander Hamilton Institute Session 4 11:00-12:30 The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare Recommended edition: Signet Classic, ed. Kenneth Myrick, (ISBN 0-451-52680-5) 12:30-1:30 Lunch, Alexander Hamilton Institute Session 5 1:30-3:00 (Reading is the same as session 4)

AHI Fellows Contribute to Multi-volume Fox-Genovese Project

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:17:28 +0000

At the time of her death on 2 January 2007, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese ranked as one of the nation's most important and influential scholars and public intellectuals. As the Eleonore Raoul Professor of the Humanities and the founding director of the Institute for Women’s Studies at Emory University, the first Ph.D. granting program in Women's Studies in the United States, Fox-Genovese--Betsey as most called her--taught and mentored students in an astonishing range of disciplines: history, comparative literature, Women’s Studies, and English. Her scholarship also reflected this remarkable breadth. Her major books examined such diverse topics as the Physiocrats of eighteenth-century France (The Origins of Physiocracy [1976]); black and white women of the Old South (Within the Plantation Household [1988]); contemporary feminism (Feminism Without Illusions [1992]) and Feminism is Not the Story of My Life [1996]); and the place of marriage in historical and contemporary settings (Marriage: The Dream that Refuses to Die [2008]). With her husband, the distinguished historian Eugene D. Genovese, she wrote several volumes that are indispensable for understanding the slave society of the Old South (Fruits of Merchant Capital [1983]; The Mind of the Master Class [2005]; Slavery in White and Black [2008]). These books, profound and influential as they are, represent but a fraction of Fox-Genovese’s scholarly output. She wrote scores of articles and essays that demonstrated both her scholarly brilliance and her deep engagement with and concern for American culture and society. Under the general editorship of David Moltke-Hansen, the University of South Carolina Press has begun publishing a five-volume series, History and Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, that brings together eighty of Fox-Genovese’s articles and essays. The series will consist of five volumes: Volume I, Women Past and Present, and Volume 2, Ghosts and Memories: White and Black Southern Women's Lives and Writings, have just been published. Volume 3, Intersections: History, Culture, Ideology, and Volume 4, Explorations and Commitments: Religion, Faith, and Culture, will appear later this year. Volume 5, Unbought Grace: An Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Reader, which will feature selected pieces from the other four volumes as well as a series of remembrances by scholars influenced by Betsey’s life and work. The AHI is especially proud of its role in this impressive and important publishing event. AHI fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose, who completed her Ph.D. with Fox-Genovese, co-edited Volume 4, and AHI founder and charter fellow Robert Paquette, who also studied with her, co-edited Volume 5. Both O’Connor-Ambrose and Paquette were dear friends of Betsey's, and their efforts on this project were very much labors of love. Betsey’s death robbed us of a prolific and brilliant scholar, a compassionate and forceful advocate of Truth, and a loyal and generous friend. These volumes are an invaluable collection and a fitting tribute to her enduring legacy in American life and letters. For more information on the series and the individual volumes, see the website of the University of South Carolina Press here.

Third Annual AHI Summer Conference Concludes

AHIadmin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:29:00 +0000

Attendants of the third annual AHI Summer Conference, co-sponsored with the Department of Political Science of Baylor University, stand before the entrance of the AHI's headquarters. Professor Paul Cantor (left, second row from the front) led a two-day discussion on the theme of economic liberty and literature, examining texts by Christopher Marlowe, Benjamin Jonson, and William Shakespeare. Paul Cantor with AHI Undergraduate Fellows (l to r) Chip Sinton, Jon Sanford, Marta Johnson, Will Eagan, Thomas Cheeseman, and Resident Fellow Professor Christopher Hill.

Paquette Invited to Koch Conference at Headquarters in Wichita

AHIadmin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:23:44 +0000

What is Market-Based Management? What are its ten guiding principles? AHI co-founder Robert Paquette found out as an invited guest of Koch Industries to the Third Annual Market-Based Management University at Koch headquarters in Wichita, Kansas. During the three-day conference (July 20-22), attendees exchanged views on economics, law, business, and political theory with a range of Koch executives, including Charles Koch. In several sessions, discussion centered on writings by Michael Polanyi and Friedrich Hayek and how in the absence of sufficient knowledge spontaneous orders develop in scientific as well as economic communities, as the most efficient way to solve problems of value creation. As Hayek, citing Alfred Whitehead, pointed out, civilization advances less by conscious planning than by a dynamic of nature, custom, and deliberation, "by extending the number of important operations we can perform without thinking about them." Rationalist stipulation or calculation bred of hubris invariably runs against the problem of inadequate knowledge in an ever changing world and encourages imposed inefficiency as well as government by top-down command. Allowing individuals a personal sphere of freedom based on property rights--the accountability that comes with ownership, internalizing externalities--not only fosters the development of spontaneous orders that more efficiently allocate resources, but provides for a more just and moral order as well, where persons have precepted relations that more clearly define responsibilities and obligations, whether contractual or organizational, to others. Koch Industries understanding of a kind of entrepreneurship with humility investigates the market-based, co-ordinating conventions and symbols that need to be habituated to enhance efficiency without sacrificing the creative freedom needed for organizational vitality over the long haul. Market-based "traditions" do not sacrifice orginality but promote it. "The MBM conference provided me with a more stimulating discussion of business in three days, than I have heard in the academy in three years," said Paquette. "I am grateful to Charles Koch and his team, who were exemplary hosts. The sessions contained lively discussions and debate, creating as a result among the attendants spontaneous orders of their own that may turn into lasting friendships and partnerships."

Christopher Dawson Society Meets 26 September

AHIadmin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:47:59 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute’s Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason will hold its inaugural meeting for the 2011-2012 academic year on Monday, 26 September at 7 PM in the Burke Library of Hamilton College. AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose will lead a special reading group that will meet monthly to discuss C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. Lewis, one of the twentieth-century’s greatest Christian apologists, published this witty, hilarious, and often profound work in 1942. It has entertained and challenged readers ever since. A series of letters from Screwtape, a senior devil, to his nephew Wormwood, an apprentice devil, provides the form that allows Lewis, in his inimitable way, to raise searching questions about the nature of evil, the subtle processes by which the modern world turns people toward “Our Father Below,” and the struggle for faith in a fallen world. The inaugural meeting will focus on the first thirteen Screwtape Letters. Subsequent meetings in October and November will continue the discussion. All are welcome to any or all of the meetings.

Kolodner and Sobotko Awarded Menges Prizes

AHIadmin — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 19:50:56 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute holds annually as the piece de resistance of its thematic programming a major colloquium, named after Carl B. Menges, a businessman and philanthropist who has been a stalwart supporter of the AHI since its inception. Students from various colleges and universities participate in the colloquium, and, indeed, are required to perform written assignments based on the prescribed readings as well as on the often intense conversations that occur between the conferees during six sessions over two days. In years past students from Harvard, the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, Colgate University, Carleton College, Baylor University, Hamilton College, and Princeton University, among others, have participated in this public event. In April 2011 the AHI held the colloquium at the Turning Stone Resort. AHI senior fellow Theodore Eismeier organized the event centered on the theme of "Law, Technology, and American Constitutional Government: Curing the Mischief of Faction in the 21st Century." Each year at the AHI’s annual Constitution Day celebration, the AHI awards prizes that also bear the name of Carl Menges to those students who have excelled in the performance of their assignments as determined by their professors. This year, the AHI is pleased to announce two winners, both from Hamilton College. They are Jeffrey Sobotko (Class of 2014) from Poughkeepsie, New York, and Hillary Kolodner (Class of 2014) from Baltimore, Maryland. In recognition of their achievement, the AHI presented each student with a Kindle Wi-Fi reading device. Congratulations to Jeff and Hillary. Well done.

John Giardino Speaks at Alexander Hamilton Institute on Economic Future of New York State

AHIadmin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:53:59 +0000

On Saturday morning, 24 September, John Giardino, co-founder of the New York Policy Forum, spoke before a large audience of students, parents, and CNY citizens about the economic prospects of Upstate New York. Giardino chronicled the rise and decline of Upstate cities and sketched a program of revival, including a redirection of economic development programs and reasoned public discourse about the science, engineering, and economics of Upstate New York's energy resources. In a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Giardino chronicled the engine of innovation and growth that once drove Upstate New York. He identified the causes of the current malaise and suggested policies for revival, including encouragement of entrepreneurship and the prudent development of New York's shale energy. The independent Alexander Hamilton Institute promotes excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism as these ideas were developed and institutionalized in the United States and within the larger tradition of Western culture. The AHI followed Mr. Giardino's presentation by hosting at its stately headquarters in the Village of Clinton an open house that drew several hundred visitors.

Publius Society Begins 2011-12 with Discussion of the Economy and Banking Reform

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:58:05 +0000

Dr. Erik Filipiak, the first recipient of the AHI's Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship in Political Science, will lead a discussion of banking regulation and reform on Friday, 23 September, at 4PM in the main dining room of the AHI. The meeting is open to the public; refreshments will be served. Attendants are encouraged to read the following in preparation for the discussion: http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~charvey/Media/2008/WSJ_September_22_2008.pdf http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31855.html http://spectator.org/archives/2009/02/06/the-true-origins-of-this-finan http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/magazine/04risk-t.html http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/05/the-quiet-coup/7364/ http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/229635/we-i-didnt-i-deregulate/veronique-de-rugy http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/952aszoe.asp?pg=2 Filipiak received his Ph.D. in Government with concentrations in American Politics and Industrial Organization and Control from Cornell University in May 2011. His dissertation, "The Evolution of Bank Regulation: The Interplay of Regulators and the Regulated," examined the constellation of commercial bank regulation that arose in the U.S. from 1914-1999. While researching and writing his dissertation, Filipiak had the opportunity through the Exchange Scholar Program to spend three years at Yale University. Previously in January 2008, he received an M.A. in Government from Cornell. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hamilton College in May 2002 with a B.A. in Classical Studies and Government. While an undergraduate, he spent a year reading politics, philosophy, and economics (PPE) and ancient history at Wadham College, Oxford. He is currently developing his dissertation into a book and updating it to encompass recent developments in commercial bank regulation, most notably Dodd-Frank.

Alexander Hamilton Institute to Honor James Piereson with Room Dedication on 19 September

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:04:53 +0000

James Piereson, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and President of the William E. Simon Foundation will be honored on September 19 by the Alexander Hamilton Institute during the dinner that precedes its annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. During the summer, the AHI renovated a second-floor room in its headquarters into office space. The room will be dedicated to Dr. Piereson. Professor Caleb Nelson, Emerson G. Spies Distinguished Professor of Law, will follow the award ceremony with a lecture, "The Constitution and the Benthamite Interpretation of the Common Law, at the Hamilton College Chapel at 7:30 PM. "For those interested in the reform of higher education, Jim Piereson speaks as a mellifluous voice of wisdom," said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. "As executive director and trustee of the John M. Olin Foundation from 1985 to 2005, he contributed to the production of now seminal scholarship in law, economics, and political science. To me, his writings in such journals as Commentary, The New Criterion, and the National Interest on the degradation of higher education recalls Edmund Burke's prescience about the direction of the French Revolution. When the AHI was like a fawn trying to hoist up to take a few steps, Jim Piereson arrived to extend a hand. We at the AHI are deeply grateful for his support. The bookshelves in the James Piereson Room will be stocked, appropriately enough, with volumes from the Library of Liberty. We honor a scholar, a cultural warrior, and a man of honor."

Mohawk Valley Monthly Book Club Readies for 2011-2012

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:07:56 +0000

Biography and economics will be the two major genres engaged by participants in the Mohawk Valley Monthly Book Club as it prepares for its first meeting in late September. In February 2011, two high school teachers, Lou Parrotta of Proctor High School and Peter Anderson of New Hartford High School, joined with the Alexander Hamilton Institute to found the book club. Mr. Parrotta and Mr. Anderson organize monthly gatherings, which are designed to serve the needs and interests of area high school teachers. Each meeting includes a guest appearance by a college professor or other scholar who is a specialist in the subject of the assigned book. For 2011-2012, participants will read the following books: 1. Alexander Hamilton by Richard Brookhiser (September) 2. Giants by John Stauffer (October) 3. And Gently He Shall Lead Them: Robert Parris Moses and Civil Rights in Mississippi By Eric Burner (Early December) 4. Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt (January) 5. Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power by John Steele Gordon(first half) (February) 6. Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power by John Steele Gordon (second half) (March) 7. The Slavery Debates, 1952-1990: A Retrospective by Robert William Fogel (April) 8. More Work for Mother by Ruth Schwartz Cowan (May) Books are provided free of charge by the AHI. Twenty seats are available on a first come, first serve basis. Those interested should contact Lou or Peter at lfparrotta@aol.com and panderso@nhart.org.

Edmund Burke Association to Sponsor Series on Bertrand de Jouvenel

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:09:57 +0000

Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903-1987) ranks as one of the most important--and understudied--political thinkers of the twentieth century. In an age of specialization, the breadth of genius can bring neglect. A French intellectual who was one of the charter members of the Mont Pelerin society, Jouvenel possessed a staggering range of erudition. His magnum opus consists of a trilogy: On Power (1945), Sovereignty (1955), and The Pure Theory of Politics (1963). These volumes (more than 1100 pages collectively) range widely over Western history, philosophy, and political theory from antiquity to modernity. Jouvenel's scholarship combines a powerful critique of radical individualism, social contractarianism, and of modern utopian illusions about progress with deep reflections on the origins of totalitarianism and the meaning of justice and the common good. Participants in the Betrand de Jouvenel group will read Jouvenel's trilogy cover-to-cover. In December 2007, the Alexander Hamilton Institute inaugurated the Edmund Burke Association (EBA). Its mission: the intensive exploration of political thought and political theory related to Western civilization and to the development of American ideals and institutions. The EBA opened its doors to Hamilton College undergraduates interested in a free, frank, and civil exchange of ideas. During the fall semster 2011, the EBA will sponsor a series devoted to the study of Betrand de Jouvenel. Guest speakers will include Kevin Honeycutt, Sweet Briar College; Brian Anderson, The Manhattan Institute; Dan Mahoney, Assumption College; and Annelien De Dijn, University of Amsterdam. Details of their appearance will be forthcoming. The Bertrand de Jouvenel series forms part of the Alexander Hamilton Institute's 2011-2012 programming on the idea and institution of limited government.

Attorney Marc Elias to Serve As Visiting Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:11:31 +0000

Marc Elias, Firmwide Chair of Political Law at Perkins Coie in Washington D. C. will serve as a visiting fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute during the fall semester. During that time, he will be teaching a class "Modern Campaigns & Elections" for the Department of Government at Hamilton College. Mr. Elias a 1990 graduate of Hamilton College obtained his J.D. from Duke University in 1993. As an undergraduate at Hamilton College, Marc took classes from AHI Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier and AHI Co-founder Robert Paquette. "I am delighted that Marc can stay with us for a semester," said Paquette. I have wonderful memories of Marc in the front row of my history class, relentlessly peppering me with good questions. I have always thought of Marc as a college professor at heart. AHI undergraduate fellows and students at Hamilton College will profit handsomely from his wisdom and experience ." "One of a handful of the best and brightest students I have taught at Hamilton College, added Ted Eismeier. "Marc is at the very top of the profession of political law. He is also a gifted teacher whose experience informs his thoughtful analysis of democratic theory and practice. The AHI and Hamilton College are very fortunate to have his talents this fall."

Alexander Hamilton Institute Fellow Chris Hill Offers Course on the Western Legal Heritage

AHIadmin — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:13:03 +0000

What is “Justice?” Has our conception of it changed over time, or has it remained constant as societies and governments have changed around it? Is law purely man-made, or does it have a moral component external to ourselves? Is all morality changeable? Has the idea of liberty always been a part of justice? Dr. Chris Hill, a prize-winning teacher and author, will be addressing these and other questions in a course “Law, Liberty and Western History” to be offered at the Alexander Hamilton Institute as part of its continuing education series. The course is free and open to the public. Classes will meet at the AHI in the Westlake Media Center from 6:00 to 8:30 on Tuesday evening, beginning on 6 September. Refreshments will be provided. Seating is limited. Citizens who would like to join the class, should email Dr. Hill at chill@theahi.org or call 315-381-3335. [UPDATE 8/27: FALL CLASS FILLED] The course will provide an engaging narrative of the history of people and their law from the time of Hammurabi to around 1500. It will look at the way that societies from the ancient Near East, to the Hebrews and the Romans, to the feudal states and burgeoning nations of Europe, have worked out their relations to law as they have worked out their relations to each other. The course will tie into another course to be offered in the spring, examining the English common law and its relationship to the American idea of freedom.

Harlan Calkins Joins Alexander Hamilton Institute’s Board of Directors

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:16:36 +0000

Mr. Calkins was graduated from Hamilton College in 1954 with a BA as a chemistry major. He is the chairman and CEO of Rochester Midland Corporation, a leading supplier in North America of industrial cleaners and other chemical products. Mr. Calkins serves on the boards of numerous business and philanthropic organizations, including Security Trust, Highland Hospital, the Al Sigl Foundation, and Rochester Telephone, all in Rochester, New York as well as Norstar Bank, in Buffalo, New York; and Malden Trust, in Malden, Massachusetts. At Hamilton College he was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity and DT, Was Los, and Pentagon societies. He co-captained the soccer and baseball teams. After graduation, he worked two summers for the Pittsburgh Baseball Corporation. In 1956-1957, he served in the United States Army in counter-intelligence while stationed in Japan. In 2010, Mr. Calkins was inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame. “I am pleased to welcome Harlan to the AHI Board of Directors,” said AHI President Richard Erlanger. “His extensive financial /management background and experience will certainly benefit all of our operations and resolution of strategy issues." "Harlan 'Dinney' Calkins is a successful, prominent member of the Rochester, N.Y. community," added AHI Director Carl Menges. "He is the CEO of an important manufacturing company and an active participant in the city's cultural and civic affairs. As an undergraduate colleague at Hamilton in the early1950s, I knew him as a motivated student and athlete and a highly respected leader on the campus. Well known and well liked, he will contribute effectively to the affairs of the AHI."

Alexander Hamilton Institute to Honor Ted Eismeier with Fellowship

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:02:18 +0000

Professor Theodore J. Eismeier, Professor of Government at Hamilton College, has announced his retirement in 2012 after more than thirty years of service to the College. During that period, he has touched the lives of hundreds of undergraduates, many of whom, as alumni, fondly refer to themselves as "Tedheads." "As a Senior Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute," said Robert Paquette, "Ted contributed so much, early on, that he deserves to be called co-founder. We have plans for Ted, and he will continue his association with the AHI in a variety of creative endeavors." The Publius Society and the AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program were Ted's creations. He organized and directed the AHI's Fourth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, “Law, Technology, and American Constitutional Government: Curing the Mischiefs of Faction in the 21st Century,” which featured Marc Elias, one of this country's most prominent attorneys and an unabashed "Tedhead." “Professor Eismeier exemplified the best of Hamilton.” observed Mr. Elias, “He expected the best of his students and knew how to help them achieve it. As I look back at my education, including four years at Hamilton and three years at Duke, no one stands out as more important to my education or as a better professor than Ted Eismeier. It is impossible to overstate what Ted Eismeier has meant to a generation of Hamilton students. I speak for literally hundreds of alumni when I say that we wouldn't be where we are today without his teaching and mentoring." AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield, who also has announced his retirement from Hamilton in 2012, offered this: "Ted initiated many of the programs now offered by the AHI. My favorite is the undergraduate fellows program because that program has encouraged a large number of students to take initiatives in creating programs of their own. In the numerous discourtesies and obstructionism conducted by the College toward the AHI, including several toward Ted personally, he always took the high road and counseled us to do the same, thereby setting a standard by which we can all benefit." In honor of Professor Eismeier's distinguished service to higher education and the AHI, we proudly announce the creation of the Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship in Political Science. Erik Filipiak, a "Tedhead" and recent Ph. D. in political science from Cornell University, will receive the first award. Fundraising will begin immediately to put the award in 2012 on an annual competitive basis. Details forthcoming.

Alexander Hamilton Institute Eckman Fellow Completes Work

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:06:39 +0000

During the spring semester, Hamilton College awarded AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson from Austin, Texas, the Katharine Eckman '09 Internship. The internship, established in memory of Katharine C. Eckman (Hamilton Class '09), provides a generous summer stipend for a student interested in politics, government, and public policy. Ms. Johnson, an economics major at Hamilton College, recently concluded her internship, which she used primarily to help the AHI in planning future programming centered on the theme of “limited government” for the 2011-2012 academic year. In particular, she has been preparing to lead a group independent study on Bertrand de Jouvenel, a twentieth century French political theorist who ranks as one of the great anti-totalitarian thinkers of the twentieth century. A charter member of the Mont Pelerin society, Jouvenel possessed a remarkable range of erudition. His magnum opus consists of a trilogy: On Power (1945), Sovereignty (1955), and The Pure Theory of Politics (1963). These volumes (more than 1100 pages collectively) range widely over Western history, philosophy, and political theory from antiquity to modernity. Jouvenel's scholarship combines a powerful critique of radical individualism, social contractarianism, and of modern utopian illusions about progress with deep reflections on the origins of totalitarianism and the meaning of justice and the common good. During her internship, Ms. Johnson read Jouvenel’s trilogy and planned themes and assignments for the group independent study. Ms. Johnson also opened communication with AHI senior fellow Daniel Mahoney of Assumption College, who will be a featured speaker in the class. Dr. Mahoney is the author of the only English-language biography of Jouvenel. During the internship, Ms. Johnson also had the opportunity to participate in the AHI’s annual Summer Conference. She performed logistical work for the conference and other AHI events; her tasks ranged from conversing with visiting scholars, to operating the AHI’s on-site bookstore, to emergency repair of a pair of collapsed drapes. Before returning to her home town of Austin, Texas, Ms. Johnson received from Professors Doug Ambrose and Chris Hill, an inscribed copy of volume one of History and Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (University of South Carolina Press, 2010). Until her death in 2007, Professor Fox-Genovese, a prize-winning scholar and conspicuous public intellectual, was a charter member of the AHI’s board of academic advisers.

Alexander Hamilton Institute Undergraduate Fellow Susannah Parkin Interns with Stuttering Foundation

AHIadmin — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:22:12 +0000

[gallery] The Stuttering Foundation (www.stutteringhelp.org), the world’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization that works toward the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering, has awarded a summer internship to Susannah Parkin, an AHI Undergraduate Fellow and psychology major at Hamilton College. "Susannah is an incredibly bright and talented young lady," commented Stuttering Foundation President Jane Fraser. "As a person who stutters herself, Susannah has been of great help to us in reaching out with positive ideas and suggestions to teens and younger children who stutter. She is just plain terrific!" “One of the highlights of my internship,” says Ms. Parkin, “has been working with Jane Fraser [named non-profit executive of the year in 2007]. The history of the Stuttering Foundation is the story of how one man made a lasting difference; that man was Jane’s father, Malcolm Fraser. Although Malcolm Fraser struggled with a significant stutter since childhood, he was a successful businessman, founding the Genuine Auto Parts Company in 1928 with his brother. In 1947, Malcolm Fraser founded the Stuttering Foundation with the hope that he could help others who stutter. Jane Fraser has been president of the Stuttering Foundation since 1981 and has diligently kept her father’s dream alive. Under her presidency the Stuttering Foundation’s endowment has grown, significantly. Many speech-language pathologists have participated in workshops about stuttering treatment, countless press releases have been sent out to raise public awareness about stuttering, and numerous books, videos, and brochures have been published for parents, teachers, speech-language pathologists, and children, teenagers, and adults who stutter. .” Ms. Parkin, who has suffered from the disorder since the age of four, described her work for the foundation: “As an intern this summer, I had the opportunity to assist the Stuttering Foundation in several ways. One service the Stuttering Foundation provides is an extensive referral list of speech & language pathologists who work with people who stutter. Many concerned parents, frustrated teenagers, and adults contact the Stuttering Foundation for information about who can help them with stuttering, and since many speech-language pathologists do not have much experience in stuttering, the Stuttering Foundation’s US and international referral lists are treasured resources. One of my tasks this summer was to contact the speech-language pathologists on the referral list to verify their contact information. Maintaining the most up-to-date contact information on the referral list is important to the effectiveness of the referral system. Stuttering is not only a physical disorder of increased disfluencies, it can become emotional as well. That is, stuttering is often a silent, internal struggle in which the person who stutters associates intense fear, shame, guilt, or anxiety with stuttering. Therefore, many people who stutter are not willing to talk openly about their stuttering, so it is essential that the referral process and the first interactions go as smoothly as possible. I was uniquely qualified: in addition to being able to call the listed phone numbers to check the accuracy of all the listed information, I also observed the reactions the person on the other line has to my own stuttering. Since many people who use the Stuttering Foundation’s referral list are likely to stutter in that first phone call, it is important that whosoever is on the other line is a patient listener. Making these phone calls also benefited me personally. People who stutter often learn to avoid certain situations, words, or sounds in fear that they will stutter. Although avoidance can bring temporary relief, it reinforces the fear in the long-term. The phone has never been particularly easy for me, especially when making calls to strangers or people whom I do not know well, so I tend to avoid it when possible. Making these many phone calls forced me to face this fear and gradually work to overcome it. The Stuttering Foundation receives many emails every year from parents, children, teenagers, and adults expressing concern or frustration in regard to stuttering and asking for advice. I responded to several of these emails with links to some of the Stuttering Foundation’s excellent resources (many of which are available free online) as well as with my own personal experience and insights in stuttering. Since stuttering is often not talked about and many people who stutter have never met anyone else who stutters, people who stutter frequently feel alone in their struggle. Being able to talk to someone else who stutters – someone who knows what it is like – can be especially helpful. I often share my story and some of the strategies that I have learned in therapy (e.g., tell people that you stutter when you meet them, try not to avoid) in the hope that they will encourage the person to deal with stuttering in a positive manner. In addition to managing the referral list and responding to emails, I also edited and proofed documents, verified the information in our database, and wrote thank you notes to magazines that run our public service announcements. I am learned so much about the behind the scenes work that goes into running a successful nonprofit including interacting with the media and professionalism in general. Before my internship I was not aware of how many resources there are for people who stutter and that the stuttering community is so accessible. This internship has given me valuable professional experience, but it has also given me the opportunity to reflect on stuttering and on myself. I owe a special thanks to Professor Paquette for introducing me to Jane and for everyone at the Stuttering Foundation for making this internship possible!”

Robert Bluey of Heritage Foundation to Lunch with AHI Undergraduates

AHIadmin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:07:40 +0000

Robert Bluey, Director, Center for Media and Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation, will speak on the Heritage Foundation at a Leadership Luncheon on noon Monday, 17 October, in the Banquet Room of the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Mr. Bluey grew up in upstate New York. He graduated from Ithaca College, and was editor of its award-winning newspaper, The Ithacan. While in high school, Bluey got his first newspaper job at the Clinton (N.Y.) Courier. Lachlan Markay, a Hamilton College graduate and associate of the AHI, currently works under Mr. Bluey at the Heritage Foundation and has taken a lead role in investigating the "Fast and Furious" scandal.

Dr. Brian Anderson to Speak on Bertrand de Jouvenel, 18 October

AHIadmin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:09:29 +0000

Dr. Brian Anderson, Senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and editor of City Journal, will speak on Bertrand de Jouvenel's political thought on 18 October at 5 pm in the Banquet Room of the Alexander Hamilton Institute. He will speak at a catered dinner to a select group of Hamilton College undergraduates, who are participating in a group independent study that requires a cover-to-cover reading of Jouvenel's great trilogy: On Power (1945), Sovereignty (1957), and the Pure Theory of Politics (1963). Dr. Anderson has co-authored A Manifesto for Media Freedom (2008) and is the author of Democratic Capitalism and Its Discontents (2007), South Park Conservatives (2005), and Raymond Aron: the Recovery of the Political (2005).

Marc Elias Speaks on Campaign Finance and Joins AHI Team

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:12:25 +0000

On Sunday evening, 2 October, Marc Elias, Firmwide Chair at Perkins Coie law firm in Washington D.C., spoke before a large audience on the Hamilton College campus about campaign finance and the election of 2012. Mr. Elias, a 1990 graduate of Hamilton College with a J.D. from Duke University, ranks as one of the most influential political lawyers in the United States. He has represented a variety of prominent Congressional leaders, including Chuck Shumer and John Kerry. Mr. Elias, who is currently a Visiting Fellow at the AHI, showed how the comprehensive regime of campaign finance regulations enacted in 1974 has been eviscerated by court decisions from Buckley v. Valeo to Citizens United. From super pacs to 501 c-4 organizations, he suggested, new forms of financial intermediation are likely to play an important role in the election. He also discussed the prospects for reform and the differential impact of greater transparency in political contributions at federal, state, and local levels. A catered dinner at the AHI in honor of Mr. Elias preceded his lecture. AHI Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier served as a mentor to Mr. Elias when he was an undergraduate at Hamilton. Attendants included select Hamilton College students and faculty. During the dinner, Professor Eismeier toasted Mr. Elias and his accomplishments. In prefacing his lecture, Mr. Elias praised the rigor of the traditional liberal arts education he had received at Hamilton College. The AHI is also pleased to announce that Mr. Elias has consented to serve the AHI in the capacity of academic advisor. Marc, welcome aboard!

Honeycutt Kicks-Off Series on Bertrand de Jouvenel

AHIadmin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:15:32 +0000

Kevin Honeycutt, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, inaugurated a special series on the French intellectual Bertrand de Jouvenel, one of the most important anti-totalitarian thinkers of the twentieth century. Professor Honeycutt completed a dissertation on Jouvenel at Emory University. Over dinner at the AHI on 21 September, Professor Honeycutt conversed with students and faculty about On Power (1945), the first volume of the trilogy that constitutes Jouvenel's magnum opus. In this volume, Jouvenel attempts nothing less than a metaphysical understanding of the political in order to explain the extraordinary growth of centralized state power in the twentieth century. Jouvenel ranges his remarkable discussion from antiquity to modernity. Taken together, the three volumes provide something of a primer in the history of Western civilization. On Power sounds a dire warning about the inexorable logic of the personal as political in the rise of the totalitarian nightmares of fascism and communism as well as in the related decline of what he calls "social authorities" such as the private associations that have histoically mediated relations between the state and the individual. After dinner, attendants moved from the AHI banquet room to the main dinining area for drinks and dessert with which to fortify themselves for the last of three hours of discussion. "I am grateful to the Edmund Burke Association and to the Alexander Hamilton Institute for inviting me to discuss the thought of Bertrand de Jouvenel,” said Professor Honeycutt. “It was a distinct pleasure to consider his work in such a beautiful setting and with such a thoughtful and articulate audience. The participating students, in particular, exhibited poise, intelligence, and good humor; they are a credit to the Institute and to Hamilton College. Plaudits must also go to Professor Christopher Hill for his erudition and kindness and to the AHI for its vision and energy in implementing the discussion series. The Institute is truly doing great things, and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of some of them firsthand.”

CEO of Rochester Midland to Kick-Off Entrepreneurship Series

AHIadmin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:10:58 +0000

Harlan Calkins, chairman and CEO of Rochester Midland, a leading supplier in North America of industrial cleaners and other chemical products, will inaugurate the AHI’s entrepreneurship series. He will speak on the meaning of entrepreneurship at on Friday, 4 November, at 4:15 pm in the AHI's Banquet Room. A reception, beginning at 3:30 pm in the AHI's main dining room will precede Mr. Calkins address. Both events will be open to the public. A 1954 graduate of Hamilton College, Mr. Calkins was recently inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame. In 2011, Mr. Calkins joined the Alexander Hamilton Institute’s Board of Directors. Founded in Rochester, New York, in 1888, Rochester Midland has manufacturing locations in Illinois, California, Canada, South Africa, and Wales with total annual sales in 2010 of more than 80 million dollars. Mr. Calkins also serves on the boards of numerous business and philanthropic organizations, including Security Trust, Highland Hospital, the Al Sigl Foundation, and Rochester Telephone, all in Rochester, New York, as well as Norstar Bank, in Buffalo, New York, and Malden Trust, in Malden, Massachusetts.

Harvard Professor Greg Mankiw to Speak on the Economy

AHIadmin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:33:05 +0000

University of Amsterdam Professor Speaks to Jouvenel Group

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:15:39 +0000

Annelein de Dijn, Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of Amsterdam, spoke at the Alexander Hamilton Institute on Wednesday evening to participants in a group independent study that has formed under the supervison of AHI co-founder Robert Paquette. Jouvenel (1903-1987), a charter member of the Mont Pelerin Society, published more than thirty books during his career. His writings, which contain powerful critiques of social contract theory, the ethics of redistribution, utopian illusions, and state centralization, influenced a wide range of thinkers, including Irving Kristol, Friedrich Hayek, and Hannah Arendt.

The Alexander Hamilton Institute Receives Gift from Liberty Fund

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:22:19 +0000

Liberty Fund, an independent educational organization devoted to “the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals,” has announced that the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization will receive a major gift of books and DVDs as part of the Funds’s book placement program to encourage the study of liberty. The gift will include a rich assortment of Western classics by such writers as Shakespeare, Adam Smith, and Ludwig von Mises as well as DVDs produced as part of Liberty Fund’s Intellectual Portrait Series. Founded in 1960 by Pierre Goodrich, a wealthy lawyer and businessman, Liberty Fund ranks as one of this country’s most distinguished private educational organizations. It publishes books, holds more than one hundred conferences annually, and provides a variety of educational resources, including an online Library of Economic and Liberty. Liberty Fund’s gift will rest on the shelves of the AHI’s recently renovated office space, the James Piereson Room. It was dedicated in September to James Piereson, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and President of the William E. Simon Foundation. “I can think of no better honor for James Piereson, an intellectual lion in the cause of educational reform, than to have a room in his name stocked with volume after volume on the subject of liberty,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “The AHI is deeply grateful to Liberty Fund for this wonderful gift.”

Publius Society, AHI Undergraduates Participate in Occupy Wall Street Debate

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:10:08 +0000

On Wednesday evening, November 9, the AHI’s Publius Society and the Days-Massolo Center co-sponsored a public discussion titled “Occupy Wall Street: A Hamilton Campus Discussion.” The event attracted nearly fifty people, including Hamilton College undergraduates, administrators, and faculty from a variety of departments. Professor of Biology Jinni Garrett moderated.

Professor of Government Peter Cannavo opened the evening’s discussion with a brief talk examining the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements. He discussed both the sources of and relationship between the two movements. Following his introductory remarks, a group discussion ensued on topics such as income inequality, the role of capitalism, and the role played by bankers in the financial crisis.

After the discussion, Publius Society Fellows Dean Ball and Max Schnidman commented, “We are thrilled by how well the event turned out. The discussion was respectful, thought-provoking, and incorporated a wide variety of opinions and perspectives.” Other participants expressed similar sentiments. “The Occupy Wall Street discussion,” stated Hamilton College Senior Landry Frei, “produced the largest turnout of any Publius meeting I have ever attended and brought a healthy mix of differing opinions and viewpoints. I was impressed with the high level of intelligence displayed by the participants’ comments, especially those from AHI undergraduate fellows.” All said, this co-sponsored discussion proved to be the Publius society’s largest event to date and successfully fostered an environment in which participants grappled with a diversity of views.

Reverend Bruce Mason: "Recovering Moral Truth in a Twitter World"

AHIadmin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:35:00 +0000

On December 5, 2001 the Reverend Bruce E. Mason, Rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Luzerne, New York, will speak on "Recovering Truth in a Twitter World." The presentation will be held from 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Room 127 (The Red Pit), Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. Reverend Mason's talk is sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute’s (AHI’s) Christopher Dawson Society, an organization comprised of students and laypersons who together explore the relation between religious belief and reason within the Western intellectual tradition. Dawson Members are currently reading C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters under the supervision of AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose. Father Bruce, a Hamilton College graduate, received a Bth (MDiv equivalent) from Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. He serves on the Board of the American Anglican Council. The event is open to the public.

Professor Daniel Mahoney Speaks to the Jouvenel Group

AHIadmin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:37:15 +0000

On November 17, 2011, Professor Daniel Mahoney, Augustine Professor of Distinguished Scholarship and Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Assumption College, will speak to the Jouvenel Group on "Bertrand de Jouvenel and the Problem of Sovereignty." The talk will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Banquet Room at the Alexander Hamilton Inn. Professor Mahoney is the author of the only English language biography, Bertrand De Jouvenel: Conservative Liberal & Illusions of Modernity (ISI Books, 2005).

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Announces Website Re-Launch

AHIadmin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:43:43 +0000

Clinton, NY, December 9, 2011 -- The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the re-launch of its website offering an improved user experience, a wealth of knowledge and a new ability to participate via social media. The AHI is also delighted to introduce its first new affiliate in Rochester, New York: The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at Rochester. AHI Rochester will promote the study of a free society, where individuals have certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away without contradicting the fundamental principles of life. “We draw our values from the ideas set forth by Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, Herbert Spencer, and other freedom loving individuals,” noted AHI Senior Fellow Michael Rizzo who heads the affiliate in Rochester. AHI Rochester provides a forum for interested undergraduates to explore these questions through a variety of programming. Students participate in seminars where they read how the great thinkers of the past and present answer these questions. Professors and businessmen are invited to speak to help better understand the successes and failures in the world today. “By educating ourselves, we become better advocates for peace and freedom in our own lives and will become leaders in the never-ending debate of free markets versus planned economies,” said Rizzo. Along with a direct link to the Rochester website, the most visible updates the AHI website can be seen in the site’s layout, with a new, cleaner, easier-to-navigate design template. Student initiatives, news and events, as well as bookstore are now displayed prominently across the top bar. Visitors to the new AHI website can also find us on Facebook directly from the website. “We’re delighted with the look of the brand new website and feel it offers visitors to the site improved ways to learn more about the AHI, and to participate in an exploration of the central concerns of American ideals and institutions,” said Charter Fellow Bob Paquette. The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization is headquartered in Clinton, New York and was founded in 2007 to promote excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. We create and support programs that provide for rigorous debate and the enhancement of civic and economic literacy. For more information please visit www.theahi.org. Media Contact: Robert Paquette bob@theahi.org 315-381-3335

From the President’s Desk

AHIadmin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:50:00 +0000

December 2011 Dear Friends:

From the President’s Desk

On September 17, 2011, Constitution Day, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) celebrated its fourth birthday. We write this letter to advise you of initiatives and activities to further our mission to promote excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. Our programs reflect intellectual diversity, provide for the innovative teaching of civic and economic knowledge, and promote a genuine free marketplace of ideas. We believe that a liberal-arts graduate, properly trained, should possess not only an enhanced capacity to distinguish between career and the good life, but the ability to manage the conflicts of adulthood with honesty, dignity, and a sense of personal responsibility. Student Engagement and Participation is Strong The AHI now operates five student organizations with more than 100 student members. Our newest addition, the Entrepreneurship Club, held its inaugural meeting on November 4, 2011, and featured as keynote speaker Harlan Calkins, our newest Board member and CEO of Rochester Midland Corporation. The AHI continues to create programs that provide for the innovative teaching of civic and economic knowledge. Highlights include:

The Dawson Society is currently engaged in reading C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters under the supervision of Professor Douglas Ambrose.
The Edmund Burke Association has organized a group independent study under the supervision of Robert Paquette to read cover-to-cover the political trilogy composed by Bertrand de Jouvenel, one of the charter members of the Mont Pelerin Society and one of the great anti-totalitarian thinkers of the twentieth century. Jouvenel’s trilogy, which ranges from antiquity to modernity, can serve almost as a primer in Western political history.
The AHI Undergraduate Fellows have recently sponsored programs on the Hamilton College campus that raised important questions about radical environmental policies.
Students in the Publius Society have sponsored monthly activities that have covered issues ranging from banking and fiscal policy to the Occupy Wall Street Movement.

In March 2012, the AHI will continue its partnership with the James Madison Institute, by sending two of its Undergraduate Fellows to present papers at a prestigious undergraduate conference to be held at Georgetown University.This summer, The Stuttering Foundation, the world’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization that works toward the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering, awarded a summer internship to Susannah Parkin, an AHI Undergraduate Fellow and psychology major at Hamilton College. “Susannah is an incredibly bright and talented young lady,” commented Stuttering Foundation President Jane Fraser.

During the spring semester, Hamilton College awarded AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson the Katharine Eckman ’09 Internship. The internship, established in memory of Katharine C. Eckman (Hamilton Class ’09), provides a generous summer stipend for a student interested in politics, government, and public policy. Ms. Johnson, an economics major at Hamilton College, recently concluded her internship, which she used primarily to help the AHI in planning future programming centered on the theme of 'limited government." Former undergraduate Lachlan Markay, now an investigative reporter at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Media and Public Policy is not only the first Heritage employee with that job title, he has assumed a lead role in investigating the “Fast and Furious” scandal. You can find a link to his recent speech to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s Collegiate Network conference on our website. The AHI’s headquarters has been used increasingly as a site for the recruitment of AHI Undergraduate Fellows by for-profit and non-profit businesses. In 2010-2011, AHI Undergraduate Fellows were admitted to a variety of law schools and graduate programs. The Charles Koch Foundation has awarded AHI and AHI-Rochester fellows with employment, and Koch representatives will be conducting interviews at the AHI again this year. Recent visits by representatives from the Manhattan Institute and the Heritage Foundation are leading to undergraduate and graduate opportunities with those prestigious organizations. Perhaps the most important news about the AHI is that organizations are awarding our Undergraduate Fellows for achievement, and businesses are hiring them. Continued Success of the Annual Colloquium In April 2011 we held our Fourth Annual Colloquium at the Turning Stone Resort. Senior Fellow Theodore Eismeier organized the event centered on the theme of “Law, Technology, and American Constitutional Government: Curing the Mischief of Faction in the 21st Century.” The event was extremely well attended. In 2012 we will be holding our Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium on April 12 at the Turning Stone Resort. More than a dozen scholars in the fields of history, philosophy, economics, and political science have accepted our invitation. Students from Skidmore College, Colgate University, Hampden-Sydney College, and Hamilton College will be in attendance. Recent Grants and Gifts In 2011 we received a $150,000 grant from the Thomas W. Smith Foundation, the largest in the AHI’s brief history, to support three years of programming. Also in 2011, we received a $20,000 grant from the Apgar Foundation to support our newest affiliate in Rochester. We continue to receive support from the Thomas Armstrong Foundation with annual awards that range from $2,500 to $5,000. The AHI has received a second grant from the Koch Foundation in the amount of $9,000 to support programming in entrepreneurship at AHI Rochester.

In October, Liberty Fund, one of the most distinguished organizations of its kind, “established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals,” gifted us with hundreds of volumes and DVDS that form the “Library of Liberty.” These materials will be located in our renovated office space, which was recently dedicated to James Piereson, a stalwart supporter of the AHI who is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and President of the William E. Simon Foundation. New Rochester Affiliate The AHI is also delighted to announce that we are growing by introducing our first new affiliate in Rochester. Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at Rochester has been established to promote the study of a free society. Free in the sense that individuals have certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away without contradicting the fundamental principles of life. “We draw our values from the ideas set forth by Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, Herbert Spencer, and other freedom loving individuals,” noted AHI Senior Fellow Michael Rizzo who heads the affiliate in Rochester. AHI Rochester provides a forum for interested undergraduates to explore these questions through a variety of programming. Students participate in seminars where they read how the great thinkers of the past and present answer these questions. Professors and businessmen are invited to speak to help better understand the successes and failures in the world today. “By educating ourselves, we become better advocates for peace and freedom in our own lives and will become leaders in the never-ending debate of free markets versus planned economies,” said Rizzo. The Ongoing Work of Our Fellows: Caleb Nelson, one of the most impressive young legal scholars in the United States, delivered in the Hamilton College Chapel the AHI’s Fourth Annual David Aldrich Nelson lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on “The Constitution and the Benthamite Interpretation of the Common Law.” Professor Nelson and his sister Claudia, a distinguished professor of English at Texas A&M, have joined the AHI team as academic advisor and Senior Fellow, respectively. As part of our program to enhance public civic literacy, we sponsor a Mohawk Valley Monthly Book Club that reaches out to area high-school teachers. Resident Fellow Dr. Christopher Hill now offers continuing education classes, and his class “Law, Liberty, and Western History” is filled to capacity. This past fall semester, Marc Elias, Firmwide Chair of Political Law at Perkins Coie in Washington D. C. served as a Visiting Fellow. During that time, he taught a class “Modern Campaigns and Elections” for the Department of Government at Hamilton College. In 2010, Oxford University Press published The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas. This encyclopedic work was edited by AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette and AHI academic advisor Mark Smith and includes contributions from AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose and AHI advisors Eugene D. Genovese, Stanley Engerman, Daniel Littlefield and Peter Coclanis.

In 2011 and 2012 the University of South Carolina Press will be publishing a five volume work, History and Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, which honors one of the charter members of the AHI’s board of academic advisors and includes contributions by AHI Fellows Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose, Douglas Ambrose, and Robert Paquette and AHI advisors Robert George, Thomas Pangle, and Mark Smith. Journalist Jay Nordlinger published a feature story on AHI advisor Eugene D. Genovese, described by a writer for the Atlantic as “this country’s greatest living historian,” in the November 7, 2011 issue of National Review. In 2011, the AHI announced the creation of the Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship in Political Science to honor an AHI fellow who will be retiring from Hamilton College in 2012 after more than thirty years of distinguished service. The AHI is in the process of raising money for this annual competitive fellowship to put it on a firm financial footing, and we encourage friends of Ted—better known as Tedheads—to contact us for information on how to help us with this initiative. Website Re-Launch

We are pleased to announce the re-launch of our website is almost ready. The new website will offer an improved user experience, a wealth of knowledge and a new ability to participate via social media. Along with a direct link to the Rochester website, the most visible updates the AHI website can be seen in the site’s layout, with a new, cleaner, easier-to-navigate design template. Student initiatives, news and events as well as bookstore are now displayed prominently across the top bar. Visitors to the new AHI website can also find us on Facebook directly from the website.

Business Operations The AHI is moving forward carefully and deliberately to fund a growing list of programmatic initiatives and to extend its reach to other institutions. We believe that our independent model has a number of distinct advantages over kindred-spirit organizations that operate on-campus under restraint and relentlessly challenged by unsympathetic faculty and administrators. The AHI’s 990 is public and available upon request. We made several improvements to the headquarters facility over the past year including the installation of a first class business office on the second floor and an improved the energy efficiency of the building by the installation of insulation, windows and internal doors. An energy audit report by L&S Energy Services provided free of charge by the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA), detailed several energy improvement opportunities that we have prioritized and will implement over time so that the facility can become the scholarly beehive envisioned by the Charter Fellows.

Help Us Support Our Mission “Human freedom – the need to secure it, the obligation to preserve it, the necessity to defend it, the resolution to die for it -- this is the great theme of our time,” so said a famous screenwriter in the 1960s. If anything, the circumstances of our own time have added to the potency of these words. The AHI intends to lead in getting this message out by deeds more than words. If you’d like to help us spread the word about our programs, or just get regular updates and press releases on our activities, you can do so by:

“Friending” us on Facebook,
filling out a contact form on our website,
or forwarding this letter to a friend.

Attempts to expand our message cannot succeed without your continued support. We hope you’ll consider a financial contribution of $250, $150, $50 or more to further our mission to promote excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. If you wish to make a donation to support the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, please send your tax deductible contribution to: The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization The Alexander Hamilton Inn 21 W. Park Row Clinton,NY 13323 Sincerely, Richard Erlanger, President Douglas Ambrose, Charter Fellow James Bradfield, Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow P.S.: We hope that you’ll consider supporting our mission to create programs that provide for the innovative teaching of civic and economic knowledge in order to promote a genuine free marketplace for ideas.

The Alexander Hamilton Institute Receives $150,000 Grant from Thomas W. Smith Foundation

AHIadmin — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:29:14 +0000

Clinton, NY, December 23, 2011 -- The Board of Trustees of the Thomas W. Smith Foundation, has announced that the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has been awarded a grant of $150,000. This major grant, the largest in the four-year history of the AHI, will be used to design and implement three years’ of thematic programming. “We are delighted to support the Alexander Hamilton Institute,” wrote Chairman of the Board Thomas W. Smith, in the letter announcing the award. “Each year the AHI devotes programming to an annual theme,” noted AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose. From 2011 to 2014, the AHI will explore the roots of the current economic crisis, its domestic and international implications, and the threat posed by the regulatory state to American ideals and institutions. In 2011-12 the AHI will concentrate on the theme of “Limited Government: Free Markets, Private Property, and Personal Freedom”; in 2012-13, “What is a Civilizational Struggle? Examining the Crusades, the Civil War, the Cold War, and the War on Islamic Terrorism”; in 2013-2014: “Individualism and Its Critics: From John Locke to Barack Obama.” “Precisely because of my scholarship in the history of slavery from a global perspective have I come to appreciate the singularity of the Western experience in the origin and cultivation of that precious and fragile concept, freedom,” wrote AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette in the acceptance letter. “Retention of the principles that animated our Constitution requires vigilance, strength, and memory. Thanks to the Smith Foundation, the AHI can contribute to the process of recovery and preservation.” The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization is headquartered in Clinton, New York and was founded in 2007 to promote excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. We create and support programs that provide for rigorous debate and the enhancement of civic and economic literacy. For more information please visit www.theahi.org.

Competition for E. M. Bakwin Fellowship Announced

AHIadmin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:47:40 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the fourth annual E. M. Bakwin Fellowship competition. Mr. Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961), served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. A long-standing student of Western culture, his generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1,600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Doctoral and post-doctoral researchers are encouraged to apply. Recipients of the award will reside, free of charge, for one summer month (July or August) in the Jane Fraser Room at the AHI’s headquarters, a historic building located in 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. A panel comprised of AHI fellows and trustees will evaluate the applications. Application deadline is Monday, May 14, 2012 and the AHI will announce the award winner on Monday, May 28, 2012. To apply, candidates will need to fill out a fellowship application. It must include a copy of the applicant’s résumé, two letters of reference, and a proposal that should not exceed five double-spaced pages. Proposals should reference the manuscript or rare book collections to be consulted and how precisely they will contribute to the intellectual significance of the project. Area repositories include the Olin Library, Cornell University; the Oneida County Historical Society; Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University; Special Collections and Archives, Colgate University; Rare Books and Special Collections, Hamilton College. In assessing proposals, evaluators will follow closely the criteria spelled out in the fellowship program of the National Endowment for the Humanities:

The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to scholars and general audiences in the humanities.
The quality or promise of quality of the applicant's work as an interpreter of the humanities.
The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant's clarity of expression.
The feasibility of the proposed plan of work, including, when appropriate, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans.
The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project.

Completed applications should be sent to: Robert L. Paquette, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Alexander Hamilton Inn 21 West Park Row Clinton, NY 13323

Caleb and Claudia Nelson Join the Alexander Hamilton Institute

AHIadmin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:51:07 +0000

Caleb Nelson, Emerson G. Spies Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia, and Claudia Nelson, Professor of English, Texas A&M University, have accepted invitations to join the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Caleb Nelson has consented to serve the AHI as an academic advisor; Claudia Nelson has consented to join the AHI as a Senior Fellow. Caleb Nelson was graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard in 1988. He received his J. D. from Yale University in 1993. He clerked on the United States Supreme Court for Justice Clarence Thomas. He has won prizes for both teaching and scholarship. At the University Of Virginia School Of Law, Professor Nelson teaches courses in civil procedure, federal courts, statutory interpretation, and constitutional law. His essay “Preemption,” published in the Virginia Law Review in 2000, won the Scholarly Papers Competition of the Association of American Law Schools. In 2006, he received the Paul M. Bator Award from the national Federalist Society. In 2008, he received Virginia’s All-University Teaching Award. In 2011, Caleb Nelson delivered the AHI’s Fourth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. The lecture honors Caleb's father, Judge David Aldrich Nelson, a graduate of Hamilton College and the Harvard Law School who served for decades as a distinguished federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals on the Sixth Circuit. Judge Nelson was a charter member of the Board of Directors of the Alexander Hamilton Institute until his death in 2010. Claudia Nelson received an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College, where she was graduated in 1980 cum laude and with honors in history. She received a Ph.D. in English Literature in 1989 from Indiana University. An expert in Victorian literature, Professor Nelson has published four books: Boys Will Be Girls: The Feminine Ethic and British Children’s Fiction, 1857-1917 (1991), Invisible Men: Fatherhood in Victorian Periodicals, 1850-1910 (1995), Little Strangers: Portrayals of Adoption in America, 1850-1929 (2003), Family Ties in Victorian England (2007). In 2003, the Children’s Literature Association recognized Little Strangers as the best scholarly book in the field of children’s studies. From 2005-2009, Professor Nelson directed the Women’s Studies Program at Texas A&M. Her Precocious Children and Childish Adults: Age Inversion in Victorian Literature is forthcoming in 2012 from Johns Hopkins University Press. “The Alexander Hamilton Institute could not be more pleased with these additions to the family,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “Judge David Aldrich Nelson played a vital role in the founding of the AHI. To have his son and daughter, distinguished in their own right, active in designing our future course is a both an honor and a blessing.”

$500,000 Commitment to the Alexander Hamilton Institute Completed

AHIadmin — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:27:58 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has announced receipt of the largest single planned gift from an individual to the Institute. The donor, who has requested anonymity, has completed the fifth installment of $100,000, a $500,000 commitment to further the AHI’s mission to promote excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette says that the gift “will touch the lives of hundreds of students and adults hungry for knowledge about American ideals and institutions. We are deeply grateful to this remarkably generous and patriotic individual.” Paquette says the recent gift will be directed towards AHI student programs that have been created to provide for the innovative teaching of civic and economic knowledge to promote a genuine free marketplace for ideas. AHI student programs include the AHI Undergraduate Fellows, Publius Society, Edmund Burke Association, Christopher Dawson Society, Entrepreneurship Club as well as the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium which will be held April 12-15, 2012 at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. This year the colloquium is dedicated to “Limited Government” and the event keynote speaker will be social commentator Roger Kimball, Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Kayla Safran Receives Inaugural Buckley School Fellowship

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:06:42 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1440" align="alignright" width="262" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Kayla Safran"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Undergraduate Fellow Kayla Safran is the inaugural recipient of a $3,500 fellowship award to the Buckley School of Public Speaking. The AHI and the Buckley School partnered to create a fellowship for an AHI Undergraduate Fellow who has distinguished himself or herself in the work of the organization. "I am delighted by the prospect of receiving students of Hamilton College sponsored by the AHI,” said the public speaking school founder Reid Buckley. Ms. Safran has served as the inaugural leader of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows at Hamilton College and is from Closter, New Jersey. She was chosen to receive the award by the AHI Charter Fellows professors Ambrose, Bradfield, and Paquette. Since its launch in 1988, the Buckley School of Public Speaking has provided speaking and writing instruction, private coaching and media training for nearly 3000 first rank executives and political leaders. Students leave the Buckley School armed with the ability to win an auditorium of unfriendly faces or to face down Mike Wallace. According to AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, it is the intention of the AHI to raise sufficient funds to have a team of Buckley School faculty visit the AHI for an annual seminar to benefit undergraduates in the lost arts of oratory and rhetoric.

AHI’s Carl Menges Joins the Board of ACTA

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:26:35 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute (AHI) is pleased to announce that Carl Menges has accepted an invitation to join the Board of Directors of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). Mr. Menges has a long-standing interest in history and the founding of the United States. In 2001, he sponsored a conference at Hamilton College on Alexander Hamilton. The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton (NYU Press, 2006) derived from that conference and is dedicated to Mr. Menges. The Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium will be held April 12-15, 2012, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY and is dedicated to “Binding the Minotaur: The Problem of Limited Government.” Mr. Menges is a founding board member of the Alexander Hamilton Institute which is featured in ACTA's Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving. He was also Director, Tiedemann Investment Group; Trustee and Chairman of the Planning Committee of Hamilton College; Trustee of the Boys Club of New York; and Treasurer and Trustee of Allen Stevenson School. He is a Life Trustee of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City and Member, Investment and Budget Committee, Council on Foreign Relations, and a Trustee of the New-York Historical Society. Menges received his A.B. cum laude in 1951 from Hamilton College and his M.B.A in 1953 from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. “The AHI is delighted that Carl has joined the board of ACTA and we look forward to working with them in common cause,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette.

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Olivia Waxman Published in TIME Techland

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:44:52 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Olivia B. Waxman, former member of the AHI’s undergraduate fellowship program, was recently published in TIME Techland. The online article, “Polling and Social Media Collide with ‘Social Polling,’” about how social media affect the tracking of public opinion (http://techland.time.com/2012/02/20/polling-and-social-media-collide-with-social-polling/#ixzz1nL2zh6s5 ) appeared on February 20, 2012. Ms. Waxman, is still at student at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She wrote daily for TIME's NewsFeed blog during the summer of 2011, where she had two columns: a daily links round-up and a weekly review of the late-night television shows. Ms. Waxman graduated in 2011 from Hamilton College. She majored in government and served as head of the College Democrats. "Olivia was always thoughtful, open-minded, and intelligent – a terrifically sharp young woman, noted AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill who taught Ms. Waxman in a course in medieval history. “She exemplifies what I like to see in the classroom and in our undergraduate fellows. We're all very proud of what she's been able to accomplish." "Smart, sunny, and dedicated, Olivia exemplifies the engagement of students with the AHI," added AHI Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier." As leader of the College Democrats, she was always eager to reach across the aisle to foster lively, civil discussion."

AHI Senior Fellow Michael Rizzo Discusses Environment and Economics

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:53:13 +0000

AHI Senior Fellow Michael Rizzo recently discusses the environment and economics with students. In the interview: Professor Michael Rizzo: How an Economist Thinks About the Environment, he shares some of his ideas about what makes for good and bad environmental policy. Michael Rizzo is the Director of the Alexander Hamilton Institute of Rochester and Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Rochester. Professor Rizzo’s fields of specialization include the economics of education, labor economics, applied econometrics, and environmental economics. He also serves as a faculty research associate with the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute and as a consultant with Scannell & Kurz, Inc., an enrollment management firm based in Rochester, NY.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson Accepts Summer Position With ACTA

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:27:30 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson (’13) has accepted a summer position with the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, or ACTA, is a non-profit organization in Washington DC that works to uphold academic freedom, excellence, and accountability in colleges and universities. ACTA addresses the disturbing trend in American colleges and universities where skyrocketing tuition costs are increasingly accompanied by falling academic standards and an emphasis on political correctness over free speech and the pursuit of truth. ACTA works with and provides resources for trustees, alumni, and donors to help them exert pressure on colleges and universities to keep down costs that do not enhance the quality of students’ education. Ms. Johnson, an Economics major at Hamilton College, will primarily be performing research for ACTA’s flagship project, What Will They Learn?, which rates schools’ core curricula in seven key areas of knowledge: composition, literature, foreign language, US history, economics, mathematics, and science. What Will They Learn? has rated over one thousand American colleges and universities, and hopes to look at even more in the future. ACTA releases its ratings for free online at WhatWillTheyLearn.com, which allows students to compare schools with a few simple clicks. WhatWillTheyLearn.com is a valuable tool both for those examining the state of higher education today and for high school students trying to choose which university to attend. A junior at a college to which What Will They Learn? gave an “F,” Ms. Johnson’s interest in ACTA’s work grew out of her own experiences. Originally ambivalent about core curricula, she changed her mind when she saw “how difficult interdisciplinary conversations can be without a common knowledge base. I hope that I can help address that issue this summer while learning more about the various problems confronting higher education and the obstacles that anyone with a stake in higher education – especially students, trustees, professors, alumni, policymakers, and faculty – face in overcoming them.”

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thrives at Vanderbilt Law

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:20:45 +0000

Anthony (Mark) Garcia, a charter member of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Undergraduate Fellows program, is not only thriving at Vanderbilt Law School, but as a second year student, competed along with 140 Vanderbilt students in Vanderbilt’s Moot Court competition. Mark advanced to the final round of the competition, and his team received the Bass, Berry, and Sims Award for its performance. Also, in recognition of his achievements and interest in furthering intellectual discourse, Mark was voted by the Moot Court Board to serve on its managing council as an associate problem editor. The problem editing team consists of three members, who will research and write the problem to be used for next year’s competitions. Vanderbilt’s Moot Court competition centers on hypothetical litigation related to the First Amendment issue. This year’s issues included the intersection of the government speech doctrine and the establishment clause. The competition required each two-person team to write a 30-page brief and participate in multiple rounds of oral arguments in front of the Moot Court Board members, Vanderbilt faculty, local practicing attorneys, and judges from both state and federal courts. In 2010, Mark was the recipient of the AHI’s inaugural William Vick ADP/AHI internship. The award goes to a graduating member of the Hamilton College chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity who combines academic excellence with exemplary character. The internship honors William “Bill” Vick, a 1936 graduate of Hamilton College, who placed a high value on the sacred Constitutional right of private association and on his membership in the Hamilton chapter of ADP. Interns receive a $2,000 summer stipend and are housed free of charge at the AHI’s headquarters. They participate in the intellectual life of the AHI and help organize and participate in its annual summer conference, co-sponsored with the Department of Political Science at Baylor University. “I already owe the AHI a great debt of gratitude for preparing me to succeed in the law school environment,” said Mark. The AHI focused me on important issues of history, politics, and law that provide me with the arsenal and tools to analyze cases and express a well-informed view of the law. I am a small example of the proud legacy of the AHI. I think of the AHI whenever Vanderbilt Law brings in a distinguished speaker. Sometimes Vandy is lucky and the speaker will stay to sign books. Yet, it falls short of the unprecedented access to guests at those leadership lunches at the AHI.” The AHI congratulates Mark on his impressive accomplishments.

Dr. Steven Ealy of Liberty Fund Visits the AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:03:58 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1490" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Dr. Steve Ealy (center) of Liberty Fund stands with AHI Fellows Douglas Ambrose (left) and Chris Hill"][/caption]

On President’s Day, Dr. Steve Ealy, Senior Fellow at Liberty Fund, a non-profit organization "devoted to the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals," visited the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) to speak to two audiences.

In the afternoon, he spoke with a class of twenty-six students about Publius, the Federalist, and the meaning of the Constitution. Students had prepared for Dr. Ealy’s visit by reading his essay in History on Proper Principles (ISI Books, 2010), a festschrift dedicated to Forrest McDonald, one of the most distinguished historians of his generation. In his essay, Dr. Ealy speaks of the Constitution as a “crossroads” document and asks whether it contains a substantive political philosophy. In Federalist #37, 78, and 82, he observes, Publius speaks of how the meaning of the Constitution will be “liquidated,” by which Publius meant adding clarity to equivocal and ambiguous language contained within the document. Dr. Ealy integrated into his discussion James Madison’s letter of October 17, 1788 to Thomas Jefferson. In it, Madison discusses his thinking on the Bill of Rights and the limits of any “parchment barriers” to oppression if the spirit of the people becomes corrupted. Later that evening, Dr. Ealy met a select group of AHI Undergraduate Fellows who were interested in learning about the history of Liberty Fund and the opportunities presented by the organization. Founded in 1960 by Pierre Goodrich, a wealthy lawyer and businessman, Liberty Fund ranks as one of this country’s most distinguished private educational organizations. It publishes books, holds more than one hundred conferences annually, and provides a variety of educational resources. In 2011, the AHI was gifted with an assortment of books and DVDs as part of the Fund’s book placement program to encourage the study of liberty. [caption id="attachment_1491" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Dr. Steve Ealy (center) stands with AHI Undergraduate Fellows in the James Piereson Room of the AHI"][/caption] "Having taught for sixteen years before joining Liberty Fund,” Dr. Ealy remarked, “it’s always enjoyable to return to a college environment for a few days. It’s a real pleasure, however, when I encounter thoughtful students who are capable and willing to master important material and interested in a serious discussion of ideas, as was the case on my recent visit to AHI. I enjoyed meeting with Professor Paquette's class on the history of American Conservatism and responding to intelligent questions and comments. The dinner at AHI headquarters gave me the chance to talk informally with a number of students and learn of their projects. One student was preparing to make a presentation on Bertrand de Jouvenel for a conference at Georgetown University, but everybody seemed to have interesting projects and class assignments. This visit reinforced my impressions from a few years ago when I was discussion leader for the 2010 Menges Colloquium--AHI is an important institution and it attracts both first-rate students and professors." The AHI thanks Dr. Ealy for his presence and the high quality of his conversation.

American Legislative Exchange Council Hires AHI Undergraduate Fellow Alex Rued

AHIadmin — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:49:00 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1501" align="alignleft" width="181" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Alex Rued"][/caption] AHI Undergraduate Fellow Alex Rued has accepted a position at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). A non-partisan organization founded in 1973, ALEC has as one of its core missions the cultivation throughout the United States of the “Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty.” ALEC conducts a policy- making program that unites members of the public and private sectors in partnership to support these principles. Ms. Rued majored in government with a minor in Chinese at Hamilton College. She participated in the College’s program in Washington D.C. headed by AHI Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier and studied in Beijing during her junior year. While in Washington, Ms. Rued applied to the Koch Associates Program. After rigorous and multiple interviews, she learned that the Koch Program had opened a portal for her at ALEC as a telecommunications analyst. “Alex Rued is one of the best students I have taught at Hamilton College,” observed Professor Eismeier. “She excelled in both the academic component of the Program in Washington and in her internship at the American Enterprise Institute, where her work earned the highest praise from supervisor. Alex will make a mark in the world of public policy. Articulate and quietly confident, when she speaks, people listen." The AHI congratulates Ms. Rued on this splendid achievement and thanks the Koch Program for making this exciting opportunity available.

The Heritage Foundation’s Israel Ortega to Speak on Election 2012 at the AHI

AHIadmin — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:54:05 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Israel Ortega of the Heritage Foundation will speak on the Election of 2012, March 28, 4:30pm – 6:00pm at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Mr. Ortega talk will focus on such issues as the Latino vote, promoting economic opportunity and a growing dependence on government. Israel Ortega serves as The Heritage Foundation's chief spokesman to Spanish-language news media, including print, radio, television and online. He is the editor of Heritage’s sister website, Libertad (libertad.org), and regularly contributes commentary to prominent Spanish-language publications. He is a frequent guest commentator on major Spanish outlets, including Univision, Telemundo and CNN International, discussing Heritage's research and analysis across a range of policy fronts. He has also appeared on Fox News Channel and Fox Business Channel discussing current policy issues. Mr. Ortega’s talk was spearheaded by the AHI’s Publius Society which honors the genius of Hamilton, Jay, and Madison with monthly discussions among a diverse group of students, faculty, and citizens in which current issues are placed in the context of the great traditions of the American republicanism. Recommended readings for those interested in Mr. Ortega’s talk can be found on the AHI’s website at: http://theahi.org/news-events/calendar/. The event is free of charge and open to the public. For more information please visit www.theahi.org.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Ian Thresher to Study Scottish Enlightenment at the University of Glasgow

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 04:42:19 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1514" align="alignleft" width="217" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Ian Thresher"][/caption] During the fall semester, 2011, AHI Undergraduate fellow Ian Thresher attended a seminar, “The Making of American Scripture,” taught by AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. The course, derived from the AHI’s 2010 Carl B. Menges Colloquium, focused on the evolving relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution from the founding of the Republic to the end of the Civil War. Students in this writing-intensive course had to read a daunting list of sources, including all of the first state constitutions, debates from the Annals of Congress, presidential speeches, and pamphlet literature. Before he had entered the course, Mr. Thresher, a senior government major at Hamilton College, had never heard of the Scottish Enlightenment nor of its influence on the meaning of American republicanism on such founding notables as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In Professor Paquette’s class,” Ian observed, “I was especially intrigued by early American republican values, which are, to say the least, rather different from the values many Americans hold today. One of the chief differences has to with the importance of tradition or, more accurately, with experience. This first drew me to the Scottish Enlightenment because it emphasized experiential knowledge, as opposed to the French Enlightenment’s emphasis on rationalism. While several of the Founders, like Thomas Jefferson, were supportive of French rationalism, primary sources I read for class revealed that early Americans (that is to say the people living in the thirteen states) were concerned predominantly with their material possessions and their liberty. I knew I wanted to study the link between early American political ideals and figures such as Adam Smith and Thomas Reid. The question then became, which Scottish university would give me the greatest opportunity to really explore the ideas floating around in eighteenth-century Scotland. I settled on the University of Glasgow for three reasons. The first, and perhaps most important, was that I thought I had a fair chance of actually getting in. The second reason was that the University of Glasgow was one of the centers of the Scottish Enlightenment. Adam Smith worked and studied there, as did Thomas Reid. Finally, the University of Glasgow possesses the Baillie Collection, perhaps the finest collections of primary source documents on British and Scottish history in the world.” Ian has aspirations to attend law school on his return from receiving an advanced degree in Scotland. “I would not have even thought to apply without Professor Paquette and various other AHI speakers and members,” said Ian. “They have done, and continue to do, an excellent job of teaching early American history and explaining the importance of the past in relation to the present. I am in their debt.”

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette to Speak at Emory University

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:40:48 +0000

Professor Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will speak at Emory University on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. on the history of the AHI and why focus on western civilization. [expandsub1 title="Radio Interview with Bob Paquette and Mary Grabar" rel="qanda"] [audio:http://ahi/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/3-21-2012-Intv-Mary-Grabar-.mp3] [/expandsub1]

AHI Hosts Visiting Scholar Carol Medlicott

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:47:59 +0000

Since its inception in 2007, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has used its headquarters as a place for scholars passing through the region or who intend to spend time researching in any number of the prominent archives and repositories in upstate New York. Carol Medlicott, Associate Professor in the Department of History and Geography at Northern Kentucky University, visited the AHI in February 2012 and used it as a place to conduct research on the Shakers, a communal religious sect that spread from England to the United States in the second half of the eighteenth century. Professor Medlicott’s research focuses on the Shakers’ expansion to the “west”—into Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana territory— from1805 to 1835. She has published widely on various aspects of early Shaker culture, including cartography, hymnody, and early missionary initiatives. She recently completed a biographical study of Issachar Bates, a prominent early Shaker preacher and traveler. Her investigations took her, in particular, to the Communal Studies collections in the Burke Library of Hamilton College to find evidence on the relations between Shakers and Indians in early Shaker history and how early Shaker-Indian interactions informed later Shaker visions of “native spirits.” Professor Medlicott, previously worked for the FBI as an analyst on North Korea. She had published on that subject as well. AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill seized the opportunity and organized a special event in which Professor Medlicott spoke to students and faculty at the AHI on “The Narrative of North Korea.” Her talk offered insights on both the cult of personality that surrounds the Kim family dynasty and the politics that recently elevated Kim Jong-un to the position of Supreme Leader after the death of Kim Jong-il. As an added bonus, Professor Medlicott spoke with students about the rich opportunities available to graduating seniors interested in a career with the FBI. "I had a wonderful month--very productive and enjoyable," wrote Professor Medlicott. "Interacting with all of you at the AHI enhanced the experience immeasurably. And thanks for the opportunity to address the group on North Korea. That was truly a highlight."

Film Producer Gloria Z. Greenfield to Screen Documentary “Unmasked Judeophobia”

AHIadmin — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:36:32 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Jewish Community Federation of the Mohawk Valley are pleased to announce the screening of “Unmasked: Judeophobia” with Producer Gloria Z. Greenfield, on April 1, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at 125 Kirner Johnson, Hamilton College. The documentary contains over 70 expert interviews, including those with Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel and lawyer Alan Dershowitz. It has been positively reviewed in newspapers including the Jewish Tribune and the Jerusalem Post for its timely and poignant content. Gloria Z. Greenfield is President of Doc Emet Productions and producer of this acclaimed documentary on contemporary anti-Semitism. She has served as director of the Adult Learning Collaborative: A Program of Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Hebrew College. One of the key programs in the Collaborative is the Jewish Women's Studies initiative, which brings the leading Jewish feminist scholars from North America, Europe, and Israel to Boston. A graduate of the State University at Oswego, in 1976 she founded Persephone Press, a leading feminist book publishing company. “We are extremely pleased to have Ms. Greenfield with us to introduce her film and lead a discussion of the important issues it raises, said Professor Theodore Eismeier, Senior Fellow, AHI. “We are also thrilled to be co-sponsoring this event with the Jewish Federation of the Mohawk Valley. “It is truly beneficial to have a partner that like the AHI, embraces the discussion of such timely and important topic.”

Dr. James Brewer Stewart to Speak on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking

AHIadmin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:05:24 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. James Brewer Stewart, James Wallace Professor of History, Emeritus, at Macalester College and the founder and director of Historians Against Slavery, will speak on modern slavery and human trafficking, on April 6, 2012, at 4:15 p.m. in room 127 Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. Dr. Stewart’s talk will focus on abolishing slavery in Lincoln's time and ours as well as the development of a 21st century abolitionist movement. By some estimates there as many as 35 million enslaved people around the world today, some of them in our local communities. This figure is triple the number of enslaved in the Western Hemisphere when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. In Lincoln's day, slavery provoked strenuous moral and political opposition. The abolitionist movement of that time was grass-roots, militant, headline grabbing, and extremely well organized. Today, no such movement exists. James Brewer Stewart, James Wallace Professor of History Emeritus, Macalester College retired in 2007 after four decades of teaching, writing and consulting on problems of slavery and emancipation in the history of the Western Hemisphere. He has written or edited eleven books and over fifty articles on these subjects and co-edits a book series devoted to the history of antislavery throughout the Atlantic World. Since retiring he has created Historians Against Slavery, an international organization of over 700 historians that promotes scholarship, teaching and activism in opposition to modern slavery and in support of modern abolition movements.

AHI Rochester Sponsors Liberty Week Speakers and Events

AHIadmin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:45:14 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute of Rochester will sponsor Liberty Week, Sunday, March, 25 – Friday, March 30, 2012. Liberty Week is a celebration of democratic principles that our nation was founded upon and events will feature a series of speakers from the social sciences. On Sunday, March 25, 2012, Robert McNamara, Attorney for the Institute for Justice will speak on "Litigating for Liberty" at 7:00 p.m. at Goergen 101, University of Rochester. The discussion will touch on a case of licensing in Philadelphia, in order to publicly discuss a historical monument such as the Liberty Bell for compensation, New York’s eminent domain and political free speech. The event is co-sponsored by the AHI Rochester and the University of Rochester College Democrats. On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, Robert Bradley, PhD CEO and founder of the Institute for Energy Research will discuss "Crony Capitalism and U.S. Energy Policy" at 7:00 p.m. at Lander Auditorium, Hutchinson Hall 140, University of Rochester. As one of the nation's leading experts on the history and regulation of energy markets, Mr. Bradley has testified before the U.S. Congress and the California Energy Commission, as well as lectured at numerous colleges, universities, and think tanks around the country. Bradley has applied the classical liberal worldview to recent corporate controversies and energy policy debates. The event is co-sponsored by the AHI Rochester and the University of Rochester College Republicans. Thursday March 29, 2012, Warren Meyer, MBA and President of Recreation Resource Management will discuss "Private Management of the Public Parks" at 7:00 p.m. at the Staybridge Suites in Rochester, NY. Mr. Meyer’s is in the business of providing private operations management for public parks. His background at various corporations along with other experience has given him unique insight into the relationship between the private and public sectors.

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Participate in Fifth Annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference on the American Polity

AHIadmin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:32:04 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) prides itself as being part of an ever-growing network of organizations that seeks to provide undergraduate students with opportunities to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the Western tradition in general and of the American contribution to that tradition in particular. On March 17, 2012, AHI Undergraduate Fellows Marta Johnson and Steven Pet joined students from four other members of that network at the Fifth Annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference on the American Polity. [caption id="attachment_1556" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Professor Douglas Ambrose chairs the first panel of the conference."][/caption] The conference, hosted by The Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy at Georgetown University, provides selected undergraduates with the opportunity to present papers and receive valuable feedback from advanced graduate students and professors. In addition to the AHI representatives, Ms. Johnson and Mr. Pet, this year’s conference featured students from The James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, The Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy at Boston College, the Tocqueville Program for Inquiry into Religion and American Public Life at the University of Notre Dame, and The Tocqueville Forum at Georgetown. AHI Charter Fellow Professor Douglas Ambrose also participated in the conference as a panel chair. [caption id="attachment_1557" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson, presents her paper at the Fifth Annual Undergraduate Scholars Conference on the American Polity."][/caption] Ms. Johnson’s paper, “The Minotaur Unleashed: Bertrand de Jouvenel and the Problem of Limited Government,” received praise for providing both an excellent overview of the impressive scope of Jouvenel’s thought and an incisive critique of that thought. Mr. Pet’s contribution, “Pulling the Lever of Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln, the Slaves, and the Coming of the Emancipation Proclamation,” also elicited positive comments for its careful examination of the constitutional and political dimensions of Lincoln’s evolving views on emancipation. Both Ms. Johnson and Mr. Pet distinguished themselves in their responses to the comments provided by Professor Sarah Houser of Georgetown University and to the questions from the audience. [caption id="attachment_1553" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Steven Pet opens the conference with his paper."][/caption] “Steven Pet,” observed Professor Patrick Dineen, Director of the Tocqueville Forum, “delivered a lucid and rich account of the historical background of the Emancipation Proclamation. Shedding light on neglected events and discussions leading up to the promulgation of Lincoln's landmark Proclamation, the paper was a serious and mature treatment that added new depth and understanding to an otherwise much-studied moment in American history. Marta Johnson delivered a stunning paper on Bertrand de Jouvenel, an unjustly neglected philosopher. Hers was not only among the best treatments of Jouvenel that I have ever encountered, but in itself also a penetrating analysis of the nature of the modern State - called by Jouvenel "the Minotaur" - and its deepest philosophical and historical underpinnings.” All those in attendance benefited from a stimulating and provocative keynote address, “Just Not the Founding Fathers: Unwritten Constitutions and Unfounded Foundings,” by Daniel McCarthy, editor of The American Conservative. The conference provided a wonderful forum for exceptional undergraduates to showcase their talents, discuss significant topics with students from other colleges and universities, and develop an appreciation for rigorous and civil academic discourse. "The Tocqueville Forum brought together a serious group of students and scholars to discuss pertinent issues relating to American history, politics, and culture,” said Mr. Pet. “By any measure, the program proved a resounding success. I was amazed by the quality of the presented work, the vitality of the discussion, and the intellectual diversity of the participants. As a co-sponsor of the event, the AHI demonstrates once again its commitment to academic excellence and enhancing the intellectual life of its undergraduate fellows. I thank both the Tocqueville Forum and the AHI for making such a wonderful opportunity possible." Ms. Johnson added, "This was my first time presenting at a conference, and it was a great experience. I am very grateful for the opportunity to attend. Everyone there was very intelligent, well-read, and interesting to talk with. I also enjoyed hearing the other participants give their papers; they presented from lots of interesting perspectives and addressed issues I hadn't considered before." The AHI was delighted to co-sponsor the conference and is enormously proud of Ms. Johnson and Mr. Pet. Congratulations to all.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Jacob Sheetz-Willard Receives Graduate Award

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:12:20 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1562" align="alignright" width="224" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Jacob Sheetz-Willard"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Utah State University has awarded AHI Undergraduate Fellow Jacob Sheetz-Willard a university fellowship for the academic year 2012-13 to pursue graduate studies in the School of Arts and Humanities. Jacob is the only master's student from the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences to receive the prestigious Office of Research and Graduate Studies Master's Fellowship. He will be studying western and environmental history at USU. “Jacob,” said AHI Academic Advisor Maurice Isserman," is one of the finest students I've taught in 22 years at Hamilton College." Jacob won prizes for his writing and served the College’s Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center for several years as a tutor. In 2012, he was elected to the Epsilon chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. An avid outdoorsman and sportsman, Jacob also started at linebacker for Hamilton’s football team. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette called Sheetz-Willard, “not only an outstanding student, but one of the strongest prose stylists I have seen in more than 30 years at Hamilton College. A few minutes with Jake, and you find a strong sense of obligation and corporate responsibility too often lacking in his peers. I congratulate his parents. Well done!”

AHI to Hold Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 12-15, 2012 at the Turning Stone Resort

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:55:59 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium will be held April 12-15, 2012, at the Turning Stone Resort which is located at 5218 Patrick Road, Verona, NY. The keynote address "Numismatics and Limited Government" will be given by social commentator Roger Kimball, Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books. This year the colloquium is dedicated to “Binding the Minotaur: The Problem of Limited Government.” All day sessions on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14 are open to the public. The opening banquet, meals and evening events are by invitation only. Students from Villanova University, the University of Rochester, Hamilton College, Hampden-Sydney College, and Skidmore College will be in attendance. Participating will be: James Bradfield, Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics, Hamilton College; Jennifer Dirmeyer, Assistant Professor of Economics, Hampden-Sydney College; Chris Hill, Resident Fellow, AHI; Kevin Honeycutt, Classics Philosophy & Religion, Sweet Briar College; Pamela Jensen, Professor of Political Science, Kenyon College; Adam Kissel, Vice President of Programs at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education; Robert Kraynak, Professor of Political Science, Colgate University; Daniel J. Mahoney, Chair and Professor of Political Science, Assumption College; Mark Malvasi, Isaac Newton Vaughan Professor of History, Randolph-Macon College; Tiffany Jones Miller Associate Professor of Politics, University of Dallas; Mike Rizzo, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Rochester; Charley Ruger, Program Manager, Higher Education at Charles Koch Foundation; Colleen Sheehan, Professor, Department of Political Science, Villanova University; Elaine Sternberg, University of Miami; Flagg Taylor, Assistant Professor of Government, Skidmore College. If you have any questions about this exciting event, please contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org.

Dr. Leslie Marsh to Speak on Michael Oakeshott

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:19:42 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Hamilton College Republican Club are pleased to announce that Dr. Leslie Marsh Research Associate, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of British Columbia will speak on political philosopher Michael Oakeshott’s understanding of the meaning of conservatism on April 19, 2012, at 6:00 p.m. in the Filius Events Barn, Hamilton College. The event is open to the public. Dr. Marsh will discuss how English philosopher Michael Oakeshott ranks as one of the most important political philosophers of the twentieth century and how his writings have raised vital questions not only in philosophy, but in theology, literature, science, history, and politics as well. Oakeshott wrestled with the issue of how we as human beings attempt to know things through history, experience, and reason. Oakeshott's Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays (1962) includes a widely-cited piece "On Being Conservative.” Dr. Leslie Marsh is the founder the Michael Oakeshott Association as well as EPISTEME: A Journal of Social Epistemology. Dr. Marsh has received advanced degrees in the study of religions, classical civilization, politics and sociology, and philosophy as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Sussex in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman Joins Tax Foundation

AHIadmin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:02:21 +0000

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman has accepted a position with the Tax Foundation, a prominent educational organization devoted to informing “taxpayers about sound tax policy and the size of the tax burden borne by Americans at all levels of government.” Founded in 1937 and located in Washington D.C., the Tax Foundation performs its work related to government finance on the premise that “the dissemination of basic information . . . is the foundation of sound policy in a free society.” The Foundation’s basic principles include transparency, stability, and simplicity. [caption id="attachment_1605" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman"][/caption] Mr. Cheeseman, an economics major at Hamilton College, participated in a wide range of other AHI activities over four years. "I am very pleased to have obtained this position at the Tax Foundation through the Charles Koch Institute, observed Mr. Cheeseman. “I look forward to being part of a team dedicated to protecting economic liberties in a time where it appears vogue to trample on individual rights in order to pursue utilitarian reconstructions of society. My time at the AHI has prepared me to succeed in any environment. My participation in the Christopher Dawson Society, Edmund Burke Association, and the F. A. Hayek reading group were both essential to the development of my positions and to my ability to articulate them. All that is left is for me to work my hardest as I proudly represent the AHI in all of my future endeavors." “Thomas has always combined a probing intellect with a sincere commitment to the pursuit of truth,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Doug Ambrose. “Working with him these past four years has been a wonderful experience. He appreciates the rigors and rewards of serious intellectual work; he talks, for example, about Aquinas on the natural law with a passion—and insight--that warms the heart and excites the mind. He also possesses the courage to defend and articulate his beliefs in the face of formidable criticism. He has represented the AHI with distinction and dedication, and we are enormously proud of his having secured a position with the Tax Foundation. Students like Thomas Cheeseman give us hope for the future." “For those of us deeply involved in the activities of the AHI,” added Robert Paquette, “this achievement will come as no surprise. Thomas Cheeseman has impressed many visiting scholars with his probing questions on politics, economics, and political philosophy. He has an enviable command of Burke, Hayek, and Oakeshott, among others. Thomas will leave the AHI as one of its finest products.”

Ann Hartle Joins AHI as Senior Fellow

AHIadmin — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:38:48 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Anne Hartle, Professor of Philosophy at Emory University, has joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow. Professor Hartle received her Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1976 from City University of New York. Her major publications include The Modern Self in Rousseau's Confessions: A Reply to St. Augustine (1983); Death and the Disinterested Spectator; An Inquiry into the Nature of Philosophy (1986); Self Knowledge in the Age of Theory (1996); and Michel de Montaigne: Accidental Philosopher (2003). She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Center for Humanistic Inquiry. "I am so delighted that Ann Hartle will be joining the AHI as a Senior Fellow!,” commented AHI Fellow Sheila O’Connor Ambrose who received her Ph. D. from Emory University. “Ann is an accomplished scholar and a marvelous woman--and I was blessed to work closely with her on editing the writings of our late friend, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. Like Betsey, Ann impressed me with her intellectual honesty, her close scrutiny of the work at hand, her graceful prose, and, closest to my heart, her serious engagement with the lives of real women, resisting the trap of ideological cant. The AHI will benefit immensely from Ann's contributions and perspective." Added AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette: “Professor Hartle, a recognized authority on the great French skeptic Michel de Montaigne, brings to the AHI a wealth of both knowledge about early modern Western political philosophy and experience in higher education at an elite university. She participates in a great books program and has surfaced as a courageous voice on the need for educational reform in higher education. She will prove to be a great asset in major AHI endeavors to come.”

AHI Fellows Co-Edit Volume 4 of Fox-Genovese Project

AHIadmin — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:47:02 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose along with co-editor and Senior Fellow Ann Hartle on their efforts to complete the fourth volume of History and Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. [caption id="attachment_1621" align="alignleft" width="191" caption="AHI Fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose"][/caption] Elizabeth Fox-Genovese was that rare scholar who continued to master new fields throughout the course of her career. In her primary discipline, history, Betsey--as nearly everyone called her--began as an expert on eighteenth-century French political economy and then became an important leader in the study of the history of women, producing one of the great classics of women’s history, Within the Plantation Household: Black and White Women of the Old South (1988) and becoming the founding director of the first Ph.D. program in Women’s Studies at Emory University in 1986. She and her husband, historian Eugene D. Genovese, produced a series of works on southern intellectual life in general and on theology and religion in particular, culminating with the appearance of The Mind of the Master Class: History and Faith in the Southern Slaveholders’ Worldview in 2004 and Slavery in White and Black: Race and Class in the Slaveholders’ New World Order in 2008. But history was not the only discipline in which Betsey distinguished herself. As the Eleonore Raoul Professor of the Humanities at Emory, a position she held from 1986 until her death in 2007, she had a position in and supervised doctoral dissertations in the departments of Comparative Literature, English, and African-American Studies. She published in academic journals and in popular publications that ranged across the humanities, and she moved effortlessly from discussing the detective novels of Dick Francis to the challenge of postmodernist literary theory to a critique of Franz Fanon’s theory of colonialism. Her growing disillusionment with establishment feminism, best expressed in her Feminism Without Illusions: A Critique of Individualism (1991) and “Feminism is Not the Story of My Life”: How Today’s Feminist Elite has Lost Touch with the Real Concerns of Women (1996), and her conversion from Marxism to Roman Catholicism in 1995 led her to write even more widely as she contributed cultural criticism and commentary to both academic and popular forums. She was that rare and valuable person: a public intellectual whose writings reflected both exceptional erudition and a heartfelt concern for the dignity of all persons. Her death robbed of us of a vital voice. At the time of Betsey’s death, her husband, Eugene Genovese, began to compile her varied writings that had appeared in various journals, magazines, newspapers, and in edited volumes. The results staggered even those, like Genovese himself, who knew her well. It immediately became apparent that a project to publish these pieces would require several volumes. Under the general editorship of the gifted historian and close friend of Betsey’s, David Moltke-Hansen, a team of scholars from various disciplines agreed to edit a five-volume series that would bring Betsey’s scattered but significant writings together and make them available to a wide audience. The University of South Carolina Press has just completed this major publishing event, and several AHI fellows, academic advisors, and friends contributed to it, including Founding Fellows Bob Paquette and Doug Ambrose, Senior Fellow Ann Hartle, and Fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose. [caption id="attachment_1622" align="alignright" width="200" caption="AHI Fellows Co-Edit Volume 4 of Fox-Genovese Project"][/caption] Sheila co-edited, with Ann Hartle, the fourth volume of History and Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. This volume, entitled Explorations and Commitments: Religion, Faith, and Culture, focuses on Fox-Genovese’s conversion from a secular historian to a devout Catholic and the intellectual fruits of that conversion. Ann, a professor of philosophy at Emory, was a friend and colleague of Betsey’s. Sheila was a student of Betsey’s at Emory, among the first students admitted directly in 1991 into the Women’s Studies PhD program. Editing the volume proved especially rewarding and meaningful to Sheila, who, in addition to being Betsey’s student and friend, was also her godmother. The final section of Explorations and Commitments contains excerpts from Betsey’s highly private journals in which she speaks movingly of her struggle with physical challenges, including Multiple Sclerosis, and the comforts and mysteries of faith. Please click here, to read the University of South Carolina’s description of Explorations and Commitments: History and Women, Culture and Faith.

Angelo Balbo to Speak at AHI Entrepreneurship Club Luncheon

AHIadmin — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:05:30 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1630" align="alignright" width="274" caption="Entrepreneur Angelo Balbo"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that veteran restaurant owner and real estate entrepreneur Angelo Balbo will speak on "The Small Business Model: Gains and Risks Assessed" at a special AHI Entrepreneurship Club luncheon on Friday, April 27, 2012, at 11:45 a.m. at the Alexander Hamilton Institute. The event is not open to the public. Angelo Balbo is a thirty year veteran of the restaurant and real estate industry. Opening his first location at age 21, he has built up a company in food service and real estate management that covers the east coast. Based out of Poughkeepsie, NY, Mr. Balbo is an entrepreneur specializing in restaurant management, real estate contracts, and franchise agreements.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Will Eagan to Pursue Doctorate in Statistics

AHIadmin — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:06:54 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Undergraduate Fellow Will Eagan has accepted an offer to pursue a doctorate in statistics at Purdue University. [caption id="attachment_1680" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Will Eagan"][/caption] Mr. Eagan, a 2011 graduate of Hamilton College where he majored in mathematics, completed a senior thesis in the physics department. Elected to Sigma Xi, a national honorary society that awards excellence in scientific investigation, he also served as president of the Hamilton College Republican Club and founded the Statistics Journal Club. Eagan credits the AHI with educating him about the essentials of a proper liberal education. “I found the support to pursue the skills of a liberally education person at the AHI,” he observed. “The AHI helped me to hone my writing and oral communication skills, to appreciate civil debate, and to treasure the Great Books. Overall, I found the AHI to be one of the most rewarding parts of my undergraduate experience.” “Before graduation, Will Eagan became something of a fixture at the AHI. His energy and passion for learning proved infectious,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Professor Robert Paquette. “At any given moment at the AHI, you might hear Will engaged in animated conversation about Leo Strauss, Aristotle, or Friedrich Hayek. He has a bright future ahead of him. The AHI fellows are very proud of him and his accomplishments.”

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Andrew Menges Awarded Internship at New-York Historical Society

AHIadmin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:54:28 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1693" align="alignleft" width="204" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Andrew Menges"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Undergraduate Fellow Andrew Menges has received a summer internship at the New-York Historical Society (NYHS). Menges, a senior history major at Hamilton College, will work in the NYHS’s Education Department. He will supply administrative support and assist in the creation of school programs for students of all ages and materials for the professional development of teachers. He will also be engaged in research on topics related to two main NYHS programs in 2012: Dutch-era New York City and World War II. “I have had the pleasure of teaching Andrew Menges several times during the course of his undergraduate career,” said AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose. “He has consistently impressed me with both his intellectual curiosity and his quiet but strong character. A gentleman--in the best sense of the word--he has grown into a confident, thoughtful, and caring young man. He recognizes, as do all who truly wish to learn, that knowledge and understanding require humility, hard work, and, especially, a willingness to go where the evidence leads. He has been a joy to teach and to know.” “Andrew Menges is one of the finest young men I have encountered in my thirty-one years of teaching at Hamilton College,” added AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “He is studious and serious; he possesses outstanding character. He wants to learn and takes criticism well. He is not the kind of undergraduate to make the same mistake twice. His parents deserve applause.”

AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose Receives Fulbright Grant

AHIadmin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:39:38 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Charter Fellow Professor Douglas Ambrose has received a Fulbright Grant to teach American history and American studies in Croatia during the academic year 2012-2013. Mr. Ambrose, Professor of History at Hamilton College, teaches courses in American religious, social, and political history. His publications include Henry Hughes and Proslavery Thought in the Old South (LSU 1996) and The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton: The Life and Legacy of America’s Most Elusive Founding Father (NYU 2006). He received Hamilton College’s Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award. His many duties at the AHI include leadership of the Christopher Dawson Society. [caption id="attachment_1698" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose"][/caption] “I am deeply honored to have been awarded a Fulbright scholar grant,” said Ambrose. I hope to offer courses on American intellectual, cultural, and religious history that will enrich and strengthen the American Studies programs in Croatia’s universities. I especially want to offer courses that will help Croatian students understand the processes by which various peoples struggled to define what “America” and “American” meant from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Teaching American history and culture in Croatia will, I am sure, challenge and enhance my own understanding of American history and how best to teach it. Ambrose explained his fascination with Croatia: “I was aware of Yugoslavia’s disintegration in the early 1990s. In fact, in the 1990s the historic breakup of Yugoslavia hit home, Utica, New York, where I live. It became a leading destination in the United States for refugees from the former Yugoslavia. The more I researched Croatia and its universities, the more intrigued I become at Croatia’s determination—in light of its efforts to join the European Union--to develop academic institutions and programs that would retain its own students and attract students from other nations. I relish the opportunity to contribute to explore the historical processes that, over time and with much struggle, have shaped the meaning and content of ‘America’ and ‘American,’ because the struggle for national identity resonates in Croatia’s own history and in contemporary Croatia. As much as I hope to contribute to my Croatian students’ understanding of American history, I hope as well to deepen their appreciation for the study of history itself, regardless of its specific national or temporal focus. History, as a discipline, as a way of ordering knowledge and of viewing the world, enables students to grapple with the fundamental questions of the human condition. Regardless of what history one studies, a knowledge and understanding of the past presents students with concrete examples of people struggling to make sense of themselves and their world.” Ambrose will be accompanied on his journey by his wife, AHI Fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose, and their two youngest children, Augusta and Dominic. AHI Resident Fellow Dr. Christopher Hill will be taking over the AHI’s Christopher Dawson Society in Ambrose’s absence.

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette to Receive AFA Heroes of Conscience Award

AHIadmin — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:59:21 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1714" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette"][/caption]

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Charter Fellow Professor Robert Paquette on the Heroes of Conscience Award nomination by the American Freedom Alliance (AFA) for curriculum development in the study of Western civilization. The award will be presented to Professor Paquette at a gala reception in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, May 22, 2012.

The AFA is a non-political, non-aligned movement which promotes, defends and upholds Western values and ideals. Each year AFA offers an award(s) to those individuals it believes have made significant contributions to the advancement of Western values and ideals. Among the awardees in the past have been Prime Minister John Howard, UK, Parliamentarian Baroness Caroline Cox and Danish editor Flemming Rose. This year, the AFA focused on those few professors who have established courses in the study of Western civilization at their schools or colleges. Professor Robert Paquette co-founded the AHI in 2007. He has served on various boards and was nominated by President George W. Bush for a seat on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has taught at Hamilton College for thirty years. He held the Publius Virgilius Rogers Chair in American History for seventeen years until January 2011, when he resigned the title in protest. Paquette received his B. A. cum laude in 1973 from Bowling Green State University; he received his Ph. D. with honors in 1982 from the University of Rochester. A prize-winning scholar, he has published dozens of books and articles. “We are extremely proud of Bob and all that he has accomplished,” said AHI President and Pasadena, CA resident Richard Erlanger. “His passion for the study of Western civilization is infectious.”

Photo's: AHI Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, April 12-15, 2012

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:32:29 +0000

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AHI Undergraduate Fellow Daniel Savage to Attend Law School

AHIadmin — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:46:53 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Undergraduate Fellow Daniel Savage has accepted an offer of admission to the University of Richmond Law School, beginning the fall semester 2012. [caption id="attachment_1824" align="alignleft" width="111" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Daniel Savage"][/caption] Mr. Savage is a senior history major from Delmar New York. At Hamilton College Mr. Savage was advised by AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose and attended courses taught by both him and AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “Throughout my four years at Hamilton College,” I benefited from many AHI lectures and colloquiums.” At University of Richmond Law School, Daniel hopes to major in bankruptcy law, to be a part of University of Richmond Law's Legal Review, and to work for its Intellectual Property and Transactional Law Clinic. He hopes to eventually work as an attorney in Washington D.C., Richmond, Virginia, or Charlotte, North Carolina. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal wondered why colleges don’t teach The Federalist,” noted Robert Paquette. “Well Dan Savage not only has read The Federalist, all eighty-five essays, but a few dozen Anti-Federalist essays as well. His firm grasp of American ideals and institutions will serve him well at the next level. I am proud to have taught such a dedicated student and fine young man.” Dan Savage is a wonderful student—and an even more impressive individual,” said Douglas Ambrose. “Inquisitive, hardworking, and, most of all, in love with learning, he is also a person of unimpeachable integrity, compassion, and honesty. He will be a fine law student and lawyer. In every class Dan had with me, he was a model student: curious, engaged, diligent, and thoughtful. He participated in practically every class, asked probing questions, offered informed and insightful comments, and addressed other students' contributions with respect. Dan’s love of learning, his recognition of what he has to do in order to learn properly, and his humility—that rare but immeasurably important intellectual virtue—prompted him to work assiduously to strengthen his writing and his understanding of the material. He would stay after class, come to office hours, and talk with me as we walked on the campus sidewalks about the material we were discussing in class and the craft of writing. He takes criticism well—he insists on it actually. Dan listens to others carefully and with empathy, and he possesses a genuinely kind heart. He holds himself and others to the highest standards, but he is never self-righteous or arrogant. He has impressed me with his willingness to reconsider his thoughts on a topic when confronted with compelling evidence and arguments. He possesses an impressive work ethic and a strong sense of responsibility. He has been a joy to teach and to know.”

AHI Adviser Robert George Makes a Difference at Princeton

AHIadmin — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:11:35 +0000

In a recent a story on the vibrancy of the conservative student movement at Princeton University, Robert P. George, is highlighted for transforming the intellectual culture on campus and making Princeton a very unusual university—one where two sides, and not just one, are presented in campus political discussions. Dr. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University and is on the Board of Academic Advisors at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI).

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson to Attend Seminar on Liberty

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:13:09 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1898" align="alignright" width="234" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilizations (AHI) is pleased to announce that Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson has been chosen by the Institute for Humane Studies (HIS) to attend the summer seminar “Exploring Liberty” on the Bryn Mawr campus this June. The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS), located on the Arlington campus of George Mason University, has its primary mission the promotion “of a freer society by discovering and facilitating the development of talented students, scholars, and other intellectuals who share an interest in liberty and in advancing the principles and practice of freedom.” Each year IHS holds summer seminars on the fundamentals of liberty and how to preserve it. According to the IHS website, the Exploring Liberty seminar “introduces classical liberal approaches to creating a peaceful, prosperous, free society,” and participants will “[l]earn about the historical, economic, and philosophical foundations of individual liberty and encounter influential ideas from pivotal thinkers such as John Locke, Adam Smith, and F.A. Hayek.” “I could not be more excited to attend,” said Ms. Larson “The seminar looks to be a great experience.” Participants will address such questions as: What is the proper role of government? How can society solve widespread problems while respecting individual liberty? What are the unintended consequences of government programs? “Sarah Larson attended my course on the intellectual conservative movement in the United States,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. Her libertarian sensibilities will benefit enormously from engagement with what IHS has to offer. In Sarah, the award committee has made an excellent selection.”

Jim Schoff Joins the AHI's Board of Directors

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:38:28 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Mr. James Schoff will join the AHI’s Board of Directors. “The AHI is delighted that Jim has joined the Board of Directors," said AHI President Richard Erlanger. His expertise will further allow us to ensure transparency, accountability, and loyalty to the AHI charter.” Mr. Schoff graduated from Hamilton College (1968) and Cornell University Law School (1972). He subsequently spent nine years with the highly-respected law firm of Thompson, Hine & Flory (TH&F), specializing in partnership, tax, corporate and business law. In 1981, Mr. Schoff became a general partner of Diversified Equities, a move which enabled him to devote his full efforts to the business of equity capital formation and the structuring and syndication of tax advantaged investments. In February 1993, Mr. Schoff was a Founder and served as a Director of the newly formed Developers Diversified Realty Corporation (DDR). Mr. Schoff was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of DDR until 1998, when he became Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of DDR, and continued to serve on its board until 2002. In 2002, he assumed the role of Special Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of DDR and served in that capacity until his retirement in December, 2010. Mr. Schoff also serves as a Director of Associated Estates Corporation and as a Director of Quasar Energy Group. Mr. Schoff is past president of the Western Reserve Historical Society and the Near West Theater. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and of several advisory boards for University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He has three children (Megan, Hamilton College ’94), and eight grandchildren, and currently lives in Cleveland with his wife, Anne. “Jim is a wonderful addition to the board, and we’re delighted to welcome him,” commented AHI Director J. Hunter Brown. “He is an accomplished executive who will help the AHI continue to grow in its mission to promote student engagement and excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. We’re lucky to have him!” “Jim Schoff has had a remarkable career as a lawyer and businessman. He brings to the AHI family not only entrepreneurial and legal acumen, but boundless energy and a vibrant personality as well,” said Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “He identifies with our mission and understands full well the pressing need for educational reform in higher education. He will prove to be a remarkable asset to our organization.”

AHI to Honor Bradfield and Eismeier June 1 and June 2

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:16:19 +0000

Clinton, NY, May 18, 2012 – The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that it will hold ceremonies on successive nights, Friday, June 1, and Saturday, June 2, to honor James Bradfield, the Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics at Hamilton College, and Theodore J. Eismeier, Professor of Government at Hamilton College at the Alexander Hamilton Inn, 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, NY. On Friday June 1, beginning at 6:00 p.m., AHI will dedicate in a formal ceremony two areas of the AHI’s headquarters as the James & Alice Bradfield Hospitality Room. On Saturday June 2, beginning at 4:00 p.m., AHI will announce competition for the 2013 Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship in Political Science, a fellowship created from the donations of friends and former students of Professor Eismeier. Food and refreshments will be provided and the event is open to the public.

[caption id="attachment_1911" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield."][/caption] Professor Bradfield played a vital role in the founding of the AHI as an independent non-profit organization in 2007 and helped secure the Alexander Hamilton Inn as its headquarters. [caption id="attachment_1001" align="alignright" width="195" caption="AHI Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier."][/caption] Professor Eismeier founded the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows program and spearheaded the Fourth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, which brought together scholars, students, and informed citizens to discuss “Law, Technology, and American Constitutional Government.” Together professors Bradfield and Eismeier served Hamilton College for more than seventy years. Both have announced their retirement from Hamilton College at the end of the spring semester, 2012. “As a founder of the AHI,” said AHI President Dick Erlanger, “Jim provided thoughtful input to our initial organization as well as continuing intellectual support.” Ted Eismeier was not only a stalwart AHI supporter from the beginning, but an intellectual contributor of the highest order.” “The end of one journey will begin another,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. Both Ted and Jim will be involved in ambitious plans for expanding the AHI’s reach. Words fail in expressing my personal debt of gratitude to both gentlemen for what they have given to the AHI. Both stood tall when the agreement to establish a campus center collapsed under pressure from assorted malefactors.” At Hamilton College, Professor Bradfield taught courses in microeconomics and in the theory of financial markets. He has written (with Jeffrey Baldani and Robert Turner) Mathematical Economics, now published in a second edition (2005) by Thomson-Southwestern Learning, and Introduction to the Economics of Financial Markets (Oxford University Press, 2007). He was awarded a prize for excellence in teaching in 2006 by the Hamilton Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In 2007, the Student Assembly of Hamilton College awarded him the Sidney Wertimer, Jr., prize for excellence in teaching. He is an active member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity. Professor Eismeier graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College and received his PhD with Distinction from Yale University. A recipient of the Class of 1962 Outstanding Teacher Award, he taught courses in American political institutions and public policy and directed the Hamilton College Semester in Washington Program. He is the editor with Douglas W. Rae of Public Policy and Public Choice (Sage, 1979). He is the author, with Philip H. Pollock, of Business, Money, and the Rise of Corporate PACs in American Politics (Quorum Books, 1988), and has published widely in professional journals on the subject of campaign finance. He is currently working on a project on the Hudson River and the Politics of Place. He resides in Poughkeepsie with his wife Betsy. “I cannot begin to describe what Jim and Ted have meant to hundreds of students over the years,” added Doug Ambrose. Those students knew, some at the moment, others over time, that Jim and Ted cared for them in the most important way that a teacher can care—by taking them seriously, respecting them by challenging their assumptions and demanding that they defend their positions with reason and evidence. By refusing to allow students to rest comfortably and complacently, Jim and Ted made them better by reminding them, as all great teachers do, never to settle for mediocrity in their teachers and, especially, in themselves.” Click here to read ceremony presentation to honor James Bradfield. Click here to read ceremony presentation to honor Theodore J. Eismeier. Click here to view photos of the events.

2012 Bakwin Fellow Announced

AHIadmin — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:29:21 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that it has awarded the 2012 E. M. (Peter) Bakwin Fellowship to Dr. Tina Trent, an independent scholar, living in Ruskin, Florida. Dr. Trent received her Ph.D. in 2005 from Emory University, where she studied under Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. As a free-lance author, she has published articles in Accuracy in Media, Real Clear Politics, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Tampa Tribune, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [caption id="attachment_1923" align="alignright" width="179" caption="2012 Bakwin Fellow Dr. Tina Trent"][/caption] Dr. Trent will spend her residence at the AHI investigating the Ruskinite Community, a curious utopian experiment that emerged on 12,000 insalubrious acres of coastal West Florida in 1906. The Ruskin community survived, unlike many other utopian experiments in non-religious cooperative living. Dr. Trent is trying to explain why. Her preliminary findings would seem to “challenge assumptions made by some scholars about women being released from the ‘slavery of marriage’ through social engineering in communal, socialist settlements.” While at the AHI, she intends to explore the records of the Oneida Community Collection at Syracuse University and of the Communal Societies Collection at Hamilton College in order to compare “records relating to women’s personal experiences of marriage and communal life.” The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1,600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. The fellowship honors E. M. Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and of the University of Chicago (1961) who served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. Mr. Bakwin has had a long-standing interest in the history, literature, and art of Western culture. His generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions.

AHI Holds Annual Summer Conference on “Western Natural Law Tradition,” June 25-26, 2012

AHIadmin — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:14:47 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce its Annual Summer Conference "The Western Natural Law Tradition,” June 25-26, 2012 at the Alexander Hamilton Inn, 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The conference is open to the public, but seating is limited. Please call 315-853-5643 to reserve a seat. The challenges to natural law posed by moral and cultural relativism will be analyzed and discussed in a series of five sessions on June 25 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and June 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Robert Kraynak, Professor of Political Science, Colgate University, and Martha Martini, Attorney at Law, Boston, Massachusetts, will serve as discussion leaders. Participants will include graduate students from the Department of Political Science, Baylor University. The conference will explore the theory of natural law, its development over the centuries, and its applications to practical issues such as the best form of government, the ideal of social justice in economics and social institutions, and the theory of just war and international law. The conference will begin with the sources of natural law in classical philosophy and the Bible, and then turn to major figures in the development of natural law: Thomas Aquinas, Francisco Vitoria, Thomas Jefferson, Jacques Maritain, Leo Strauss, and the "new natural law" of John Finnis. “We are quite excited about this year’s conference,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “The concept of natural law stands at the center of millennia of Western philosophy and politics. The AHI thanks Senior Fellows Mary and David Nichols of the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, for organizing and co-sponsoring this compelling event.” Further information about the conference schedule, topics and readings can be found on our website at: www.theahi.org. If you have any questions about this exciting event, please contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org. SCHEDULE Monday, June 25 9:30 a.m. Breakfast at the Alexander Hamilton Institute 10:45 a.m. Welcome and Introduction - Robert Paquette and Mary Nichols Session 1: 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. “Sources of Natural Law in Classical Philosophy and the Bible” 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Lunch, Alexander Hamilton Institute Session 2: 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. “Aquinas and the Natural Law Basis of Justice” Session 3: 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. “The Democratic Impulse in Neoscholastic Natural Law” 6:30 p.m. - Picnic at Hatch Lake, hosted by the Nichols and sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute Tuesday, June 26 9:30 a.m. Breakfast at the Alexander Hamilton Institute Session 4: 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. “Natural Rights and the Dignity of the Human Person” 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Lunch, Alexander Hamilton Institute Session 5: 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. “The New Natural Law and the Crisis of Natural Law” READINGS AND TOPICS IN FIVE SESSIONS 1. Sources of Natural Law in Classical Philosophy and the Bible Cicero, On the Laws, Bk. 1 (sect. 1-24) and On the Republic, Bk. 3 (sect. 22) St. Paul, Epistle to Romans, chs. 1-3 2. Aquinas and the Natural Law Basis of Justice Aquinas, On Law, Morality, and Politics, from the Summa Theologiae 3. The Democratic Impulse in Neoscholastic Natural Law Francisco de Vitoria, Political Writings, “On the American Indians” Francisco Suarez, Defense of the Faith 4. Natural Rights and the Dignity of the Human Person The American “Declaration of Independence” and the French “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” Jacques Maritain, The Rights of Man and Natural Law 5. The New Natural Law and the Crisis of Natural Law Germain Grisez, “The First Principle of Practical Reason” John Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights Leo Strauss, “Natural Law”

Photo's: AHI Honors Bradfield and Eismeier

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:44:55 +0000

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AHI Hosts First Mohawk Valley Clara Barton Reception

AHIadmin — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:30:49 +0000

Clara Barton (1821-1912) founded in 1881 the American Association of the Red Cross. As a young woman in 1851, she attended a pioneering coeducational academy, the Liberal Institute, run by the Universalist Church in Clinton, New York. There she prepared for a life of self-sacrifice by engaging a demanding liberal arts curriculum that included math, philosophy, religion, history, the natural sciences, and foreign languages. During the American Civil War, Clara became the “Angel of the Battlefield” by organizing massive efforts to tend to the North’s wounded warriors. In recognition of Clara Barton’s historic ties to Clinton, the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross held its first Clara Barton Reception at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) on Flag Day, June 14, 2012. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette welcomed guests. Rosie Taravella, CEO of the Red Cross’s Central New York chapter opened ceremonies, and James Hastie, Major Gifts Officer, presented Volunteer Awards to area residents who had provided distinguished service to the regional chapter. “The AHI enjoyed the symbolic wedding of Alexander Hamilton to Clara Barton on Flag Day,” said Paquette. The Red Cross and the AHI have overlapping missions, and we look forward to additional collaboration, perhaps in supporting a blood drive in the near future. We were honored that the regional chapter of the Red Cross chose the AHI for this inaugural event.”

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Schnidman to Attend Public Choice Conference

AHIadmin — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 03:35:29 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1968" align="alignleft" width="242" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Max Schnidman"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University has chosen AHI Undergraduate Fellow Max Schnidman to attend this year’s Outreach Conference. The Center “builds on the groundbreaking economic and political science theories” of James M. Buchanan, who was was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986. This year’s conference will be held August 10-12, 2012, at the Mason Inn on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. Mr. Schnidman, from Freeport New York, majors in Public Policy, with minors in economics and philosophy and aspires to a career that combines economics and law. He has served for two years as co-leader of the AHI’s Publius Society, which is devoted to engaging students, faculty, and citizens in intensive discussions of American politics and political thinking. “Max is a stellar student, hardworking, intellectually curious, responsible, and committed to excellence,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. He not only leads the AHI’s Publius Society, but is a serious intellectual presence at many AHI events. In the age of big government gone wild, we need to encourage more gifted undergraduates in thinking about the difference between public choice and public policy. He will benefit enormously from this opportunity.”

AHI Charter Fellow Paquette Co-edits Fifth Volume in Fox-Genovese Project

AHIadmin — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 03:55:54 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Charter Fellow Robert Paquette along with co-editor Rebecca Fox on their efforts to complete the fifth volume of Unbought Grace: An Elizabeth Fox Genovese Reader. The University of South Carolina Press has announced the publication of Volume 5, Unbought Grace: An Elizabeth Fox Genovese Reader, which completes a five volume series, History and Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, edited by David Moltke-Hansen. “Concluding this multivolume series of Fox-Genovese's fugitive works, Unbought Grace: An Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Reader, draws on earlier volumes in the series to provide an overview of fundamental intellectual concerns that shaped her writings. Divided into two parts—sixteen essays written by Fox-Genovese and ten remembrances of her life—the contents of this volume demonstrate her remarkable range of subjects, methods, and audiences as she examined both historical and contemporary issues.” AHI advisers Robert George and Mark Smith and AHI Fellows Robert Paquette, Douglas Ambrose, and Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose contributed to section 2. “Elizabeth Fox-Genovese was an important as well as controversial figure in central theoretical debates across numerous fields: African American, Women's, and Cultural Studies, European and Southern Social, Cultural, and Intellectual History and Religion,” observed Moltke-Hansen. “Her intellectual breadth and her move from Marxism to Roman Catholicism have defeated easy comprehension. This reader, drawing from the range of her work, helps put her engagements and shifts in perspective. More, it helps make clear the striking continuities of her thought. Throughout her career, she always opposed liberalism. This stance made her anomalous, but attention to it also helps correct conventional narratives of the shape of American intellectual history in the third of a century before Fox-Genovese's death in 2007--a history in which she was a key player.” Paquette’s essay, “Beyond Self: Reading Elizabeth Fox-Genovese,” introduces the volume and has been republished by the National Association of Scholars on its website.

Michael Oakeshott Association Gifts AHI

AHIadmin — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:28:34 +0000

When Michael Oakeshott died in 1990, Professor Jeffrey Hart of Dartmouth eulogized him as “the most important political thinker in the Anglo-Saxon tradition since Burke (and I [Hart] have not overlooked J. S. Mill).” William F. Buckley also reflected on Oakeshott’s contributions while recalling Friedrich Hayek’s thinking on the meaning of freedom. Oakeshott warned, Buckley noted, that modern man might be ill prepared to shoulder the responsibilities that went with freedom, preferring short-term security instead. During a scholarly career that spanned more than half a century, Oakeshott combined a philosophical mastery of the great books in the Western tradition, a historian’s sensitivity to particulars and contingency, and the literary power of a gifted novelist. He wrote deeply, skeptically, and gracefully about the human condition, Man’s search for knowledge, and the tensions between his dispositions and his aspirations.

The Michael Oakeshott Association formed in 1999 as an international forum to engage Oakeshott’s work on “epistemology and metaphysics, philosophy of history, philosophical jurisprudence, education, aesthetics and religion.” Dr. Leslie Marsh, charter fellow of the Association, visited the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) in April, spoke to Hamilton College undergraduates about Oakeshott, and then led a Leadership Luncheon at the AHI on one of Oakeshott’s most famous essays: “The Voice of Poetry in the Conversation of Mankind.” Friendship emerged from conversation; collaboration grew out of friendship. Thanks to Dr. Marsh, the AHI has been gifted with a multivolume collection of Oakeshott’s works. “Marx (Groucho) said, ‘Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.’ Michael Oakeshott, Dr. Marsh observed, “probably wouldn't have disagreed. The academy is no less immune from such confusions. Indeed, creeping politicization has corroded one of Western civilization's greatest achievements— liberal arts education. The AHI offers a forum where this inheritance and achievement can be discussed without fear of censure.” The AHI thanks Dr. Marsh for his kind remarks and generous gift. The Oakeshott volumes will be located in the AHI in the James Piereson Room.

Photo's: AHI Annual Summer Conference on “Western Natural Law Tradition,” June 25-26, 2012

AHIadmin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:44:07 +0000

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Former AHI Eismeier Fellow Accepts Position at the College of the Holy Cross

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:52:40 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Erik Filipiak, the inaugural Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow in Political Science, has accepted a position as a visiting assistant professor of political science at the College of the Holy Cross. He will teach courses in American politics and public policy. [caption id="attachment_2017" align="alignleft" width="289" caption="Dr. Erik Filipiak, AHI Inaugural Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow in Political Science"][/caption] Dr. Filipiak, whose research and writing focus on the laws and processes of U.S. banking regulation, received his Ph.D. in 2011 from Cornell University, where he studied under Theodore Lowi. While completing his dissertation, he had the opportunity to research and write at Yale University from 2006-2009 under Professor David Mayhew. Before pursuing his graduate studies, Dr. Filipiak, who majored in classics and government, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hamilton College in 2002. While an undergraduate at Hamilton, he studied under AHI Fellows Robert Paquette, James Bradfield, and Theodore Eismeier. Filipiak credits the AHI for the post-doctoral experience he gained as the Eismeier Fellow as instrumental in helping obtain the Holy Cross position. As Dr. Filipiak explained, “The Eismeier Fellowship afforded me the opportunity to work closely with Hamilton College students through the Publius Society, and, in so doing, organize regular events engaging undergraduates in the discussion of leading public policy issues. In addition, the AHI provided a wonderful platform through which to meet other leading scholars in the form of regular conferences and events such as the Carl B. Menges Colloquium and “The Western Natural Law Tradition” Annual Summer Conference.”

AHI Announces Competition for $10,000 Eismeier Fellowship

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 20:37:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the inaugural annual competition for the Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship in Political Science. The Eismeier Fellowship awards a stipend of $10,000 to an ABD or postdoctoral student in political science with a focus on United States government and the American political tradition. The recipient of the award will reside, free of charge, during the spring semester, 2013, at the AHI’s headquarters located at 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. The recipient will have no teaching responsibilities but will be asked to serve as discussion leader at the monthly meetings of the AHI’s Publius Society, a gathering of students and informed citizens with a common interest in exploring important issues of the American constitutional order. He/she will also be invited to participate, all expenses paid, as a conferee in the annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium in April at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York. Residence would run from January 21 to May 1, 2013. A panel comprised of AHI fellows and directors will evaluate the applications. Application deadline is Monday, November 19, 2012 and the AHI will announce the award winner on Monday, December 3, 2012. To apply, candidates should send 1) a covering letter of no more than five typed pages in length that describes the focus and originality of his or her scholarship, 2) a copy of the applicant’s résumé, and 3) two letters of reference to Robert L. Paquette, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York, 13323. The fellowship honors Theodore J. Eismeier, an AHI Senior Fellow, who taught more than thirty years in the Department of Government at Hamilton College before retiring in 2012. Professor Eismeier graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College and received his PhD with Distinction from Yale University. A recipient of the Hamilton College Class of 1962 Outstanding Teacher Award, he taught courses in American political institutions and public policy and directed the Hamilton College Semester in Washington Program. He is the editor with Douglas W. Rae of Public Policy and Public Choice (Sage, 1979). He is the author, with Philip H. Pollock, of Business, Money, and the Rise of Corporate PACs in American Politics (Quorum Books, 1988), and has published widely in professional journals on the subject of campaign finance.

AHI Academic Adviser Robert George Publishes Essay

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:42:49 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Academic Advisor Robert P. George on the recent publication of his essay “Marriage, Religious Liberty, and ‘The Grand Bargain’” in Public Discourse, the on-line journal of the Witherspoon Institute. Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

AHI Summer Intern Transitions to Banking and Investment

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:45:05 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2030" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="ADP/AHI summer intern Dan Hughes in front of AHI headquarters"][/caption] Dan Hughes, the 2012 William “Bill” Vick fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has completed his summer work and will soon transition to a job on Wall Street, training in banking and investment, with the firm of Charles Vista. Mr. Hughes spent much of his youth in London, where he attended The American School. At Hamilton College he majored in economics, played soccer, and during his freshman year became a brother of the Alpha Delta Phi (ADP) fraternity. While at Hamilton College, Hughes attended a class in economics taught by AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield, also a member of ADP. Samuel Eels founded ADP as a literary society on the Hamilton College campus in 1832. In 2010, principals of the AHI and of ADP jointly established a summer internship in honor of William “Bill” Vick, a 1936 graduate of Hamilton College. Vick placed a high value on the sacred Constitutional right of private association and on his membership in the Hamilton chapter of ADP fraternity. In adulthood, he tenaciously fought to preserve the rights of private societies in the face of opposition from hostile forces on campus. Jon Vick, Bill’s son and President Emeritus of ADP, committed funds to help support the ADP/AHI internship on an annual basis. The Vick award goes annually to a worthy member of ADP who is also a graduating senior at Hamilton College. Candidates are judged by the standard of character and accomplishment exemplified by Bill Vick. Each intern receives a $2,000 summer stipend and is housed free of charge in the AHI’s headquarters. The intern participates in AHI functions and helps AHI fellows in daily activities. [caption id="attachment_2031" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield and Hughes at AHI with portrait of Samuel Eels, founder of ADP, in the background"][/caption] “My time at the AHI has been a wonderful experience for me as I transition into the world after Hamilton, Hughes reflected.” “While I have continued to explore my interest in economic history by reading some classic as well as contemporary texts, I have also been exposed to new areas through my duties at the institute, most notably as a participant in the conference on natural law. I am immensely grateful for the ability to learn, live, and work at the AHI this summer and I will leave for the next phase of my life as a more well-rounded and informed citizen, fully supportive of the mission of the institute.” “Dan Hughes proved to be an exemplary intern,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. He performed every assigned task with care and efficiency and participated actively in the AHI’s intellectual life, acquiring a good dose of Hayek before heading for Wall Street. He has a bright future ahead of him.” “Dan Hughes is an affable, industrious young man,” added James Bradfield. “He played varsity soccer throughout his four year at Hamilton. He listens well to advice. He held several positions of leadership in the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. Most recently, he organized the first annual public speaking contest sponsored by the fraternity. To accomplish this, he solicited contestants, and obtained the services of three independent persons to serve as judges. We look forward to his younger fraternity brothers continuing these public speaking contests in future years, and to encourage brothers to give speeches at the AHI.”

AHI Academic Advisor Roger Kimball Interviewed by Catholic World Report

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:03:56 +0000

Roger Kimball, Academic Advisor to the Alexander Hamilton Institute of the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), was recently interviewed by Catholic World Report about his most recent book The Fortunes of Permanence: Culture and Anarchy in an Age of Amnesia, published by St. Augustine's Press. Roger Kimball is Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books. He is an art critic for National Review and writes a regular column for PJ Media at Roger’s Rules. Mr. Kimball was the keynote speaker at AHI's Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 12-15, 2012, where he spoke on “Numismatics and Limited Government.”

US Naval Academy Awards Fellowship to AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:44:58 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Resident Fellow, Christopher Hill, has accepted a research fellowship at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis for the coming academic year. Dr. Hill will work with the James Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, participating in a seminar on the implications of a society that is moving beyond a traditional sense of morality and ethics. [caption id="attachment_2056" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill"][/caption] Dr. Hill came to the AHI after four years’ teaching in the Department of History at Hamilton College. He received his Ph.D. in medieval history at the University of Texas at Austin, where he specialized in the relationship between law and religion. His novel, Virtual Morality, completed while he was a graduate student, won the 1999 Editors Book Award from Pushcart Press. He is currently at work on a study of the medieval origins of the concept of liberty and has also partnered with the AHI in developing an online text and sourcebook for the teaching of Western Civilization. During the academic year, Dr. Hill will continue to teach his weekly continuing education course at the AHI. The Stockdale Center was founded in 1998 in honor of its namesake, former POW Admiral James Stockdale, to empower leaders to make courageous ethical decisions. To further that mission, it sponsors research, publication and seminars. This year’s seminar will run from September to May, culminating in the sixth annual McCain conference, which will include participants from Command, Staff, and senior war colleges as well as undergraduate institutions. The AHI congratulates Dr. Hill on receiving this significant award.

AHI Rochester Undergraduate Fellow Dan Wang Published in the Huffington Post

AHIadmin — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 02:23:36 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Rochester Undergraduate Fellow Dan Wang on his recent publication in the Huffington Post. Mr. Wang is a junior majoring in economics at the University of Rochester and is in his second year as an Undergraduate Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute at Rochester. Mr. Wang was a research intern for Radley Balko this past summer. He is an avid follower of classical music and also an avid reader. “Dan is one of the most thoughtful students I have had the opportunity to be affiliated with,” said Michael Rizzo, Executive Director of the AHI Rochester. “He is passionately dedicated to making the world a better place by being informed, interesting, calm under fire and understanding a wide variety of perspectives on important issues.”

AHI Resident Fellow Christopher Hill to Teach Continuing Education Course: “Heretics, Witches, and the Roots of Tolerance”

AHIadmin — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:23:09 +0000

Modern Americans consider tolerance a central, if not the central, political ideal of the Republic. When setting down the Bill of Rights that would limit areas of governmental intrusion, the Framers started off with the guarantee of tolerance in the freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion. Tolerance, many people believe, defines America more than any other idea. The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), as part of its 2012-13 programming devoted to the theme of “What is civilizational struggle?” will offer a public course “Heretics, Witches, and the Roots of Tolerance” to be taught by Resident Fellow Dr. Christopher Hill, an award-winning scholar and teacher. Dr. Hill’s course will trace the development of tolerance in the Western tradition from the development of orthodoxy and the suppression of dissent in the ancient world, to the growth of heresy in the Middle Ages, to the Witch Hunts of Early Modern Europe, to the religious wars that opened the door to the modern understanding of toleration. The course combines history, religion, economics and law. The course will meet Monday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Westlake Media Center at the Alexander Hamilton Inn, 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. It will run from September 10 to December 10, 2012. Refreshments will be provided during each class. The course is free and open to the public, but space is limited. If you’d like a seat at the table, please send an email to classes@theahi.org, or call 315-381-3335. Christopher Hill earned his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and has advanced degrees in both medieval and modern European history. He has taught at the University of Texas and Hamilton College, where he received the Sidney Wertimer Award for excellence in teaching in 2010. While a graduate student he composed a novel satirizing political correctness on a fictional college campus. In 2000, the book, Virtual Morality, won the Editors’ Book Award from Pushcart Press.

Paul A. Rahe to Deliver Fifth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:27:26 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Paul A. Rahe, Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in Western Heritage and Professor of History at Hillsdale College, will deliver this year's annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on Monday, September 17, 2012 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Welles Brown Room, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester. The event, co-sponsored by the AHI, its affiliate AHI Rochester, and the University of Rochester Republican Club, is open to the public. Dr. Rahe, a noted historian of political philosophy will be speaking on "Montesquieu and the Federalist: A Republicanism Suited to an Extended Territory." After reading Litterae Humaniores at Wadham College, Oxford, on a Rhodes Scholarship from 1971-1974, Dr. Rahe completed a Ph.D. in ancient history at Yale University under the direction of Donald Kagan in 1977. In subsequent years, he taught at Cornell University, Franklin and Marshall College, and the University of Tulsa. He has published dozens of books and articles, including Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution (1992) and Soft Despotism, Democracy’s Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Tocqueville on the Modern Prospect published by Yale University Press (2009). Professor Rahe’s entire scholarly career has been focused on studying the origins and evolution of self-government within the West. The lecture honors David Aldrich Nelson (1932-2010), a distinguished federal judge who served for decades on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was a charter member of the AHI’s board of directors.

Publius Society Schedule, Fall 2012 Presidential Elections in American History

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:49:26 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) is pleased to announce the upcoming fall 2012 meetings of the Publius Society. The Publius Society is an AHI Undergraduate Fellows program for those with a common interest in exploring outside the confines of the classroom, important issues of the American constitutional order and how they bear on contemporary politics. Meetings are open to the public, and, indeed, informed citizens are encouraged to attend as part of the AHI's explicit mission to elevate civic literacy. In 2012-2013 Publius will focus on presidential elections in American history. The Publius Society’s fall 2012 sessions are as follows: Monday, September 10, 2012, 4:20 p.m.: Election of 1860 Professor Douglas Egerton, Department of History, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, author of Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election That Brought on the Civil War (2010). Monday, September 10, 2012 at 4:20 p.m., Room 127 (Red Pit) Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. Saturday, October 6, 2012, 4:00 p.m.: Election of 1960 Professor Maurice Isserman, Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History, Hamilton College, co-author of America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s (200), Saturday, October 6, 2012 at 4:00 p.m., Banquet Room, Alexander Hamilton Institute. Saturday, October 27, 2012, 4:00 p.m.: Election of 1980 Dr. David Frisk, author of If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (2012), Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 4:00 p.m., Westlake Media Center, Alexander Hamilton Institute. Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 7:00 p.m.: Election of 2012 (Pre-mortem) Professor Theodore Eismeier, Senior Fellow, AHI and Emeritus Professor of Government, Hamilton College, co-author of Business, Money, and the Rise of Corporate PACs in American Politics (1988), Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 7:00 p.m., Westlake Media Center, Alexander Hamilton Institute. Thursday, November 8, 2012, 4:20 p.m.: Election of 2012 (Post-mortem) Professor Philip Klinkner, James S. Sherman Professor of Government, Hamilton College, author of (1994) The Losing Parties: Out-Party National Committees, 1956-1993. Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 4:20 p.m., Room 127 (Red Pit), Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College.

Professor Douglas Egerton to Inaugurate AHI Publius Society’s Fall Presidential Election Series

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:53:26 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) is pleased to announce that Professor Douglas Egerton, Department of History at Le Moyne College, will be the inaugural speaker for the Publius Society’s fall Presidential Election series. Professor Egerton will speak on “The Election of 1860,” on Monday, September 10, 2012 at 4:20 p.m., Room 127 (Red Pit) Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. The meeting is open to the public. [caption id="attachment_2085" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Publius Society Inaugural speaker Professor Douglas Egerton from Le Moyne College"][/caption] Professor Douglas Egerton is a prize-winning historian at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY and author of Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election That Brought on the Civil War. He has also written numerous essays and reviews regarding race in early America; some of the latter have appeared in the Sunday Boston Globe and The Nation. He has appeared on the PBS series "Africans in America" (1998) and "This Far by Faith" (2002). During the 2011-12 academic year, Professor Egerton held the Mary Ball Washington Chair (Fulbright) at the University College Dublin. The Publius Society is an AHI Undergraduate Fellows program for those with a common interest in exploring outside the confines of the classroom, important issues of the American constitutional order and how they bear on contemporary politics. In 2012-2013 the AHI’s Publius Society will focus on presidential elections in American history.

AHI Intern Scott Milne Helps to Create New Online Western Civilization Text

AHIadmin — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 16:00:53 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2120" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI summer intern Scott Milne"][/caption]Scott Milne, an undergraduate history major from Culver City, California, spent his summer as an intern at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), working with AHI Resident Fellow Christopher Hill to develop a new online Western Civilization text and sourcebook. Currently, many textbooks are produced under pressure from various activist groups to conform to their own special, ideological interests. The typical result is a watered-down, “politically correct” version of history where the accomplishments of Western Civilization are downplayed, and marginal figures receive more space than the truly great. In the world of high school textbooks in particular, such textbooks disserve students while, ironically, commanding extraordinarily high prices, usually paid by taxpayers. Scott Milne worked with Dr. Hill in developing a website that would synthesize text, video lectures, and direct links to primary sources in pursuit of a deeper learning experience. The text would be both rigorous and flexible in content so as to align with various state and local standards for accreditation. The videos would feature professors, including the AHI’s own, giving brief lectures on the topic at hand. The narrative would include instant links to primary sources. Best of all, access to the site would cost a fraction of what publishers charge for their paper offerings, while being easily upgradable and expandable. The AHI hopes to solicit private donors to help defray the cost of building and maintaining the site, in order to further lower the access price for students. Milne’s task was to build a sample site and test the viability of the concept. Dr. Hill provided a solid design in Photoshop that Milne tinkered with and polished but kept mostly intact. From this design he created the site using HTML and CSS in the program Dreamweaver, a website composition program. Milne spent the summer brushing up and honing his web-design skills, while at the same time considering the project’s larger implications. His work has resulted in an excellent prototype website, of which he is justly proud. In commenting on Milne’s performance, Dr. Hill gave effusive praise. “The site simply couldn’t be where it is if not for Scott’s hard work. He buckled down like a trooper, and built something just terrific. I couldn’t have asked for a better performance. He was simply invaluable.” “The project was challenging and stimulating,” Milne commented. “In between running the AHI’s bookstore and helping around the AHI, I also had time to read some of the great books that will figure prominently in this project. The AHI’s summer conference on Natural Law was especially relevant, and the scholarly panel helped illuminate for me a complicated topic that was a central theme of Western culture for millennia. I thank Dr. Hill and Professor Paquette for a fulfilling summer at the AHI and wish them good luck with the coming year. “The AHI thanks Scott for his dedicated service to higher education reform.

AHI Charter Fellow Paquette Selected as Contributing Expert to New Higher Ed Website

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:14:05 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2117" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette selected as a contributing expert to the new website SeeThruEdu.com."][/caption]The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Charter Fellow Robert Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a contributing expert to a new website SeeThruEdu.com, which focuses on higher education reform. The site offers daily postings by leading higher education experts from across the country. Content published at SeeThruEdu.com ranges from commentary to academic reports, and provides fresh perspectives that challenge much of the current discourse and offer constructive alternatives. “SeeThruEdu.com serves as part resource bank, part discussion area bringing national resources to state scenarios for the principles of academic rigor, fiscal transparency, affordability, and accountability,” said Thomas Lindsay, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Higher Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “We assembled some of the best minds in academia to offer their thoughts on important reform issues in the higher education realm.” The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.

Paul Rahe Speaks at AHI Clinton and AHI Rochester

AHIadmin — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:21:00 +0000

On September 16, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held a “Leadership Dinner” for Paul Rahe, Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in Western Heritage and Professor of History at Hillsdale College. Guests-- students, faculty, and informed citizens—prepared for an intensive evening of conversation by reading Professor Rahe’s essay “Between Trust and Distrust: The Federalist and the Emergence of Modern Republican Constitutionalism.” On Monday, September 17 (Constitution Day), Professor Rahe marked the fifth anniversary of the creation of the AHI by traveling to the University of Rochester to speak on “Montesquieu and The Federalist: A Republicanism Suited to an Extended Territory” before a sizeable audience composed primarily of undergraduates associated with Professor Mike Rizzo’s AHI Rochester. [caption id="attachment_2132" align="alignleft" width="194" caption="Paul Rahe delivers the Fifth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence"][/caption] Few scholars know more about the origins of that great experiment in republican government than Professor Rahe. A classicist who received his PhD at Yale University under the direction of Donald Kagan, Professor Rahe translated his dissertation into a prize-winning book of more than 1200 pages in which he did nothing less than trace the history of the origin and meaning of republicanism from antiquity to modernity. He followed this considerable achievement with a deeply learned trilogy: Against Throne and Altar: Machiavelli and Political Theory Under the English Republic (Cambridge University Press, 2009); Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and the Modern Prospect (Yale University Press, 2010); and Montesquieu and the Logic of Liberty: War, Religion, Commerce, Climate, Terrain, Technology, Uneasiness of Mind, the Spirit of Political Vigilance, and the Foundations of the Modern Republic (Yale University Press, 2010). Professor Rahe’s essay on ancient and modern constitutionalism focused on the nature of the new secular order created by the founders and the disparate materials that went into the making of the United States Constitution. “To the best of my knowledge,” Rahe began, “liberty first became a critical feature of constitutionalism in classical Greece.” When the Greeks thought of the maintenance of the constitution of liberty, they concentrated on character, the cultivation and nurturing of the virtuous citizen. Modern constitutionalism, in contrast, focused on institutions and certain assumptions, most notably associated with the writings of Machiavelli and Hobbes, about self-interested human beings ruled by passion. Professor Rahe contended that the founders accepted many of the assumptions of modern constitutionalism, as evidenced by the attention to structures in the Constitution, but they also accepted ancient formulations in that they believed a properly structured republic would facilitate the triumph of reason over passion in the conduct of political affairs. On Constitution Day, in the Welles Brown Room of the University of Rochester’s Rush Rhees Library, Professor Rahe delivered the Fifth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on the impact of Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu in the framing of the Constitution. Montesquieu, as Professor Rahe pointed out, strode the political thinking of the eighteenth-century transatlantic political world like a colossus. His De l'esprit des lois (Spirit of the Laws; 1748) was “a publishing phenomenon,” translated into multiple languages, and read by “learned men and would-be statesmen everywhere in Europe and beyond.” The name of no political thinker appears more prominently in The Federalist. Anti-Federalists cited Montesquieu approvingly in asserting that the United States could not survive as an extended republic, that the folkways needed to sustain republicanism could only be generated by a tightly-knit political community within a small territory. Federalists responded to the authority of Montesquieu on the nature of republics by advancing a new conception of federalism that brought a community of republics together in a peculiar power-sharing arrangement that James Madison called divided sovereignty. Over time, however, Madison became uneasy about the possibility of federal encroachment on the “the prerogatives of the states and the localities.” Professor Rahe’s stimulating lecture generated a question-and-answer period that lasted almost an hour. The AHI thanks Professor Rahe for helping the AHI celebrate its fifth anniversary and Professor Mike Rizzo for organizing the event in Rochester. On Constitution Day, 2013, Professor Keith E. Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University, will deliver the Sixth Annual David Aldrich Nelson lecture at Texas A&M University. [gallery size="large"]

Anne Neal Announces 2012 ATHENA Roundtable on Higher Education

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:23:35 +0000

Anne Neal, President of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), has announced the 2012 ATHENA Roundtable: American Higher Education: Working Hard or Hardly Working? The Roundtable will be held on Friday, November 9, 2012 in Washington, DC. This year’s program features university presidents Ken Starr of Baylor, Stephen Trachtenberg of George Washington University, and John McCardell of Sewanee. Leading scholars will also address the state of higher education, among them Richard Arum, co-author of the groundbreaking report Academically Adrift, and Andrew Delbanco, author of College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be. Distinguished trustees, business leaders, and public servants will also participate in this year’s gathering. ACTA President, Ms. Neal, is also a charter member of the Board of Directors of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). ACTA, is a non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization dedicated to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability in higher education.

Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Awards Announced

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:46:21 +0000

In April of each year, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) holds as the pièce de résistance of its annual programming a major colloquium. It brings together scholars, students, and informed citizens for 2 1/2 days of intensive conversation on a central theme. Named after Carl B. Menges, a graduate of Hamilton College and the Harvard Business School and a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Directors, the colloquium includes classes of undergraduates. They read the same set of prescribed readings as the conferees and have assignments related both to the readings and the discussion of them at the colloquium. In 2007 Mr. Menges also established a fund to recognize undergraduate achievement at the colloquium. On September 17, Constitution Day of each year, the AHI announces publicly the winners. The AHI is pleased to announce that Robert Gemborys, Jamie Lee, and Kristine Oren are the winners of the Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Awards. Each receives for their achievement a Barnes & Noble NOOK and a year’s subscription to The New Criterion, the finest journal of arts and culture published in the United States. [caption id="attachment_2147" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Robert Gemborys"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2148" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Jamie Lee"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2149" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Kristine Oren"][/caption] Students from the University of Rochester, Hampden-Sydney College, Hamilton College, Villanova University, and Colgate University participated in this year’s colloquium, which was devoted to the theme of limited government. Winners of the Menges Awards responded to three assigned questions: How do various groupings of right-of-center thinkers explain the rise and growth of big government in the United States? How do they differ in their assessment of problems associated with big government? How do they propose to rein in or limit big government? Mr. Gemborys, a junior government major, resides in Wayne New Jersey. Mr. Lee, a sophomore, is from Bangok, Thailand. Ms. Oren, a junior who has a double major in economics and government, comes from Catawissa, Pennsylvania. Congratulations from the AHI to you all.

AHI Hosts Professor Harvey Klehr

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 23:12:12 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) hosted Harvey Klehr, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Politics and History at Emory University, for two speaking engagements. Professor Klehr, who directs Emory University’s Program in Democracy and Citizenship, spoke on September 23 to invited dinner guests at the AHI about Soviet espionage in the United States during the Cold War and on the related issue of McCarthyism. More than twenty undergraduates in attendance had prepared by reading chapter two of Klehr’s In Denial: Historians, Communism, and Espionage (co-authored with John Earl Haynes; Encounter Books, 2005). Professor Klehr discussed the impact on the historical profession of both the release of documents associated with the Venona counter-espionage program and the opening to researchers in the early 1990s of KGB archives after the collapse of the Soviet empire. [gallery size="large"] Despite overwhelming evidence of the Communist international’s persistent string-pulling of the Communist Party in the United States (CPUSA), left-leaning professors in the academy continued to deny a preponderant Soviet influence over the CPUSA or went into contortions to downplay what the windfall of new evidence clearly revealed about the extent and threat of Soviet espionage in the United States. Professors Klehr and Haynes themselves were smeared by members of the academic left as McCarthyites. Students left the AHI with a far better understanding of the existence of politicization in the academy and how ideology biases teaching and scholarship. On Monday morning, September 24, Professor Klehr visited Hamilton College and spoke to students in History 254, “Recent American History: The United States, 1941 to the Present,” taught by Professor Maurice Isserman, himself a leading authority on the American left. In discussing “Communism and Anti-Communism in the 1950s,” Professor Klehr divided the historical interpretation of CPUSA into two camps: traditionalist and revisionist. The Venona cables and documents in Soviet archives have buttressed the traditionalist view that the Soviet Union had “continuing and obsessive control” over CPUSA. Indeed, as Professor Klehr stressed, the documents showed what the traditionalists themselves had hesitated to acknowledge, that the highest ranking members of CPUSA were “massively involved” in espionage for their Soviet masters. “Harvey Klehr stands as a giant in his field,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “Three of his books have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His experience as a purveyor of unpleasant truths to the academy holds lessons for all of us interested in high standards, educational reform, and a favorable climate for the conduct of honest scholarship. He has honored the AHI with his presence and opened the eyes scores of undergraduates about a plague of willful blindness that continues to infect the academy.”

AHI Academic Adviser Eugene Genovese Passes Away at Age 82

AHIadmin — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:13:16 +0000

Eugene D. Genovese, a charter member of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) Board of Academic Advisers and one of the most influential historians of his generation, passed away at his home in Atlanta on September 26. He was eighty-two years of age. He taught at Rutgers University; Sir George Williams in Montreal, Canada; the University of Rochester; Princeton University, and Emory University. In the 1970s, as chairman of the department, he built the graduate program in history at the University of Rochester into one of the finest in the country. While there, he mentored AHI Charter Fellows Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette.

: Eugene D. Genovese

No historian during the last fifty years had a greater impact on the study of masters and slaves in the Old South than Genovese. His Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974) won the Bancroft Prize. More recently he and his late wife Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, also a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisers, co-authored an impressive trilogy of related work: The Mind of the Master Class: History and Faith in the Southern Slaveholders’ Worldview (2005), Slavery in White and Black: Class and Race in the Southern Slaveholders’ New World Order (2008), and Fatal Self-Deception: Slaveholding Paternalism in the Old South (2011). Genovese started out his academic career as a Marxist scholar who had been expelled from the Communist Party at age twenty. In the 1990s he shifted rightward, denouncing in the journal Dissent the crimes of Communism for breaking “all records for mass slaughter.” He also returned to the Catholic Church. In his last major public appearance in 2010, Genovese received the Jeane Kirkpatrick Academic Freedom Award from the Conservative Political Action Conference. In his acceptance speech, Genovese sharply criticized the current state of higher education in the United States, citing a breathtaking collapse of academic standards and the cowardice of academic leaders who stood by and watched the dismantling by faculty activists of core curricula centered in Western culture. In 2000 Paquette co-edited a volume, Slavery, Secession, and Southern History in honor of Genovese. “During his career as a professional historian,” Paquette wrote, “Eugene Genovese inspired many, learned from others, admitted mistakes, remained steadfast on principle, and moved on when the evidence could no longer support a previous position.” His scholarship will stand the test of time. If in the beginning, he bowed to no God but truth, he ended his life bowing to both.

Photo's: Bon Voyage to the Ambroses

AHIadmin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:40:36 +0000

[gallery size="large"] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held a bon voyage ceremony for Charter Fellow Doug Ambrose, his wife AHI Fellow Sheila O'Connor-Ambrose and their family on September 1 at the Alexander Hamilton Inn. Friends and family attended the ceremony to celebrate Doug's receipt of a Fulbright grant and the family's departure to Croatia for 2012-2013. Ambrose is being accompanied on his journey by his wife, Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose, and their two youngest children, Augusta and Dominic. AHI Resident Fellow Dr. Christopher Hill is taking over the AHI’s Christopher Dawson Society in Ambrose’s absence.

AHI Undergraduate Kayla Safran Returns from the Buckley School

AHIadmin — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:37:22 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) awards prizes, internships, and fellowships to those undergraduate students who have excelled in advancing its mission. Kayla Safran, one of the leaders of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellowship Program, received the first AHI fellowship to attend the famed Buckley School of Public Speaking in Camden, South Carolina. Founded in 1988 by Reid Buckley, the brother of William F. Buckley, the Academy specializes in training executives and politicians not only in “the mechanics of oratory,” but how to speak clearly, candidly, and intelligently under duress. Kayla attended the September “Executive Seminar,” the “Flagship course designed for middle, senior and top executives & professionals.” [caption id="attachment_2190" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Kayla Safran with her Buckley class"][/caption] “Last week,” Kayla reported, “I had the privilege of attending an Executive Seminar on Public Speaking at the Reid Buckley School in Camden, South Carolina, on full scholarship from the AHI. [caption id="attachment_2191" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="The Kershaw-Cornwallis House"][/caption] The seminar is designed to help professionals improve their public speaking—everything from delivery to confidence to the choreography of body language—and it does so through a series of exercises, lectures, and unique challenges over the course of two days. My class consisted of twelve people who were all considerably more experienced than I. The setting in and of itself was a challenge to both my poise and maturity. Luckily, everyone was incredibly kind and offered me considerable advice, which helped to calm my nerves. At first I was skeptical that any big improvements in my own speaking could be made in such a short time. Standing in front of the class and team of coaches on the last morning, giving my final speech, however, I realized that I felt more powerful, more elegant, and more comfortable behind the lectern than ever before. I was able to speak slower, more deliberately, and with greater purpose that I had just 36 hours earlier. For obvious reasons, I can’t share all the details of the syllabus – part of the strategy of the program is the surprise factor! – but I can say that with the help of the several coaches, along with Mr. Reid Buckley himself, I learned a lot about myself as a speaker, ways to turn my natural gifts to my advantage, and how to improve upon the areas in which I am weak. I am confident that as long as I hold on to even a fraction of what I learned during this seminar, my public speaking – as well as my elocution in everyday life – will be noticeably better. I am deeply grateful to the AHI, particularly Professors Paquette, Ambrose, and Bradfield for giving me this fantastic opportunity, and I hope more students in the future will be able to experience what I did at the Buckley School.” The AHI received a phone call from an official at the Buckley School. She praised Kayla for her charm, intelligence, and development. Congratulations to Kayla. She did the AHI proud!

AHI Sponsors Panel on "Private Equity and Asset Management: Is Bain a Boon?”

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 03:30:24 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that its Entrepreneurship Club will sponsor a panel discussion on private equity and assessment management “Private Equity and Asset Management” Is Bain a Boon?” on October 26, 2012 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Alexander Hamilton Inn, 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield will moderate a dynamic panel discussion by three successful entrepreneurs who, while undergraduates, were members of the Hamilton College chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity: Howard Morgan, Robert Hamill, and Chad Graves. The event is open to the public and refreshments will be served. Howard D. Morgan is Co-President of Castle Harlan, a private equity investment firm; Bob Hamill is Managing Director at Jefferies & Company, Inc., a global securities and investment banking group; and Charles P. (Chad) Graves III is Executive Director, Consulting Group, Morgan Stanley. Mr. Morgan is also charter member of the AHI's Board of Directors. James Bradfield is Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics Emeritus at Hamilton College. Bain Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Mitt Romney, has become a major theme of the 2012 presidential campaign. What is a private equity firm? How does it make money for investors? What impact do such firms have on business? Who gains? Who loses? This distinguished panel will address these topics and how they relate to current events.

AHI Sponsors Blood Drive and Presidential History Discussion on 225th Anniversary of the Federalist Papers

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:06:25 +0000

In celebration of the 225^th anniversary of the first publication of The Federalist, on Saturday, October 27, 2012, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce its sponsorship, of two events: a blood drive and a special guest lecture on the Election of 1980, the third installment of the AHI’s special presidential election series. Both events, open to public; will be held at the AHI’s headquarters, the former Alexander Hamilton Inn, 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The brothers of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, the AHI Undergraduate Fellows, and the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross will join forces to sponsor a blood drive from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the AHI’s headquarters. In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Association of the Red Cross. As a young woman in 1851, she attended a pioneering coeducational academy, the Liberal Institute, run by the Universalist Church in Clinton, NY. The event recognizes Clara Barton’s historic ties to Clinton. Each donor will receive an AHI pocket Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and coupons from Taco Bell. Refreshments will be provided. Later in the day, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., the AHI’s Publius Society will continue its examination of threshold elections in American history with the help of Dr. David B. Frisk, author of "If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement" (2012). Dr. Frisk received his Ph.D. in political science in 2009 from the Claremont Graduate University. The event, co-sponsored by the AHI’s Publius Society and the Hamilton College Republican Club, is also open to the public and will include a book signing. The Federalist consists of 85 articles or essays that promote the ratification of the United States Constitution. They were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not, of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend, for their political constitutions, on accident and force. --Federalist #1

AHI Board Member Launches New Western Civilization Institute at Texas Tech

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:49:33 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates board member Dr. Stephen H. Balch on the recent launch of a new Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. The Institute, the only program of its kind among major American universities, aims to rekindle academic interest in the integrated study of Western civilization. It will offer conferences, publications, presentations, online resources, and seminars to stimulate discussion and research, and it will help develop Western civilization curricula for the Honors College at Texas Tech. Dr. Balch was most previously the founder and president of the National Association of Scholars (NAS), America’s largest and most active membership organization of scholars committed to higher education reform for twenty-five years. He holds a Ph.D in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and, for fourteen years, was a member of the Government faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the AHI as well as the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and has played an important role in the founding of four other higher education reform organizations. He is the author of a variety of articles on the problems of higher education, his comments appear frequently in the media, and he has spoken before academic and general audiences on many campuses.

AHI Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier to Speak on “The Election of 2012: Perspectives and Predictions”

AHIadmin — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:20:38 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that AHI Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier will speak on "Beyond Polls and Punditry: The Meaning of Elections in American Representative Government," Tuesday, October 30, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The event is open to the public and copies of the readings can be obtained by contacting Bob Paquette at bob@theahi.org. Tired of polls, punditry, and partisan spin about the 2012 election? What did the framers see as the purpose of elections? Are elections great contests of ideas? Should they be? Professor Eismeier, a prize-winning teacher, taught in the government department at Hamilton College for more than thirty years, before retiring in 2012. He is the co-author of Business, Money, and the Rise of Corporate PACs in American Politics (1988). In the spirit of March madness, at the end of the evening participants will submit official AHI “sheets of integrity,” making predictions about the election and the winner will receive a gift from the AHI. Suggested readings in preparation for the event: V. O. Key, "The Voice of the People: An Echo," in The Responsible Government: Rationality in Presidential Voting (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University press, 1966), pp. 1-8. 2, and Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, ed. Arthur Goldhammer (New York: Library of America, 2004), pp. 142-53. “The Election of 2012: Perspectives and Predictions” is the fourth installment in a series of lectures designed by the AHI’s student-run Publius Society on significant presidential elections in American history. The Publius Society brings together a diverse group of students with a common interest in exploring outside the classroom important issues of the American constitutional order and how they bear on contemporary politics.

Professor Maurice Isserman Speaks to a Packed House on "The Election of 1960" at the AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:13:04 +0000

Maurice Isserman, Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of History at Hamilton College and co-author of America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s, now in its fourth edition, spoke on “The Election of 1960” to a full house at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) on October 6. Professor Isserman’s presentation represented the third installment in the presidential election series sponsored by the AHI’s student-run Publius Society. [gallery size="large"] In assessing the contest that brought John F. Kennedy to the presidency with a margin of little more than 100,000 popular votes, Professor Isserman sees more similarities than differences in the political vision of both Kennedy and Richard Nixon. He challenged the view that Kennedy’s election represented a pivotal moment in the rise of American liberalism. In the election, Democrats had lost more than twenty seats in the House of Representatives. With a narrow margin of victory and a minority of the total popular vote, Kennedy brought to the presidency a rather modest domestic agenda. He expected to concentrate his energies on foreign policy, especially the formidable task of rolling back Communist gains in the Third World. Kennedy was less a shaper of domestic legislation than a responder to domestic crises. He did spur economic growth by cutting taxes on the wealthiest Americans. But issues like the minimum wage, civil rights legislation, health insurance, and urban crime and poverty seemed like a distraction from the growing Soviet menace. Thus President Kennedy embarked on an arms build-up that far surpassed in costs anything Dwight D. Eisenhower had incurred during his two terms as president. Professor Isserman left the audience with the tantalizing counterfactual that had Richard Nixon won the presidency, he would have been carried by the same domestic waves as Kennedy, perhaps toward a similar result. Had he won the Election of 1960, Richard Nixon might have gone down in history as the author of landmark civil rights legislation.

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette Blogs for SeeThruEdu.com

AHIadmin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:42:07 +0000

We previously reported that AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a contributing expert to a new website SeeThruEdu.com, which focuses on higher education reform. The site offers daily postings by leading higher education experts from across the country. To keep up with Professor Paquette's blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Kindred Spirit Dr. Leslie Marsh Publishes New Works

AHIadmin — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 13:00:49 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Leslie Marsh, Research Associate, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of British Columbia and charter fellow of the Michael Oakeshott Association, has published two new works of interest. The first, A Companion to Michael Oakeshott, is for those with a general interest in the work of Oakeshott. Readers may find of particular interest Dr. Marsh’s co-editor's chapter "Un Début dans la Vie Humaine: Michael Oakeshott on Education." Oakeshott was one of the twentieth-century’s most eloquent and ardent defenders of liberal arts education. The second publication, Hayek in Mind: Hayek's Philosophical Psychology has chapters that deal with link between the mind and liberality. A friend and supporter of the AHI, Dr. Marsh has received advanced degrees in the study of religions, classical civilization, politics and sociology, and philosophy as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Sussex in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. He visited the AHI earlier this year to speak with undergraduate fellows on the famous works of Oakeshott. Thanks in large part to Dr. Marsh, The Michael Oakeshott Association gifted the AHI with a multivolume collection of Oakeshott’s works.

AHI Co-Sponsors Lecture “Celebrating Utica” by Bill Kauffman at Utica College

AHIadmin — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:42:16 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) together with the Eugene Paul Nassar Ethnic Heritage Studies Center at Utica College is pleased to co-sponsor the lecture “Celebrating Utica,” by local author and screenwriter Bill Kauffman on November 3, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. at the Carbone Family Auditorium and Mazloom Atrium, Economic Crime and Justice Building, Utica College. The event is open to the public and a book signing will follow. [gallery size="large"] Bill Kauffman is the author of nine books, including: "Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle American Anti-Imperialism," which Barnes & Noble named one of the best books of 2008; "Forgotten Founder,Drunken Prophet: The Life of Luther Martin" (2008); "Look Homeward, America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front-Porch Anarchists(2006), which was named one of the best books of 2006 by the American Library Association and was given the Andrew Eiseman Award by the University of Rochester; and "Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette: A Mostly Affectionate Account of a Small Town's Fightto Survive (2003), winner of the 2003 national “Sense of Place” award from Writers & Books. Kauffman’s screenplay adaptation of Utica native Harold Frederic's novel "The Copperhead" has been filmed by director Ron Maxwell (Gettysburg) and will be in theaters in 2013.

AHI's Paquette to Speak at H. L. Mencken Club 2012 Conference

AHIadmin — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:47:17 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the H. L. Mencken Club has invited AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette to speak at its Fifth Annual Conference, “Challenging the Historical Consensus,” November 9-11, at the Sheraton-BWI in Baltimore, Maryland. Paquette will speak on Saturday, November 10 on “How Unique Was American Slavery?” The founders of the Mencken Club “conceived of the organization as representative of the spirit of the “Sage of Baltimore,” Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956), the brilliant iconoclast, satirist and columnist who founded The American Mercury – a figure who questioned the egalitarian creed, siren calls for democratic crusades, and welfare statism with which American democracy was already identified during his lifetime.” Founded in 2008, the H.L. Mencken Club addresses controversial topics that the academy refuses to address seriously and honestly. It provides a forum for independent thinkers to address a wide range of topics in the spirit of the Club’s namesake. In particular, Mencken Club members seek to combat “ignorance, wishful thinking and obscurantism.”

Standing-Room Only for AHI Panel on Private Equity and Asset Management

AHIadmin — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:52:11 +0000

On Friday afternoon, October 26, 2012, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), the AHI’s Entrepreneurship Club, and the Hamilton College Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity co-sponsored a panel discussion on the function of “private equity” in a capitalist economy. Presenting on the panel were Howard D. Morgan, Co-President of Castle Harlan, a private equity investment firm; Bob Hamill, Managing Director, Jefferies & Co., a global securities and investment banking group; and Charles P. (Chad) Graves III, Executive Director, Consulting Group, Morgan Stanley. Mr. Morgan is also a charter member of the AHI's Board of Directors. AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield, Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of Economics Emeritus at Hamilton College, moderated the panel. Each panelist was graduated from Hamilton College in 1984; each is a brother of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, and each works in the financial industry in New York. Mr. Graves holds an MBA degree from Columbia University; Mr. Hamill and Mr. Morgan hold MBA degrees from Harvard University. Professor Bradfield is also a brother of the fraternity. He taught economics at Hamilton from 1976 until his retirement in June, 2012. [gallery size="large"] Professor Bradfield began the panel by proposing a framework for the ensuing discussion. He distinguished among private firms whose securities are not publicly traded (“private firms”), private firms whose securities are publicly traded (“public firms”), and publicly-owned firms (such as AMTRAK). Economists agree that accumulating capital, defined as produced goods used as inputs for further production, is the surest way to raise standards of living and thereby enable freedom and democracy to survive. Citing Hernando de Soto’s book, The Mystery of Capital, Mr. Bradfield explained how private rights to property facilitate the accumulation of capital goods because the owners of the property can issue marketable financial securities against that property. Messrs. Graves, Hamill, and Morgan then explained how their work affected the processes of raising and managing capital for private equity firms. Central to their comments was the importance of gathering information from primary sources about prospects for specific ventures and about the interests of prospective investors who could finance these ventures, rather than relying on secondary information. Each panelist emphasized the importance of allocating capital out of less profitable uses and into more profitable ones. The three presenters complemented each other both in their preliminary comments and in addressing the many questions posed by members of the audience. Graves, Hamill, and Morgan specialize in different aspects of raising and managing capital for private equity. None of the panelists offered “tricks” for accumulating wealth quickly, or for “beating the market.” Each panelist did explain, in detail, how the foundation for success in his work was conscientious hard work, both in gathering information, and in developing networks of relationships among persons in industry and finance. The AHI has as one of its core missions the elevation of economic literacy both on and off campus. Private equity firms have come under considerable scrutiny during this presidential election year as a result of Mitt Romney’s Association with Bain Capital. The AHI thanks the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, Professor Bradfield, and Messrs. Hamill, Morgan, and Graves for a lively and searching discussion that educated the audience on private equity companies and various other aspects of the financial industry.

AHI’s Paquette Publishes Remembrance of Eugene Genovese in The New Criterion

AHIadmin — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:01:02 +0000

Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), has published a remembrance of the great historian Eugene D. Genovese (1930-2012) in the November issue of The New Criterion. Genovese served as a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors and was widely regarded as one of the most influential historians of his generation. He published dozens of books and articles on antebellum southern history and the history of slavery. His Roll, Jordan Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974) won the Bancroft Prize, the most prestigious prize in the field of history. Paquette received his Ph.D. under Genovese’s supervision as did AHI Academic Advisor Maurice Isserman. AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose was mentored by both Genovese and his late wife Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (1941-2007), a prominent intellectual in her own right and also a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors. Founded in 1982 as a successor to T.S. Eliot’s high-brow Criterion magazine, The New Criterion, edited by Roger Kimball, publishes monthly on culture and intellectual life. It stands “in the forefront both of championing what is best and most humanely vital in our cultural inheritance and in exposing what is mendacious, corrosive, and spurious.” Mr. Kimball is an AHI Academic Advisor.

Come Join Us: Election Night at the AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:27:38 +0000

On November 6, beginning at 7:00 p.m., the AHI's Westlake Media Center will be open all night for election night results and discussion. Food and refreshments available.

AHI Co-Sponsors Los Angeles Screening of Unmasked Judeophobia

AHIadmin — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:50:58 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) pleased to announce that it is co-sponsoring with the American Freedom Alliance, the Los Angeles, CA screening of Gloria Greenfield's movie "Unmasked Judeophobia," on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 7:30 p.m., Luxe Bel Air Hotel, 11461 Sunset Boulevard. The event will include a post-screening discussion with producer and director Gloria Greenfield.

AHI's Douglas Ambrose Speaks on U.S. Elections on Croatian National TV

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 17:24:25 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2273" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose on Croatian national television"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose was asked to speak on Croatian national television November 6, on the U.S. elections. Professor Ambrose received a Fulbright Grant to teach American history and American studies in Croatia during the academic year 2012-2013. Mr. Ambrose, Professor of History at Hamilton College, teaches courses in American religious, social, and political history. His publications include Henry Hughes and Proslavery Thought in the Old South (LSU 1996) and The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton: The Life and Legacy of America’s Most Elusive Founding Father (NYU 2006). He received Hamilton College’s Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Kayla Safran Publishes on Campus Bias

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 17:29:03 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1440" align="alignleft" width="262" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Kayla Safran"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Kayla Safran, student leader of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program, has published an op-ed in the November 1 issue of The Spectator, the Hamilton College student newspaper. Entitled "Republi-What? Conservative Voices Scarce, Stifled on Campus," the article illuminates the "unacceptable" situation for conservative students on campus.

AHI Sponsored Blood Drive with American Red Cross a Huge Success

AHIadmin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:04:55 +0000

On October 27, the anniversary of the publication of the first number of The Federalist, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held a series of special events that included its first blood drive with the New York - Penn Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross. With the help of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program and the Hamilton College chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, the drive not only exceeded its quota, but at the end even had to turn people away. [gallery size="large"] Red Cross Board Member William Rudge congratulated the AHI on a job well done and for establishing “what can become a fourth Kirkland Community Bloodmobile site.” “The drive was great,” commented Red Cross representative Julia Collier, “and I can’t thank you enough! Especially now with the mess that Hurricane Sandy has made, it’s made collections even more difficult and more necessary than before, so we need drives to do as well as yours did.” In a communication to Jon Vick, Secretary of the Alpha Delta Phi Alumni Association, AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette expressed his deep appreciation for the fraternity’s support of the blood drive. “The young men of ADP,” Paquette emphasized, “made a very favorable impression on the senior citizens who volunteered to work the reception table. ADP President David Goldstein led the way in packing our headquarters with donors.” "Those that made appointments," said David Lowell, Mobile Unit Assistant for the Red Cross, "showed up. That spoke to the dedication of the donors." Mrs. William Rudge, a Red Cross veteran volunteer, was deeply impressed by character of the young gentlemen she saw in the reception room. The AHI echoes her assessment.

Koch Representative and AHI Undergraduates Discuss Opportunities in Advancing Liberty

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:03:19 +0000

Stephen Sweet, Program Coordinator, Marketing & Recruiting at the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, traveled to the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and to its affiliate the AHI Rochester to inform undergraduates about a wide variety of opportunities for students in advancing liberty with the Charles Koch Institute. [caption id="attachment_2312" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Stephen Sweet speaks about opportunities with Koch to AHI Undergraduate Fellows"][/caption] At the AHI Clinton, Mr. Sweet made two presentations on October 24. About thirty Hamilton College students heard Mr. Sweet speak about the importance of economic freedom and the related work of the Koch Internship Program, Koch Associate Program, and LIBERTY@Work. The Koch Internship Program helps cultivate “the professional skills of students and recent graduates through rigorous professional education and work experience” in Washington, D.C. The Koch Associate Program offers “careers in advancing economic freedom through professional education and full-time employment” in Washington, D.C. LIBERTY@WORK opens doors to students for a wide array of opportunities “at liberty-advancing organizations across the country while engaging in online professional education.” Further information about these programs can be obtained at kochinternshipprogram.org, kochassociateprogram.org, and libertyatwork.org. In the evening, the AHI held a special dinner in Mr. Sweet’s honor during which he had a chance to meet a select group of twenty AHI Undergraduate Fellows. They voiced their concerns about the economic direction of the country and learned in greater detail about “freedom” opportunities with the Koch programs. AHI Undergraduate Fellows have already made their mark in various Koch programs. The AHI thanks Mr. Sweet and the Charles Koch Institute for their efforts. [caption id="attachment_2313" align="alignright" width="300" caption="A dinner meeting of the minds at the AHI on the importance of economic freedom"][/caption]

"The Charles Koch Foundation was established in 1980 by Charles G. Koch in order to advance social progress and well-being through the study and advancement of economic freedom. Through the Foundation’s history, it has supported the study of economic freedom through grant giving and support for professional education programs." [caption id="attachment_2314" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Max Schnidman and Sarah Larson listen to the presentation"][/caption]

AHI 2012 Annual Report

AHIadmin — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:41:19 +0000

To the Donors and Friends of the AHI: The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the release of our 2012 Annual Report, which details our programs and achievements for the year. We have much for which to be thankful as we move into our sixth year of operation and are quite proud of our accomplishments. A number of remarkable young people associated with the AHI are highlighted. [caption id="attachment_2328" align="alignleft" width="231" caption="AHI 2012 Annual Report"][/caption] I would like to thank those who have already made generous contributions this year and ask those of you who have not supported us to consider a donation at this time. We have ambitious goals for 2013 and beyond and would greatly appreciate your assistance in supporting our mission of educational reform. The Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium promises to be the best ever. It will be devoted to “Samuel Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations.” Dr. James Kurth, Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College, will keynote. Professor Kurth studied under Huntington at Harvard and knew him for forty years. Panelists will include Kenneth Minogue, president of the legendary Mont Pelerin Society. Please mark on your calendar April 18-20 at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York. We are examining various distribution methods for our programming events to broaden both its geographical and student/public constituencies and want to continue to expand the breadth and depth of our events. Our efforts to support free and open discourse on the important issues defined in our charter is more important than ever. Please help us if you can and enjoy our 2012 Annual Report. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me (rae@theahi.org) or Robert Paquette (bob@theahi.org). Sincerely, Richard A. Erlanger President, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization P.S.: We hope that you’ll consider supporting our mission to create programs that provide for the innovative teaching of civic and economic knowledge in order to promote a genuinely free marketplace for ideas.

AHI Academic Advisor Harvey Mansfield Interviewed on the Crisis of American Self-Government

AHIadmin — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:55:35 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Harvey Mansfield; William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University and AHI academic advisor, who recently spoke on the current Crisis of American Self-Government in an interview published in the November 30 issue of the Wall Street Journal. Sohrab Ahmari, Assistant Books Editor of the Journal, notes that 2012 marks Professor Mansfield’s fiftieth year of teaching at Harvard. “Few have thought as hard, or as much, about how democracies can preserve individual liberty and national virtue as the eminent political scientist Harvey Mansfield,” Mr. Ahmari writes. “When it comes to assessing the state of the American experiment in self-government today, his diagnosis is grim, and he has never been one to mince words.” Professor Mansfield reflects on the Election of 2012, the growth of the entitlement state, and the tension between liberty and equality in the practice of politics. Despite concerns about statist redistributions and “loss of the national soul,” Professor Mansfield remains optimistic about the prospect of a national recovery. “Our main resource,” he says in conclusion, “is the Constitution.”

AHI Awards Dr. David Frisk 2013 Eismeier Fellowship

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 20:36:53 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. David Frisk, an award-winning journalist and independent scholar from Washington, D.C., will receive the 2013 Theodore Eismeier Fellowship. Dr. Frisk received his B.A. in history from Reed College in 1984 and his Ph.D. in political science from the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, in 2009. At present, he writes on current affairs as a Senior Fellow of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy in Springfield, Virginia. In 2012 he published If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement, a widely-praised book on one of the crucial figures in the intellectual conservative movement founded by William F. Buckley in the 1950s. [caption id="attachment_2356" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Dr. David Frisk Speaking at the AHI on "The Election of 1980""][/caption]

The Eismeier Fellowship awards a stipend of $10,000 to an ABD or postdoctoral student in political science with a focus on United States government and the American political tradition. The recipient of the award will reside, free of charge, during the spring semester, 2013, at the AHI’s headquarters located at 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. The recipient will have no teaching responsibilities but will be asked to mentor the AHI’s Publius Society, a gathering of students and informed citizens with a common interest in exploring important issues of the American constitutional order. Dr. Frisk will also serve as a participant in the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, April 18-20, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York and as a resource for the AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program. Residence runs from January 21 to May 1, 2013.

“It will be an honor to join the Alexander Hamilton Institute for a semester of thoughtful scholarship and discussion of major issues facing our civilization,” Dr. Frisk commented on learning of the award. “The AHI's intellectual seriousness, the ability of its participants, and the courage and deep engagement of its leadership all inspire my excitement about, and gratitude for, this great opportunity.” “Dr. Frisk comes to the AHI highly recommended by a number of very prominent political scientists,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “Indeed, he delivered an excellent lecture on the Election of 1980 at the AHI in October. He received numerous favorable comments from both students and adults who were in attendance. We are delighted to have him.” The fellowship honors Theodore J. Eismeier, an AHI Senior Fellow, who taught more than thirty years in the Department of Government at Hamilton College before retiring in 2012.

AHI's Paquette Blogs "On the Unsustainability of the United States"

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:07:16 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette's latest blog posts "On the Unsustainability of the United States" Part I and Part II, have been posted on SeeThruEdu.com. Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

Bill Kauffman Urges Audience “Look Homeward Utica”

AHIadmin — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:46:27 +0000

On November 3, Utica College and the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) co-sponsored an appearance by author and screenwriter Bill Kauffman at the Eugene Nassar Center on the Utica College campus for a special event “Celebrating Utica.” In Mr. Kauffman’s widely praised speech, he stated that, “Each of us needs a home; a place where we feel connected, feel a part of something bigger than just ourselves. Seldom does this home look like paradise; ofttimes, as with my Batavia, perhaps with your Utica, home has been bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated almost out of existence. Self-mutilated, even. Home can seem, to outsiders, an unlovable place. But it is our task to love the unlovable, to find the sacred in the everyday.” Mr. Kauffman is the author of nine books, including Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle American Anti-Imperialism (2008); Forgotten Founder, Drunken Prophet: The Life of Luther Martin (2008); Look Homeward, America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front-Porch Anarchists (2006), which received the Andrew Eiseman Award from the University of Rochester; and Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette: A Mostly Affectionate Account of a Small Town's Fight to Survive (2003), which won the national “Sense of Place” award from Writers & Books. His screenplay adaptation of Utica native Harold Frederic's novel The Copperhead (1893) has been filmed by director Ron Maxwell (Gettysburg) and will be in theaters in 2013. Mr. Kauffman lives in his native Genesee County with his wife and daughter. The AHI thanks him for permission to publish his address.

AHI Announces Competition for Fifth Annual Bakwin Fellowship

AHIadmin — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 20:59:56 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the fifth annual E. M. Bakwin Fellowship competition. The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1,600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Doctoral and post-doctoral researchers are encouraged to apply. Recipients of the award will reside, free of charge, for one summer month (July or August) at the AHI’s headquarters, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY. A panel comprised of AHI fellows and trustees will evaluate the applications. Application deadline is Monday, April 8, 2013, and the AHI will announce the award winner on April 18, 2013, at the commencement of the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium. Mr. Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961), served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. Mr. Bakwin has had a long-standing interest in the history, literature, and art of Western culture. His generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. To apply for the Bakwin Fellowship, candidates will need to complete an application. It must include a copy of the applicant’s résumé, two letters of reference, and a proposal that should not exceed five double-spaced pages. Proposals should reference the manuscript or rare book collections to be consulted and how precisely they will contribute to the intellectual significance of the project. Area repositories include the Olin Library, Cornell University; the Oneida County Historical Society; Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University; Special Collections and Archives, Colgate University; Rare Books and Special Collections, Hamilton College. In assessing proposals, evaluators will follow closely the criteria spelled out in the fellowship program of the National Endowment for the Humanities:

The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to scholars and general audiences in the humanities.
The quality or promise of quality of the applicant’s work as an interpreter of the humanities.
The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant’s clarity of expression.
The feasibility of the proposed plan of work, including, when appropriate, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans.
The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project.

Completed applications should be sent to: Robert L. Paquette The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization 21 West Park Row Clinton, NY 13323

AHI’s Ambrose Blogs From Croatia

AHIadmin — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:15:01 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose was recently invited as a guest blogger, writing about Zagreb's weekly flea market in Croatia. Professor Ambrose received a Fulbright Grant to teach American history and American studies in Croatia during the academic year 2012-2013. Mr. Ambrose, Professor of History at Hamilton College, teaches courses in American religious, social, and political history.

AHI to Offer Free Course Starting January 21 on the History of the Crusades

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:08:50 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the study of Western Civilization (AHI) will offer a free, public course on the history of the Crusades beginning January 21, 2013 at the AHI’s headquarters located at 21 West Park Row, Clinton, N.Y. “The Crusades in Context” will be taught by AHI Resident Fellow Dr. Christopher Hill, an award-winning scholar and teacher. The course will meet on Monday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and last for twelve weeks ending April 15, 2013. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome, but space is limited. To enroll, please email classes@theahi, or call 315-381-3335 for more information. The course, which is part of the AHI’s 2012-13 programming devoted to the theme of civilizational struggle, will focus on the European attempts to retake the Holy Land during the Middle Ages. The course will place the Crusades into the context of their time showing how, ironically, contact with Islam transformed Europe and began its march toward philosophy, science and exploration that would ultimately make the descendants of the Crusaders the most powerful nations on earth. Topics will include the roots of the Crusader idea, the formation of Islam and its rise to prominence, the initial victories of the Crusaders and their long defeat, the impact of Muslim learning on the west, and the Mongols who worked simultaneously from the other direction, and briefly forged one of the greatest empires in human history. Christopher Hill earned his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and has advanced degrees in both medieval and modern European history. He has taught at the University of Texas and Hamilton College, where he received the Sidney Wertimer Award for excellence in teaching in 2010. While a graduate student he composed a novel satirizing political correctness on a fictional college campus. In 2000, the book, Virtual Morality, won the Editors’ Book Award from Pushcart Press.

AHI's Paquette Blogs for SeeThruEdu.com

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:59:53 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette's latest blog posts "On the Unsustainability of the United States: Epilogue," has recently been posted on SeeThruEdu.com. Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Congratulates Associate Lachlan Markay

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:59:59 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates our associate Lachlan Markay, currently an investigative reporter at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, on his latest position as a staff writer at the Washington Free Beacon.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson Hired by Semler Bossy Consulting

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:34:14 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Marta Johnson, co-leader of the AHI’s undergraduate fellows program, has accepted a position with Semler Bossy, an executive compensation consulting firm based in Los Angeles. She will assume the position upon graduation from college in May of this year. [caption id="attachment_1773" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Marta Johnson"][/caption] At Semler Bossy, Marta will help create plans to measure performance and to provide incentives for executives to pursue their company’s goals. Johnson majored in economics at Hamilton College and believes her interest in consulting grew out of her coursework. “I really enjoyed thinking about the issues brought up in my classes such as Industrial Organization, and I wanted to explore a variety of applications for them,” she remarked. “Executive compensation is also very much about incentives, which is something that really stood out to me about economics. [AHI Charter Fellow] Professor James Bradfield, in particular, drove home to me how important incentives are in the workplace.” Johnson credits the AHI for helping her to improve her critical thinking skills and to look deeper at problems, two skills that promise to be crucial throughout her career. She also thanks the AHI for challenging her to work on her articulation and public speaking abilities. “I’ve learned a lot, and have changed in ways I couldn’t have predicted, but for which I am very grateful. I hope the AHI continues to thrive and to make a difference in the lives of students.” “Marta Johnson is a bright, industrious student who quickly acquired a comprehensive, and nuanced, understanding of both standard microeconomic theory, and the implications of microeconomics to the theory of financial markets,” observed Professor Bradfield. “She easily applied the fundamental principles of the theory without becoming lost in the mechanics. She is especially adept at understanding the effects of alternative structures of both markets and corporate governance on allocative efficiency (economic efficiency).With her keen understanding of the importance of implicit costs, I expect that Marta will be able to produce sophisticated insights, cogently articulated, for questions of policy and planning.” “We’ve been very lucky with our undergraduate fellows at the AHI, commented AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill, “and that tradition has continued with Marta Johnson. She’s always stepped up, always gone the extra mile. She’s smart, energetic, charming and mature. She represents the best of what we hope to achieve at the AHI. I’m delighted, but not at all surprised to hear that she’s landed a position with Semler Brossy. She has a terrific head for economics, and I know she’ll do as well there as she’s done here. I wish her every success, and have no doubt that she’ll achieve whatever she sets out to accomplish.” “Marta Johnson will always be remembered as one of the AHI’s very special fellows,” added Robert Paquette. “She has served the AHI in many capacities and dazzled everyone along the way. She ranks near the top of her graduating class. Her work at the AHI with the Bertrand de Jouvenel reading group and her presentation of a paper on Jouvenel at a prestigious undergraduate conference opened doors for her to undertake graduate work in political science had she decided to go that route. She excelled as a summer intern for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, creating opportunities there for future AHI undergraduate fellows. When she leaves the AHI, she will go with our thanks as well as our blessings.” And what about her future plans? “At the moment, I’m not sure,” Johnson said. “I want to get some working experience and then decide once I’m a bit more informed. Most likely, I’ll go back to school eventually, probably business school or maybe a PhD program. I had planned on law school for a while, and that’s not completely out of the picture either.”

AHI's Balch and Mahoney to Speak at CPET Culture and Policy Conference

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:56:35 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that board member Stephen Balch and Senior Fellow Daniel Mahoney will be among an impressive line-up of speakers at the Center for Political and Economic Thought (CPET) Culture and Policy Conference, April 11-13 at the Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent College, PA. Dr. Stephen Balch is the founder and president of the National Association of Scholars, America’s largest and most active membership organization of scholars committed to higher education reform. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and, for fourteen years, was a member of the Government faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and has played an important role in the founding of four other higher education reform organizations. He is the author of a variety of articles on the problems of higher education, his comments appear frequently in the media, and he has spoken before academic and general audiences on many campuses. Daniel J. Mahoney is Augustine Professor of Distinguished Scholarship and Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he has taught since 1986. He received his Ph.D. from Catholic University in February 1989. His areas of scholarly expertise include statesmanship, religion and politics, French politics and political philosophy, and antitotalitarian thought. His books include The Liberal Political Science of Raymond Aron (1992, 1998 for the French edition), De Gaulle: Statesmanship, Grandeur, and Modern Democracy(1996, 2000), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Ascent From Ideology (2001, 2008 for the augmented French edition) and Bertrand de Jouvenel: The Conservative Liberal and the Illusions of Modernity (2005). He has also edited or co-edited many books including, most notably, The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947-2005(2006). Mahoney’s essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in a wide range of public and scholarly journals in the United States and abroad. His writings have also appeared in French, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Norwegian, Czech, and Russian translation. His latest book, The Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order: Defending Democracy Against Its Modern Enemies and Immoderate Friends, was published by ISI books in 2011. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Prix Raymond Aron, an award named after the distinguished French political thinker, who renewed Tocqueville’s conservative-minded liberalism and vigorously opposed totalitarianism in all its forms.

AHI's Eismeier Fellow David Frisk to Appear on CSPAN

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:04:11 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that 2013 Eismeier Fellow David Frisk will appear on CSPAN Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. Dr. David Frisk, an award-winning journalist and independent scholar from Washington, D.C., received the AHI's 2013 Theodore Eismeier Fellowship. Dr. Frisk received his B.A. in history from Reed College in 1984 and his Ph.D. in political science from the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, in 2009. At present, he writes on current affairs as a Senior Fellow of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy in Springfield, Virginia. In 2012 he published If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement, a widely-praised book on one of the crucial figures in the intellectual conservative movement founded by William F. Buckley in the 1950s. The fellowship honors Theodore J. Eismeier, an AHI Senior Fellow, who taught more than thirty years in the Department of Government at Hamilton College before retiring in 2012.

Latest Book by AHI Academic Advisor Roger Kimball Receives Powerful Review

AHIadmin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:21:36 +0000

The latest book by Roger Kimball, Academic Advisor to the Alexander Hamilton Institute of the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), receives a powerful review by the University Bookman. The review of his book The Fortunes of Permanence: Culture and Anarchy in an Age of Amnesia, is an indictment of where we are heading as a culture. Roger Kimball is Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books. He is an art critic for National Review and writes a regular column for PJ Media at Roger’s Rules. Mr. Kimball was the keynote speaker at AHI’s Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 12-15, 2012, where he spoke on “Numismatics and Limited Government.”

Robert B. Hamill Joins the AHI’s Board of Directors

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:54:49 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the addition of Robert B. Hamill to our Board of Directors. Mr. Hamill is Managing Director at Jefferies & Company, Inc., a global securities and investment banking group. “The AHI is delighted that Bob has joined our Board of Directors,” said AHI President Richard Erlanger. "Along with his distinguished Wall Street background, he brings a passionate desire to further AHI programs and outreach, as well as the principles of our charter." [caption id="attachment_2309" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Robert B. Hamill joins the AHI's Board of Directors"][/caption] Mr. Hamill has been in Institutional Sales and Trading of Leveraged Credit Products for nearly 25 years. He was previously employed by Drexel Burnham Lambert, Citicorp, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers. He began his career on Wall Street at EF Hutton and Company in the Investment Banking Group. Hamill was elected a member of The Town Council of New Canaan, CT in 2009 and is serving a four year term in office. He is a member of the Hamilton College Parents Advisory Council. He is on the Board of The Litchfield Park Corporation. He is a member of D.O.C.A., an advocacy group affiliated with The Department of Defense and The State Department. Hamill earned his B.A. from Hamilton College with a major in Economics and a Minor in Math. He earned an M.B.A. from The Harvard Business School. Last fall, Mr. Hamill participated on an AHI Entrepreneurship Club panel discussion on private equity and assessment management "Private Equity and Asset Management" Is Bain a Boon?” where he spoke to a standing-room only crowd at the AHI’s headquarters in Clinton. “Bob Hamill brings electric energy and a fervent commitment to the mission of the AHI,” said Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “He has a wealth of experience in the financial world and is deeply engaged in helping to promote the values that made this country great. Welcome aboard!”

AHI’s Paquette Moderates Opening Day Panel at the NAS 25th Anniversary Conference

AHIadmin — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:09:51 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Charter Fellow Robert Paquette has been chosen to moderate the opening day panel at the National Association Scholars (NAS) 25th Anniversary Conferenceon Friday, March 1, 2013 at the Harvard Club in New York City. Entitled “A Mighty Maze: Charting the Future of American Higher Education,” the conference will summon a larger, liberating view of what higher education can do and will address important issues in higher education today such as broken budgets, big debt and declining standards. [caption id="attachment_2321" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette"][/caption] Paquette will moderate the first panel discussion of the conference “The Illiberal Arts: Politicization and Academic Decline.” Panel contributors include Richard Fonte, NAS Member, Charles Geshekter, California State University, Chico, Michael Toscano, NAS and Ashley Thorne, NAS. Author Thomas Wolfe will be the keynote speaker to the NAS 25th anniversary celebration. The AHI will have a table of guests at Saturday's dinner, including Senior Fellow Theodore J. Eismeier and board members Bob Hamill (with his wife Tracy) and J. Hunter Brown. Board member Carl Menges will be on hand for Friday's panel discussion.

AHI Academic Advisor Paul Rahe Quoted in Wall Street Journal

AHIadmin — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:47:03 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Paul Rahe was quoted in today’s Wall Street Journal on why revolutions occur and why Chinese officials are reading Alexis de Tocqueville. Rahe’s original article What Occasions Revolutions?, appeared in Ricochet, January 23, 2013. Paul Rahe, Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in Western Heritage and Professor of History at Hillsdale College, is a noted historian of political philosophy. Dr. Rahe delivered the Fifth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture on Constitutional Jurisprudence on the impact of Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu in the framing of the Constitution, on Constitution Day at the University of Rochester.

Save the Date: Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium on April 18-20, 2013

AHIadmin — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:59:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and The Center for Freedom and Western Civilization at Colgate University will co-sponsor the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium on April 18-20, 2013, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium is devoted to the theme of civilizational struggle in the work of Samuel Huntington, one of the most influential political scientists of his generation. Keynote: Dr. James R. Kurth Thursday, April 18, 2013 James R. Kurth is Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College where he teaches defense policy, foreign policy, and international politics and was one of Samuel Huntington's former students. He has authored over 100 professional articles and edited two professional volumes in the fields of defense policy, foreign policy, international politics, and European politics. Sessions: Friday, April 19, 2013 Session I: “Huntington v. Fukuyama: One World or Many” 8:45 – 10:30 a.m.: Panel discussion and questions from participating students Session II: “What Is a Civilization?” 11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m.: Panel discussion and questions from participating students Session III: “Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations?” 4:00 – 5:45 p.m.: Panel discussion and questions from participating students Sessions: Saturday, April 20, 2013 Session IV: “Huntington and His Critics” 8:45 – 10:30 a.m.: Panel discussion and questions from participating students Session V: “Clashes within Civilization” 11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m.: Panel discussion and questions from participating students Session VI: “The Future of the West” 4:00 – 5:45 p.m.: Panel Discussion and questions from participating students Participants: Steve Ealy, Senior Fellow, Liberty Fund; James S. Robbins, Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs, Washington Times; Kenneth Minogue, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Honorary Fellow at the London School of Economics; Peter Coclanis, Associate Provost, International Affairs, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Tim Fuller, Professor of Political Science, Colorado College; Elizabeth Corey, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Baylor University; Paul Franco, Professor of Government, Bowdoin College; Martyn Thompson, Associate Professor of Political Science, Tulane University; Doug Macdonald, Associate Professor of Political Science, Colgate University; Ray Douglas, Professor of History, Colgate University; James Kurth, Claude Smith Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College; David Frisk, Eismeier Fellow, AHI; Khaleel Mohammed, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, San Diego State University; Dr. Charles Asher Small, Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) and Koret Distinguished Scholar at the Hoover Institution; Alexandra Wilhelmsen, Professor of Spanish, University of Dallas RSVP: Please RSVP by email to ahi@theahi.org, or by calling 315-381-3335. If you have any questions, please contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org.

AHI Charter Fellow Paquette Moderator at NAS Conference

AHIadmin — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:48:50 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2521" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette moderates NAS panel."][/caption] On Friday, March 1, Alexander Hamilton Institute For the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette moderated Session I: "The Illiberal Arts: Politicization and Academic Decline" at the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the National Association of Scholars (NAS). The two-day conference, "A Mighty Maze: Charting the Future of American Higher Education in an Age of Illiberal Ideologies, Broken Budgets, Big Debts, and Declining Standards" was held at the Harvard Club in New York City and featured a keynote address by Thomas Wolfe. AHI Academic Advisor Paul Rahe participated in Session V: "Whither the West." Paquette opened his session with a "Jeremiad on Higher Education," by excerpting from a letter he had sent to Hamilton College's board of trustees after resigning a distinguished chair that he had held for more than seventeen years.

Attendants at the conference included AHI board members J. Hunter Brown, Carl Menges, Anne Neal, and Bob Hamill as well as Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier. The conference generated a record audience for a NAS event. Professor Paquette followed-up on some of his impressions of the NAS conference in his March 7 blog post “A Mighty Maze: Part I,”on SeeThruEdu.com. Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

Video of Robert Paquette moderating Session 1: The Illiberal Arts, NAS 2013 Conference can be found on YouTube.

AHI Senior Fellow Lee Cheek Blogs on Election of the New Pope

AHIadmin — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:01:48 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Senior Fellow Dr. Lee Cheek recently posted an article "Electing a Pope is a Complicated, Mysterious Process," on the News@UNG blog of the University of North Georgia in order to provide both insight and discussion of the complex process to elect the next Catholic Pope. Dr. Lee Cheek Jr., is a professor of political science and religion at the University of North Georgia. He earned his divinity degree at Duke University and his doctorate at the Catholic University of America. He has written several books and scholarly articles on politics and religion and currently serves as a Senior Fellow of the AHI and the Academy of Philosophy and Letters.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball on State of Intellectual Diversity at Hamilton College

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:43:44 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball on the recent publication of his op-ed "Lecture Highlights Hidden Diversity Problem," which was published on March 7, in The Spectator, a publication of Hamilton College. Mr. Ball's opinion piece on the state of intellectual diversity at Hamilton College was also published by the Center for the American University (CAU) at the Manhattan Institute. Dean Ball '14 is a junior history major at Hamilton College.

AHI Sponsors Law Professor William A. Jacobson Speaking on Conservatives on Campus

AHIadmin — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 22:11:38 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that nationally renowned Law Professor William A. Jacobson will be speaking on "Coming Out As a Conservative on Campus," Monday, April 1, at 4:20 p.m. at Hamilton College, Kirner-Johnson 127 (Red Pit). A reception for Professor Jacobson is open to the public and will be held immediately following his talk at 6:00 p.m. at AHI headquarters, 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. William A. Jacobson is Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Securities Law Clinic at Cornell University Law School. Professor Jacobson received his BA from Hamilton College in 1981 and his J.D. from Harvard Law in 1984. He has a national reputation in the field of securities arbitration. Professor Jacobson is a prominent conservative blogger and the founder of the influential Legal Insurrection Blog, and the recently-opened College Insurrection Blog. Professor Jacobson will discuss his history of moving from a silent observer of politics to an openly-conservative legal and political pundit, and his observations about the state of politics on campuses. As an added bonus, Professor Jacobson will discuss his views on law school in these times of widespread talk of a "law school bubble." The event is sponsored by the AHI and the AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program.

AHI Announces a National Town Hall on the Costs and Quality of Higher Education

AHIadmin — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:04:33 +0000

Do you wonder, “What can I do about the cost & quality of higher education?” If so, please join us for an online town hall meeting. This first ever interactive meeting will be held on:

Monday, March 25th at 1: 00 PM Eastern Time

See the below link for dial-in details: Turning College Costs Around: Protecting the Next Generation from the College Bubble Spearheaded by American Council of Trustees and Alumni and concerned alumni from Colgate, Yale, Harvard, Hamilton, and other schools, the meeting will address ways that alumni can effect positive change at their alma maters so that today’s students can receive a great education without going broke. Greg Narag of “A Better Colgate” will moderate the discussion. Panelists will include:

Dr. Richard Vedder, President of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity
Dr. Robert Kraynak, Director of the Center for Freedom and Western Civilization at Colgate University and a Senior Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization.
Anne Neal, President of American Council of Trustees and Alumni and Director of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization

Each panelist will offer opening remarks and answer questions from the moderator and the participants. You will have the opportunity to submit questions to the panel and learn about strategies for alumni involvement. Please tell your friends and colleagues—anyone who might be interested! To register for the event or to ask any questions, please contact ACTA at wgonch@goacta.org.

AHI Leaders Comment on the Appointment of the First Conservative Studies Professor at a Public University

AHIadmin — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:25:10 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Board member Stephen Balch and Charter Fellow Robert Paquette were among the ten individuals in higher education that were asked to comment on the appointment of Steven Hayward, who has accepted a one-year appointment as Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Stephen Balch is the former president of the National Association of Scholars, director of the Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at Texas Tech University and a member of the AHI’s board. Robert Paquette is Charter Fellow of the AHI and Professor of History at Hamilton College. The AHI would like to congratulate Mr. Hayward on his appointment. Hayward holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Claremont Graduate School, is the author of several books, including volumes on Reagan and Churchill, and has held positions at the American Enterprise Institute, Pacific Research Institute, and the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University.

Georgetown Professor Michael Kazin to Speak on “The Election of 1896” as Part of AHI’s Presidential Election Series

AHIadmin — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:16:46 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) Publius Society is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Kazin, Professor of History at Georgetown University will speak on “The Election of 1896,” Thursday, April 11, at 7:00 p.m. in the Bradford Auditorium, Kirner-Johnson Building at Hamilton College. The event is open to the public. Dr. Michael Kazin is a historian of politics and social movements – mostly of the United States and Professor of history at Georgetown University. His published works include Dissent magazine where he is co-editor; author of A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan; and co-author with Maurice Isserman of America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. Dr. Kazin is a regular contributor to such newspapers, periodicals, and websites as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The American Prospect, Politico, and The New Republic, where he has an on-line column. Dr. Kazin obtained his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1983. “The Election of 1896,” is the sixth in a series of Presidential lectures designed by the AHI’s Publius Society. The Publius Society is an AHI Undergraduate Fellows program for those with a common interest in exploring outside the confines of the classroom, important issues of the American constitutional order and how they bear on contemporary politics.

Law Professor William A. Jacobson Blogs About Speaking as Guest of the AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:25:12 +0000

Last Monday, April 1, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) sponsored nationally renowned Law Professor William A. Jacobson who spoke on "Coming Out As a Conservative on Campus." Professor Jacobson recently blogged about his discussion on Legal Insurrection and his talk can be heard here. Below are photos of the AHI reception for Professor Jacobson which was held at our headquarters in Clinton. [gallery size="large"]

AHI Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier to Speak on the Relevance of Calvin Coolidge in the 21st Century

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:42:11 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), is pleased to announce that Senior Fellow Ted Eismeier will return to Clinton to speak on "Calvin Coolidge and His Relevance to United States Political Life in the 21st Century," Wednesday, April 10, at 4:30 p.m. at AHI headquarters, 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. Ted Eismeier is an award winning teacher who taught for more than thirty years in the Department of Government at Hamilton College before retiring in 2012. The AHI will use the opportunity of Professor Eismeier's appearance to honor the second Theodore Eismeier Fellow, Dr. David Frisk, who received his Ph. D. in political science from the Claremont Graduate University. A reception for Professor Eismeier and Dr. Frisk will begin at 4:30 p.m.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Landry Frei Pursues Aeronautics

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:58:48 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Undergraduate Fellow Landry M. Frei of Bend, Oregon will be pursuing an advance degree in aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. He will begin matriculation in May 2013 and intends on becoming a helicopter pilot, specializing in emergency air services or aerial firefighting. [caption id="attachment_2568" align="alignleft" width="213" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Landry Frei"][/caption] Mr. Frei majored in history and minored in government at Hamilton College. For two years he served as President of the Hamilton College Republican Club. At the AHI from 2008 to 2012, he participated in colloquia, reading clusters, and classes that intensively studied many of the great thinkers in the Western canon. A staunch defender of the Second Amendment, he wrote a senior thesis on “Sacred Honor: Dueling and the Culture of Honor in America.” Landry also has an avid interest in restoring old automobiles. After graduation, he apprenticed himself with an expert in the art of precision metal finishing, auto body painting, and general classic car restoration. He is currently at work restoring his great-grandfather’s 1947 Buick Super Eight which he acquired recently from a family member. “Few undergraduates from 2008 to 2012 participated more in the intellectual life of the AHI than Landry Frei,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “He not only has a wide variety of gifts, interests, and skills, he has impeccable character. Indeed, my wife calls him one of the noblest young men she has ever met. The AHI is quite proud of his intellectual growth and accomplishments.”

AHI to Co-sponsor Kenneth Minogue Talk on Social Justice and Personal Liberty

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:17:14 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will co-sponsor a talk by Kenneth Minogue, former President of the Mont Pelerin Society and one of the leading political theorists of his generation, on Wednesday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. at Hamilton College, Kennedy Auditorium, Science Center, Room GO27. Dr. Minogue will speak on whether campaigns for social justice, a central theme of our time, are a threat to personal liberty. [caption id="attachment_2581" align="alignleft" width="198" caption="Professor Kenneth Minogue"][/caption] Professor Kenneth Minogue is also Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Honorary Fellow at the London School of Economics. In addition to his teaching, Minogue was the director of government and opposition for the Centre for Policy Studies, chairman for the euroskeptic Bruges Group from 1991-1993, and President of the Mount Pelerin Society from 2010-2012. Formed after WWII, the Mount Pelerin Society is arguably the most important and prestigious organization of political and economic thinkers globally who are devoted to the maintenance of the principles of a free society in the world. Professor Minogue has written dozens of books and articles on a wide variety of political and economic topics, including Alien Powers: The Pure Theory of Ideology (1985) and The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life (2010).

Local Businessman Rodger Potocki to Speak to AHI Entrepreneurship Club

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:05:29 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Rodger Potocki, Utica entrepreneur, business consultant, and former Director of Planning and Development for the city of Rome, New York will speak to the AHI's Entrepreneurship Club on how to start a business Friday, April 26 at 11:45 a.m. at the AHI headquarters 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. [caption id="attachment_2585" align="alignleft" width="203" caption="Local Businessman Rodger Potocki"][/caption] A consummate businessman, Mr. Potocki has been involved in several business ventures in the Utica area. Most recently, he was Vice President and Principal for jPronto Corp., a software technology company in the Utica, NY area specializing in innovative products and services in the Internet and eBusiness economy. He was also President of the Potocki Group, a multi-faceted business development consulting firm. Mr. Potocki was formerly Executive Vice President for the Oneida County Industrial Development Corporation as well as Director of Planning and Development for the City of Rome, New York. Mr. Potocki is also the author of "From the Inside," a book that candidly discusses the politics and economics of Oneida County from the vantage of an insider who served in various positions of government during a forty-year period.

Photos: AHI Leadership Dinner With Georgetown Professor Michael Kazin

AHIadmin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:03:22 +0000

On April 11, AHI Undergraduate Fellows got a chance to speak with Georgetown Professor Michael Kazin at a leadership dinner held at the AHI headquarters 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The dinner was held prior to his presentation on “The Election of 1896,” given later the same evening at Hamilton College. Professor Kazin is a historian of politics and social movements – mostly of the United States and Professor of history at Georgetown University. [gallery size="large"]

AHI Honors Outstanding Senior Undergraduate Fellows at Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

AHIadmin — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:28:20 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) honored senior Undergraduate Fellows Anthony Balbo, Kayla Safran, and Marta Johnson for excellence in developing and contributing to AHI programs. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette used the opening night ceremonies of the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY, to present each undergraduate fellow with a gift that recognized their outstanding service to the AHI. Professor Robert Paquette Honors Outstanding Senior Undergraduate Fellows [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/64957686[/vimeo] Anthony Balbo, an economics major at Hamilton College, was honored for taking the lead in establishing the AHI’s Entrepreneurship Club in 2012 and for assisting with program development over the course of the last year. “I will forever remember Anthony as a young man who quietly came up to me after class in a course I teach on conservative thought, expressing his thanks to me for providing him with the tools to articulate a sensibility that, he admitted, found itself under duress on campus,” said Paquette. “The AHI is very proud of him.” Kaylan Safran, an honors student in history at Hamilton College and co-leader of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows program, was the first AHI Undergraduate Fellow to receive a fellowship to the Reid Buckley School of Public Speaking in Camden, South Carolina. “Not only has Kayla participated in the majority of AHI activities since her freshman year,” Paquette observed, “her energy, intelligence, and charisma made her a natural choice to serve as co-leader of the Undergraduate Fellows program.” Marta Johnson, the third honoree, is a Phi Beta Kappa economics major at Hamilton College. With Ms. Safran, she has led the AHI Undergraduate Fellows program for two years. Ms. Johnson has interned for both the AHI and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni in Washington, D.C. She served as the student leader of the AHI’s Bertrand de Jouvenel reading cluster, and as a result of that experience, she was selected to present a paper on Jouvenel at Georgetown University for the prestigious Undergraduate Scholars Conference on the American Polity. “Marta has already landed an impressive job on the west coast with an executive compensation consulting firm,” said Paquette. “I suspect it will be a stepping stone to any number of other accomplishments.” The three students received their awards at the opening night of a three-day event that was devoted to the theme of civilizational struggle in the work of Samuel Huntington, one of the most influential political scientists of his generation. Dr. James Kurth, Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College and one of Samuel Huntington’s former students, was the keynote speaker. Colgate University’s Center for Freedom and Western Civilization under the direction of Professor of Political Science Robert Kraynak co-sponsored the event.

Photo's: AHI's Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, April 18-20, 2013

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:05:38 +0000

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AHI Awards Timothy Minella 2013 Bakwin Fellowship

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:50:58 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that it has awarded the fifth annual Bakwin Fellowship to Timothy Minella, Ph. D. candidate in history at the University of South Carolina (USC). Mr. Minella’s major field of interest is the history of science. He intends to use the award to complete a chapter of his dissertation “Finding Nature’s Nation: Natural History, Ways of Knowing, and the Early Republic” on how Americans generated and exchanged agricultural knowledge in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. [caption id="attachment_2648" align="alignleft" width="203" caption="Timothy Minella"][/caption] The Bakwin Fellowship awards a stipend of $1,600 for advanced research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. Recipients of the award will reside, free of charge, for one summer month at the AHI’s headquarters in Clinton, NY. The fellowship honors E. M. (Pete) Bakwin, a graduate of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961). Mr. Bakwin served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. A long-standing student of Western culture, his generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. Mr. Minella graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in physics and government from Hamilton College in 2009. In 2010, he received USC’s Presidential Doctoral Fellowship, which is awarded to an outstanding applicant in any field of graduate study to support four years of study. AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose taught Mr. Minella as an undergraduate and encouraged his pursuit of an advanced degree in history. "In his first two years as an undergraduate at Hamilton College,” Ambrose observed, “Tim Minella distinguished himself as an exceptional student. In his senior year, I was blessed to have Tim take my course on "The Founders and Their Progeny." It was only his second history course, but, I am proud to say, it helped him redirect his formidable intellectual gifts. As he did throughout his career at Hamilton, Tim has impressed his professors and his fellow students at South Carolina with his probing intellect, his commitment to excellence, his rigorous work ethic, and his rare ability to make people reconsider their assumptions and interpretations. What I once said of Tim's performance in my seminar still rings true as he moves toward his Ph.D.: 'No one I have taught works as hard, thinks as deeply, reads as carefully, or writes as well as Tim Minella.' All of us at the AHI are proud to have Tim return as this year's Bakwin Fellow, and we are confident that Tim will soon be a distinguished and important scholar." “I am thrilled and flattered to receive this award from the Alexander Hamilton Institute,” said Mr. Minella. “As a student of American history and the history of science, I share the aim of the Institute: to engage in thoughtful explorations of Western civilization both within and beyond the academy. The Bakwin Fellowship will enable me to conduct critical research for my doctoral dissertation at area archives. I thank the Institute and Mr. Bakwin for their generosity.”

AHI Resident Fellow Christopher Hill Gives Conference Paper at USNA

AHIadmin — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:57:06 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Christopher Hill gave a paper at the 2013 McCain Conference at the United States Naval Academy held April 25-26, 2013 in Annapolis, Maryland. Along with the other visiting scholars at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, Professor Hill summed up his findings after a year’s seminar on the U.S. status as a great power, and on potential military ethics concerns at a time when the U.S. faces a number of difficult choices. [caption id="attachment_2056" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill"][/caption] While admitting the possibility of potential U.S. decline in the growing power of China and the continuing tension in the Middle East, Professor Hill struck an optimistic note. U.S. success, he argues, has been based on the maximization of human potential and efficiency through the ideals of freedom and equal protection. While other regions may boast better internal cohesion or the ability to make decisions and alter national policy quickly, in the end they will need to employ enlightenment tolerance and equality if they hope to supply their populations with the comforts of modernity. When they do so, they will change from strategic threats to long-term allies. In terms of military ethics, Professor Hill suggests that the military take a leading role in finding ways to incentivize savings in the defense budgeting process, in order to strengthen the economy. He also suggests a course given through the ethics departments of the Service Academies on the functioning of the American system – its foundational documents, legislative process, and macroeconomic policy – to give future military leaders a better sense of how the U.S. actually works, and how its design has helped it to achieve hegemonic status. The annual McCain Conference highlights different ethical challenges confronting the military. Previous conferences have examined issues such as just war theory in the modern world, and the use of drones as weapons. This year’s theme, The Ethical Dimensions of Extraordinary National Challenges, drew an impressive slate of keynote speakers, including Pulitzer Prize winning Journalist Hedrick Smith and New York Times op-ed writer David Brooks, noted academics Charles Murray and Robert Lieber, former Under Secretary of Defense Michelle Flournoy, and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullins. Professor Hill has commuted to Annapolis this year as the USNA Class of 1962 Visiting Research Fellow.

Kenneth Minogue Joins AHI Board of Academic Advisors

AHIadmin — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:22:48 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Kenneth Minogue, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Honorary Fellow at the London School of Economics and former president of the Mont Pelerin Society, has accepted an invitation to join the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors. The AHI co-sponsored Dr. Minogue’s appearance at Hamilton College recently to speak on “Is Social Justice Compatible with Freedom.” He then participated as a conferee at the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium “What Is a Civilizational Struggle? The Work of Samuel Huntington.” In a communication to AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, Dr. Minogue expressed admiration for the work of the AHI “in cultivating a little higher learning in obviously very good students who might otherwise turn to sterile political activism.” [caption id="attachment_2581" align="alignleft" width="198" caption="Professor Kenneth Minogue"][/caption] Thomas Cheeseman, who is interning with the AHI as a Liberty Fellow before entering law school in the fall, worked with Leslie Marsh of the Michael Oakeshott Society to bring Dr. Minogue to Clinton. “Professor Minogue's visit to the AHI, both to give a talk on the compatibility of social justice and freedom and to participate in the colloquium, was a real treat for everyone involved,” said Cheeseman. During his talk, Professor Minogue expertly laid out the difference between one-right-order societies and the development of the practice and tradition of freedom in the West. Detailing important developments and their impact on the development of freedom, Professor Minogue persuasively argued that the distinction between civitas dei and civitas terrena contributed to the desanctification of the state, making a free society possible. In contrast, modern attempts at social justice seek to limit freedom and impose a socially just society very similar to the traditional societies that Professor Minogue contrasted with the freedom of Western Civilization. His participation in the colloquium was similarly enlightening. Unafraid of political correctness, he addressed the essence of radical Islam and its incompatibility with a free society. In addition to his public contributions, a number of the AHI undergraduate fellows mentioned how much they enjoyed discussing the idea of Western Civilization with him.” Professor Minogue has written dozens of books and articles on a wide variety of political and economic topics, including Alien Powers: The Pure Theory of Ideology (1985) and The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life (2010). “Kenneth Minogue’s study of ideology is one of the very best books I have read on the subject,” Paquette observed. “Contrary to fashionable pronouncements on college campuses, we are not all ideological. The Mont Pelerin Society is a legendary organization. Past presidents include Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and Gary Becker. To have someone from that august body contributing to the mission of the AHI is a great honor.”

AHI's Paquette Blogs on Davos Man and Higher Education

AHIadmin — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:31:20 +0000

AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette’s latest blog posts “Davos Man and Higher Education,” has recently been posted on SeeThruEdu.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

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

AHIadmin — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:56:11 +0000

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”

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Eryn Boyce to Attend University of Pennsylvania

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 May 2013 00:17:06 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the University of Pennsylvania School of Design has accepted Undergraduate Fellow Eryn Boyce for graduate study. Beginning in the fall, Ms. Boyce will be seeking a Master of Science Degree in Historic Preservation. The University of Pennsylvania’s program in historic preservation is considered by many to be the best in the United States. [caption id="attachment_2685" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Eryn Boyce"][/caption] Ms. Boyce, from North Wales, Pennsylvania, graduated from Hamilton College in 2013, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. She majored in history, received honors, and was awarded the Putnam Prize for exceptional work in American history. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette supervised her senior thesis on Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), a pioneering archaeologist and social historian. Mercer, a major figure in the American Arts and Crafts Movement, innovatively combined reinforced concrete and decorative ceramic tiles in building Fonthill, a castle that served as Mercer’s home until his death and is now a museum and National Historic Landmark. “Eryn Boyce is a gifted young scholar with eclectic interests, much like the Renaissance man to whom she devoted her senior thesis,” observed Paquette. “She writes well and digs deeply into her sources to extract precious nuggets of information. The AHI benefited from her presence and the quality of her conversations. Given her intelligence and passion for historic preservation, she has a real shot at being a major player in her field.”

AHI Director Anne Neal on the Crisis at St. Mary's College

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 May 2013 01:05:02 +0000

Anne D. Neal, recently published commentary on how the rising costs of St. Mary's College of Maryland, a public liberal arts college together with limited educational benefit, have negatively impacted attendance numbers at the college. Anne Neal is president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and on the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) board of directors.

AHI Academic Advisor Harvey Mansfield on the Bowdoin Scandal

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 May 2013 01:22:02 +0000

Harvard professor Harvey C. Mansfield recently published "The Higher Education Scandal," an article discussing what political correctness in our time has done to higher education in our country. Harvey C. Mansfield is professor of government at Harvard University, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and an Academic Advisor of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI).

AHI Receives Fifth Armstrong Foundation Grant

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 May 2013 15:18:09 +0000

The Armstrong Foundation, an educational non-profit located in Fort Worth, Texas, has awarded the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) a grant in support of its programming for the 2013-2014 academic year. The Armstrong Foundation provides support to institutions interested in the perpetuation of a free society, “the benefits of limited government and the basic principles of American ideals espoused by the founding fathers of this great nation.” In a letter to the AHI, the Armstrong Foundation congratulated the AHI in its work in higher education reform and looked forward to the AHI’s “continued success.” “This is the fifth year that the Armstrong Foundation has honored us in a competitive process with a substantial grant,” AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette commented. “We are deeply grateful to Mr. Thomas K. Armstrong and the trustees of the Armstrong Foundation for their recognition of our efforts in defense of a traditional liberal arts education and its relevance to the maintenance of a free society. Current events would suggest a certain urgency in that regard.”

AHI Fellow Robert Kraynak Receives Fellowship

AHIadmin — Fri, 31 May 2013 15:15:45 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a non-partisan policy institute based in Washington, D. C., has named AHI Senior Fellow Robert Kraynak an Academic Fellow for 2013–14. Professor Kraynak, who teaches political science at Colgate University, will travel with a group of thirty American professors to Israel in June 2013 for an intensive study of terrorism and the challenges faced by Western democracies in defeating the international terrorist threat. The FDD Academic Fellows program sponsors a ten day learning experience for U.S. academics and research professionals to provide them with the latest knowledge about strategies for dealing with terrorism. The 2013 program will be conducted at Tel Aviv University from June 15 to June 26. It features lectures by academic specialists, military and intelligence officials, as well as diplomats from Israel, Jordan, India, and the United States. It also includes “hands on experience” through visits to police, customs, and immigration facilities, military bases, and border zones to learn the practical challenges of deterring and defeating terrorism. Professor Kraynak has taught courses in political theory and American government for over thirty years at Colgate University where he also directs the Center for Freedom and Western Civilization and recently led the Washington D.C. Study Group. Commenting on his upcoming trip to Israel, Professor Kraynak said: “I am excited about this unique opportunity to participate in courses and field excursions in the state of Israel and to learn lessons about the challenges that all democracies face in dealing with international terrorism. Certainly, we have been reminded of the importance of these subjects by recent events in the US and around the world, and we need to learn the special challenges that democratic societies face in dealing with threats to their security. I hope to share the knowledge I gain with my students and colleagues when I return home and when I plan courses and events at Colgate. It will be an invaluable learning experience.” For more information on this program, contact Professor Robert Kraynak at rkraynak@colgate.edu or the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Academic Fellows, Campus Programs Coordinator, Dana Murphy at 202-207-0190.

AHI’s Montesquieu Group Concludes with Diana Schaub

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:03:39 +0000

During the spring semester, Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), supervised nine intrepid undergraduates who participated in a pioneering group independent study that required serious engagement with Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689-1755). Montesquieu is, arguably, the foremost foreign individual influence on the meaning of republicanism in the political thinking that created the United States and framed and ratified the Constitution. No thinker is more frequently referenced in notable political writings in the United States from 1760 to 1805; no political thinker is more frequently referenced in The Federalist. Madison in his celebrated essay #10, though he does not mention Montesquieu by name, frontally challenges his assertion in Book 8, chapter 16: “It is in the nature of a republic to have only a small territory; otherwise it can scarcely continue to exist.” [caption id="attachment_2710" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Copy of Diana Schaub's book on Montesquieu"][/caption] Students in the group independent study read cover-to-cover, the 700+ pages of the Cambridge translation of Spirit of the Laws as well as Thomas L. Pangle, Montesquieu’s Philosophy of Liberalism: A Commentary on the Spirit of the Laws (1973) and essays by Paul Carrese, Professor of Political Science, Air Force Academy and author of The The Cloaking of Power: Montesquieu, Blackstone, and the Rise of Judicial Activism (2003); Rebecca Kingston, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto and author of Montesquieu and the Parlement of Bordeaux (1996); Barry Shain, Professor of Political Science, Colgate University and author of The Myth of American Individualism (1996); and Diana Schaub, Professor of Political Science, Loyola University, Maryland, and the author of Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu's Persian Letters (1995). The AHI sponsored appearances by Carrese, Kingston, Shain, and Schaub who discussed their scholarship on Montesquieu in intensive conversations with students and invited guests during Leadership Dinners at the AHI. In addition, the Montesquieu Group featured lectures by AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield on “Montesquieu’s Understanding of Money and Economics” and by Resident Fellow Chris Hill on “Montesquieu’s Understanding of Medieval History and the Feudal Law.” Eismeier Fellow Dr. David Frisk, a Ph.D. in political science from the Claremont Graduate University, participated in the course along with the students and served as a resource for them during the semester. [gallery size="large"] Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws, published in 1748, stands as one of the greatest monuments created by the deliberative brilliance of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Montesquieu believed that the seemingly endless variety of institutions and moral systems around the globe were more than random patterns and could be subjected to rational analysis to reveal basic structure and animating force. Montesquieu’s magnum opus by no means opens its treasures easily to the pedestrian mind. At a time of censorship and religious persecution, Montesquieu composed his books and chapters in Spirit of the Laws as if he first assembled a puzzle and then disassembled it to be purposively obscure. According to some scholars, the book sprawls and, perhaps, flails at times. In attempting to examine peoples across the globe, he uses sources uncritically. His categorical schemes look to modern readers as too arbitrary and reductionist. Key insights remain undeveloped or underdeveloped. He fails to draw needed distinctions in discussing complex social phenomena. While some of the criticism has merit, a fair examination must take into account the limitations of Montesquieu's time and that Montesquieu himself understood his intellectual work as opening a door to future projects that would, like his, study timeless questions. “The Spirit of the Laws is among the most challenging texts I have ever encountered, said Dean Ball, one of the undergraduate participants. “I cannot recall struggling with any serious thinker more than Montesquieu. Yet as I met each week with other passionate students to dissect the book piece by piece, and as we periodically discussed the work more broadly with a range of the world's finest Montesquieu scholars, I came gradually to see the genius of The Spirit of the Laws. It is a project that can only be conceived as a whole—to abridge it is to rob it of its purpose. No work of political theory I have ever read is more deserving of a singularly focused, semester-long study than The Spirit of the Laws. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my academic career.” “It is hard to put into words the new perspective I have gained from Montesquieu and the enjoyment and insight I have drawn from every other AHI event I have been a part of,” added Paul Carrier. For Scott Milne, The Montesquieu class was challenging and engaging, and I'm very glad I had the opportunity to take it.” Besides Ball, Milne, and Carrier, the students included Marta Johnson, Mary Farrington, Taylor Casey, Patrick English, Vineeth Devi Prasad Rao, and Kevin Anglim.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Susannah Parkin Speaks at Commencement

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:23:46 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to congratulate Undergraduate Fellow Susannah Parkin,'13 who recently spoke at Hamilton College's Commencement ceremony. Ms. Parkin was the recipient of the James Soper Merrill Prize.

AHI's Paquette Blogs on Swarthmore's Culture of Narcissism

AHIadmin — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 02:49:07 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette recently blogged on “Swarthmore's Culture of Narcissism,” on SeeThruEdu.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball Publishes on Higher Education

AHIadmin — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 23:33:45 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Minding the Campus, a website sponsored by the Manhattan Institute and devoted to serious conversation and debate about the state of higher learning in the United States, published on June 5 "Lower-Tier Schools are in Big Trouble" by AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball. Mr. Ball, a history major at Hamilton College from Falls Church, Virginia, heads the AHI's Publius Society, a student-run organization that explores outside of the classroom important issues of the American constitutional order and how they bear on contemporary politics. He also spoke at the Turning Stone Resort during the April 18 kick-off of the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, "What Is a Civilizational Struggle: The Work of Samuel Huntington.” [caption id="attachment_2623" align="alignleft" width="213" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball speaks to banquet guests. Photo Copyright 2013 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y."][/caption] Mr. Ball will be working this summer as an intern at the Manhattan Institute under the direction of John Leo, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at the Institute's City Journal. Ball obtained his internship in a national competition. According to the Manhattan Institute website, "[i]nterns regularly attend Manhattan Institute Events, including debates, conferences, and luncheon speeches. Interns have recently attended events featuring Governor Scott Walker, Harvey Pitt, Former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission; and leading scholars such as John Taylor and Charles Murray." "Dean Ball is one of the very best undergraduate fellows the AHI has to offer," said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. "He is smart, courageous, and agile on his feet. He has participated notably in every one of the AHI's reading clusters since his freshmen year. This is a young man who has read The Federalist, Hayek's Constitution of Liberty, Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws and many other classics cover-to-cover. We are very proud of him."

AHI Director Anne Neal to Testify Before a House Subcommittee on Higher Education Accreditation

AHIadmin — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:04:10 +0000

Anne D. Neal, President of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) will testify before the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training on higher education accreditation at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 13 in Washington, D.C. The hearing is also available via live webcast. Anne Neal is also on the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) board of directors and recently published commentary in the Baltimore Sun. In her commentary “St. Mary's College: A Cautionary Tale for America's Bloated Higher Education System,” she discussed how the rising costs of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a public liberal arts college, together with limited educational benefit, have negatively impacted attendance numbers at the college.

AHI Director Josiah Bunting III Elected Chairman of the English-Speaking Union of the United States

AHIadmin — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:41:21 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to congratulate Josiah Bunting III, charter member of the AHI’s Board of Directors, on his recent election to the chairmanship of the English-Speaking Union of the United States. Mr. Bunting is currently chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s National Civic Literacy Board; president of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation; and president of the Lehrman American Studies Center. Josiah Bunting was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1963. He studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He served in the U.S. Army in the 82^nd Airborne Division, in Vietnam and at the Military Academy at West Point, where he taught British history. His teaching posts and professorships also include the Naval War College, Princeton University, and VMI. His administrative experience in higher education includes: President, Briarcliff College (1973-1977); President, Hampden-Sydney College (1977-1987); and Superintendent, VMI (1995-2003). He served as a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities, from 2004-2009. Mr. Bunting has published several novels, including The Lionheads (G. Braziller, 1972), a best-seller that was selected by Time Magazine as one of “The Ten Best Novels” of 1973. More recently, he has completed several works of non-fiction An Education for Our Time (Regnery 1998) and a biography Ulysses S. Grant (Times Book, 2004). The English-Speaking Union of the United States is a non-profit, non-political educational organization that celebrates English as a shared language to foster global understanding and good will by providing educational and cultural opportunities for students, educators, and some 6,000 members nationwide. Past Chairmen of the organization have included President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower; Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr.; Attorney General George W. Wickersham; Supreme Allied Commander in Europe General Alfred M. Gruenther; Security and Exchange Commission Chairman J. Sinclair Armstrong; former President of Yale and Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s Kingman Brewster; as well as six other ambassadors to the UK, one to Canada and one to Turkey.

Photo's: AHI's Fifth Annual Summer Conference June 20-21, 2013

AHIadmin — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 13:01:29 +0000

[gallery size="large"]

AHI's Paquette Blogs on Crisis at Maryland's Honors College

AHIadmin — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 01:23:50 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette recently blogged "Crisis at Maryland's Honors College" on SeeThruEdu.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

Kenneth Minogue (1930-2013), RIP

AHIadmin — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 01:40:26 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) mourns the passing on June 28 of Academic Advisor Kenneth Minogue, one of the leading political thinkers of his generation. Ken, as most of friends referred to him, was Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Honorary Fellow at the London School of Economics. Born September 11, 1930 in New Zealand, he spent most of his young adult life in Australia, graduating from Sydney Boys High School and then the University of Sydney. He made his way to England to figure out, as he put it, what to do with his life and eventually decided to embark on graduate study in political philosophy. After teaching at the University of Exeter, he joined in 1959 the political science department at the London School of Economics, which included such luminaries as Michael Oakeshott and Elie Kedourie. Ken’s books include The Liberal Mind (1963), Nationalism (1967), The Concept of a University (1973), Alien Powers: The Pure Theory of Ideology (1985), Politics: A Very Short Introduction (1995), and, most recently, The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life (2010). He also served for more than twenty years on the board of the Centre for Policy Studies and as chairman of the Bruges Group (1991-1993). He suffered a fatal stroke in Ecuador after addressing a meeting in the Galapagos Islands of the legendary Mont Pelerin Society, of which he served as president from 2010 to 2012. The AHI sponsored Ken in April of this year at two events: at Hamilton College to speak on “Is Social Justice Compatible with Freedom” and at the Turning Stone Resort to participate as a conferee in the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium “What Is a Civilizational Struggle? The Work of Samuel Huntington.” In a communication after the colloquium to AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, Minogue expressed admiration for the work of the AHI “in cultivating a little higher learning in obviously very good students who might otherwise turn to sterile political activism.” The AHI was deeply honored by his subsequent request to join our board of academic advisors. AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman played a crucial role in organizing Minogue’s visit to the AHI and, along the way, developed a friendship with him. “In reviewing Jesse Norman’s recent monograph on Edmund Burke,” Cheeseman observed, “Professor Minogue commented, “It is perhaps one of the oddities of the British political tradition that it is often best revealed by foreigners. Voltaire and Montesquieu in the eighteenth century had a large part in England’s reputation as a notably free society, but there is a sense in which the Irishman Edmund Burke should be recognized as the major ‘foreign’ contributor to our political self-understanding. He could express what the English were about better than any native.’ Without much of a stretch, one could easily add Ken Minogue to the list of foreigners who made substantive contributions to the English political tradition. While never devolving into ideology, the work of this remarkable man can be seen as both a formidable defense of the English institutions that he recognized as fundamental to British freedom and a powerful criticism of the strains in modern thought which threatened that very freedom. In Concept of a University, Professor Minogue sought to vindicate the traditional concept of a university as it developed in the West against the Marxist ideologues looking to politicize education. In Alien Powers, regarded as one of the very best books on ideology, he sought to explain the paradoxical growth and development within the free institutions of the West of ideological thought, which conceives of society as having one right order. When I asked Ken about Alien Powers, rather than making some self-important comment, he quipped with that trademark twinkle in his eye, ‘Oh, I enjoyed writing the book, but honestly, I rambled on for too long at the end.’ For all of Ken’s impressive scholarly accomplishments, he carried himself unostentatiously, with genuine grace, civility, and humor. The AHI had the fortune of providing the forum for one of Ken’s final public appearances. He began his stay at the AHI’s headquarters by delivering a talk on the incompatibility of social justice and a free society; he concluded his visit by participating in the AHI’s annual colloquium, keeping the other participants on their toes with sharp criticism and intelligent insights.” When informed of Ken’s passing, Undergraduate Fellow Dean Woodley Ball responded that “The AHI had the great honor of receiving Dr. Minogue for a lecture in the last months of his life. I was immediately struck not only by the power of his intellect but by the quality of his character. He was a pre-eminent scholar, but also a dignified, gracious, witty, playful, and, above all, a kind man. The world will be a lesser place without him.” “Perhaps the best way to describe Ken,” added Cheeseman, “is to use his own words— ‘a rather hopeless free-spirit.’ Here’s to a life well lived. May we keep the example of that hopeless free spirit and defender of the West close to our minds and to our hearts.”

Former AHI Entrepreneurship Club Leader Plays Role in the Establishment of New Restaurant Chain

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 17:39:10 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Anthony Balbo for his role in developing and expanding his family’s portfolio of businesses. On June 29 in Poughkeepsie, New York, Mr. Balbo participated in the inauguration of a new enterprise, a restaurant chain called Hurricane Wild Wings. [caption id="attachment_2817" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Hurricane Wild Wings opens"][/caption] Mr. Balbo, an economics major who graduated from Hamilton College in May 2013, took the lead two years before in establishing the AHI’s Entrepreneurship Club and assisting in the organization of relevant events. In April 2013, the AHI honored Mr. Balbo for his contributions to the AHI by presenting him with an award at the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. “Anthony Balbo is an impressive young man, intelligent, energetic, and possessed of strong moral fiber,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “He comes from a tight-knit family with old-school values. His father, Angelo, first-generation Italian, was born in Brooklyn and is an American Horatio-Alger story, having populated malls throughout the country with a chain of restaurants known as Cosimo’s Pizzeria. In 2012, Angelo gave a lively and memorable presentation to the AHI Entrepreneurship Club on the importance of experience and social skills in building businesses. Anthony is committed to developing and expanding his father’s businesses. I will forever remember him,” Paquette added, “ as a young man who quietly came up to me after class in a course I teach on conservative thought, expressing his thanks for providing him with the tools to articulate a sensibility that, he admitted, found itself under duress on a politically correct campus.” [caption id="attachment_2818" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Balbo family opens new restaurant"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2820" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Hurricane Wild Wings near Vassar College"][/caption]

AHI's Paquette Blogs: Ideology Trumps Scholarship in Slave-Trade Reporting

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 17:46:28 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette recently blogged about the inaccuracies of slave-trade reporting in his recent post "Ideology Trumps Scholarship in Slave-Trade Reporting" on SeeThruEdu.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

Fornieri Joins AHI as Senior Fellow

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 16:01:22 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Joseph Fornieri, Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, New York, has joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow. He is the author of Abraham Lincoln’s Political Faith (2005), an acclaimed scholarly work that explores Lincoln’s religion and politics. He is also the author or editor of three other books on Abraham Lincoln’s political thought and statesmanship: The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln (2003; revised ed. 2009); (with Kenneth L. Deutsch) Lincoln’s American Dream: Clashing Political Perspectives (2005); and (with Sara V. Gabbard) Lincoln’s America, 1809-1865 (2008). In addition, Fornieri has co-edited (with Kenneth L. Deutsch) An Invitation to Political Thought (2009), an introductory text to the classic political thinkers of the Western tradition from Plato to Nietzsche. At RIT he teaches American politics, political philosophy, and constitutional rights and liberties. “Joseph Fornieri,” observed Josiah Bunting, Chairman, English Speaking Union, USA, and a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Directors, is widely-regarded as one of the most acute modern scholars of the character and political genius of Abraham Lincoln -- and he is among Lincoln's most compelling ambassadors to rising generations of American students. “ “Anyone who has been in a room with Joseph Fornieri for more than a few minutes,” added AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, “knows that he is a man of intellect, passion, and charisma. Like many of our AHI fellows, he has won teaching prizes, and early in 2014, the AHI will have a significant announcement to make about a major initiative that he will launch in partnership with the AHI.” At RIT, Fornieri won the Provost’s Award for outstanding teaching for junior faculty and the Eisenhart Award for outstanding teaching for tenured faculty. He was a Fulbright Lecturer, 2008-2009 in Prague, Czech Republic where he taught American political thought and First Amendment Law at Charles University. He lives in Fairport, New York with his wife Pam, his two daughters Bella and Natalie, and his two stepchildren J.J. and Helena. On the side, he plays guitar in a blues band.

Oakeshottians Thank AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:11:21 +0000

During the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) reserved the luncheon of April 20 to unveil a new volume of essays that explore the thought of Michael Oakeshott, called by Dartmouth Professor Jeffrey Hart “the most important political thinker in the Anglo-Saxon tradition since Burke (and I have not overlooked J. S. Mill).” The late Kenneth Minogue (1930-2013), a student of Oakeshott who contributed to this outstanding collection, was one of the featured attendants. Paul Franco and Leslie Marsh edited and contributed to the volume which represents the work of more than a dozen scholars. Dr. Franco and Dr. Marsh expressed their gratitude, which, with their permission, we are pleased to post here: “As the editors of the A Companion to Michael Oakeshott (Penn State University Press, 2013) Paul Franco and I would like to thank the AHI not only for so graciously allowing us to tag onto the Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium but also for so generously funding our attendees. Unfortunately, because of the vagaries of the weather and the explosion in Waco, Tim Fuller and Elizabeth Corey were unable to make it. Their presence was sorely missed but hopefully there will be another opportunity in the not-to-distant-future for them to come along to the AHI and enjoy the wonderful hospitality – both substantively and socially. Those that did make it through, though not without incident, were Corey Abel, Ken McIntyre, Steven Gerencser, and sadly, the late Ken Minogue. Ken it must be said was in sparkling form: this despite being in the midst of a punishing travelling schedule. Ken was a trooper – his interest in topics and people was palpable to those who heard him perform and to those who encountered him in close quarters. AHI was a new home-from-home for him. Though billed as the launch of the Oakeshott volume it was more a case of informally introducing Oakeshott to an audience that wouldn’t have otherwise have come across him. Oakeshott’s writings on liberal arts education (among other topics), has a great deal of resonance to the AHI’s concerns. We wish to register our profound thanks to our hosts Bob Paquette and Thomas Cheeseman. Paul Franco and Leslie Marsh.”

International Student Interns at AHI

AHIadmin — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 00:44:53 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2835" align="alignleft" width="201" caption="AHI Intern Hugo Naulot"][/caption] Hugo Naulot, a student at L'Institut d'études politiques (IEP) of Paris, one of France’s most prestigious institutions of higher education, is interning this summer at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). Born in Rouen, Normandy, where he spent the first nine years of his life, Naulot in 2001 moved to Boston where he studied at the city’s International School. In 2010, he was admitted into IEP—better known as Sciences-Po—a highly selective institution that specializes in the teaching of the social sciences and serves as a breeding ground for France’s political and diplomatic elite. Hugo majored in history and minored in sociology. During the 2012-2013 academic year, Hugo attended Hamilton College as a visiting student and attended a course on the history of the Old South taught by AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “This class,” Naulot, “opened my eyes to the history of slavery and the complexities of the slave-master relation and of the development of the plantation system.” Students in the class had to read, cover-to-cover, William Freehling’s Prelude to Civil War (1965), Eugene Genovese’s Roll, Jordan, Roll (1974), and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese’s Within the Plantation Household (1988) as well as a wide variety of primary sources. “Hugo Naulot emerged as one of the very best students in the class,” Paquette observed. He takes criticism quite well—no small matter these days—and has a sharp analytical mind. His writing in English proved to be superior to most of the students in the class born and raised in this country.” As an AHI intern, Hugo runs the Encounter Bookstore and is assisting Paquette in the preparation of a book manuscript centered on the former French colony of Louisiana. Naulot also has a second job this summer interning for a United States Senator. In 2014 Hugo will begin work on a master’s degree in International Public Management at Sciences-Po’s Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA). He will concentrate on Middle-Eastern studies and Defense and Security Economics. Upon graduation, he intends to work for a law firm in preparation for a position in a finance-related international organization such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.

AHI’s Cheeseman Awarded Wade Scholarship by Vanderbilt Law School

AHIadmin — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 12:56:12 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Undergraduate Fellow and Liberty Intern Thomas Cheeseman will be attending Vanderbilt Law School in the fall. Cheeseman was awarded the John W. Wade Scholarship, which, as described by Vanderbilt University is “the highest honor provided to incoming students,” and “is awarded to selected candidates who possess superior academic records and personal qualities that reflect potential for outstanding contributions to the legal profession. The selection committee seeks well-balanced individuals whose intellectual capacity, relationships with others and endeavors reflect former Dean John Wade's commitment to scholarship, service and the legal profession. The scholarship includes full tuition plus a $5,000 annual stipend for each of the three years of law studies.” [caption id="attachment_1778" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Thomas Cheeseman."][/caption] "I’m genuinely excited to start at an institution like Vanderbilt University,” said Cheeseman, “where professors pride themselves on research and truth over ideology. I know that the transition to law school will be challenging, but I believe that in the process I will further my analytical skills. However difficult the transition turns out to be, I know that I am the best prepared I can be having actively participated at the AHI during my time. Indeed, it is because of the AHI’s guidance and rigorous atmosphere that I was awarded the John W. Wade Scholarship. With no uncertainty, I must say the AHI has helped shaped me into the person I am today and deserves the lion share of the credit for helping me obtain this award. Whether it is my interpersonal skills in professional settings or honing my ability to express myself in a concise and articulate manner, the AHI provided me with the forum to succeed. I look forward to living up to the expectations of this award and hope to instill pride in the AHI members who have helped me get thus far." “No undergraduate in the seven-year existence of the AHI has participated more fully in its wide range of scholarly activities than Thomas Cheeseman,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “No student I have taught in more than thirty years at Hamilton College has a greater command of thinkers like Burke, Voegelin, Hayek, Hume, Adam Smith, and Richard Epstein. Indeed, Cheeseman’s great undergraduate aim was to distinguish the areas of accord between the thinking of Burke and Hayek. To that end, he devoured the classics of the Scottish Enlightenment, which served in many ways as an indispensable backdrop to the rise of the Austrian School of Economics. Toward the end of his stay at the AHI, he became a voracious reader of the works of Michael Oakeshott and Kenneth Minogue. Thomas developed a friendship with Minogue, who before his recent death, had recruited him into a joint intellectual project. Thomas can wax eloquently about the differences between the Scottish and French enlightenments in a way that one would expect of a European intellectual historian with an advanced degree. He achieved an impressive score on his LSAT and chose Vanderbilt over a number of other top-flight schools, which were also waving money his way. “As an undergraduate, Thomas wrote a sophisticated paper on “The Natural Rights Dilemma: Organic Order and the Constructivist Fallacy.” The paper earned him a trip to Princeton University. There he participated in a very prestigious undergraduate conference with students from such schools as Princeton, Boston College, Georgetown, and Notre Dame. A Notre Dame professor in attendance called Thomas’s paper and that by Noah Bishop, another AHI Undergraduate Fellow, of the caliber that one might find at a professional gathering of top-flight scholars. The Princeton organizer of the conference, in an email to me congratulated Cheeseman and Bishop for their ‘superb presentations. I can imagine how proud you must be of these young men, who exemplify the virtues we associate with a liberal education.’ “ During his undergraduate career, Cheeseman won a basketful of honors. He has interned for the Tax Foundation and in 2012-2013 was co-sponsored by the Charles Koch Foundation as an AHI Liberty Intern. The AHI congratulates Thomas on his achievements, thanks him for his service to the AHI, and wishes him every success at Vanderbilt Law School.

David Frisk Joins AHI as Resident Fellow

AHIadmin — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 11:59:16 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that David Frisk will be returning to the AHI as a Resident Fellow for the 2013-14 academic year. Dr. Frisk received his Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University in 2009 with specialties in American politics and political philosophy. He is also a graduate of Reed College with a degree in history. His publications include If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), a comprehensive biography of a significant conservative leader that was favorably reviewed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and several other major outlets. Dr. Frisk taught American government at Concordia University in California and worked at the Claremont Institute. An alumnus of the National Journalism Center and a former award-winning newspaper reporter, he has published numerous opinion articles in the Jefferson Policy Journal of the Thomas Jefferson Institute in Virginia as well as essays for the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal California and for the Claremont Review of Books. He is one of several contributors to the 2013 edition of The Political Science Reviewer, which provides a range of scholarly commentaries on Conservatism in America: Making Sense of the American Right, a major interpretation of the conservative movement by Paul Gottfried. During the spring semester of 2013, Frisk was awarded the AHI’s Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship. At the AHI, he mentored students involved in the Publius Society, participated in a group independent study that required a select group of students to read cover-to-cover Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws, and served as a conferee in the AHI’s Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, which was devoted to the work of the notable Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington. At the AHI, Dr. Frisk will continue work on a book that explores the shared principles of traditionalist and libertarian conservatism. He is organizing and will contribute to a book of scholarly essays tentatively titled The Goldwater Campaign 50 Years Later: New Perspectives. He is also preparing an essay on the Nixon presidency for a volume on American statesmanship to be co-edited by AHI Senior Fellow Joseph Fornieri of the Rochester Institute of Technology and Kenneth Deutsch of the State University of New York at Geneseo. “The AHI is delighted that David Frisk accepted our offer to return as a Resident Fellow,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “He added immeasurably to the AHI’s intellectual life while he was here. He enjoyed mentoring students in history, political science, and writing. They enjoyed him. We have plans to use him on an expanded basis, including a continuing education seminar that will focus on Charles Murray’s riveting critique of modern America in Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010. To be frank, we hope to make Dr. Frisk a permanent presence at the AHI.”

AHI's Paquette Blogs on Academic Integrity and Political Correctness

AHIadmin — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 13:15:14 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette's recent blog "Mitch Daniels Unmasks Howard Zinn's Propagandizing" can be found on SeeThruEdu.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Academic Advisor Roger Kimball and Buckley Program Announce a New Home

AHIadmin — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 21:33:49 +0000

The William F. Buckley, Jr. Program at Yale recently announced that in January 2014, it will move into the William Howard Taft Mansion at 111 Whitney Avenue in New Haven. The property was once owned by 27^th President of the United States and former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Howard Taft. Roger Kimball M. Phil ’82, is the Buckley Program's chairman of the board. Mr. Kimball is also an Academic Advisor to the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) as well as Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books. According to Kimball: "With its move to the former Taft Mansion in New Haven, The William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale has abandoned its peripatetic status. It henceforth will enjoy local habitation as well as a name as it continues its work bringing lux and veritas to the tenebrous corners of the Yale community and the world beyond. It is consoling to know that politically mature scholars and commentators will now have a welcoming roof in New Haven under which to congregate." More information about the Buckley Program is available at www.buckleyprogram.com.

AHI to Sponsor Public Seminar for the Fall Semester

AHIadmin — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 20:14:06 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that it will be holding a fall seminar, open to the public, beginning Monday, September 9, at 6:30 p.m. discussing Charles Murray’s Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010. AHI Resident Fellow, Dr. David Frisk, a Ph. D. in political science and an award-winning journalist, will lead a weekly discussion of Murray’s book, one of the most important published in 2012. The seminar, part of the AHI’s civic outreach and continuing education programming, will be held in the Westlake Media Center at the AHI every Monday from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. with the last session ending Monday, December 16. The seminar is open to the public, but seating is limited. Both the seminar and books will be provided free of charge by the AHI. Refreshments will also be provided. Those interested in attending should email Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org or call 315-292-2267. David Frisk received his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in 2009 with specialties in American politics and political philosophy. His publications include If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012). Frisk taught American government at Concordia University in California and worked at the Claremont Institute. During the spring semester of 2013, Frisk was awarded the AHI’s Theodore J. Eismeier Fellowship.

AHI Partners with Clinton Chamber of Commerce to Host Auto Show

AHIadmin — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 21:14:21 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has as one of its central missions the promotion of economic growth and the defense of private property rights by limiting the reach of government. Toward that end, the AHI has partnered with local, regional, and national organizations to support activities aimed at bolstering entrepreneurship and expanding economic opportunities.

[caption id="attachment_2871" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Guests at the 2013 Auto Show - Photo copyright 2013 Marc Goldberg"][/caption] On Thursday, August 7, the AHI joined with the Clinton, New York, Chamber of Commerce to host an antique automobile exhibition by the H.H. Franklin Club in Cazenovia, New York. The exhibition turned out a large crowd, which enjoyed the show and also shopped at the local farmer’s market, held weekly across the street from AHI headquarters. [caption id="attachment_2868" align="alignright" width="300" caption="2013 Auto Show a success - Photo copyright 2013 Marc Goldberg"][/caption] “The AHI intends to undertake a wide variety of programs with local and regional Chambers of Commerce,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “Soon we will be formally announcing a three-year partnership with the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, which is already leasing space in our building. We thank Ferris Betrus, Executive Vice-President of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, for his initiative in entering into a mutually beneficial exchange. We have many other collaborative activities in mind, and our biggest challenge will be to help the community in lowering what can only be described as one of the most oppressive property tax burdens in New York State.” [caption id="attachment_2869" align="alignright" width="300" caption="2013 Auto Show co-sponsored by Clinton Chamber of Commerce and the AHI - Photo copyright 2013 Marc Goldberg"][/caption]

AHI Academic Advisor Peter Coclanis Writes on Asian Business Culture in "The American"

AHIadmin — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 12:29:06 +0000

Peter A. Coclanis recently published "'Asian' Business Patterns: Culture in Context" in The American, the online publication of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), discussing the variables used to determine the differences between Asian and Western business practices. Peter Coclanis is Albert R. Newsome Distinguished Professor of History and Director of the Global Research Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill (USA), and an Academic Advisor of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI).

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball Co-Authors Issues Brief for the Manhattan Institute

AHIadmin — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 12:41:47 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2623" align="alignright" width="213" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball Photo Copyright 2013 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y."][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball on the publication of a Manhattan Institute Issues Brief on public pensions which he co-authored with Stephen D. Eide, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Dean Ball worked this summer as an intern at the Manhattan Institute under the direction of John Leo, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at the Institute’s City Journal. Mr. Ball obtained his internship in a national competition. According to the Manhattan Institute website, “[i]nterns regularly attend Manhattan Institute Events, including debates, conferences, and luncheon speeches. Interns have recently attended events featuring Governor Scott Walker, Harvey Pitt, Former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission; and leading scholars such as John Taylor and Charles Murray.” Dean Ball (Hamilton Class, 2014) is an AHI Undergraduate Fellow and leader of our Publius Society and Montesquieu Group.

Keith Whittington to Deliver Sixth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence at Texas A&M University

AHIadmin — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 13:09:51 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2892" align="alignleft" width="194" caption="Sixth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute is pleased to announce that Professor Keith E. Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University, will deliver the Sixth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on September 17, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. Room 2406B, in the Memorial Student Center at Texas A&M University. The event is co-sponsored by the AHI and the Department of Political Science at Texas A&M University. Professor Whittington is an award-winning author of various works on American constitutional theory and development, federalism, judicial politics, and the presidency. His lecture “Is the Constitution a Cage?” will discuss the authority an inherited constitution has for the current generation and how we live with a relatively inflexible constitutional text. The lecture honors David Aldrich Nelson (1932-2010), a distinguished federal judge who served for decades on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was a charter member of the AHI’s board of directors. [gallery size="large"]

AHI's Paquette Blogs for SeeThruEdu.com

AHIadmin — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 21:30:45 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette recently blogged "Mitch Daniels v. Howard Zinn, Part 2" on SeeThruEdu.com, which is a follow-up to his previous post regarding Howard Zinn’s “execrable text” A People’s History of the United States. In Part 2, Paquette explains why Zinn’s book “is the most influential libel against the history of America’s common people ever written.” Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Publius Leader Max Schnidman Interns for Consulting Firm

AHIadmin — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 13:55:52 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Max Schnidman for landing a prestigious summer internship at Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc., a leading market research and consulting firm. Schnidman is an AHI Undergraduate Fellow and co-leader of the Institute’s Publius Society, a student-run organization devoted to engaging students, faculty, and citizens in intensive discussions of American politics and political thinking. At Magid Associates’ office in New York City, Schnidman served as a research associate, using primarily quantitative analysis to develop solutions to clients' problems. [caption id="attachment_1968" align="alignright" width="242" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Max Schnidman"][/caption] “This internship particularly interested me,” Schnidman said, “because of the opportunity it provided to work in the private sector, understand its intricacies, solve business problems, and apply and improve my skills in quantitative analysis. Magid Associates offered a challenging diversity of projects. I worked, for example, with more senior members of the office to develop customized presentations to clients based on their specific needs, and in some cases, I presented to clients myself. I was also able to offer feedback on others' presentations and sit in on conference calls with the clients about these presentations. The experience has excited me to pursue further opportunities in that industry.” Max Schnidman has participated in a wide variety of AHI programs from the first year of his matriculation at college,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “In 2012, the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University chose him to participate in an Outreach Conference. There he met no less than James M. Buchanan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986. I also know that this summer Max had a number of very attractive suitors at his door and had to make a tough choice about what he wanted to do. Max is both bright and hardworking. He represents the very best of the AHI.”

AHI to Sponsor Constitution Day Lecture by Jeremy Bailey at Skidmore College

AHIadmin — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 23:42:54 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to sponsor the Constitution Day lecture “Jefferson’s Revolutionary Constitution: Paradox and Potential,” by Jeremy D. Bailey, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Houston on Tuesday, September 17, at 5:00 p.m. in Pohndorff Room, 3^rd Floor of Lucy Scribner Library, Skidmore College. Associate Professor Jeremy Bailey holds a dual appointment in the Department of Political Science and the Honors College at the University of Houston. His research interests include executive power, the presidency, and American political thought and development. Bailey is the author of Thomas Jefferson and Executive Power (Cambridge University Press 2007), and coauthor of The Removal Power: Dilemmas in American Constitutional Development (forthcoming from University Press of Kansas). Bailey’s articles have been published in American Political Science Review, Review of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and Publius: The Journal of Federalism. Bailey along with F. Flagg Taylor and J. David Alvis are the co-authors the newly released publication The Contested Removal Power, 1789-2010 recounting the removal power debate from the Founding to the present day. Bailey is now working on a book on James Madison and the problem of constitutional imperfection, as well as collaborating with colleague Brandon Rottinghaus on a project on unilateral orders and the presidency. Bailey received his Ph.D. from Boston College, where his dissertation was the 2004 co-winner of the APSA' s E. E. Schattschneider Prize for best dissertation in American politics. He joined the University of Houston in 2007. [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/78137048[/vimeo]

AHI Fellow Lee Cheek Edits Book on the Great “Onslow” Debate

AHIadmin — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:55:58 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates AHI Senior Fellow, H. Lee Cheek, on the publication of Patrick Henry-Onslow Debate: Liberty and Republicanism in American Political Thought (Lexington Books, 2013). Dr. Cheek co-edited the volume, which gathers documents on one of the most momentous political debates about the meaning of republican government in the decades before the Civil War. The debate followed the disputed Election of 1824. After an indecisive electoral college vote, the House of Representatives selected John Quincy Adams as president over the more popular war hero, Andrew Jackson. As a result, John C. Calhoun ended up serving as vice-president under Adams. Neither man was comfortable in this situation as they were political rivals who held philosophically divergent views of American constitutional governance. The emerging personal and philosophical dispute between President Adams and Vice-President Calhoun eventually prompted the two men (and Adams’s political supporters) to take up their pens, using the pseudonyms “Patrick Henry” and “Onslow,” in a public debate over the nature of power and liberty in a constitutional republic. “The great debate,” notes Kevin Gutzman of Western Connecticut State University, a recent guest of the AHI, “arrayed Calhoun’s Jeffersonian republican vision of constitutionally restrained power and local autonomy against Adams’s neo-Federalist republican vision which called for the positive use of inherent power—a view that would become increasingly compelling to future generations of Americans.” The debate between Vice President John C. Calhoun ('Onslow') and President John Quincy Adams or his ally ('Patrick Henry') captures the clash between Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian views at a pivotal moment in American history. While the debate has not received the scholarly attention it deserves, the publication of this new book will reawaken interest in the vital dialogue. The volume also features a blurb from AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette: “The debate between 'Patrick Henry' and ‘Onslow,’ said Paquette, “fought out in the pages of Washington newspapers in 1826, speaks to the idea of competing visions, present at the founding of the United States, of republican government. The editors of this timely volume return us to a lost world in which a seemingly small incident in the Senate could spark within the highest levels of government a deep and candid public analysis of the dialectic of liberty and power and its relation to the problem of limited government. Cheek and company deserve applause for this illuminating act of recovery.” Dr. Cheek is Chairman and Professor of the Department of Political Science, East Georgia State College, in Swainsboro, Georgia. His many publications include Calhoun and Popular Rule (2001).

AHI Student Leader Dean Ball Publishes on State Law and Pension Benefits

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 13:35:55 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball on the publication of an editorial which recently appeared in Investor’s Business Daily. The editorial is on state law and pension benefits and was co-authored with Stephen D. Eide, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Dean Ball (Hamilton Class, 2014) is a co-leader of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows and co-leader of AHI's Publius Society. Mr. Ball worked last summer as an intern at the Manhattan Institute under the direction of John Leo, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at the Institute’s City Journal. Mr. Ball obtained his internship in a national competition.

AHI Academic Advisor Robert George Published on Syria and Just War

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 14:05:38 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates AHI Academic Advisor Robert P. George, on the publication of his article "Would Bombing Syria be a ‘Just War’?" in a recent edition of The Wall Street Journal. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, was recently a visiting professor at Harvard Law School.

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Return from Internships at ACTA

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 14:22:25 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Undergraduate Fellows Sarah Larson of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Sarah Scalet of Rockville, Maryland on their accomplishments this summer as interns for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). [caption id="attachment_2624" align="alignright" width="217" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson"][/caption] Since its inception in 1995, ACTA has played an increasingly prominent role in exposing to the public deficiencies in higher education. ACTA “works with alumni, donors, trustees, and education leaders across the United States to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives a philosophically rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price.” This summer two AHI Undergraduate Fellows, Sarah Larson and Sarah Scalet were awarded summer internships to work on various projects related to ACTA’s stated mission of educational reform. Sarah Larson also received an award sponsored by the Charles Koch Foundation. “I cannot thank the AHI enough for all it did in helping make it possible,” said Sarah Larson. "Interning at ACTA taught me about college curricula in a way only reading several course catalogs a day can. The problem is clear. Liberal Arts colleges and universities, in general, are not delivering on promises to educate students. Instead, many are watering down courses to elementary levels, replacing traditional courses with niche courses, (and students are missing out on relevant knowledge as a result), and eliminating core curricula in favor of overall broad ‘requirements’ that can be filled by basically any course in the book. It's a shame. Meanwhile, students are paying more and more for education.” [caption id="attachment_2931" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Scalet"][/caption] "Working with the Koch Foundation was also a great experience," Larson added. "I was even awarded a special monetary bonus for my ‘exceptional value creation’ during our projects. I'll recommend the program to AHI students, and of course young Republicans, looking to learn management skills, about the importance of liberty, and how to spend a summer in D.C.” Sarah Scalet spent the “summer working on the What Will They Learn? (TM)” (WWTL) Project. It is based on the belief that a core curriculum is essential for a student’s success in today’s world. "My role along with that of other interns,” Scalet observed, “was to evaluate every college and university in America. Over the course of the summer, I reviewed hundreds of schools." "The internship proved valuable on a number of counts, she noted. "Most directly, I improved upon my research skills during the process of quantitatively measuring an academic standard. I spent countless hours searching the web for specific details regarding college curricula; more specifically, whether schools require students to take a college-level class in seven different core subjects. Schools received a number, based in large part on the information I uncovered, and those numbers equal a letter grade." "Working with ACTA also exposed me to the inner-workings of a well-organized not-for-profit. . . . ACTA also organized some experiences outside of work that I truly enjoyed. First, the internship included lectures. Each spanned a specific focus, and each proved thought provoking in its individual way. My favorite lecturer was the editor of the New Atlantis journal; he provided a brief history of think tanks in D.C. . . . The ACTA staff organized a memorable field trip for the interns. We received a tour of the capitol dome, something that was exhilarating even as a D.C. native. Standing on top of the capitol, and having a 360 view of D.C., is something I will never forget. Additionally, the internship emphasized the importance of a liberal education in today’s world. A liberal education essentially means that students are exposed to a wide range of disciplines that in turn allows them to be more active citizens and participants in our ever-changing world. . . . From lunchtime readings of Shakespeare to lunches filled with Latin translations, the other interns kept me on my toes. Some students take a mental break over the summer by completing internships that offer tedious work, but that was not the case at ACTA. I was constantly challenged to think critically, work harder, and question the current situation—whether it was for my research on a particular school or by the other interns. As a result of this summer internship, I believe I am more ready for the challenges I may face in college and in the future.” In commenting on the work of the two Sarahs, Dr. Michael Poliakoff, Vice President of Policy at ACTA, said the following: “The AHI has been a friend and ally to ACTA in many ways, but I am most deeply touched by the extraordinary students that have come from the AHI program to help ACTA in its work. There is something they all have in common, which is penetrating intellect and passionate commitment to the highest levels of academic excellence. In the past, we benefited from the fine work of Max Brindle and Marta Johnson. This year, we had the benefit of AHI’s two Sarahs." "Both Sarah Larson and Sarah Scalet distinguished themselves this summer by their meticulous work in ACTA’s review of core curriculum requirements at nearly 1100 colleges and universities around the nation. The success of ACTA’s high profile What Will They Learn? (TM) project depends in large measure on the rapid, but exacting, work that the two Sarahs and their fellow interns from around the nation did for us. The high quality of Sarah Scalet and Sarah Larson’s work was matched by the cheerfulness and energy that they brought to the office each day." "As you know," Dr. Poliakoff pointed out, "Hamilton College as a whole does very badly in our ratings of core curricula. Of the seven core subjects that comprise the requirements in What Will They Learn? (TM), Hamilton College does not fulfill a single one. It earns a clear “F” for its general education program. It is testimony to the standards of excellence that AHI instills in the students fortunate enough to find their way to it, that the two Sarahs first stood out among the many applicants we have each year to be ACTA interns and then so distinguished themselves by their outstanding service to the our core curriculum project.” "Sarah Larson and Sarah Scalet have distinguished the AHI by their work," said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, who recommended them to ACTA, "and we are honored by Dr. Poliakoff’s words."

AHI's Paquette Blogs on Oberlin's Moral Disgrace

AHIadmin — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 13:55:30 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette recently blogged about "Oberlin's Race-Based McCarthyism" on SeeThruEdu.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Dean Ball and Mary Farrington Write on Controversial Event

AHIadmin — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 03:10:48 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball recently wrote an article on a controversial event at his college entitled "Hamilton College Student: Why I Stood Up Against Segregates Diversity Program," which appeared in the publication Legal Insurrection. Legal Insurrection then asked Hamilton student and AHI Undergraduate Fellow Mary Farrington ’16 to cover the reformatted forum for them. Mary's piece entitled "Hamilton College Desegregated Town Hall Exposes Racial Tensions" was posted by Legal Insurrection immediately following the revised forum.

AHI's Paquette Blogs on Oberlin's Racial Hoax

AHIadmin — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 13:36:20 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette recently blogged Oberlin's Racial Hoax - Pat II on SeeThruEdu.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Present at Liberty Fund Colloquium on Emancipation Proclamation

AHIadmin — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 13:41:00 +0000

Several members of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) attended a special Liberty Fund colloquium on “The Emancipation Proclamation at 150 Years.” The event took place September 26 -29 near the oceanfront at Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort, Santa Barbara, California. AHI Senior Fellow David Nichols, Professor of Political Science at Baylor University, and John Yoo, Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, Berkeley Law, University of California, Berkeley, organized and directed the colloquium. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette and AHI academic advisor Mark Smith, Carolina Distinguished Professor of History, University of South Carolina, numbered among the sixteen conferees. Each conferee received in advance of the colloquium a set of prescribed readings to focus discussion during six sessions: “Slavery and the Constitution,” “The Lincoln Douglas Debates,” “Slavery and the Coming of the War,” “War and the Constitution,” and “Emancipation and Presidential Powers.” Liberty Fund, Inc. headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, “is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. The Foundation develops, supervises, and finances its own educational activities to foster thought and encourage discourse on enduring issues pertaining to liberty.” “For many of us who find the intellectual life on campus rather sterile,” Liberty Fund colloquia arrive as a godsend,” observed Paquette. “I remember my first Liberty Fund colloquium more than twenty years ago vividly. It was on the subject of liberty and power, and during the sessions, I thought I had died and gone to heaven given the seriousness and quality of the debate. In my view, Liberty Fund represents the gold standard in educational foundations of its kind. Indeed, Liberty Fund has proven over the years a very gracious friend of the AHI thanks in part to the good offices of Liberty Fund Senior Fellow Steve Ealy.”

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Thomas Cheeseman and Dean Ball Attend Oakeshott Conference

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 12:07:55 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2625" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to congratulate former Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman who recently delivered a paper at this year’s meeting of the Michael Oakeshott Association at Colorado College. The paper, entitled, “Homo Ludens and Civil Association: The Sublime Nature of Michael Oakeshott’s Civil Condition,” connects the work of Dutch cultural historian Johan Huizinga with that of the esteemed conservative British conservative philosopher Michael Oakeshott. Cheeseman delivered the paper to an audience composed of some of the world’s most distinguished Oakeshott scholars, including Timothy Fuller, Noël O’Sullivan, Corey Abel, Elizabeth Corey, and Leslie Marsh. O’Sullivan described it as “extremely informative,” and many others expressed similar praise. Cheeseman credited the Bowdoin political theorist Paul Franco, as well as the late Kenneth Minogue, as inspirations for his topic. Dean Ball, one of the current leaders of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows Program, also attended the conference “The Michael Oakeshott Association was pleased to welcome Thomas Cheeseman and Dean Ball to their 2013 conference held at Colorado College this past week,” said Dr. Leslie Marsh, founder of the Michael Oakeshott Association. “Thomas presented a paper that was not only substantively compelling but most elegantly delivered. Some of the most senior Oakeshottians were very impressed with this new young voice on the scene. We hope that both Thomas and Dean will be able to participate in future conferences.” Cheeseman graduated from Hamilton College in 2012, where he was an economics major and a key student leader of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows and the College Republicans. In 2010, he oversaw an intensive reading group covering the work of Friedrich Hayek. A year later, he presented a paper on natural rights theory at Princeton University. After graduating, he spent a year working as an intern for the AHI. He currently attends Vanderbilt University Law School, which awarded him the prestigious Wade Scholarship. Dean Ball interned at the Manhattan Institute during the summer of 2013 and has designed and implemented a variety of undergraduate programs in history, economics, and political theory for the AHI. [caption id="attachment_2623" align="alignleft" width="213" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball speaks to banquet guests. Photo Copyright 2013 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y."][/caption] “Thomas Cheeseman and Dean Ball,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, “are splendid young men. The AHI nurtured them; they have now crossed the threshold into maturity and are teaching their mentors things. We at the AHI could not be more proud of them.”

AHI Undergraduate Leader Dean Ball Interviews Mark Lilla

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 12:19:12 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization would like to congratulate Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball, a student at Hamilton College and former intern at Manhattan Institute on the publication of his interview with professor Mark Lilla entitled "The Trouble With Conservatives." Mark Lilla, an essayist, historian of ideas and professor of the humanities at Columbia University, is best known for his books The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics and The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West.

Goodwillie Presents on Utopian Societies in “Tocqueville’s America”

AHIadmin — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 15:24:45 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2967" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Christian Goodwillie"][/caption] On October 9, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) sponsored a presentation by Christian Goodwillie, Director of Special Collections and Archives at Hamilton College, on Utopian Societies in a course “Tocqueville’s America” taught by AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. The course requires cover-to-cover readings of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (Harvey Mansfield edition, 2002) and Daniel Walker Howe’s What Hath God Wrought (2007), which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. Goodwillie, a specialist in the history of communal and Utopian societies in the United States, focused his presentation on the origin and beliefs of a wide variety of societies that flourished during the Second Great Awakening, one of the greatest outbursts of religious revivalism in the Western world since the Protestant Reformation. Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in the United States for a nine-month stay at a time when the Second Great Awakening was peaking and shortly after Charles Grandison Finney, the most famous revivalist preacher of his day had begun his most famous campaign of salvation in Rochester, New York. During his stay in the United States, Tocqueville took a keen interest in American religious practices, how they contrasted with those in Europe, and how they shaped democratic belief and practices. That great experiment in republican government, Tocqueville observed, had combined the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom in unique ways. In sketching the beliefs of the principal Utopiansocieties of the Jacksonian Period, Howe note how the pursuit of millennial themes fed ideas of American exceptionalism and both criticized and reinforced, particularly in the antebellum North, the emergent capitalist system. Goodwillie attended George Washington University and Indiana University where he studied medieval and Renaissance music and history. He holds a master’s degree in historic preservation from the Art Institute of Chicago. Before coming to Hamilton College he worked as curator at Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, Massachusetts. He has published (with Joel Cohen) Shaker Songs: A Musical Celebration of Peace, Harmony, and Simplicity (2002) and (with Jane Crosthwaite) Millennial Praises: A Shaker Hymnal (2008). He is currently working on a biography of Richard McNemar, a key figure in the Kentucky Cane Ridge Revival of 1800, what many scholars regard as the inaugural event of the Second Great Awakening.

Christopher Dawson Society to Focus on Just War Theory

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 12:17:36 +0000

Professor Doug Ambrose, Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and leader of its Christopher Dawson Society, has organized a reading group, open to the public, on the theme of the evolution of Christian Just War theory. Discussion of a possible United States intervention in the conflict in Syria, like the discussions over the last decade surrounding U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, have raised the question of whether such actions are "just." Participants in these discussions often invoke--even unwittingly at times--concepts and language that derive from a nearly two-thousand year old conversation within Christianity regarding the notion of "just war." The AHI's Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason will examine the development of the Christian Just War Theory through a series of meetings over the next three months. Looking at the classical, medieval, and early modern roots of the theory, the challenges that twentieth-century warfare posed to it, and its relevance to our world today, the series will also feature a Leadership Luncheon discussion on November 13, hosted by Dr. Joseph Capizzi, Professor of Theology at the Catholic University of America and a leading authority on the just war tradition. The inaugural meeting will take place 7:00-8:00 p.m. on October 21 in the Browsing Room, Christian Johnson Building, Hamilton College. Subsequent meetings will take place at the same time and in the same location on November 4 and December 2. The special Leadership Luncheon featuring Dr. Capizzi will be held in the Banquet Room of the AHI, beginning at noon, November 13. Assigned reading follow: Meeting 1 (October 21): The Development of Just War Theory. Read: Augustine, selections from The City of God (426); Thomas Aquinas, “Is War Always Sinful?” from the Summa Theologica (1265-1274); and Francisco de Vitoria, “On the War Against the Indians” (1539) and “On the Law of War” (1539). Meeting 2 (November 4): Just War Theory in the Modern World. Read: John C. Ford, "The Morality of Obliteration Bombing," (1944); Elizabeth Anscombe, “Mr. Truman’s Degree” (1958) and “War and Murder” (1961). Meeting 3 (November 13): Leadership Luncheon with Professor Joseph Capizzi, Catholic University. Readings: "The Challenge of Peace," National Conference of Catholic Bishops (1983) and "Just War Theories Reconsidered," Baer and Capizzi (2005). Meeting 4 (December 2): Just War Theory in the 21st Century. Readings TBA. The Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason was founded in 2007 by AHI co-founder Douglas Ambrose and AHI Fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose. It seeks to investigate the relations between religious belief and intellectual inquiry, between faith and reason, within the Western intellectual tradition. Christopher Dawson (1889-1970) was a distinguished British historian of culture and the first recipient of the Chauncey Stillman Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University. All sessions are free and open to the public.

General Josiah Bunting III Speaks on Veterans Day

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 12:29:07 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce our first Veterans Day speaker General Josiah Bunting III, who will speak on "American Leaders, War and Post-War, l940- l95O: A Legacy of Lessons Ignored," Monday, November 11, from 7:30-9:30 p.m at the Kennedy Auditorium, Taylor Science Center, Hamilton College. The event is free and open to the public. [caption id="attachment_3010" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="AHI Presents General Bunting"][/caption] General Bunting was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1963. He subsequently studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and at Columbia University as a John Burgess Fellow. During active duty with the United States Army, he served as an infantry officer in Vietnam with the Ninth Infantry Division. During his military career, General Bunting received the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Honor Medal–2nd class, Presidential Unit Citation, Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge, and Ranger Tab. Subsequently, he taught history at West Point and at the Naval War College. His administrative experience in higher education includes: President, Briarcliff College (1973-1977); President, Hampden-Sydney College (1977-1987); and Superintendent, VMI (1995-2003). General Bunting has published four novels, including The Lionheads (G. Braziller, 1972), a best-seller that was selected by Time Magazine as one of “The Ten Best Novels” of 1973. More recently, he has completed several works of non-fiction An Education for Our Time (Regnery 1998) and a biography Ulysses S. Grant (Times Book, 2004). He is chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s National Civic Literacy Board, president of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and an AHI board member. He also served on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

AHI Sponsors Lecture By Stephen J. Goldberg on China and the West

AHIadmin — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:20:37 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that we will be sponsoring a lecture by Stephen J. Goldberg, Associate Professor of Art History, Hamilton College who will speak on "Cultural Legacies: Classical Thought, Visual Art, and Contemporary Relations between China and the West." The lecture will be held on Friday, November 1, from 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the Kennedy Auditorium, Taylor Science Center, Hamilton College and is open to the public.

Much has been written and discussed of late about the coming “clash of civilizations” between China and the West. Is this inevitable? Can this be averted? Professor Goldberg's presentation, will attempt to shed light on this matter through an inquiry into the distinctive differences in the fundamental assumptions and tacit dimension of foundational premises that underlie and define Western and Chinese ways of perceiving, conceiving, and representing the world. This will engage us in an examination of the legacies of the classical thought and art of Mediterranean civilization and that of traditional China, that continue to inform the ways we respectively define our notions of self, relations to others and to the natural world. Informed by this knowledge and a familiarity with recent history, we may better understand the differences in social, political, and economic outlooks that lead to mutual misunderstandings and possible future conflicts between China and the West.

Professor Goldberg specializes in the history of Chinese art. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Since the early 1990's, he has participated as instructor and director of numerous summer institutes and region conferences of the Asian Studies Development Program (ASDP), a joint program of the University of Hawai'i and the East-West Center that was initiated to infuse Asian content and perspectives into the core curriculum at U.S. colleges and universities. He has published numerous articles and chapters in books on Chinese art and philosophy, with a particular interest in Chinese calligraphy. Publications include “The Primacy of Gesture: Phenomenology and the Art of Chinese Calligraphy,” in “Metamorphosis,”(2004); “Philosophical Reflection and Visual Art in Traditional China,” in “Teaching Texts and Contexts: The Art of Infusing Asian Philosophies and Religions,” (SUNY Press, 2004); and "Recognition of the True Self: Zen Buddhism and Bokuseki Calligraphy," in “Zen no Sho: The Calligraphy of Fukushima Keido Roshi” (Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers, 2003).

AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette Blogs on Columbus Day

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 16:49:31 +0000

In the blog, Goodbye Columbus, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette discusses changes in what Columbus Day means to Americans on SeeThruEdu.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Academic Advisor Jay Sekulow Publishes on IRS Scandal

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:07:28 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Jay Sekulow published a recent article "Obama's Fingerprints All Over IRS Tea Party Scandal," on Foxnews.com. Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law & Justice.

AHI Sponsors Second Annual Blood Drive

AHIadmin — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:07:31 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that we are sponsoring our second annual community blood drive on Saturday, November 2, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the AHI’s headquarters located at 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The event is being organized by the AHI Undergraduate Fellows, brothers of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity and the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. Refreshments will be provided. To sign up, please call Robert Paquette at 315-292-2267. In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Association of the Red Cross. As a young woman in 1851, she attended a pioneering coeducational academy, the Liberal Institute, run by the Universalist Church in Clinton, NY. The event recognizes Clara Barton’s historic ties to Clinton. Each donor will receive a priceless gift: an AHI pocket Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

AHI Fellow Lee Cheek Publishes on Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer

AHIadmin — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 01:09:23 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to acknowledge a recent publication by Senior Fellow H. Lee Cheek on Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Dr. H. Lee Cheek, Jr., is Chair of the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at East Georgia State College. Dr. Cheek's latest book is Patrick Henry-Onslow: Liberty and Republicanism in American Political Thought (Lexington Books, 2013), and he is currently writing a new study of the origins of the American political system, The Founding of the American Republic (Bloomsbury, 2014).

AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette's Blogs on Minding the Campus

AHIadmin — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 14:15:22 +0000

In a recent opinion blog on Minding the Campus entitled, "The Sorry State of Hamilton College," Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette discusses concerns over a recent campus mulit-staged forum that was designed at its inception as a segregated event.

Photos: From the Sixth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture at Texas A&M

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 11:01:10 +0000

[gallery size="large"]

Videos: AHI Sponsors Two Constitution Day Events

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 11:56:36 +0000

On Constitution Day, September 17, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) sponsored the following two events: 1. Professor Keith E. Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University, delivered the Sixth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence in the Memorial Student Center at Texas A&M University. The event was co-sponsored by the AHI and the Department of Political Science at Texas A&M University. [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/79848670[/vimeo] 2. The AHI also sponsored the Constitution Day lecture “Jefferson’s Revolutionary Constitution: Paradox and Potential,” by Jeremy D. Bailey, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Houston in the Pohndorff Room, 3rd Floor of Lucy Scribner Library at Skidmore College. [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/78137048[/vimeo]

Photos: Menges Awards Given at AHI Dinner

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:53:22 +0000

On Constitution Day, September 17, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) celebrated its seventh birthday by sponsoring a series of events at multiple locations. The AHI also held a special dinner at its headquarters during which the annual Carl B. Menges prizes were awarded. Jack Boyle, Margaret Joyce, and Sarah Larson are this year’s winners, having written exceptional papers related to the Seventh Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium on Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilization’s thesis. [gallery size="large"]

AHI Charter Fellow Blogs on Racism

AHIadmin — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 02:21:27 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Bob Paquette blogs about racism in his latest post "Racism, Inc." Comes to Football," on SeeThruEd.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

Theology Professor Joseph Capizzi to Speak on Just War Theory

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 01:06:55 +0000

The Christopher Dawson Society of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Joseph Capizzi, Associate Professor of Theology, Catholic University, Washington, D.C., will direct a special Leadership Luncheon "On the Christian Understanding of Just War Theory." The event will take place Wednesday, November 13, at noon, in the Banquet Room of the AHI. The event is open to members and guests of the Christopher Dawson Society. [caption id="attachment_3090" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The AHI's Christopher Dawson Society Presents Dr. Joseph Capizzi"][/caption]

Dr. Capizzi received his Ph. D. in theology at Notre Dame University. "He teaches in the areas of social and political theology, with special interests in issues in peace and war, citizenship, political authority, and Augustinian theology. He has written, lectured, and published widely on just war theory, bioethics, the history of moral theology, and political liberalism.

In 2002, he was appointed to The Cardinal's Chair at The Intercultural Forum for Studies in Faith and Reason, The John Paul II Cultural Center, in Washington, D.C He has been a Senior Fellow at the Culture of Life Foundation and is currently a bioethics advisor to the Maryland State Stem Cell Commission, on which he has served since his appointment by Governor Ehrlich in 2006. He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia, his Masters in Theological Studies from Emory University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame."

AHI Co-Sponsors Lecture by John Alvis at Skidmore College

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 17:12:55 +0000

It’s our pleasure to announce the lecture "Moby-Dick and America’s Dilemma" by John Alvis, Professor of English at the University of Dallas and Director of the American Studies Program, on Thursday, November 14, at 5:00 p.m. in Davis Auditorium, Skidmore College. The lecture is sponsored by The Franklin Forum, the Government Department, and the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). Professor Alvis is the author of Hawthorne as Political Philosopher (Transaction Press, 2011) and the editor of Areopagitica and Other Political Writings of John Milton (Liberty Fund, 1999), among other works. The Franklin Forum is a student-led reading and discussion group at Skidmore College and this semester the students are reading Moby-Dick.

ADP/AHI Second Annual Blood Drive a Success

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 17:28:21 +0000

On November 2, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) joined forces with the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity to sponsor a blood drive with the American Red Cross to run a second annual blood drive. Hamilton College students and residents of Clinton, New York, gathered at AHI’s headquarters, beginning at 8:00 a.m. for a drive that lasted six hours. Donors received gifts and catered food from the AHI. Red Cross staff complimented the AHI for its hospitality and the brothers of ADP for their leadership. Diane O’Donnell, Account Manager for the NY-Penn Blood Service Region, called the result “fantastic.” The total amount of blood collected exceeded last years’ total. “Many thanks to you both as well as the Alpha Delta Phi group for some great recruitment.” [gallery size="large"]

From the President's Desk

AHIadmin — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:41:45 +0000

November 20, 2013 A Message from the President: The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is nearing the end of another very successful year. We have extended our programming, reached new audiences, added outstanding teachers and scholars to our list of fellows and advisors, and embarked on a variety of new initiatives. The AHI now sponsors educational activities coast to coast. Our goal remains to promote a genuinely free marketplace of ideas. But challenges to what we do remain formidable. Evidence of a lack of intellectual diversity on college and university campuses and of growing threats there to the free exchange of ideas proves incontrovertible. We will be sending you the AHI’s formal annual report in January. With this letter, we hope to provide you with a taste of what we have done to fulfill our mission and to ask for your continued financial support. During 2013 the AHI engaged hundreds of students on multiple campuses. Although our programming has focused on reaching out to students at Hamilton College, AHI-sponsored activities in 2013 have taken place at Texas A&M University, Skidmore College, Colgate University, Utica College, the University of Rochester, and in independent venues as far away as Los Angeles. Hundreds of adults from upstate New York have also attended our events, the majority of which are open to the public. Indeed, one of our most successful initiatives has been a two-semester continuing education class at the AHI for adults. Those interested in attending typically exceed our capacity to seat them. AHI Undergraduate Fellows—students whom the AHI has nurtured over a period of years—continue to dazzle. A few examples: Elizabeth Farrington has recently graduated from Notre Dame Law School, where she received a scholarship; Tim Minella is completing a Ph.D. in the history of science as a Presidential Scholar at the University of South Carolina; Will Eagan is working with scholarship on an advanced degree in statistics at Purdue University; Dean Ball was one of several undergraduates from across the country to be awarded a prestigious internship at the Manhattan Institute; Marta Johnson landed a job as a young executive with a compensation consulting firm; Sarah Larson and Sarah Scalet received internships to work in Washington D.C. with the American Council of Trustees and Alumni; Mark Garcia has completed coursework at Vanderbilt Law School; Thomas Cheeseman won the prestigious Wade Scholarship to attend Vanderbilt Law School. In 2013, AHI Undergraduate Fellows led a variety of initiatives. They organized a group independent study of Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws. The brothers of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity joined the AHI Undergraduate Fellows and the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross to sponsor a highly successful blood drive at the AHI. More than twenty students are currently engaged under the supervision of AHI Charter Fellow Doug Ambrose in reading for our Christopher Dawson Society an array of Western thinkers who have written on the theory of just war. The AHI has also sponsored guests in a new course “Tocqueville’s America” created by Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. The AHI continues to feature several annual events. In the fall we celebrated our seventh birthday on Constitution Day (September 17) with the annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. Texas A&M hosted Professor Keith Whittington of Princeton University who spoke on “Is the Constitution a Cage?” The AHI also co-sponsored a Constitution Day event at Skidmore College; Professor Jeremy D. Bailey of the University of Houston spoke on “Jefferson’s Revolutionary Constitution: Paradox and Potential.” At the AHI, Constitution Day featured the annual awarding of the Carl B. Menges Prizes for the best undergraduate papers related to the AHI’s annual colloquium. This year’s winners—Sarah Larson, Jack Boyce, and Maggie Scott—received I-Pads, inscribed with their names. Their papers involved an investigation of Samuel Huntington’s famous “clash-of civilizations” thesis and whether it could be applied to the United States Civil War. On November 11, Veterans Day, the AHI sponsored General Josiah Bunting III in giving a special lecture; open to the public, on leadership. The AHI prefaced its introduction of General Bunting, a charter member of the AHI's board of directors, by announcing that it has established an annual Veterans Day Lecture on military history in his honor. In 2014, the AHI is embarking on a number of initiatives. A few examples: During the spring semester, AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill will be teaching at Utica College an AHI-sponsored course on “Law and Liberty in the Western Tradition.” In the spring, the AHI will announce an affiliate, headed by Professor Joseph Fornieri, on the Rochester Institute of Technology campus. The AHI has formed a partnership with the Benjamin Franklin Forum at Skidmore. As part of this relationship, the AHI will sponsor at Skidmore on at least a biannual basis, the Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity, with students from, among other campuses, Colgate, Yale, Princeton, Notre Dame, RIT, and Hamilton in attendance. In September 2014, the AHI will co-sponsor with the Daniel Webster Center at Dartmouth a major conference on “Tyranny and Totalitarianism: Past, Present, and Future.” As always, the pièce de résistance of our programming is the annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium in April at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York. Mark your calendars. On April 3-5, the AHI will explore a most timely theme: “The West and War: Strategic Challenges Past, Present, and Future. Dr. Michael Swaine, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and one of the world’s leading authorities on strategic issues between China and the United States, will keynote the event. In 2012, Eugene Genovese, one of the most influential historians of his generation, passed away. His will bequeathed to the AHI his treasured collection of books on the history of antebellum South as well as a number of boxes of his private papers. This precious gift speaks more loudly than words how far the AHI has come in seven years. How can you help? Some of you who will receive this letter have already made a tax-deductible contribution to the AHI for this year. We thank you for your generosity. We hope others will consider a financial contribution of $250, $150, $50 or more to further our existing programs and future initiatives. James Madison, in a famous letter to Thomas Jefferson on whether the Constitution should have a Bill of Rights, warned that all the “parchment barriers” in the world would not protect the rights of the people if the spirit of the country had become corrupted. The AHI’s work centers on restoring the spirit of a tradition on which a great civilization was founded. Thank you for your help. Sincerely, Richard Erlanger, President Douglas Ambrose, Charter Fellow James Bradfield, Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow

Charter Fellow Robert Paquette's Latest Blog Post on SeeThruEd.com

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 15:35:03 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Bob Paquette recently blogged about MSBNC's Palin Slur in his latest post "MSNBC's Palin Slur Mirrors Campus Intimidation Tactics" on SeeThruEd.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

Photo's: AHI Dinner Honoring General Josiah Bunting Following First Annual Veterans Day Lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 05:28:43 +0000

AHI's Paquette Blogs on Intolerance at our Universities

AHIadmin — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 18:52:45 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Bob Paquette recently blogged about "How Our Universities Breed Intolerance," on SeeThruEd.com. Professor Paquette was selected by the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Higher Education as a regular contributing expert to their website, which focuses on higher education reform. To keep up with Professor Paquette’s blog, please visit: http://www.seethruedu.com/users/robert-paquette.

AHI Academic Advisor Roger Kimball Posts on ASA Scandal

AHIadmin — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 02:16:40 +0000

Academic Advisor to the Alexander Hamilton Institute of the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), Roger Kimball, recently posted on the American Studies Association (ASA) scandal. In his article “Inadvertent Comedy from the ASA, or, an Ecofeminist Does Milk,” Kimball addresses the ASA’s academic boycott of Israel and the use of its official journal American Quarterly to publish articles such as “Toward a Feminist Postcolonial Milk Studies.” Roger Kimball is Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books. He is an art critic for National Review and writes a regular column for PJ Media at Roger’s Rules. Mr. Kimball was the keynote speaker at AHI’s Fifth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 12-15, 2012, where he spoke on “Numismatics and Limited Government.”

AHI to Sponsor Public Seminar on Conservatism

AHIadmin — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 19:27:34 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that it will be holding a spring seminar, open to the public, beginning Monday, January 27, at 6:30 p.m. on “What Is Conservatism?” Dr. David Frisk, the AHI’s 2014 Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow, will direct the seminar. It will feature several invited guests, experts in the field, who will speak on the topic. The seminar, part of the AHI’s civic outreach and continuing education programming, will run weekly on Monday evenings from January 27 to May 5, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the AHI’s Westlake Media Center. The seminar is open to the public, but seating is limited. Both the seminar and books will be provided free of charge by the AHI. Refreshments will also be provided. Those interested in attending should email David Frisk at dfrisk@theahi.org or Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org, or by calling 315-292-2267. Dr. Frisk is an award-winning journalist who received a Ph.D. in political science from the Claremont Graduate University in 2009. His specialties include American politics and political philosophy. He published If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012). He taught American government at Concordia University in California and worked at the Claremont Institute. Conservatism in the United States consists of multiple strains of political thinking. Dr. Frisk will study the main elements of conservatism as a political belief system, with a special—though not total— emphasis on conservatism as it has been advocated in the United States. In particular, he will explore the tensions between the stress on individual rights and limited government, which is an important part of the American Right, and such specifically conservative principles as tradition, hierarchy, cultural unity or conformity, faith or piety, and an objectively true moral order. Class participants will address the question: "What are conservatives trying to conserve?"

AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill to Teach Course Law and Liberty at Utica College

AHIadmin — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 16:51:11 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce Resident Fellow Christopher Hill will teach a for-credit course on the history of the English Common Law at Utica College. The course will be offered for undergraduate or graduate credit, and will meet Monday evenings, beginning on January 27. Auditing will be available on a limited basis. Those interested in attending should contact Professor Hill directly at chill@theahi.org. Dr. Hill will provide a narrative of English History from the Middle Ages to the American founding, following the thread of Common Law as the backbone of English Liberty. The Common Law, which guaranteed access to royal justice to all free people in the English realm, developed into a sort of contractual relationship between the government and the people, continually limiting the power of the crown to act unilaterally. By the 1600s, when other European governments moved toward concepts like divine right and royal Absolutism, England fought a bloody civil war that guaranteed the power of the people and parliament over issues like taxation, and ultimately over the claim to the monarchy itself. In this context, American arguments against taxation without representation make a good deal of sense and show that the American founding was less a radical experiment than an appeal to long-standing tradition. “The AHI is delighted to work with Utica College in bringing this course to fruition,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. Chris is a dynamic, prize-winning teacher whom students at Utica College will love. Few scholars have the ability to teach a course on the Western legal tradition from antiquity to modernity. Chris Hill is one of them. The AHI would like to thank in particular President Todd S. Hutton and Dean John H. Johnsen for making this happen.”

AHI Academic Advisor Jay Sekulow Speaks on IRS Scandal

AHIadmin — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 14:05:07 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to highlight a recent opinion piece by Jay Sekulow. The op-ed, "It's time to investigate the bogus IRS investigation," discusses the recent IRS scandal. Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and is on the AHI's Board of Academic Advisors.

AHI Director Anne Neal's ACTA Releases Report on the Failings of Elite Liberal Arts Colleges

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 14:43:45 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Director Anne Neal's American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) just released a report that finds the country’s most prestigious liberal arts colleges fail to live up to their reputations in several crucial areas of academic quality and campus management. The report, Education or Reputation?: A Look at America's Top-Ranked Liberal Arts Colleges, examined 29 institutions—nationally ranked as the top liberal arts institutions in the nation—in areas including educational quality, tuition trends, spending patterns, endowment and speech codes. Anne Neal is president of the ACTA, a non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization dedicated to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability in higher education ans she is also on the Board of Directors for the AHI.

AHI's Paquette Blogs on the Nominal Value of the Transcript from 'Best Universities'

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 18:22:16 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Bob Paquette recently blogged about the nominal value of the transcript from some of the nations 'best universities' on SeeThruEd.com. In his article "Employer: "Many of the 'best universities' produce the worst employees," he discusses a survey of employers across various economic sections, who often see candidates for prestigious universities with excellent GPAs, only to find that course work is full of soft studies and that candidates have stayed away from traditional coursework such as economics, math, science and history.

AHI Annual Report 2013

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:26:57 +0000

Friends of the AHI: Happy New Year. The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the release of our 2013 Annual Report. It details our programs and achievements over the last year. We have much for which to be thankful as we enter our seventh year of operation, and we are proud of our accomplishments. We encourage you to look inside for the many and varied achievements of the young men and women who have been nurtured by the AHI during their undergraduate years. During 2013 the AHI engaged hundreds of students on multiple campuses, extending its reach to students and adults with a wide array of programming. In 2014, the AHI will embark on several exciting initiatives for which we will need your continued support. [caption id="attachment_3247" align="alignright" width="234" caption="2013 AHI Annual Report"][/caption] A sampling:

The AHI has stepped forward as a major sponsor of an annual undergraduate conference that will bring together a distinguished group of students in philosophy, history, economics, and political science from a number of elite colleges and universities to present papers and to enter into intensive conversations on the American polity. In 2014, the AHI will co-sponsor the conference, March 28-29, with the Benjamin Franklin Forum at Skidmore College.

This spring, the AHI will announce publicly the creation of a new affiliate, led by Dr. Joseph Fornieri, on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology.

On April 3-5, the AHI will hold the Seventh Carl B. Menges Colloquium, “The West and War: Strategic Challenges Past, Present, and Future, at the Turning Stone Resort. Michael D. Swaine, a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and one of the most prominent American analysts in Chinese security studies, will keynote the event. Conferees for the six sessions to follow include an impressive array of experts drawn from the military, intelligence, business, and government as well as the academy.

In 2012, Eugene Genovese, one of this country’s most influential historian’s passed away. He bequeathed to the AHI not only his entire collection of volumes in southern history, but also his papers. We will honor Dr. Genovese as well as his late wife, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, an eminent intellectual in her own right; by constructing a reading room for the Genovese collection at the AHI, to provide a unique resource for students and visiting scholars.

For those who have already contributed to our mission, please know how much we appreciate your support. For our friends who have not yet contributed, we ask that you help us with the work ahead by making a gift to jump start us in 2014. Enjoy our 2013 Annual Report, and if you have any questions, please contact us at www.theahi.org. Sincerely, Richard Erlanger, President Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow

AHI Presents John Ragosta on Thomas Jefferson and the Development of Religious Liberty

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:47:46 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the sponsorship, February 11 and 12, of Dr. John Ragosta, Resident Fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, for a series of discussions at Hamilton College and at the AHI on Thomas Jefferson and the origin of religious liberty. Ragosta taught at Hamilton College as a visiting professor in history in 2012 and was nominated for a teaching prize. He is the author of Religious Freedom: Jefferson's Legacy, America's Creed (2013) and Wellspring of Liberty: How Virginia's Religious Dissenters Helped Win the American Revolution and Secured Religious Liberty (2010). [caption id="attachment_3262" align="alignleft" width="215" caption="John Ragosta"][/caption] Dr. Ragosta will speak at Hamilton College on Tuesday, February 11 at 1:30 p.m. in room 211, Burke Library, to students in a seminar, “The Early Republic,” taught by AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. Ragosta will discuss Thomas Jefferson. That evening, the AHI will hold a special Leadership Dinner for Dr. Ragosta at 6:00 p.m. in the Banquet Room of the AHI in Clinton, New York. Dr. Ragosta will converse with a select group of students and adults on “Jefferson, Madison, and Adams: Conversations on Religious Liberty.” On Wednesday, February 12, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., Ragosta will speak on “The Development of Religious Freedom in Anglican Virginia" to students in a course on "The Old South" co-taught by AHI Charter Fellows Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette. Ragosta’s presentation, which will take place in room 102, Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College, will be open to the public.

AHI to Co-Sponsor Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 19:12:06 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce its co-sponsorship of the Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity. It will be held March 28-29 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Undergraduate students from elite colleges across the country will attend. Skidmore’s Benjamin Franklin Forum will co-sponsor the event. Select students from Cincinnati Country Day School, an elite college preparatory school, will also participate and receive a special tour of Skidmore College. [caption id="attachment_15" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Alexander Hamilton"][/caption] The conference will open on Friday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m., with a dinner at Surrey Inn, Skidmore College. At 8:00 p. m., following the dinner, Dr. Carl Scott, Center for American Studies, Christopher Newport University, will lecture at Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall on “Five Kinds of American Liberty.” Conference sessions will begin on Saturday, March 29, at 9:00 a.m., and all three panels will be held in banquet rooms 1 and 2, 2nd floor, Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. Following the days panel discussions, the conference will conclude with a dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m., banquet room 4, Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. Following dinner, at 8:00 p.m., Professor Scott will lead a concluding conversation with students on the meanings of liberty. A final schedule will be released shortly and can be found on the AHI’s website www.theahi.org. For additional information, please contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org, or by telephone at (315) 292-2267.

AHI Co-Sponsors Justin Shubow on "The Tower of Wreckage: The Triumph of Nihilism in Architecture"

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 20:31:23 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will co-sponsor a lecture by Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society, Washington D.C., on "The Tower of Wreckage: The Triumph of Nihilism in Architecture." The event will take place Monday, February 10, 4:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Auditorium, GO27, Taylor Science Center, Hamilton College. The Hamilton College Student Assembly will co-sponsor the event, which is open to the public. [caption id="attachment_3259" align="alignright" width="255" caption="Professor Justin Shubow"][/caption] Mr. Shubow is the author of The Gehry Towers over Eisenhower: The National Civic Art Society Report on the Eisenhower Memorial, a critique of the memorial’s competition, design, and agency approval. He is a 2008 graduate of Yale Law School and studied philosophy in the graduate program at the University of Michigan. “Outside of academia," Mr. Shubow argues, "architecture is the field in which deconstructionism has achieved the greatest success: buildings that vandalize our cities and monuments that subvert the very ideals they are supposed to represent. The effect is to disorient, threaten, and demoralize the public, which has no choice but to be exposed to such structures. Deconstructionist architects are praised by global elites, win the profession’s highest awards, and obtain many of the most important commissions, including those where the client is the state. If architecture is the embodiment of a civilization, what does such actually existing nihilism portend for the future? What is to be done?"

AHI Academic Advisor Richard Vedder Publishes "Welcome to Robin Hood University"

AHIadmin — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 22:00:01 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to make notice of Academic Advisor Richard Vedder's recently published article "Welcome to Robin Hood University," on Minding the Campus, a website of the Manhattan Institute.

AHI Sponsors Reading Cluster on Edmund Burke

AHIadmin — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 18:46:58 +0000

Dr. David Frisk, Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute, will join with leaders of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows program, to direct a reading cluster devoted to the writings of Edmund Burke. Participants will read “Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents”; “Miscellaneous Writings (Select Works of Edmund Burke)”; “Reflections on the Revolution in France”; “Further Reflections on the Revolution in France”; and “Letters on a Regicide Peace,” all handsomely republished by Liberty Fund.

Meetings are open to the public and will take place in room 209 Burke Library, Hamilton College, from 7 to 9 pm. on the following days: February 13 and 20, March 6, and April 10, 17, and 24. For additional information, contact David Frisk at dfrisk@theahi.org. Edmund Burke (1729-1797) ranks as one of the eighteenth century's leading statesmen and political thinkers. "You could not stand five minutes with that man beneath a shed while it rained," observed Samuel Johnson, one of Britain's most influential men of letters, "but you must be convinced you had been standing with the greatest man you had ever yet seen. Burke is often considered the founder of conservative political philosophy. He was the intellectual leader of the Whig party in the late 18th century. He is best known as the most persuasive opponent of the French Revolution, which he rejected due to its radicalism, lack of political realism, and violence. Conservatives, classical liberals, and many present-day liberals all find much wisdom in Burke. In addition, he has long been considered one of the greatest writers and speakers in the Anglo-American political tradition. The reading group will address the following topics: Burke on the British political system (king-and-parliament, hereditary aristocracy, limited government, the common law, and individual rights); Burke on the evolution of the pro-liberty Whig party in his lifetime; Burke on religious tolerance; and Burke on the French Revolution, including how Britain should respond to this earth-shaking event.

Justin Shubow Joins AHI Board of Academic Advisors

AHIadmin — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 23:22:49 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3259" align="alignleft" width="255" caption="Professor Justin Shubow"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society, has recently joined our Board of Academic Advisors. A cultural critic and activist, Mr. Shubow is the author of The Gehry Towers over Eisenhower: The National Civic Art Society Report on the Eisenhower Memorial, a 150-page critique of the memorial’s competition, design, and agency approval. In June 2012, he testified to the House Subcommittee on National Parks on the future of the National Mall. In March 2013, he testified in front of the same subcommittee in defense of a bill to scrap Frank Gehry’s design for the Eisenhower Memorial. A 2008 graduate of Yale Law School, Mr. Shubow spent four years in the University of Michigan’s Ph.D. program in philosophy, and has taught his own philosophy courses at Michigan and Yale. During law school, he was a Yale Journalism Scholar and studied in the International Security Studies’ Program in Grand Strategy. He is a former editor of Commentary magazine and The Forward newspaper, and has contributed reviews and criticism to numerous publications. He has spoken about architecture and other subjects at Baylor University and the Universities of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, among elsewhere. Mr. Shubow is a non-practicing member of the New York and D.C. Bars.

AHI to Sponsor Manhattan Institute’s Steven Malanga on the Problem of Urban Debt

AHIadmin — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 18:24:01 +0000

POSTPONED DUE TO MAJOR WINTER STORM. TO BE RESCHEDULED IN APRIL. The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) in pleased to present Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Steven Malanga on "How Many Detroits Are There?" Wednesday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m., Room 127 (Red-Pit), Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. The presentation is open to the public. Steven Malanga is recognized as one of the country’s leading authorities on the problem of urban debt, which is bankrupting or threatening to bankrupt many major American cities. He is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute as well as a senior editor of City Journal. Prior to joining City Journal, Malanga was executive editor of Crain's New York Business. In 1995, Malanga was a finalist for a Gerald Loeb Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism for the series "Nonprofits: New York's new Tammany Hall," which he co-authored. In 1998, a series he co-authored, "Tort-ured State," about the influence of trial lawyers in New York State, was voted best investigative story of the year by the AABP. The previous year, a computer-assisted project that Malanga designed, reported, and wrote on Small Business Administration loans in New York City was voted one of the year's best investigative stories by AABP. Malanga has also written articles on various topics for The Wall Street Journal, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and other publications. His many publications include ‘Shakedown: The Continuing Conspiracy Against the American Taxpayer” (2010), The New New Left (Ivan R. Dee, 2005) and The Immigration Solution: A Better Plan Than Today's (Ivan R. Dee, 2007), co-authored with Heather Mac Donald and Victor Davis Hanson.

AHI’s Robert Paquette to Receive Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Defending Western Civilization Curriculum

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 19:46:40 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3318" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Robert Paquette holding crystal eagle, symbol of the Jeane Kirkpatrick Award, presented at the Ronald Reagan Dinner."][/caption] The American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF) and The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation have announced that the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom will be presented to Professor Robert L. Paquette, Professor of History at Hamilton College and a co-founder of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). The distinguished award - which carries a $10,000 stipend to the honoree--will be made at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Ronald Reagan Banquet on Friday, March 7, 2014 in Washington, D.C. The prize honors the memory of Dr. Kirkpatrick, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, for her fierce defense of academic freedom. Professor Paquette is an expert on conservative thought and an advocate for the freedom of expression on college campuses. Professor Paquette holds a B.A. from Bowling Green State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. He is also the author of many books and articles including “Sugar Is Made with Blood: The Conspiracy of La Escalera and the Conflict between Empires over Slavery in Cuba and History” and “Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese.” “The study and teaching of Western Civilization is fading from college campuses,” said Michael W. Grebe, President and CEO of the Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation. “Robert Paquette’s scholarship ensures that students will gain an understanding of society’s foundations and how to meet future challenges.” “We would like to congratulate Bob on this amazing honor,” said Richard Erlanger, President of the AHI. “He is a staunch defender of western civilization curriculum and we are proud of his efforts and contributions.” [caption id="attachment_3319" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Robert Paquette with his wife Zoya, after receiving crystal eagle, symbol of the Jeane Kirkpatrick Award."][/caption]

AHI's Paquette to be Interviewed on Nationally Syndicated Radio Show March 7

AHIadmin — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 23:01:21 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Professor Robert Paquette will be interviewed on the nationally syndicated radio show “The Real Side with Joe Messina,” on March 7, 2014 at 3:15 p.m. Please go to: http://therealside.com/ to hear Professor Paquette discuss his receipt of the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom, as well as concerns about academic freedom on campus.

"Dictatorships & Double Standards in Higher Education" --Robert Paquette's Acceptance Speech of Kirkpatrick Award

AHIadmin — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:59:48 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3305" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Robert Paquette Acceptance Speech of the Jeane Kirkpatrick Award at at the CPAC 2014 - Ronald Reagan Dinner"][/caption] Ladies and Gentlemen, officers and friends of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the American Conservative Union Foundation, and CPAC, I am deeply honored by the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Award. I was floored when I first heard the news. I am humbled now but ready to demonstrate my worthiness, for I have rolled up my sleeves to undertake the daunting task ahead for all of us in this room tonight, which task is nothing less than to repair the tattered fabric of a great nation unraveling before our very eyes at the hands of the transformationalists. I stand before you as the chief architect of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, an independent scholarly center devoted, as our charter states, to the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism as these ideas were developed and institutionalized in the United States and within the larger tradition of Western culture. Bits and pieces of the story of the AHI’s rise, fall, and rebirth have surfaced in the national media over the last seven years. Born in controversy as an on-campus center, the AHI relocated off-campus into a historic mansion that serves as our stately headquarters when the administration of Hamilton College, under pressure from radical faculty and their allies on the board of trustees, reneged on a signed agreement. Think about this question: Why Western Civilization? You know in 2006 at separate meetings, both the president of Hamilton College and its dean of the faculty stunned me by asking me that very question, for they wanted me to excise the words “for the study of Western civilization” from the center that I had proposed to name after Alexander Hamilton, the College’s namesake. I responded to both dean and president in words that would echo language that became part of the AHI’s charter: First, the idea of personal freedom had no equivalent in the vocabularies of non-Western civilizations until imported from the West. Second, democracy first flourished in the city-states of ancient Greece. Third, while the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange seems to have been inscribed in humanity’s genes, a full-blown capitalist system originated England. Does not modernity, I said, imply to a great extent the momentous extension and elaboration of these ideas around the world? Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick caught the attention of Ronald Reagan in 1979 by publishing in Commentary magazine an article entitled “Dictatorships & Double Standards.” The title fits the practice of higher education on many college and universities today, where there is a scandalous lack of intellectual diversity. Think of this: At many of the most prestigious liberal arts colleges in the United States, departments of English no longer require of its majors the reading of Shakespeare; departments of history mandate that its majors take multiple courses in non-Western history but have either no requirement or a token requirement for American history. Faculty, administrators, and trustees have openly betrayed the finest traditions of liberal arts education by passing off the swindle known as the open curriculum, which, in truth, means the no curriculum, as something somehow worthy of a $60,000 per year price tag. I have lived in the belly of the beast of higher education for 33 years as a practicing historian. The animating principles of that great experiment in Republican government, I tell my students, centered on the defense of limited government, voluntary exchange, private property, and civil freedom. Does anyone in the audience tonight believe that more than a tiny fraction of students graduate from college these days with a deep and abiding appreciation of the worth of these principles? Or is it more likely that a substantial number of students graduate able to parrot one or another fashionable and distortional discourses of oppression in which we see—and here I paraphrase from any number of listings in college catalogues-- the intersections of class, race, gender, and sexuality. For the Doubting Thomases, I say perform this simple experiment. Go to the home page of the website of any elite college or university in the United States. Activate the search engine by plugging in such words as social justice, sustainability, diversity, multiculturalism, sexism, racism, Marx, activist, and identities. Total the references. Now perform a similar search for, say, conservative, entrepreneur, Western civilization, Shakespeare, Judaic, Aristotle, and Christian. Get the point. Republican government, as Jeane Kirpatrick understood, requires for its very survival a certain kind of civic culture that “make[s] heavy demands” on the citizenry “to do what is necessary” for the defense and preservation of vital constitutional principles. That spirit draws energy from tradition. No tradition, however worthy, grows richer or stronger by lying fallow. Traditions are embodied givens, the rock on which we deliberate in searching for proper ends in ever changing circumstances. Traditions must be fought for. What is the good, the true, the just, and the noble can be lost in remarkable quickstep through political expediency, intellectual bankruptcy, and moral cowardice. Do you hear me Harry Reid? Ladies and Gentlemen, I have two children whom I love dearly. It appears to me ever more likely that they will inherit a world of domestic and global crises that pale next to those I have witnessed in my lifetime. I am not alone in sensing that the United States is in a state of palpable decline with consequences for the world that no living sage can foretell. I have committed myself in the time remaining to me to go out on my shield, to fight to the end for what is good and worthy in the Western and American traditions. Friends and supporters of this wonderful gathering, please know how honored I am to be here, how grateful I am for this moving recognition, and, more than anything else, that I stand with you, primed, cocked, and loaded, on the line, cheek-by-jowl, ready to advance. God bless America.

Professor Paquette Interviewed on "The Real Side"

AHIadmin — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 17:53:38 +0000

Professor Robert Paquette was interviewed live at CPAC 2014 on "The Real Side," with Joe Messina.

AHI Presents Lee Garcia on Investing and the American Economy

AHIadmin — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 18:15:51 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3313" align="alignright" width="125" caption="Lee Garcia"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Undergraduate Fellows Program and Entrepreneurship Club are pleased to announce a conference call with legendary investment manager Lee Garcia on investing and the American economy Monday, March 10, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Room 124, Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. The event is open to the public. Mr. Garcia is a life trustee of Hamilton College and former chairman of its investment committee. Mr. Garcia received his B.A. from Hamilton College and M.B.A from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. Mr. Garcia has worked in investment management for more than 40 years. He is currently Chartered Financial Analyst for Five Mile River LLC, an investment management firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut and Scottsdale, Arizona.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Max Schnidman Op-Ed on Divestment Referenced in NAS Article

AHIadmin — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 11:41:24 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Undergraduate Fellow Max Schnidman, who was referenced in a recent article published by National Association of Scholars. From the section "Why Divest?" "One Hamilton student, Max Schnidman, advocated a similar tactic in a Spectator op-ed last May: “Divestment is a feel-good position that will only harm the College in the short term and the environment in the long term, as the market as a whole will continue to invest in fossil fuels.” He concluded that “Climate change solutions need to work with the markets, and not against them, in order to succeed.”"

AHI and Franklin Forum Co-Sponsor Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity

AHIadmin — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 14:58:29 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and The Franklin Forum at Skidmore College are pleased to announce their co-sponsorship of the 2014 Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity, March 28-29 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. The public is welcome to attend the keynote lecture by Professor Carl Scott, Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies, Christopher Newport University on Friday, March 28 at 8:00 p.m., as well as the student panels on Saturday, March 29 on the second floor of Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. The conference features student papers that will address the principles and practice of American political life, and their roots in the Western tradition, from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including philosophical and moral, historical, legal and constitutional, and religious and cultural inquiries. The conference will feature the work of students from such co-sponsoring institutions as Baylor University, Colgate University, City University of New York (Macaulay Honors College, The Hertog Scholars Program), Emory University (Program in Democracy and Citizenship), Hamilton College (The Alexander Hamilton Institute), Princeton University (James Madison Program for American Ideals and Institutions), and Skidmore College. Selected students from Cincinnati Country Day School in Ohio will also participate in conference as part of an AHI pilot program to evaluate the viability of the development of an extension of the program to the secondary level. Conference sessions will begin on Saturday, March 29, at 9:00 a.m., and all three panels will be held in banquet rooms 1 and 2, 2nd floor, Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. Following the days panel discussions, the conference will conclude with a dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m., banquet room 4, Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. Following dinner, at 8:00 p.m., Professor Scott will lead a concluding conversation with students on the meanings of liberty. A final schedule is below.

2014 Undergraduate Scholars Conference on the American Polity

Skidmore College, March 28-29, 2014

Friday, March 28, 2014 5:30: Reception, Surrey Inn (conference participants and invited guests) 6:00: Dinner, Surrey Inn (conference participants and invited guests) 8:00: Keynote Lecture, Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall, Professor Carl Scott, Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies, Christopher Newport University, “Five Fundamental Ideas of American Liberty”(open to the public) Saturday, March 29, 2014 Banquet rooms 1 & 2, 2^nd floor, Murray-Aikins Dining Hall (all panels) 8:30am: coffee, breakfast Panel #1: 9:00-10:30 Understanding and Freedom in American Literature Panelists: Marcella Jewell, Skidmore, ’15, “Tocqueville, Henry James, and the American Woman” Thomas Flynn, CUNY, ’14, Macaulay Honors College, “Cetology and the Limits of Human Understanding in Melville’s Moby Dick” Agneiszka Gugala, CUNY, ’14, Macaulay Honors College, “’Authority Issues’ in Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience” Discussants: Flagg Taylor, Associate Professor of Government, Skidmore Panel #2: 11am-12:30pm Liberalism, Economics and Progress Panelists: Tyler Wiegert, Emory, ’16, “Elements of Classical Liberalism in the New Testament” Max Schnidman, Hamilton, “Economic Epistemology & Naturalized Economics” Daniel Pecoraro, CUNY, ’14, Macaulay Honors College, “The Erie Canal: A Brief History of American Progress” Discussants: David Frisk, Resident Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for Western Civilization LUNCH: 1:00pm-2:15pm Panel #3: 2:30pm-4:15 Political Obligation and Freedom, an American Dilemma Matthew Saunders, Princeton, ‘15, “The American Establishment Clause: Dissecting Original Intent from Federalism and Confusion” David Poortinga, Colgate, ‘14, “Lincoln’s Political Ideals” Roz Rothwell, Skidmore, ’14, “Henry Knox, General of Cincinnati: Patriot Nationalism and Duty, 1765-1787” Discussants: Douglas Ambrose, Professor of History, Hamilton DINNER: 6:30-7:30 (Banquet room 4, Murray-Aikins) (conference participants and invited guests) Discussion: 7:45-9:00 (Banquet 4, Professor Scott, Connor Mighell, Baylor, Dean Ball, Hamilton)

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Maggie Joyce Granted Summer Internship at COHA in Washington, D.C.

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:29:23 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Undergraduate Fellow Margaret (Maggie) Joyce from New Canaan, Connecticut, has received a summer internship as a Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) in Washington, D. C. In 2013. Maggie was one of three undergraduates to receive the annual Carl B. Menges Prize, given on Constitution Day (September 17) for academic achievement. Ms. Joyce participated in the AHI’s Sixth Annual Menges Colloquium held last year at the Turning Stone Resort and produced an outstanding paper in which she examined the United States Civil War through the lens of Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations.” [caption id="attachment_3082" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Maggie Joyce (far right) with two additional Menges award winners at special dinner in their honor."][/caption] COHA, a Washington D.C. based think tank founded in 1975, was “established to promote the common interests of the hemisphere, raise the visibility of regional affairs and increase the importance of the inter-American relationship, as well as encourage the formulation of rational and constructive U.S. policies towards Latin America.” “Originally, I applied to COHA,” she said, “because it combined my passions for Latin American studies, international relations, and writing. My passion for Latin American studies began my senior year of high school. I conducted an independent study that combined Latin American history and US history to examine Latin American-US relations post World War II, especially during the Cold War. My independent study absolutely captivated me; what began as a project intended only for my senior year of high school truly became an insatiable fascination. I major in world politics with a concentration on Latin America and minor in economics at Hamilton College. As a Research Associate, about 75% of my time at COHA will be spent researching and authoring news articles, press releases, and pieces for The Washington Report on the Hemisphere, COHA’s bi-monthly newspaper, on topics relevant to US-Latin American relations.” In addition Ms. Joyce will continue to study international politics off-campus in the fall in Argentina. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette has taught Ms. Joyce in several of classes. “Maggie has shown considerable promise as a young scholar,” Paquette observed. “I like her work ethic, attention to detail, and her response to criticism. She is well on her way to a successful career. A representative from COHA contacted me and was well aware of the quality of the students affiliated with the AHI. I was delighted to give Maggie a big thumbs up.”

AHI to Hold Seventh Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 3-5, 2014 at the Turning Stone Resort

AHIadmin — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:55:42 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) along with the Colgate University’s Center for Freedom and Western Civilization will co-sponsor the Seventh Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium on April 3-5, 2014, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium is devoted to the theme “War and the West: Strategic Challenges Past, Present, and Future.” Dr. Michael D. Swaine, a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and one of the most prominent American analysts in Chinese security studies will keynote the event. RSVP by email to ahi@theahi.org, or by calling 315-292-2267. If you have any questions, please contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org. To view the full conference schedule, please click here. To view the text of all six session readings, please click here. List of Participants Keynote: Michael D. Swaine, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Conferees: In addition to keynote speaker Dr. Michael D. Swaine, the colloquium features a number of distinguished panelists and participants including: Alfred Kelly, Edgar B. Graves Professor of History, Hamilton College David Frisk, Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Lauren Hall, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology Paul Gottfried Professor of Humanities and Raffensperger Chair Emeritus, Elizabethtown College Mackubin Owens, Professor, National Security Affairs, U. S. Naval War College Edward Barrett, Director of Strategy and Research Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, U.S. Naval Academy Matthew Zeller, Adjunct Fellow, American Security Project Eric Hannis, Senior Fellow in Defense Studies, American Foreign Policy Council Chris Hill (discussion leader), Resident Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Alex Crowther, Adjunct Research Professor, Strategic Studies Institute Doug Macdonald, Associate Professor of Political Science, Colgate University John Kelsay, Distinguished Research Professor, Florida State University Miri Eisin, Security Studies, Haifa University Joseph Capizzi, Associate Professor of Moral Theology, Catholic University Reading List for Sessions 1-6: Session 1: War Before Western Civilization War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage. Lawrence H. Keeley, Oxford University Press, New York, 1996. “What Our Primate Relatives Say About War.” Dominic Johnson, Bradley Thayer, The National Interest, January 29, 2013 “The Elements of Augustine’s Just War Theory.” John Langan, The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol 12, No.1 (Spring 1984). Violence and Social Orders. Douglass C. North, John Joseph Wallis, Barry R. Weingast, Cambridge University Press, 2009. Session 2: The West and the Near East – Past and Present Just War and Jihad : Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on War and Peace in Western and Islamic Traditions. John Kelsay and James Turner Johnson, eds. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991. “Why Is There so Much Conflict in the Middle East?” Mirjam E. Sørli, Nils Petter Gleditsch and Håvard Strand, The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Feb., 2005). “Primitivization of War and Prospects for Peace.” Mehar Omar Khan, Small Wars Journal, September 14, 2012. “Tehran's Take: Understanding Iran's U.S. Policy.” Mohsen M. Milani, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 88, No. 4 (July/August 2009). “Just War and Extraterritoriality: The Popular Geopolitics of the United States' War on Iraq as Reflected in Newspapers of the Arab World.” Ghazi-Walid Falah, Colin Flint and Virginie Mamadouh, Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol. 96, No. 1 (Mar., 2006) Session 3: The West and the Far East – Past and Present “Just War: Chinese and Western Perspectives.” Edmund Ryden, S.J., http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-17/chapter_xiii.htm “China’s Assertive Behavior—Part One: On “Core Interests.” Michael Swaine China Leadership Monitor » 2011 no. 34 » foreign policy. “Regime Insecurity and International Cooperation: Explaining China's Compromises in Territorial Disputes.” M. Taylor Fravel, International Security, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Fall, 2005). “A Salutation To Arms: Asia’s Military Buildup, Its Reasons, and Its Implications.” Felix Chang, Foreign Policy Research Institute E-Notes, September 2013. “What We’ve Learned from China’s Air Defense Zone (so Far)” Robert Haddick, Commentary and Analysis, warontherocks.com, December 9, 2013. Session 4: The West, Women and War “Integrating Women into the Infantry,” Adam Nojack, Military Review, November-December 2002. “Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal.” Katie Petronio, Marine Corps Gazette, July 2012. “Let Women Fight.” Megan MacKenzie, Foreign Affairs, November-December 2012. “Why Can’t Anything Be Done? Measuring Physical Readiness of Women for Military Occupations.” William Granger. Paper Presented at the 2011 International Biennial Conference of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society. Session 5: Technology, Ethics and War “Enhanced Warfighters: Risk, Ethics and Policy.” Patrick Lin, Maxwell Mehlman, Kieth Abney. Report prepared for The Greenwall Foundation, January 2013. “Compromised by Design? Securing the Defense Electronics Supply Chain.” John Villasensor. Brookings Center for Technology Innovation, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, November 2013. “Nuclear Blindness: AN Overview of the Biological Weapons Programs of the Former Soviet Union and Iraq.” Christopher Davis, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol. 5, No. 4, July-August 1999. “War and Technology.” Alex Roland, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Footnotes, Vol. 14, No. 2. February 2009. “Stuxnet’s Secret Twin.” Ralph Langer, Foreign Policy, November 21, 2013. Session 6: War After Western Civilization “The Evolution of Law of War.” Sheng Hongsheng, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 1, 2006. “The Wars of the 21st6 Century.” Herfried Munkler, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 85, No. 849. March, 2003. “Conflict in the 21st Century: The Rise of Hybrid Wars.” Frank Hoffman, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Arlington, VA, December 2007.

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman to Intern with Federal Judge

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:44:17 +0000

AHI’s Edmund Burke Association Presents Dr. Paul Gottfried

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 22:17:01 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to present a lecture by Dr. Paul Gottfried on "Paleos, Neos, and the Future of American Conservatism," Wednesday April 2, at 8:30 a.m., Room 1004, Taylor Science Center, Hamilton College. [caption id="attachment_3369" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Dr. Paul Gottfried"][/caption] Dr. Paul Gottfried, Horace Raffensperger Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Elizabethtown College, will speak to Robert Paquette's class, History 277, “Conservative Thought in the United States" on his role as an intellectual leader of the paleoconservative movement; what separates paleoconservatives from neoconservatives and libertarians; as well as what he see as the future for traditional conservatism in the United States. Dr. Gottfried received his Ph.D. in 1967 from Yale University where he studied under Herbert Marcuse. His many books include Carl Schmitt: "Politics and Theory" (1990); "The Strange Death of Marxism; "Conservatism in America" (2007); and "War and Democracy" (2012). Later that same evening, the AHI will host Dr. Gottfried for an Undergraduate Fellows Leadership Dinner and discussion entitled “Voices Against Progress,” at 6:00 p.m. at the AHI’s headquarters, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY. For additional information, please contact bob@theahi.org.

New Center for Statesmanship in Affiliation with AHI to Hold Inaugural Colloquium

AHIadmin — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 16:15:51 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), is pleased to announce the First Annual Statesmanship Colloquium, on April 10-11, 2014 at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Dr. Allen C. Guelzo, recent winner of the Lincoln Prize for his New York Times bestselling book on Gettysburg: The Final Invasion will keynote the event on Thursday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m., Booth Hall, Webb Auditorium, Room 1350, RIT. The colloquium will inaugurate the creation of the Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty, in affiliation with AHI, and housed in the political science department at RIT. In addition to several speakers, the event will also include an art exhibit and a musical performance, all open to the public. On Friday, April 11 events at the RIT’s Student Innovation Hall will begin at 9:00 a.m. with Chief Justice Frank J. Williams, speaking on “Judicial Statesmanship.” Joseph Fornieri, professor of political science at RIT, and Director of the Center will speak on “Reviving Statesmanship at 10:30 a.m.,” and at 3:30 p.m., artist Wendy Allen will discuss “An Artist’s view of Lincoln’s Statesmanship.” At 5:00 p.m., events will conclude with a musical performance, directed by RIT music professor Michael Ruhling, the RIT Allen Chapel, at Schmitt Center for Religious Life. The mission of the new Center is “to enhance the understanding of statesmanship as the apex of political greatness and explore its role in a free, democratic republic under the rule of law. The non-partisan Center will support scholarship, teaching, research, and student-centered learning related to statesmanship, liberty, and constitutionalism as they pertain primarily to the American regime. It will consider the interplay between America’s political culture and its leaders, ideas, and institutions. It will explore those cultural forces that may aid or impair statesmanship in our time. Programming will engage a broad community of students (including high school and college students), citizens, scholars, teachers, alumni, trustees, and public officials.” More information about both the First Annual Statesmanship Colloquium and the Center can be found on their website http://www.rit.edu/cla/statesmanship, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CenterforStatesmanship.

AHI Undergraduates Dean Ball and Joe Simonson on Free Speech Panel

AHIadmin — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 19:55:45 +0000

AHI to Sponsor Manhattan Institute’s Steven Malanga on the Problem of Urban Debt

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 19:35:49 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) in pleased to present Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Steven Malanga on “How Many Detroits Are There?” Wednesday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m., Room 127 (Red-Pit), Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. The presentation is open to the public. Steven Malanga is recognized as one of the country’s leading authorities on the problem of urban debt, which is bankrupting or threatening to bankrupt many major American cities. He is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute as well as a senior editor of City Journal. Prior to joining City Journal, Malanga was executive editor of Crain’s New York Business. In 1995, Malanga was a finalist for a Gerald Loeb Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism for the series “Nonprofits: New York’s new Tammany Hall,” which he co-authored. In 1998, a series he co-authored, “Tort-ured State,” about the influence of trial lawyers in New York State, was voted best investigative story of the year by the AABP. The previous year, a computer-assisted project that Malanga designed, reported, and wrote on Small Business Administration loans in New York City was voted one of the year’s best investigative stories by AABP. Malanga has also written articles on various topics for The Wall Street Journal, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and other publications. His many publications include ‘Shakedown: The Continuing Conspiracy Against the American Taxpayer” (2010), The New New Left (Ivan R. Dee, 2005) and The Immigration Solution: A Better Plan Than Today’s (Ivan R. Dee, 2007), co-authored with Heather Mac Donald and Victor Davis Hanson.

AHI Sponsors Dr. Adam Fuller Lecture Series

AHIadmin — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 19:39:39 +0000

Letter to the Editor Cites AHI as a "Valuable Asset"

AHIadmin — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:31:55 +0000

Rodger Potocki, Utica entrepreneur, business consultant, and former Director of Planning and Development for the city of Rome, New York pened a recent letter to the editor about the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). "Clinton institute a valuable asset for our region," appeared in the Utica Observer-Dispatch, Tuesday April 22, 2014 and discusses the numerous beneficial programs of the AHI.

AHI's Paquette Attends Liberty Fund Colloquium

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 20:32:05 +0000

In 1968, Queen Elizabeth conferred knighthood on a professional historian and Methodist lay preacher named Herbert Butterfield. During a long career of nearly a half century at Cambridge University, Butterfield published numerous books and articles on a dazzling array of subjects: statecraft, diplomacy, liberty, Christianity, and science. His name, however, remains most closely linked with a thin volume, published in his youth, on historical writing, The Whig Interpretation of History (1931). On April 23-24, Liberty Fund, “a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals,” invited fifteen scholars to Indianapolis, Indiana, to discuss “Herbert Butterfield: History, Truth, and Liberty.” Barry Shain, Professor of Political Science at Colgate University, led the discussion, which was comprised of four sessions: “Whiggish History and Its Perils,” “History and Moral Judgment,” “The Goals of History,” and “History, Politics, and Society.” Participants focused on The Whig Interpretation of History and one of Butterfield’s subsequent works, The Englishman and His History (1944). In assessing both books, some critics have discerned what they call “the Butterfield Problem”: On the one hand, in the first book, Butterfield offered a searing critique of the kind of history often practiced by lawyers and activists who tend to cherry-pick information in the past so as to enshrine their favored current values; on the other hand, in the subsequent book, Butterfield himself glorified the Whig tradition in England for embracing in its practice of politics continuity and reform over the “disadvantages of the arrogant militancy of the revolutionary type of politics.” On close inspection, the so-called Butterfield problem dissolves into a paradox, which can be explained by the line Butterfield draws between the practice of professional history and the practice of modern politics. “For decades Liberty-Fund colloquia have served as a well in the desert for thousands of humanists and social scientists thirsting on their own campuses for serious, intellectual conversations away from the campus totalitarians,” said Paquette. “Liberty Fund not only funds scores of conferences every year all over the country, the organization sponsors them with exemplary taste and hospitality. The good folks at Liberty Fund truly make it hard to return home.” Participants at the colloquium, in addition to Shain and Paquette, included Jonathan C. D. Clark, University of Kansas; David M. Fitzimons, Rhode Island School of Design; Mark A. Kalthoff, Hillsdale College; Edward J. Larson, Pepperdine University; Jeremy Rabkin, George Mason University; Peter C. Mentzel, Liberty Fund Senior Fellow; R. M. Douglas, Colgate University; Paul E. Gottfried, Elizabethtown College; John Kekes, Union College; Kenneth B. McIntyre, Sam Houston State University; Emily Fisher Gray, Norwich University; Jack P. Greene, the Johns Hopkins University; and Kathryn R. Kennison, Ball State University.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball Hired by Manhattan Institute

AHIadmin — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 17:51:51 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the Manhattan Institute, one of the premier organizations in the United States for shaping urban public policy, has hired Dean Ball, co-leader of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows Program, to serve as Policy Manager of the Center for State and Local Leadership (CSLL). He will assume his new post after graduation in May 2014. [caption id="attachment_2623" align="aligncenter" width="364" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball. Photo Copyright 2013 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y."][/caption] For more than thirty years, the Manhattan Institute has conducted research and education designed to shape public policy in a way that accords with “economic choice and individual responsibility.” Six policy centers with more than fifty experts produce work in such fields as health care, higher education, legal policy, urban development, immigration, energy, and the economy. Headquartered in New York City, the Manhattan Institute is uniquely focused on urban and state policy, rather than on federal policy. It is one of the country's only leading think tanks to be headquartered outside of Washington, although its experts are located throughout the United States. The Manhattan Institute is perhaps best known for its "broken windows" policy, a highly innovative approach to policing that helped transform New York City under Mayor Rudy Giuliani from one of the most crime-ridden cities in America to among the safest. The Manhattan Institute also publishes City Journal, a quarterly magazine of considerable intellectual heft and influence on a wide range of urban political, cultural, and economic issues. “As the Policy Manager for the Manhattan Institute's Center for State and Local Leadership (CSLL),” said Mr. Ball, “I will assist the Center's director and scholars in publishing policy reports, promoting our work in the press, scheduling events with policy experts and government leaders, and more. CSLL is devoted to researching and highlighting innovative public policies at the state and local level, especially on issues such as public finance, education, and policing. Although many of the country's foremost policy experts publish work with CSLL, it is not simply an academic enterprise; CSLL also works with government leaders to implement policy. For example, CSLL has recently been on the ground in Detroit, working with the police force to bolster public safety.” AHI Resident Fellows Dr. David Frisk and Chris Hill congratulated Dean on his achievement. “Dean is a dedicated young man of courage and intellectual sophistication,” said Frisk. “As such, he should be a great fit at the Manhattan Institute.” “I couldn't be happier for Dean,” Hill added. “Thoughtful, courageous, intelligent; he represents the best of what we hope to attract in students affiliated with the AHI. I'm delighted for him and proud for us. What terrific news.” AHI Board Member Jim Schoff pointed out that Dean Ball’s achievement recalls that of his friend Thomas Cheeseman, a former AHI undergraduate fellow who is now finishing his coursework on scholarship at Vanderbilt Law School. “It is certainly a fact,” said Schoff, “that the students from [the AHI] are prepared to succeed in the real world, Thomas Cheeseman and now Dean Ball. . . .. [T]hey spend their time on productive work to make themselves better. Congratulations to Dean and the AHI fellows who led him to this early career success!” “Dean Ball is a gentleman of character, integrity, and courage,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose, who is currently supervising Dean in an independent study of the Bible. “What has most impressed me, however, is his intellectual curiosity and honesty. He has brought honor to the AHI. He will be a wonderful addition to the Manhattan Institute.” “Dean Ball began participating in the AHI’s intellectual life as a freshman almost four years ago,” noted AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “He has rarely missed an AHI event, and indeed, has taken a leadership role in organizing many of them. He has matured into a young man of intellectual quality and exemplary courage, adept on his feet, skilled in debate. The Manhattan Institute will be getting a considerable talent, one committed to a life of engagement with the great books in the Western canon. I could not be more pleased with this development.” Dean has a set of liberal-arts skills particularly well-suited for the versatile minds of the Manhattan Institute.”

AHI Receives $150,000 Grant Over Three Years from Thomas W. Smith Foundation

AHIadmin — Fri, 02 May 2014 03:23:13 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that has been awarded a grant of $150,000 by the Thomas W. Smith Foundation. The grant of $50,000 per year will support three years of programming, beginning in September 2014. "This three year grant will help the AHI expand the scope of its educational offerings as well as partially fund our new periodical Enquiry that will focus on history, current events and economics,” said Richard Erlanger, President of the AHI. “The content of this new periodical will be written by accomplished scholars and students at various Universities and Colleges around the country. We appreciate the Foundation's continuing support of our scholarly programming." “We are delighted to renew our support the Alexander Hamilton Institute,” wrote Chairman of the Board Thomas W. Smith, in the letter announcing the award. The organization awarded the AHI a similar grant in 2011. "The house of tyranny, as America’s founders fully understood, can be entered through multiple doors,” stated AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “The Thomas W. Smith Foundation, in extending its generosity, seeks to educate citizens about both the blessings and fragility of a free society. For a second time, the Foundation has honored the AHI by stepping forward with a substantial grant to support its programming. In 2014-15, it will center on looking into America's past to understand better the essentials--limited government, private property, personal freedom, and equality under the law-- for a future return of America to prosperity. May our deeds continue to speak louder than our words."

AHI Welcomes Lt. Col. Eric Hannis as Newest Senior Fellow

AHIadmin — Sun, 04 May 2014 15:44:37 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Lt. Colonel Eric Hannis, Senior Fellow for Defense Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., has joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow. Lt. Col. Eric Hannis has held previous positions on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, on active duty military service as a U.S. Air Force officer, and in private sector government relations. His articles on national security and foreign affairs have been featured in, or cited in, U.S. News & World Report, RealClearPolitics.com, Forbes.com, Heritage.org, GX–The Guard Experience (official magazine of the National Guard), among other publications. “We are thrilled to welcome Eric to the AHI, said Richard Erlanger, President of the AHI. “He brings a wealth of knowledge to the organization, and we will benefit greatly from his experience.” “Lt. Col., Eric Hannis,” added AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, “possesses an impressive range of talents, honed in distinguished service to this country. The AHI will proudly introduce him to the public on 11 November as the featured speaker of our annual Veterans Day lecture in military history.” During his tenure on Capitol Hill, Hannis served as Military Legislative Assistant (MLA) and principal defense advisor to Rep. Randy Forbes (VA), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and current Chairman of the HASC Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. In the private sector, Hannis was Vice President and head of the defense practice at The Russ Reid Company, a government relations firm, as well as Executive Director at Etherton and Associates, a defense consulting firm. While at both firms, he represented both small and large defense companies on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, as well as in other government agencies. Hannis currently serves as a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, as well as the German Armed Forces Military Proficiency Badge, gold level. Eric graduated with honors from Hamilton College, where he was a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity, and holds a J.D. from Catholic University School of Law with a certificate of specialization in international law.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson Receives Koch Fellowship

AHIadmin — Sun, 04 May 2014 16:01:53 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Sarah Larson, co-leader of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows Program, on her receipt of a summer internship with the Manhattan Institute. Considered by many analysts to be the premier organization for the study of urban public policy in the United States, the Manhattan Institute plays a vital role “in shaping American political culture and developing ideas that foster economic choice and individual responsibility.” The Koch Summer Fellow Program of the Charles G. Koch Foundation awarded Sarah a grant to support the internship. [caption id="attachment_3492" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Sarah Larson"][/caption] Sarah, from West Des Moines, Iowa, attends Hamilton College where she is a junior history major and leader of the College’s Republican Club. She will be working within the Manhattan Institute at the Center for State and Local leadership. It focuses on such issues as “public finance, public education, and the delivery of public services.” “I will be working with policy greats such as Michael Allegreti,” said Sarah. “The Koch Summer Fellow Program is a great fit for me, and I feel blessed to have landed the fellowship, especially with MI as the partner organization. The Koch Summer Fellow Program, ran this year (for the first time) by the Charles Koch Institute, ‘uniquely combines policy work experience with professional education through a rigorous nine-week program.’" “A major upside to the program,” she added, “is a generous stipend and two week-long seminars (one during the first week of the fellowship, the second during the last week of the fellowship) in Washington, D.C., courtesy of the Charles Koch Institute. During the first of the two week-long seminars, all KSFP fellows ‘will study market-based policy analysis and its intellectual foundations, attend career sessions on topics such as networking, public speaking, interviewing techniques and resume writing, and have the chance to meet and get to know other fellows through a variety of discussion groups and workshops.’ Throughout the summer, ‘a professional editor is assigned to work with fellows on several writing projects such as letters to the editor and opinion-editorials. . . . Fellows also participate in a team research projects on a policy issue of their choice. The teams present their work during the final week-long seminar and are cross-examined by policy experts and their peers.’” Sarah, who has now won two Koch fellowships, recalled her interview for the position by Michael Allegreti. “When he grilled me on my beliefs and knowledge of policy during my interview, he did not apologize for the prodding. “ AHI Academic Advisor Maurice Isserman has been supervising Sarah during the spring semester as part of Hamilton College’s New York City Program. “One of the great things about directing the New York City program this spring,” Isserman observed, “is getting to know students outside a classroom setting. Because of that I've come to see that along with her intellectual gifts, Sarah Larson is a very kind and generous person. On our walking tours of New York this spring, she was always (literally) stopping to help little old ladies cross the street, and that sort of thing. The students on the program have an unusually close bond, and Sarah is part of the glue that has made that happen.” “Since the day as a wide-eyed freshman when she arrived at the AHI to participate in its programming, “ added AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, “Sarah had the look of a natural-born leader. She possesses boundless energy and has profited from a rock-bed set of traditional values drawn from the free-stone quarries of Middle America. When she encounters difficulties, she does not whine, claim victim status, or blame the system. She takes criticism, looks within, and works harder to make herself better. She has success written all over her.”

AHI’s Paquette Publishes Article on Scholarship and Legacy of Eugene D. Genovese (1930-2012)

AHIadmin — Tue, 13 May 2014 18:10:13 +0000

The journal Academic Questions has published in its summer, 2014, issue a commissioned article by Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), on the scholarship of Eugene D. Genovese (1930-2012). Genovese, one of the most influential historians of his generation, served before his death as a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors. Paquette calls Genovese’s Roll, Jordan, Roll (1974), “a masterpiece, one of the great works of nonfiction published in the twentieth century.” Genovese published hundreds of articles and reviews and more than a dozen books, mostly on the history of slavery and the Old South. He began his scholarly career as a Marxist atheist and ended it as an observant Roman Catholic. Paquette sees certain premises in Genovese’s scholarship that provided continuity to his work: “a dismal view of human nature, man as an innately social being, power as naturally agglomerating power to itself, respect for organic hierarchy, [and] measured repression as essential to the health of any social order.” Two themes, Paquette argues, run through Genovese’s scholarship: “paternalism as the animating feature in the world that masters and slaves made together in the Old South and the necessity of a moral social authority to thwart the inexorable rise of nihilism born of radical individualism.” With his wife Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (1941-2007), a prominent historian in her own right and a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors as well, Genovese published a trilogy on the political thought of southern slaveholders: The Mind of the Master Class: History and Faith in the Southern Slaveholders’ Worldview (2005); Slavery in White and Black: Class and Race in the Southern Slaveholders’ New World Order (2008); and Fatal Self-Deception: Slaveholding Paternalism in the Old South (2011). In 1994, in a widely referenced essay entitled “The Question,” Genovese publicly broke with Marxism, asking his former brethren on the left: “What did you know, and when did you know it [about Communism]?” Communism, Genovese declared, “broke all records for mass slaughter,” piling up tens of millions of corpses . . . . [H]ow could we have survived politically were it not for the countless liberals who, to one extent or another, supported us, apparently under the comforting delusion that we were social reformers in rather too much of a hurry—a delusion we never suffered from?” In the article Genovese warned of multiculturalism’s thinly disguised totalitarian impulses. “[A]n unattainable equality of condition; a radical democracy that has always ended in the tyranny it is supposed to overcome; a celebration of human goodness or malleability, accompanied by the daily announcements of newly discovered ‘inalienable rights’ to personal self-expression; destruction of all hierarchy and elites as if ideological repudiation has ever prevented or ever could prevent the formation and reformation of hierarchies and elites; condemnation of ‘illegitimate’ authority in the absence of any notion of what might constitute legitimate authority; and, at the root of it all a thorough secularization of society, bolstered by the monstrous lie that the constitutional separation of church and state was meant to separate religion from society. And we have yet to reassess the anti-Americanism—the self-hatred implicit in the attitude we have generally affected toward our country—that has led us into countless stupidities and worse.” Paquette ends his article by noting, “Genovese once told me before returning to the Catholic Church of his youth that the idea of the existence of a law without a legislator may be a creative fiction, but he found the future of modern man grim without it. At a certain moment in his adult life, while poring over the sermons of innumerable antebellum Southern ministers, he had a revelation about the modern condition. “The horrors [of Communism],” Genovese explained in answering “The Question,” “did not arise from perversions of radical ideology but from the ideology itself.” Like James Burnham and Whittaker Chambers before him, Genovese discarded the distorting lens of Marxist ideology. By doing so, he was better able to discern the Legislator behind the Law. He died in peace.”

AHI Charter Fellow Receives Award for Excellence in Teaching

AHIadmin — Tue, 13 May 2014 18:14:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose has received the 2014 Sidney Wertimer Award for excellence in teaching at Hamilton College’s annual Class & Charter Day ceremony. The award, which is voted on by students, recognizes a member of the faculty who has served as an outstanding teacher "mentor and active participant within the Hamilton community.” The award is named after a professor of economics, much beloved by students, who died in 2005 after decades of service to the College. [caption id="attachment_3465" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI's Doug Ambrose addresses guests at a recent AHI event."][/caption] Ambrose has taught at Hamilton College since 1990. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the State University of New York at Binghamton. His teaching and research interests include early America, the Old South, and American religious history. His publications include Henry Hughes and Proslavery Thought in the Old South (1996) and a co-edited volume (with Robert W. T. Martin) The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton: The Life and Legacy of America’s Most Elusive Founding Father (2006). In 1996, Ambrose received Hamilton College’s Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award. He is the second member of the AHI to receive the Wertimer Award. Resident Fellow Chris Hill won it in 2010 during the last year of his term position at the College. “What makes this award special,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, who has taught classes with Ambrose, “is that the award is determined by a vote of Hamilton College undergraduates. I have long claimed that Doug is one of the very finest professors at Hamilton College. In class he gives memorable performances that distill complex bodies of information into a form that make it intelligible—and exciting—for the weakest student. He teaches history according to the highest standards; he doesn’t preach on a soapbox.”

NAS Features Article by AHI Charter Fellow on Eugene Genovese

AHIadmin — Sun, 18 May 2014 22:32:21 +0000

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) recently chose to feature on its website, an article by Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), on the scholarship of Eugene D. Genovese (1930-2012). Genovese, one of the most influential historians of his generation, served before his death as a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors. The commissioned article was first published in the summer 2014 issue of the journal Academic Questions.

AHI Senior Fellow Joseph Fornieri’s New Book on Abraham Lincoln Published

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:29:52 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Southern Illinois University Press has published “Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman,”by AHI Senior Fellow Joseph R. Fornieri. Dr. Fornieri is professor of political science at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the Director of the Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty, which is in affiliation with AHI. [caption id="attachment_3516" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Joseph R. Fornieri, professor of political science at the Rochester Institute of Technology"][/caption] In his new book, Dr. Fornieri contends that Lincoln’s political genius is best understood in terms of a philosophical statesmanship that united greatness of thought and action, one that combined theory and practice. This philosophical statesmanship, Fornieri argues, can best be understood in terms of six dimensions of political leadership: wisdom, prudence, duty, magnanimity, rhetoric, and patriotism. Drawing on insights from history, politics, and philosophy, Fornieri tackles the question of how Lincoln’s statesmanship displayed each of these crucial elements. Among his accomplishments, Fornieri has received RIT’s Provost’s Award for outstanding teaching for junior faculty and the Eisenhart Award for outstanding teaching for tenured faculty. In 2009, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach First Amendment and American Political Thought at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. He is the author of Abraham Lincoln’s Political Faith (2005), an acclaimed scholarly work that explores Lincoln’s religion and politics as well as the author or editor of several other books on Abraham Lincoln’s political thought and statesmanship. Fornieri served as a member of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, 1809-2009 and is an acting Board Member of the Lincoln Forum.

Sixth Annual AHI/Baylor Summer Conference on Tocqueville

AHIadmin — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 18:48:09 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that its Sixth Annual Summer Conference, co-sponsored with the Department of Political Science at Baylor University, will be held June 23-24 at 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The conference is open to the public, but seating is limited. Please call 315-292-2267, or contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org to reserve a seat. Dr. James Ceaser, Harry F. Byrd Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, will direct the conference, which will focus on Alexis de Tocqueville’s classic study Democracy in America, one of the most influential assessments ever written about politics and culture in the United States. Dr. Ceaser has taught at the University of Virginia for more than thirty years. His books include Presidential Selection (1979), Liberal Democracy and Political Science (1992), Reconstructing America: The Symbol of America in Modern Thought (2000), and Nature and History in American Political Development (2008). During five sessions, a number of scholars will converse with Dr. Ceaser on such themes as the American character, the impact of democracy on manners and society, and egalitarianism. 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. Click here, for further information about the conference schedule, participants, topics, and readings.

AHI Featured in ACTA's New Oases of Excellence Directory

AHIadmin — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 22:11:15 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that we are a featured program in the new American Council of Trustees and Alumni's(ACTA) Oases of Excellence online directory. ACTA's new directory features programs at colleges and universities across the country that promote the study of American history, Western civilization, political theory, economics, leadership, and the Great Books. The directory features over 50 programs at a wide range of institutions and will serve as an invaluable resource for reform-minded alumni and donors. ACTA is an independent, non-profit organization committed to promoting academic excellence in higher education. The new directory builds on ACTA’s previous efforts, such as Alumni to the Rescue,” an online townhall to educate alumni about how to influence their almae matres through philanthropic support. If you wish to support the AHI, please visit our website at: http://theahi.org/support-ahi/. Donations can be made directly online, or mailed to us at 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323.

AHI's Paquette Publishes on Commencement and Conservatism

AHIadmin — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 21:47:19 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Bob Paquette recently blogged on SeeThruEd.com: "At College Graduation Ceremonies, Free Speech Loses," in which he discusses the post-modern graduation ceremony and how far away it has strayed from its original purpose.

Record Crowd at Sixth Annual AHI/Baylor Summer Conference on Tocqueville

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 04:20:14 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3540" align="alignleft" width="300" caption=" Panelists at Sixth Annual AHI Summer Conference Photo Copyright 2014 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y."][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) recently hosted its sixth annual summer conference co-sponsored by Baylor University’s Department of Political Science June 23-24. Dr. James Ceaser, Harry F. Byrd Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, led a panel of professors and graduate students in a discussion of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. “Attendance at this year’s annual summer colloquium proved most satisfying,” commented AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “It was our largest crowd to date. Undergraduates, graduate students, senior and junior professors, and citizens from surrounding communities participated in two days of stimulating conversations. The AHI was particularly pleased to welcome teachers and students from Holy Cross Academy, a private Catholic school in the area. We would especially like to thank David and Mary Nichols, professor of political science at Baylor, and their department chairmen, David Clinton, for their continued support and friendship.”

Five sessions took place over two days and addressed such topics as the difference between aristocracy and democracy, the relation of liberty to equality, and Tocqueville’s understanding of the American political system and its founding documents. “Tocqueville's concern with the difficult relationship between freedom and equality, as well as that between equality and (in both senses of the term) high culture, makes Democracy in America an ideal text for an AHI-sponsored conference,” said panel member and AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk. “We are about the ‘study of Western civilization,’ and Tocqueville analyzes these great elements of Western civilization in an especially compelling way.”[gallery size="large"] Photos Copyright 2014 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y.

“Although very much a man of the nineteenth century,” “Tocqueville sounds strikingly modern, AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose pointed out. “He writes about how expansive governmental power ‘does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.’ Yet despite these dark fears, Tocqueville also reminds us that we have the power to avoid such a fate.”

AHI's Paquette Blogs on How American Universities Assassinated the Fourth of July

AHIadmin — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:50:03 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Bob Paquette recently blogged "How American Universities Assassinated the Fourth of July" on SeeThruEd.com discussing the complex topic of American exceptionalism.

AHI Board Member Anne Neal Advocates for Engaged College Trustees

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 20:18:11 +0000

Anne Neal, president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), recently commented in the Wall Street Journal "when the president and board are no longer working together, then it's right for the board to seek another leader." ACTA is an independent, non-profit organization committed to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability at America's colleges and universities. ACTA has taken a leading role in advocating for more active and engaged trustees not only in Texas but around the country. Ms. Neal emphasized that it’s crucial to remember that “the president answers to the board; not the board to the president." According to Neal, "boards and presidents must work together —when they don’t, the students and taxpayers are ill-served. In Texas, it was clear a leadership shakeup was necessary to facilitate that environment." Neal is also on the Board of Directors of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI).

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Pursues Doctorate in Statistics

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 20:26:13 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) takes considerable pride in the accomplishments of their Undergraduate Fellows. Will Eagan, a 2011 Hamilton College graduate and AHI Undergraduate Fellow, is currently working on a doctorate in statistics at Purdue University. AHI summer intern Michael Adamo interviewed Eagan for this story. [caption id="attachment_1680" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Will Eagan"][/caption] Eagan majored in mathematics at Hamilton College and completed his thesis in the physics department—an unusual achievement for a non-physics major. The thesis, concerning “the novel application of Bayesian methods to problems in astrostatistics,” proved instrumental as he applied to graduate schools. “I presented it as a poster at the American Astronautical Society meeting in Seattle,” he explains. “Several professors at top programs in astronomy recruited me to their departments, but several professors at Hamilton encouraged me to continue my focus on statistics.” Adamo asked Eagan, “What’s the value of the AHI for someone like you, whose academic focus isn’t as directly related to AHI programming?” “You are correct,” Eagan responded, “the stereotypical AHI student is a history concentrator or a government major. I did not major or minor in either of those, but most people mistakenly thought I was. Even then, I did seriously consider graduate study in political science, but statistics won out. The value of the AHI on my intellectual development is tremendous. The biggest lesson I learned at my time as undergraduate as the AHI was how to be a serious young intellectual dealing with the multi- and inter-disciplinary question of what is Western civilization? I took considerable interest in the concept of liberal education and its relationship to questions of morality such as natural law, natural right, and natural rights. In statistics, the questions are less philosophical, but adopting a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach is essential to understanding the ever-ubiquitous data. To paraphrase, the late John Tukey, one of the most distinguished statisticians of the 20th century, in statistics you get to play in everyone's backyard! An endlessly curious scholar, Eagan found the AHI’s programming and professors to be indispensable guides to self-study. He recalled one event at which Colgate University Professor and AHI Senior Fellow Robert Kraynak gave a lecture on varieties of contemporary conservative thought. “In his talk,” says Eagan, “he handed out a list of books to read from leading conservative intellectuals. I read all of them. I looked at their sources and I realized I needed to learn more. I began to read some of the works by his undergraduate mentor Allan Bloom and his graduate mentor Harvey Mansfield, a distinguished professor of political science at Harvard University and an academic advisor to the AHI. This in turn led me to learn more about the Great Books and political theory on my own and take advantage of the events hosted by the AHI.” His interest in those topics was apparent to other AHI students and professors, who sometimes assumed Eagan to be a history or government major. In his current scholarship Eagan says he is conscious of how he can apply his experiences with the AHI to statistics. “Statistics is deceptively broad,” he says, and even if he is not grappling with questions of natural law and political theory, he finds that “adopting a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach is essential to understanding the ever-ubiquitous data.” He is also grateful to Professor Bob Paquette, an AHI Charter Fellow, who Eagan says “invested more time than anyone developing my writing skills,” and Professor Doug Ambrose, another AHI Charter Fellow, who, in Eagan’s words, taught him ‘to be so utilitarian in outlook toward your college education’ and to explore a variety of fields.” The AHI wishes Will Eagan well in his current studies and congratulate him on his accomplishments.

Center for Statesmanship Publishes Quarterly Newsletter

AHIadmin — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:33:34 +0000

Quarterly Newsletter, July 15, 2014

Dear Friends: This is the first quarterly newsletter of the recently established Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Here is the link to our official website, which includes our Mission Statement and other relevant information about events, our annual symposium, contact information, and initiatives, http://www.rit.edu/cla/statesmanship/. The purpose of this newsletter is to inform you of our activities and to ask for your support in helping us engage the wider community of citizens and scholars in enhancing and reviving statesmanship. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to an interested friend who would like to be included on our list. My administrative assistant Cassandra Shellman (copied above) will be happy to add anyone who kindly requests by responding to this e-mail. Spring 2014: The Center’s Launch. The Center, which is a legal entity of RIT, was made possible by a generous gift from Kraig Kayser, CE0 of Seneca Foods Corporation and former board member of RIT. In the past year we have established a Memorandum of Understanding that spells out our arrangement with RIT, entered into affiliation with The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, created a Steering Committee dedicated to fundraising and development, and completed a strategic plan that sets future goals and programming. We are currently in the process of establishing an affiliation with the Friends of the Lincoln Collection of Indiana, which has one of the largest on-line Lincoln libraries in the world. Our Steering Committee is headed up by Mr. Harlan D. Calkins, CEO of Rochester Midland Corporation. It also includes former RIT president Al Simone. (See Website for brief bios of our Steering Committee Members). The Center’s Strategic Plan includes an annual symposium open to the public on a topic related to statesmanship, law, and liberty. Our First Annual Symposium this past April featured award winning author Allen C. Guelzo who spoke on “Lincoln’s Statesmanship on the Emancipation Proclamation.” ACTA includes our Center as an “oasis of excellence”!!! The American Council of Trustees & Alumni (ACTA) is an independent, non-profit organization committed to promoting academic excellence in higher education. For many years, it has encouraged alumni and donors to support what it calls “oases of excellence”—programs like our Center that promote the study of Western civilization, political theory, economics, leadership, and the Great Books. ACTA has now launched an online directory of over 50 “oases of excellence,” and the Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty is among the programs it features! This directory will encourage ACTA friends and the interested public to learn about and support our Center. Here is a link to ACTA’s latest press release about the launch of the “oases of excellence” initiative, http://www.goacta.org/news/actas_new_oases_of_excellence_directory_will_help_alumni_support_academic_e 2015 Symposium: Security, Liberty, and Privacy, April 8-9, 2015. Keynote Speaker Richard A. Clarke at Ingle Auditorium @ 7: 00. Richard A. Clarke was former U.S. chief counter-terrorism advisor under both the Clinton and Bush administrations, contributor to the 9/11 report, and the most recent NSA reports. He is the bestselling author Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror and Cyberwar. The following day April 9^th guest speakers and panelists will debate the issue of where to draw the line between security and privacy/liberty. Open to the public. Dr. Fornieri’s Virtual Book Signing: Webcast July 19, 2014. Tune in for a virtual book signing/live webcast of Director Joseph R. Fornieri speaking on his latest book, Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman in Chicago on Saturday July 19^th. Here is the link. The talk will be broadcast live at 12:00pm and then maintained on this internet website, http://virtualbooksigning.net/book-information. Open to the public. Constitution Week, Sept. 17^th & 18^th.

September 17^th. The Center is proud to host The David Aldrich Nelson Lecture on Constitutional Jurisprudence, which is held every year on September 17, Constitution Day, and generously supported by the Hamilton Institute. The event will take place in Bldg. 8 College of Science, Room 1250 @ 7:00. Our Keynote Speaker is Bruce Frohnen who will lecture on the timely topic of “The Constitution and Religious Liberty.” There will be a subsequent panel discussion led by myself and my colleague, professor Lauren Hall, on the two most recent Supreme Court cases involving religious liberty, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, 2014 and the local case of Town of Greece v. Galloway, 2014 Q&A to follow. Open to the public.
September 18^th. RIT’s 10^th Annual Constitution Day Lecture, hosted by the RIT Political Science Department. Time and place TBA. Bruce Frohnen will join us once again this time on the topic of “Virtue, Statesmanship, and the Constitution.” His lecture will be based on his latest book, Constitutional Morality and the Rule of Law: Norms, Structure, and the Problem of Powerto be published by Harvard University Press in 2015. Open to the public.

Advanced Placement Seminar, Winter, 2015. This winter (date and time TBA) we are holding an intensive one day AP Seminar, which will be taught by faculty from RIT, SUNY Brockport, and SUNY Geneseo to help prepare local High School Students for the Advanced Placement Exam and for college. The event will include lectures, seminar discussion, analysis of key primary sources in American history and government, and Q&A. Invitations will be sent out to local high schools. Tell your teacher friends!! Please feel free to provide us with suggestions about how we may best fulfill our mission. And please spread the word. We appreciate your interest and support.

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Mark Garcia Earns Post in Financial Compliance

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:06:13 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) takes considerable pride in the accomplishments of its Undergraduate Fellows. Anthony Mark Garcia, a 2010 graduate of Hamilton College and AHI Undergraduate Fellow, completed a law degree at Vanderbilt University in 2013 and is now working in New York City at S2 Filings, a company specializing in SEC compliance. Garcia honed his talents in several fields between graduate school and his current job. He previously worked as a research assistant at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, and at Human Rights Watch. While awaiting the results of his bar exam he worked as a teacher and coach at his former high school in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. His work with S2 Filings draws on his legal training and his education in economics at Hamilton College, where he completed an independent study on advanced topics in financial markets under the supervision of AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield. He credits his liberal arts education for his success in multiple professional environments. “The value of a liberal arts education,” said Garcia, “is that it fosters critical thinking skills that can translate to a variety of professions and fields, and also instills a desire to understand the world around you and how the pieces from a variety of disciplines, cultures, and time periods all fit together. I could not have made this many career jumps, nor would I have found something intellectually engaging and enjoyable in each of them, had it not been for my exposure to the AHI.” During his time at Hamilton, Garcia participated in several AHI leadership lunches, which he says helped him in to develop his speaking skills. “Reflecting on a time where I had people sitting awkwardly waiting to reach for dessert as I rambled on some point, definitely benefited my oral advocacy at law school,” he explained. After graduating he also received the William Vick AHI summer internship. Garcia is grateful to AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette, whose class on the trans-Atlantic slave trade inspired Garcia’s law school seminar paper on the implications of customary international law in a federalist system. “I can also recall countless scholars I was introduced to in his course on the history of the conservative movement that were cited, referenced, and discussed in a variety of my law school classes,” he says. The AHI wishes Garcia well and congratulates him on his accomplishments. Posting by AHI summer intern Michael Adamo

AHI Senior Fellow Lee Cheek Publishes Book Review

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:28:55 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), is pleased to announce that Senior Fellow Dr. H. Lee Cheek, Jr. recently published "Weighing Publius' Constitutional Morality," which is a review of Jason Frank's book Publius and Political Imagination. According to Cheek's review, Franks' book "has many merits that deserve the attention of scholars. Its most important contribution is convincingly connecting The Federalist with refined views of citizenship and the continued evolution of and need for civic engagement. Jason Frank’s is a novel and engaging re-examination of The Federalist that should not go unnoticed." H. Lee Cheek, Jr. is Dean of the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at East Georgia State College. Dr. Cheek's latest book is Patrick Henry-Onslow: Liberty and Republicanism in American Political Thought (Lexington Books, 2013, and he is currently writing a new study of the origins of the American political system, The Founding of the American Republic (Bloomsbury, 2014).

The AHI Welcomes Return of Mary Grabar as Visiting Fellow

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 16:03:21 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to welcome back Dr. Mary Grabar, who has returned to the AHI as a visiting fellow. Dr. Grabar was previously awarded the AHI’s Bakwin Fellowship in 2011. She earned a Ph. D. in English from the University of Georgia in 2002. After teaching at several colleges throughout Georgia, she taught English at Emory University from 2007-2013 through the Program in American Democracy and Citizenship. Dr. Grabar is also the editor of www.dissidentprof.com, a blog dedicated to educational reform. [caption id="attachment_3606" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Visiting Fellow Mary Grabar at the AHI. Photo Copyright 2014 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y."][/caption] Dr. Grabar plans to spend her time at the AHI further researching and writing a book on the late George Schuyler (1895-1977), a noted African-American journalist. Schuyler’s work, she believes, should have a much more important place in American studies, in literature and history. Schuyler inspired Grabar by the fearlessness of his intellectual questioning and writing. “I think all Americans need to know about him,” said Grabar. “He was very influential during his heyday, but has been relegated to obscurity.” Grabar is also working on a book on education and the formation of the American character, from an immigrant’s perspective. Born in communist Yugoslavia, she emigrated as a child to Rochester, New York, with her parents. She believes, sadly, that her adoptive homeland is in decline. “From an early age,” she observed, I could tell there was something different about the character of a people who lived in freedom and security from those who lived under oppression and poverty. Sadly, I see the American character changing as U.S. citizens adjust to more and more impositions on their daily lives by a metastasizing federal government. Alexis de Tocqueville predicted this. I just have to think back about traveling on trains or airplanes as a child and what it's like now. I think about how we self-censor our speech— and even our thoughts—and it's scary.” Dr. Grabar partially attributes the decline in character to the poor state of education in the United States. “Ideology has replaced history,” she said, “and collective classroom tasks have replaced independent thinking. Education is extremely important because it helps form our attitudes.” In addition to working on her two books, Grabar will also continue to publish articles for several other publications. Much of her current writing focuses on the state of education, particularly issues with the Common Core. She is currently working on a piece that examines George Schuyler’s support of Barry Goldwater, during the presidential election of 1964. Dr. Grabar is thrilled to return to the AHI, and considers working here to be one of the biggest achievements of her career. She said, “My dream has been to work in a community of scholars and pursue my own research and writing.” She is fond of the “supportive, intellectual atmosphere,” provided by the AHI, and considers it to be a “second home, a place of intellectual refuge and support.” Story by Amy Elinski, summer intern at the AHI

AHI Participates in Clinton Art and Music Festival

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 16:25:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce its participation in the 9th annual Clinton Art and Music Festival on August 23rd. The AHI will be hosting the second main stage of the festival; the other being the gazebo on the green. The festival annually attracts over 5,000 people to Clinton who spend the day browsing the booths of juried artists and listening to music groups. In addition to having artists and musicians, the festival will include a number of demonstrations, including wood carving and pottery making. There will also be children's activities, including rock painting, clay-making, and a “Musical Instrument Petting Zoo.” The Clinton Art and Music Festival first began in 2006. Started as a small festival by the owner of a music shop in town, the festival has grown to become a staple tradition of summer in Clinton. The festival annually attracts enough artists to fill the village green and West Park Row. “It’s tripled in size,” says Ferris Betrus, Executive Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce. “It’s good for the community. It’s one of the best events we have for the community.” The festival will host a total of 15 musical acts who will perform on nine stages throughout the day. The AHI and Gazebo on the village green will serve as the two primary stages and will alternate acts hourly. The AHI will host three acts throughout the day: The Rick Short Band at 1:00 PM, The Hot Club of Saratoga at 3:00 PM, and Sirsy at 5:00 PM. For the past several years, the AHI has served as a stage for the event. “We’re pleased to have [the AHI] play a role in it,” said Betrus, “My favorite part of it is to see it all happen, and to see people have a good time and listen to the music. I really love the music. It’s a day of music, a day of artists, and a day of good food. To learn more about the Clinton Art and Music Festival, or to see a full schedule of events, please visit artandmusicfest.com

AHI to Offer Free Course on Modern Statesmanship and Leadership

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 16:57:12 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Resident Fellow Dr. David Frisk will be leading a weekly continuing education course on “Modern Statesmanship and Leadership” every Monday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., beginning September 8. The course, a mixture of lecture and discussion, will be held at the AHI’s headquarters 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York and will finish on December 8. The course and readings are free of charge and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided. Seating is limited, so please register in advance by contacting either Professor Robert Paquette bob@theahi.org, or Dr. Frisk dfrisk@theahi.org. You may also register by calling Dr. Frisk directly at 202-999-5751 (c). [caption id="attachment_3567" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk speaking at the 2014 Annual Summer Conference"][/caption] The class will focus on how American and European leaders have conducted major affairs of state in the past two centuries since our nation's founding. It will consider a variety of successes and failures. The carefully selected readings will range from authoritative but well-written works of history, to a few major speeches, to some of the deeper observations on the nature of high-level leadership by both scholars and statesmen themselves. The course will examine such well-known names in statesmanship as Washington, Lincoln, and Churchill. Other figures will include Henry Clay, General William T. Sherman, key Allied leaders in World War I, Franklin Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur in the postwar reconstruction of Japan, and Konrad Adenauer in the reconstruction of Germany. In describing the course, Dr. Frisk stated that “Americans have tended to place great faith in two other sources of good government: in our constitution and the people's wisdom. For different reasons, both are easily overrated, in the sense that too much is expected from them. The two most central attributes of the statesman -- a far-seeing kind of good judgment and an exceptionally strong sense of public duty -- are not provided even by a wise public or a great constitution. Leaders either have these qualities or don't. No great nation can long do without them.” Dr. Frisk received his Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University in 2009 with specialties in American politics and political philosophy. His publications include If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012). He is also an award-winning journalist and has taught at Concordia University in California and worked for the Claremont Institute.

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Max Schnidman Receives Job at FDIC

AHIadmin — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 12:08:02 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Max Schnidman, a former AHI Undergraduate Fellow, on his receipt of a job at the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation. Max will be joining the FDIC's Research Fellows Program as an Economic Assistant beginning on August 11. The FDIC’s Research Fellows Program is a two year program aimed at recent college graduates. The program is operated through the FDIC’s Division of Insurance and Research, which is responsible for monitoring the state of the US economy and the banking industry. The FDIC is responsible for maintaining the security of bank accounts, and ensures the reliability of financial institutions; as an Economic Assistant, Max will be given the opportunity to employ the skills in communication and analysis he developed during his time at Hamilton College and with the AHI, and apply them in in these areas, focusing on the financial industry and banking. “As an Economic Assistant,” said Schnidman, “I will be responsible for aiding economists in their projects in banking and regulation, whether through literature research, data acquisition and cleaning, or analysis.” During his time at Hamilton, Schnidman was actively engaged in the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows program and was recognized this past spring at the seventh annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium for his achievements. "At this year's Carl B. Menges colloquium,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, "Max Schnidman addressed a record crowd and spoke movingly about what the AHI had meant to him during his four years as an undergraduate. He may not realize just how much he has meant to the AHI. Max has all the tools to accomplish great things: energy, intelligence, attention to detail, self-discipline, and imagination. He will be missed. But he knows the AHI will always be there for him as a home away from home.” Max Schnidman, Former Publius Society & AHI Undergraduate Fellow [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/92282346[/vimeo] “The AHI and its amazing fellows have been at the center of my Hamilton experience,” commented Schnidman, “Seeing Prof. Ambrose in class convinced me to attend Hamilton, and Prof. Bradfield persuaded me to concentrate in economics. Additionally, Prof. Paquette served as a de facto advisor to me through my time at Hamilton College.” He also added, “I am proud to be joining the FDIC's Research Fellows Program. I will have the opportunity to take the skills in analysis and communication I have developed through AHI activities and apply them to economic research, particularly in banking and finance.” Schnidman graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors from Hamilton College with majors in both economics and philosophy.

Bruce Frohnen to Deliver Seventh Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 14:47:05 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty (the Center), are pleased to announce that Bruce Frohnen, Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University will deliver the Seventh Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on Wednesday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. at RIT, Building 8, College of Science, Room 1250. Dr. Frohnen is an authority on religion in American public life, and will speak on “The Constitution and Religious Liberty.” The event is open to the public. Immediately following the lecture, there will be a panel discussion on the two most recent Supreme Court cases involving religious liberty, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, 2014 and the local case of Town of Greece v. Galloway, 2014 which will be led by Professors Joseph R. Fornieri, Director of the Center and Professor Lauren Hall. Dr. Bruce Frohnen has served as a Visiting Scholar with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a Legislative Aide to United States Senator Spencer Abraham, and a Senior Fellow at Liberty Fund, Inc. His co-edited volume American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia was the subject of a front page article in The New York Times. His two most recent volumes, The American Nation: Primary Sources and Rethinking Rights (edited with Kenneth Grasso) were named Outstanding Academic Titles by Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. His articles have appeared in journals including the George Washington Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the American Journal of Jurisprudence. His research interests focus on the nature, development, and prospects for constitutionalism and human rights given changing views regarding the nature of human community and the person. He holds a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law and a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University. The Lecture honors Judge David Aldrich Nelson (1932-2010), a charter member of the AHI’s board of directors who served for more than two decades on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

AHI's Paquette Blogs "The New Discrimination on U.S. Campuses"

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 20:30:00 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Bob Paquette recently blogged "The New Discrimination on U.S. Campuses" on SeeThruEd.com.

AHI Director Anne Neal Appears on PBS NewsHour

AHIadmin — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 20:43:32 +0000

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) president Anne Neal recently appeared on PBS NewsHour to discuss proposed bipartisan legislation with steeper penalties for educational institutions that fail to investigate reports of sexual assault. You can watch her interview here. Anne Neal is also a Director of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI).

Former AHI Fellow Thomas Cheeseman Recognized by Mont Pelerin Society

AHIadmin — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 16:26:18 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Thomas Cheeseman, former leader of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellow’s Program, for receiving an honorable mention in the Hayek Essay competition sponsored by the prestigious Mont Pelerin Society. This year’s global competition, which had more than 1000 entries and was open to persons thirty-five years and younger, asked participants to respond to these questions: “Why is recognition of human ignorance an important starting point for Hayek? To what degree is human liberty important for the progress of civilization? Can the pretense of knowledge, independent of experience, mislead decision-making?” Founded in 1947 by Friedrich Hayek, an Austrian polymath who in 1974 won the Nobel Prize in economics, the Mont Pelerin Society embraces a wide variety of scholars who believe that personal freedom, a central value to human prosperity and dignity, is “under constant menace” by statism, collectivism, and other extensions of arbitrary power. Past presidents of Mont Pelerin have included Milton Friedman, James M. Buchanan, Gary Becker, and Kenneth Minogue, an AHI academic adviser before his death in 2013. Mr. Cheeseman is currently a scholarship student at Vanderbilt Law School and a member of the Michael Oakeshott Society. He spent more than four years organizing and participating in AHI programming. "I am very proud that I was selected as an Honorable Mention for the Hayek Essay competition,” said Cheeseman. “Coming in at fourth place in the most competitive year in the competition’s history is a great honor for me. As one of the top three essayists could not attend the conference, the Mont Pelerin Society members voted to extend the travel stipend to me. I will be spending six days in Hong Kong with some of the top advocates of a free society in the world. While this is certainly the most prestigious conference I’ll have ever attended, I know that I would not have been able to procure such an honor without the thorough refinement I received during my four years as an AHI Undergraduate Fellow. I want to thank Professor Paquette, Professor Ambrose, and Professor Bradfield in particular for the countless hours they spent helping to refine my prose and enrich my analysis of complex phenomenon. The essay question this year dealt with the importance of acknowledging the limits of man’s knowledge when engaging in political planning. Without a doubt, my essay showed the mark of my countless hours of conversation with the aforementioned professors as well as my good friends Professor Hill, Leslie Marsh, and Dean Woodley Ball. Looking back, I can’t believe how far I’ve progressed in the six years since I first became familiar with the AHI. The AHI represents the best in the liberal arts tradition. Instead of teaching me what to think, my many mentors through the years taught me how to think, even if it meant that I took contrary positions. In the process, the members of the AHI taught me what it meant to be a human being, not a mere abstraction. I am greatly indebted to everyone who made my experience possible." “Anyone who watched Thomas Cheeseman’s intellectual growth at the AHI during his undergraduate years sensed that he had the potential to accomplish big things,” observed AHI charter fellow Robert Paquette. “I will remember Thomas for not only his voracious appetite for reading great books, but for the courage he showed inside and outside the classroom at Hamilton College for challenging, sometimes at considerable personal cost, activist professors who appear to have made it a mission to caricature and distort the views of right-of-center thinkers they had never read seriously. Now as a Graduate Fellow of the AHI, Thomas allows the old folks of our organization to sit back and savor his growing list of accomplishments with considerable pride, knowing that the future of the AHI will be in good hands thanks to him and other graduate fellows like him.”

AHI Senior Fellow Appointed Social Sciences Dean at EGSC

AHIadmin — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 16:34:18 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Senior Fellow Dr. Lee Cheek on his new appointment as Dean of Social Sciences at East Georgia State College. Cheek, who formerly served as Chair of the Division of Social Sciences, assumed his new duties in early August as part of a reorganization. He is the only new dean to have served in this capacity before, having been a dean at the University of North Georgia in the past. [caption id="attachment_3642" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Dr. Lee Cheek"][/caption] Cheek, who is a leading authority on American political thought generally and southern political thinkers specifically, believes “East Georgia State College is a wonderful institution, with a deep appreciation for its past, and much anticipation about the future. I look forward to being part of that future.” Cheek earned his bachelor's degree from Western Carolina University, a graduate degree in theology from Duke University in Durham, N.C.; his master of public administration degree from Western Carolina University; and his doctorate from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He previously served as Dean of the Social Sciences at the University of North Georgia, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Athens State University in Alabama, and Vice President for College Advancement and Professor of Political Science at Brewton-Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia. Cheek taught at Brewton-Parker College from 1997-2000, and he rejoined the Brewton-Parker faculty in 2005. In 2000, 2006, and 2007, Cheek was awarded Brewton-Parker College's "Professor of the Year Award" by the student body, and, in 2008, the Jordan Excellence in Teaching Award was bestowed upon him by the College's faculty and administration. From 2000 to 2005, Cheek served as Associate Professor of Political Science at Lee University. In May 2002, Cheek was given Lee University’s Excellence in Scholarship award, and, in May 2004, he received Lee University's Excellence in Advising award. He has also served as a congressional aide and as a political consultant. Cheek's books include Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal (Transaction/Rutgers, 2001, with Kathy B. Cheek); Calhoun and Popular Rule, (University of Missouri Press, 2001; paper edition, 2004); Calhoun: Selected Speeches and Writings (Regnery, 2003); Order and Legitimacy (Transaction/Rutgers, 2004); an edition of Calhoun's A Disquisition on Government (St. Augustine's, 2007); a critical edition of W. H. Mallock's The Limits of Pure Democracy (Transaction/Rutgers, 2007 ); Confronting Modernity: Towards a Theology of Ministry in the Wesleyan Tradition (Wesley Studies Society, 2010); a scholarly edition of A Theory of Public Opinion (Transaction/Rutgers, 2013); Patrick Henry-Onslow Debate Liberty and Republicanism in American Political Thought (Lexington Books, 2013); and, the Founding of the American Republic (Bloomsbury, 2015; forthcoming). He has also published numerous journal articles in publications like the Journal of Politics, Methodist History, International Social Science Review, and Hebraic Political Studies and is a regular commentator on American politics. Dr. Cheek is also a senior fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) in New York. Cheek’s current research includes an intellectual biography of Francis Graham Wilson, a prominent 20th century political scientist (I.S.I. Books, 2012), and a book on Patrick Henry's constitutionalism and political theory. Cheek is also a United Methodist clergyman and former U.S. Army chaplain. He currently serves on the editorial board of Humanitas, the Political Science Reviewer, Anamnesis, and The University Bookman and has served as a Fellow of the Earhart Foundation, Wilbur Foundation, the Center for Judicial Studies, and the Center for International Media Studies. “We are very excited and fortunate to have Dr. Cheek join us as Dean of the Division of Social Sciences,” said EGCS President Dr. Robert Boehmer. “Dr. Cheek is an experienced and accomplished leader who brings a commitment to academic excellence that will inspire our students to success. Our faculty and staff will also be inspired by his professionalism and active involvement in the community of scholars.” Cheek resides in Vidalia, Georgia, with his wife, Kathy B. Cheek, a teacher of ballet and yoga and the former executive director of the Ohoopee Regional Council for the Arts.

AHI Academic Adviser Jay Sekulow on IRS Scandal

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:56:52 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Adviser Jay Sekulow published an opinion piece and was recently interviewed on Fox News about the IRS scandal. Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which focuses on constitutional law.

AHI Resident Advisor David Frisk Completes Summer as Bakwin Fellow

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 14:12:47 +0000

Dr. David Frisk, the recipient of the AHI’s Seventh Annual Bakwin Award recently completed his fellowship and will be remaining as a Resident Fellow for the 2014-15 academic year. Dr. Frisk received his Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University in 2009 with specialties in American politics and political philosophy. He is also a graduate of Reed College with a degree in history and a prize-winning journalist. His publications include If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), a comprehensive biography of a significant conservative leader that was favorably reviewed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and several other major outlets. Frisk taught American government at Concordia University in California and worked at the Claremont Institute. [caption id="attachment_3567" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI's David Frisk speaks at the Annual Summer Conference"][/caption] At the AHI, Frisk completed an essay on the Nixon presidency which he will contribute to a book on American statesmanship co-edited by AHI Senior Fellow Joe Fornieri,, who teaches at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Kenneth Deutsch, who teaches at the State University of New York at Geneseo. The essay focuses on foreign policy, the hallmark of Nixon’s presidency before Watergate. One way in which Nixon stood out from modern Republican presidents, Frisk says, was that “he had a tremendous intellectual appetite,” making him immune to the popular caricatures of conservative presidents as unintelligent. “The depth of his intellect was undebatable,” Frisk says, “even if his principles are in doubt.” Throughout August Frisk met with AHI summer interns and held various discussion sessions. He is planning a year-long reading group for Hamilton College students on the work of Leo Strauss. Students were appreciative of his spring semester reading group on Edmund Burke. “Often at Hamilton I find myself very limited in the kind of literature I'm exposed to as a student,” says Joe Simonson, an AHI Undergraduate Fellow. “However, with Dr. Frisk’s reading group on Burke, I was able to read and learn about an incredibly influential and brilliant thinker.” Recently, Frisk has been preparing to teach the AHI’s fall course on statesmanship, which is free and open to the public. He defines statesmanship as a combination of farsightedness, strong principles, and the willingness to take unpopular positions for the good of the country. The statesman, in contrast to the ordinary politician, becomes a symbol of the country and its ideals. Teaching a class like this, Frisk says, “allows you to bring together your knowledge of political philosophy and your knowledge of actual politics.” The course will run 14 weeks, meeting for two hours each week, and will cover a different personality in each session. Frisk enjoys teaching courses that are open to the community because, as he explains, “everyone’s there because they want to be there.” “David Frisk has pitched in to help advance the mission of the AHI with enthusiasm and considerable intelligence from the get-go,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “AHI undergraduate fellows have benefited from his journalistic judgment as well as his erudition in history and political science. He criticizes their prose, offers political advice, and delves with them into great books. His reading cluster on Leo Strauss will draw adults as well as students. No question: He is a considerable asset to the AHI.” In 2008, the AHI inaugurated the Bakwin Award, a summer fellowship, to advance research in regional archives and libraries on subjects that comport with the central concerns of the AHI as defined in its charter. The fellowship honors E. M. (Pete) Bakwin, a stalwart supporter of the AHI since its inception. Mr. Bakwin, a graduated of Hamilton College (1950) and the University of Chicago (1961), served as Chairman of the Board of MB Financial Bank in Chicago. A long-standing student of Western culture, his generosity has touched Hamilton College, the University of Chicago, Shimer College, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and many other institutions. The Bakwin fellowship provides a stipend of $1600 and residence free-of-charge at the AHI’s headquarters in Clinton, NY.

AHI and Daniel Webster Center at Dartmouth Sponsor Free Conference

AHIadmin — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:07:47 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Daniel Webster Center at Dartmouth College will join forces to sponsor the conference, "Tyranny and Totalitarianism: Past, Present, and Future on September 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. , 1 Rockefeller Center, Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The conference is free and open to the public. For further information about the event, please contact Kelly.L.Palmer@Dartmouth.edu or by phone at 603-646-3378. To see video of the conference, please click here.

AHI Announces Reading Cluster on Leo Strauss

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:44:06 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will sponsor a reading group; open to the public, during the fall semester on Leo Strauss, one of the greatest scholars of political philosophy. The reading group will meet every two weeks, from Thursday, September 11 through Thursday, November 20, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in room 209, Burke Library, on the Hamilton College campus in Clinton. New York. Books will be provided by the AHI.

Leo Strauss (1899-1973), a legendary teacher for decades at the University of Chicago, helped to revitalize the study of the great works in political philosophy, from Socrates to the 20^th century. He did so, not merely from scholarly interest, but because he also believed – controversially, in our times – that these great works bring us closer to real wisdom and are not merely clashing opinions. In addition, his formidable scholarship has given rise to two often-opposed schools of thought, “Eastern” and “Western” Straussianism that differ substantially in their perspectives on the study of the great books, their understandings of the American Founding, and their influence on American conservatism. Public curiosity about Strauss and his intellectual followers has been extensive in the past decade. Readings will be drawn primarily from Strauss’s most famous work, Natural Right and History (1953). About 50 pages will be assigned per session. Dr. David Frisk, a Resident Fellow of the AHI will lead the reading group. Dr. Frisk holds a Ph.D. in political science, with specialties in American politics and political philosophy, from Claremont Graduate University – a center of Straussian scholarship. He is the author of If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), which was widely and favorably reviewed in major publications. In the past academic year, he taught the AHI’s continuing education courses on current social problems and on conservative political philosophy from the 18^th century to the present, as well as a reading group on the British statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke. This fall, he is teaching the AHI’s adult class titled “Modern Statesmanship and Leadership.” The reading group is intended as the first half of a year-long study of Strauss, but either semester can be taken independently. For more information or to sign up, please contact Professor Robert Paquette (bob@theahi.org) or Dr. Frisk (dfrisk@theahi.org, 202-999-5751 c).

Don't Forget: Constitution Day Lecture at RIT

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:11:14 +0000

AHI and Government Department Sponsor Skidmore College Constitution Lecture

AHIadmin — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 16:34:51 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3673" align="aligncenter" width="392" caption="Skidmore College Presents Dr. James Stoner"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. James Stoner will deliver the Government Department’s annual Alexander Hamilton Lecture in Constitutional Studies entitled, “The Written Constitution and the Unwritten Tradition of Common Law," Tuesday, September 16 at 5:30 p.m. in the Pohndorff room of Scribner Library, at Skidmore College. The lecture is sponsored by the AHI and the Government Department at Skidmore College. Dr. Stoner is professor of political science at the Louisiana State University. His writings include Common Law and Liberal Theory: Coke, Hobbes, and the Origins of American Constitutionalism (University Press of Kansas, 1992) and Common-Law Liberty: Rethinking American Constitutionalism (University Press of Kansas, 2003). For further information please contact Flagg Taylor at taylor@skidmore.edu.

AHI Senior Fellow Daniel Mahoney Publishes on Solzhenitsyn

AHIadmin — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 16:03:55 +0000

Daniel Mahoney, Senior Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), has recently published The Other Solzhenitsyn. Mahoney, co-editor of The Solzhenitsyn Reader, offers in this discussion a tremendous introduction to the Russian dissident writer’s oeuvre and a rebuttal to his many critics. Daniel Jay Mahoney holds the Augustine Chair in Distinguished Scholarship at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. His books include Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Ascent From Ideology (2001); Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order (2011); and The Other Solzhenitsyn (2014). He is co-editor of The Solzhenitsyn Reader (2009).

Will Boudreau Awarded Menges Prize on Constitution Day

AHIadmin — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 16:23:34 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3686" align="alignleft" width="169" caption="William Boudreau receives the 2014 Carl B. Menges Award"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that William Boudreau from Wilton, Connecticut, has received the 2014 Carl B. Menges Award. Mr. Boudreau, who majored in history at Hamilton College, accepted a commission upon graduation in 2014 as Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He completed Officer Candidate School through the Platoon Leaders Class and will be attending in October an intensive six-month training program at The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia. He is currently interning at the law firm Baker & McKenzie in New York City, working for the firm's Global Tax Practice Group. In April of each year, the AHI holds as the pièce de résistance of its annual programming a major colloquium. It brings together scholars, students, and informed citizens for two and a half days of intensive conversation on a central theme. Named after Carl B. Menges, a graduate of Hamilton College and the Harvard Business School and a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Directors, the colloquium includes classes of undergraduates. They read the same set of prescribed readings as the conferees and have assignments related both to the readings and the discussion of them at the colloquium. In 2007 Mr. Menges also established a fund to recognize undergraduate achievement at the colloquium. Announcement of the annual award occurs on Constitution Day (September 17), the birthday of the AHI. The AHI devoted its Seventh Annual Colloquium to the theme “The West and War: Strategic Challenges Past, Present, and Future.” Drawing on conference readings and others sources, Mr. Boudreau composed an essay that assessed the causes, objectives, and content of the War of 1812 in light of current discussions about asymmetrical warfare. “One would be hard-pressed to find a young person with greater character and love of country than Will Boudreau,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “The AHI can take pride in his intellectual growth during his undergraduate years. He never whined about the criticism on his papers, but sought to improve. His interest in military shone like a beacon light in the paper. Little did I know that upon graduation he intended to join the Marines. I had the distinct honor of attending his commissioning ceremony. The AHI’s prayers and best wishes go with him to wherever he is deployed.”

AHI Scholars Engerman, Coclanis, Paquette Participate in Cambridge Project at Emory University

AHIadmin — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 16:35:43 +0000

Cambridge University Press has commissioned a multivolume project on the global history of slavery and three scholars from the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) were invited to participate. On September 19-20, Emory University hosted dozens of scholars from around the world who presented first drafts of essays that will appear in Cambridge World History of Slavery, Volume IV, 1804 to the Present. AHI Academic Advisor Stanley Engerman, John Munro Professor of Economics, University of Rochester, presented two papers: (with Pieter Emmer , University of Leiden) “Slavery in the Non-Hispanic West Indies to 1863” and “Slavery in the US, 1807-1865.” AHI Advisor Peter Coclanis, Albert Ray Newsome Distinguished Professor and Director, Global Research Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, presented on “The American Civil War and Its Aftermath.” AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette discussed “Slave Resistance.” For the full list of topics and participants, please click here. The Office of the Provost and the Emory Conference Center Subvention Fund; the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation, at the University of Hull; The Laney Graduate School; The James Harvey Young Fund; and Emory’s departments of History, African American Studies, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies co-sponsored the conference.

Photos: AHI Open House September 2014

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:30:35 +0000

On September 7, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held its annual open house at 21 West Park Row in Clinton. It was wonderful to see old friends and colleagues, and to have the opportunity to welcome new and continuing students at Hamilton College.

Photos courtesy of Philip Parkes, 17'

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Video: AHI's Seventh Annual Constitution Day Lecture at RIT

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:28:01 +0000

To watch the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Seventh Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence, please click here. Bruce Frohnen, Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University delivered the Seventh Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on September 17 at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Frohnen is an authority on religion in American public life, and spoke on “The Constitution and Religious Liberty.” The lecture was co-sponsored by the AHI and the Rochester Institute of Technology Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty (the Center).

AHI's Paquette Blogs that Knowledge of U.S. History is Lacking Across College Campuses

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 15:37:25 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Bob Paquette recently blogged about how students at many colleges know very little about U.S. history and the Constitution. Check out his post on SeeThruEd.com.

Photo's: AHI's Constitution Day Event a Success at Skidmore

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 16:05:46 +0000

On Constitution Day, Dr. James Stoner delivered the Skidmore College Government Department’s Annual Alexander Hamilton Lecture in Constitutional Studies entitled, “The Written Constitution and the Unwritten Tradition of Common Law." The lecture was held at Skidmore College and was sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Government Department at Skidmore College.

Photo's by student photographer Lauren Bosche

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AHI Co-Sponsors the Franklin Forum Fall Lecture 2014

AHIadmin — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 16:21:06 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Government Department at Skidmore College are pleased to announce that Professor Michael Davis will deliver the Franklin Forum Fall Lecture 2014, on Thursday, November 20, at 5:15 p.m. in the Pohndorff Room, Lucy Scribner Library, 3^rd Floor at Skidmore College. Professor Davis will speak on “The Friend is Another Self,” Friendship in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Michael Davis is Professor of Philosophy at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of many books, including The Soul of the Greeks (Chicago, 2011), The Autobiography of Philosophy: Rousseau’s Reveries of the Solitary Walker (Rowman and Littlefield, 1999), Wonderlust: Ruminations on Liberal Education (St. Augustine’s Press, 2006), and The Politics of Philosophy: A Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics (Rowman and Littlefield, 1996). He is also the co-translator and co-editor (with Seth Benardete) of Aristotle’s On Poetics (St. Augustine’s Press, 2002). Davis has taught graduate courses at The New School for Social Research and Fordham University. He received his A.B. from Cornell University in Government and Philosophy and his Ph.D from Pennsylvania State University in Philosophy.

AHI to Host Third Annual AHI/ADP Blood Drive with the Red Cross

AHIadmin — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 20:16:40 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will host its third annual Red Cross blood drive in partnership with the Hamilton College chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, on Saturday, October 11 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY. Drop-ins are welcome, but if you would like to schedule an appointment, please call 315-292-2267. Refreshments will be provided. International crises have increased the demand for blood. The AHI encourages citizens in Clinton and the surrounding area to help in a most worthy cause. For this year’s effort, AHI and ADP will be joined by the brothers of the Hamilton chapter of Psi Upsilon Fraternity in order to extend our outreach in the community. The annual event also recognizes Clara Barton’s historic ties to Clinton. Each donor will receive a priceless gift: an AHI pocket Constitution and Declaration of Independence. In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Association of the Red Cross. As a young woman in 1851, she attended a pioneering coeducational academy, the Liberal Institute, run by the Universalist Church in Clinton, NY. Please join us in support of this worthy cause.

AHI Recently Sponsored Conversation About Israel

AHIadmin — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 21:08:36 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3744" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="AHI recently sponsored conversation about Israel"][/caption]

AHI Recently Sponsored Lecture Series on Gouverneur Morris, "Father of the Constitution"

AHIadmin — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:48:15 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3761" align="alignright" width="192" caption="AHI Sponsors Series of Lectures on Gouverneur Morris, "Father of the Constitution""][/caption] On October 13, Chris Bissex, visiting Professor, Department of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross, spoke on Gouverneur Morris and the Constitution to students in History 210 and the lecture was sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). Morris (1752-1816), one of the most important of the founders, played a major role in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Dr. Bissex received his Ph. D. in Political Science from Baylor University in 2014. His wrote his dissertation on Morris. [caption id="attachment_3774" align="alignleft" width="190" caption="AHI Leadership dinner with Dr. Bissex"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_3771" align="aligncenter" width="190" caption="Dr. Bissex"][/caption] Photos by Philip Parkes

From the Desk of the President

AHIadmin — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 00:42:27 +0000

Dear Friends: October 16, 2014 A Message from the President: The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is nearing the end of another very successful year, and we want you to know we could not have done it without your support. Please consider a financial contribution of $100, $200, $300 or more to further our existing programs and future initiatives. We hope that you will consider supporting our mission of educational reform and our creation of innovative programming designed to promote intellectual diversity and a genuine free marketplace for ideas. The AHI now engages hundreds of students on multiple campuses. In 2014, the AHI sponsored or co-sponsored activities at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Skidmore College, Dartmouth College, Utica College, and Hamilton College. We have co-sponsored major events with Colgate University’s Center for Freedom & Western Civilization and Baylor University’s Department of Political Science. Here is a sampling of our work during the current year: 1. In February, the Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty (CSLL), which is housed in the political science department at RIT, announced its affiliation with the AHI under the leadership of AHI Senior Fellow Joseph Fornieri. 2. In March, the AHI and Skidmore’s Benjamin Franklin Forum co-sponsored the Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity, which was held at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Undergraduate students from elite colleges across the country attended as well as select students from Cincinnati Country Day School, an elite college preparatory school. 3. In April, a record crowd turned out at the Turning Stone Resort for the keynote address by Michael Swaine, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, at the AHI’s Seventh Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium. Dr. Swaine spoke on “The U.S. and China in the 21st Century: Headed for Conflict or a New Great Power Relationship?” 4. The Menges Colloquium brought together an intellectually diverse group of fifteen experts, including many with combat experience, to discuss in six sessions over two days “War and the West: Strategic Challenges Past, Present, and Future.” 5. In June, the AHI and Department of Political Science at Baylor co-sponsored their Sixth Annual Summer Conference. It focused on an intensive discussion of Alexis de Tocqueville’s two-volume classic Democracy in America. Dr. James Ceaser, Harry F. Byrd Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, directed a panel of professors and graduate students in the conversation before a record crowd of students and local citizens. 6. On 16 September, the AHI and Skidmore College’s Benjamin Franklin Forum co-sponsored a Constitution Day event, which featured Professor James Stoner, Department of Political Science, Louisiana State University, on “The Written Constitution and the Unwritten Tradition of Common Law.” 7. On 17 September, the AHI and CSLL co-sponsored Dr. Bruce Frohnen to deliver the Seventh Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence. To a packed house, Dr. Frohnen, Pettit School of Law, Ohio Northern University, spoke on “The Constitution and Religious Liberty.” 8. Dr. David Frisk, a prize-winning journalist and Ph.D. in Political Science from the Claremont Graduate University, serves as an AHI Resident Fellow and now teaches courses in continuing education at the AHI. In 2014, he devoted a course during the spring semester to “What Is Conservatism”; he is currently teaching during the fall “Modern Leadership and Statesmanship.” 9. In 2014, the AHI received as a bequest in the will of the late Eugene D. Genovese (1930-2012), one of the most influential historians of his generation, a collection of books and papers, most of which are related to the study of slavery and southern history. AHI Fellows Douglas Ambrose and Sheila O’Connor Ambrose have undertaken an initiative to catalogue and house these materials properly and to create a special reading room at AHI headquarters for use by visiting scholars and undergraduates affiliated with the AHI. 10. Resident Fellow Dr. Christopher Hill teaches an AHI-sponsored, two-semester course at Utica College on “Law and Liberty in the Western legal Tradition.” 11. On 27 September, the AHI co-sponsored with the Daniel Webster Center at Dartmouth College, a major conference “Tyranny and Totalitarianism: Past, Present, and Future.” For a sample of the excellence of the presentations, see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2-xs3DOp4w 12. On 11 October, the brothers of the Alpha Delta Phi joined the AHI Undergraduate Fellows and the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross to sponsor at AHI headquarters a third annual blood drive, which surpassed the previous year’s record for donors. 13. On 3 November, the AHI will hold a special lecture and panel discussion on Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman, a book recently published by Dr. Joseph Fornieri. AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose will moderate a panel of commentators who will include the honorable Frank J. Williams, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and co-founder of the Lincoln Forum. 14. On 11 November, the AHI’s newest senior Fellow, Lt. Colonel Eric Hannis, will deliver the Second Annual General Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day Lecture. AHI Undergraduate Fellows, past and present, continue to distinguish themselves: 1. The Manhattan Institute, one of the premier organizations in the United States for shaping urban public policy, hired Dean Ball, co-leader of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows Program, to serve as Policy Manager of the Center for State and Local Leadership. 2. Anthony Mark Garcia, a former Undergraduate Fellow, completed a law degree at Vanderbilt University in 2013 and is now working for a company that specializes in SEC compliance. 3. Max Schnidman, co-leader of the AHI’s Publius Society, was hired by the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation as an Analyst in the Division of Insurance and Research. 4. Will Eagan, a former AHI Undergraduate Fellow, is completing a doctorate in statistics at Purdue University. 5. Elizabeth Farrington graduated from Notre Dame Law School and is now in Albuquerque, New Mexico, working with the staff attorneys at the New Mexico Court of Appeals. 6. Tim Minella is finishing his Ph. D. dissertation in the history of science at the University of South Carolina. 7. Anthony Balbo has left the accounting department at Ferrari North America for entrepreneurship, managing a nationwide portfolio of restaurants and properties for a privately owned company. 8. Thomas Cheeseman is completing his law degree as a scholarship student at Vanderbilt Law School. He traveled to Hong Kong this summer as a guest of the Mont Pelerin Society for having distinguished himself in a global essay competition on Friederich Hayek’s epistemology and how it relates to an understanding of liberty. Cheeseman, from Chardon, Ohio, also interned this summer for the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. 9. Sarah Larson, co-leader of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows Program, received a fellowship from the Charles Koch Foundation Fellowship, which supported her summer internship at the Manhattan Institute. 10. Margaret (Maggie) Joyce, from New Canaan, Connecticut, interned this summer as a Research Associate in Washington, D.C. at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. 11. AHI Undergraduate Fellows Joe Simonson and Michael Adamo have taken over the Enquiry, an undergraduate publication, founded in 2013 by AHI alumnus Paul Carrier. The publication, now sponsored by the AHI, is devoted to a free and serious discussion on the Hamilton College campus of pressing public issues. 12. AHI Undergraduate Fellows Michael Adamo, Alex Klosner, and Amy Elinski participated in the Baylor University summer conference on Alexis de Tocqueville and interned for the AHI as well. 13. William Boudreau, from Wilton, Connecticut, received the 2014 Carl B. Menges Award for an undergraduate paper he composed on asymmetrical warfare and the War of 1812 in conjunction with the Menges colloquium. Upon graduation, Mr. Boudreau accepted a commission as Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. The AHI is completing planning for two major events during the spring 2015: 1. The Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium at the Turning Stone Resort (April 16-18) will be devoted to “Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity.” Michael C. Munger, Professor of Political Science, Duke University, and Director of the Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, will keynote. Dr. Munger, an adjunct fellow at the Cato Institute, ran for governor in North Carolina in 2008 on the Libertarian Party ticket. His prolific scholarship on the intertwining of markets, regulation, and government has received wide praise and he is an authority in the field of Public Choice 2. In May, the AHI will co-sponsor a conference at RIT on “Spontaneous Orders,” a concept crucial to the Austrian School of Economics. Dr. Lauren Hall, Professor of Political Science at RIT, will direct the conference. Perhaps no better evidence of the accomplishments of the AHI during its brief history was the award bestowed on AHI Charter fellow Robert Paquette on 7 March by The American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF) and The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Dr. Paquette received in Washington D. C. the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Award for Academic Freedom. His acceptance speech, “Dictatorships and Double Standards” received a standing ovation from the audience gathered for the annual Ronald Reagan Dinner. Video is accessible here: http://theahi.org/2014/03/10/dictatorships-double-standards-in-higher-education-robert-paquettes-acceptance-speech-of-kirkpatrick-award/ How can you help? Some of you who will receive this letter have already made tax-deductible contributions to the AHI for this year. We thank you for your generosity. We ask those who have not yet contributed to help us to complete major initiatives, to undertake additional programming, and to maintain a scholarly center that the American Council of Trustees and Alumni calls an “oasis of excellence.” We are supported exclusively by our donors. We receive no funding from the government or from Hamilton College. We look to parents, alumni, and other supporters to support our important and growing mission. You can donate online via PayPal. If you wish to mail a donation to support the Alexander Hamilton Institute, please send your contribution to:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization

21 W. Park Row

Clinton, NY 13323

The late Russell Kirk, an iconic traditionalist intellectual, who for more than three decades published a column “On the Academy” in William F. Buckley’s National Review, wrote in 1956, “A college, however diligent, cannot make a man of bad inclination into a good man. Yet a college can, by ignoring the ethical end of learning, so separate intellectuality from the concept of moral worth that it graduates men and women whose light is darkness.” Only with your support can the AHI act to help lift the darkness. Sincerely, Richard Erlanger, President Douglas Ambrose, Charter Fellow James Bradfield, Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow

Third Annual ADP/AHI Blood Drive a Success

AHIadmin — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 22:53:41 +0000

On October 11, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) joined forces with the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, the AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program, and the American Red Cross to sponsor a third annual blood drive. During Parents Weekend at Hamilton College, dozens of Hamilton College students, their families, and local residents, left the hill to gather in downtown Clinton at AHI headquarters, beginning at 8:00 a.m. Donors received gifts and catered food from the AHI. AHI Undergraduate Fellows provided tours of AHI headquarters, including the new ADP/AHI treasure rooms, and received information about the AHI’s mission and programmatic activities. [caption id="attachment_3778" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Announcing the Third Annual ADP/AHI Blood Drive"][/caption] Chris J. Hoffman, Red Cross Donor Center Account Manager, congratulated the AHI on its efforts. “That evening,” said Hoffman, “the blood was shipped to our headquarters in West Henrietta, NY. . . . The red cells help save the lives of trauma patients, premature babies and newborns, transplant patients, open heart surgery patients, anemic and sickle cell patients. The platelets help save the lives of cancer and leukemia patients, and bone marrow recipients. The plasma helps save the lives of trauma patients, burn victims and blood transfusion recipients. Within 3 days, we will receive the green light to release the blood products and they are shipped to hospitals in our community, NY Penn Region and across the country on an as needed basis.” Bill and Bev Rudge of the Kirkland Bloodmobile Committee donated their time to register donors. They thanked the AHI for their efforts, noting that in giving blood AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk “provided an unexpected dividend, a first time double red donor.” “As always,” said Mr. Rudge, “the AHI provided outstanding food and refreshments for donors and staff. You are to be commended for exceptional support of the Red Cross Blood Services mission.” AHI Undergraduate leader Amy Elinski not only gave blood but conducted tours of AHI headquarters during the open house, explaining the mission of the AHI to visitors. “The AHI is an incredibly warm, welcoming place,” said Elinski. “Every person who steps through the front doors is treated as both an esteemed guest of honor and a beloved family member. It was an honor to be able to extend that same warmth and gratitude to those who visited the AHI, and express to them what a wonderful resource the AHI is to the community. The AHI and everyone involved have been such an incredible help to me, and I feel entirely blessed to be able to take part in it all.”

An Interview With AHI Undergraduate Alumnus Elizabeth Farrington

AHIadmin — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 23:40:27 +0000

Elizabeth Anne Farrington graduated from Hamilton College in 2010. She received awards in both Russian and history, including the Putnam Prize in American History. Her senior thesis, which received honors, was supervised by Dr. Christopher Hill, now a Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). Liz received a scholarship to attend The Law School, University of Notre Dame. She received her law degree in 2014 and is now a practicing attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Liz Farrington was one of the first undergraduates to be nurtured by the AHI after its birth in 2007. She can be seen at the Turning Stone Resort addressing an audience gathered for the AHI’s annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium. She sat down recently for an interview with current AHI Undergraduate Fellow Amy Elinski. Tell me about your experience as an undergraduate at Hamilton College. Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Hamilton—but I found it deeply frustrating. Hamilton is a beautiful place, a place where I met some exceptionally bright and wonderful people, and I think it has the potential to be a really great school. Some of the administrative decisions, the behavior of certain professors, and a culture increasingly attached to a particular ideology have limited that potential dramatically. Many times when I was at Hamilton, I was flabbergasted by the narrow-mindedness and short-sightedness of the school’s initiatives and actions. It affects, in my opinion, both the caliber of student drawn to Hamilton and the quality of student that emerges. Did you have any particularly hard times with certain professors? Yes. There are two incidents in particular that I thought troubling. The first occurred in my freshman year. One of my first papers in college was about Gertrude Stein’s “Three Lives.” I happened not to enjoy the book, and so focused my paper on its failings. When I received the paper back, I was completely horrified to discover that I’d gotten an F. The professor’s comments filled the margins—things like “you write like a conservative,” comparisons to Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, and the (still absurd) statement that “an intellectual reads with sympathy for the protagonist.” (Apparently the professor had never read “Lolita,” or perhaps had and woefully misunderstood it.) In the end, the professor allowed me to rewrite the paper after I showed due remorse for my deviance. “You said I write like a conservative,” I reminded her when I went to her office. She generously admitted, “That was a bit harsh.” Afterward I was so nervous of expressing any opinion—after all, this was by no means a political paper, and yet apparently I had been immediately unmasked—that I kept a very low profile for the remainder of that year. The second incident happened much later, after I had become involved with the AHI and felt more confident. It was in the midst of one in a series of fraternity “scandals,” this one concerning a party themed “Golf Pros and Tennis Hos.” There was a beyond-parody little conference held on the very deep offense this party had caused, appropriately called “Words Hurt” and introduced with an email reading: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can really, really hurt.” A particular point of offense was that the invitations to the party featured a professional female golfer kissing a phallic-looking glass trophy. It emerged in the course of the discussion that almost none of the enraged professors had even seen the photo, as the Womyn’s Center had snapped up all the invitations very rapidly. After discussion had ended, one professor continued to rail at the hurtfulness of the photo until one of the fraternity members actually showed it to him. He was visibly surprised by its banal lack of sexiness, but quickly recovered to tell us that “any woman” would find the image offensive. I told him that I (the only woman present at this point) had seen the image previously and was not offended. Surprised again, he proceeded to chastise me for being ignorant of the “history of womanhood” and “cut off from my femininity.” Now actually offended, I found myself having to tell a Hamilton professor that I have never felt removed from my womanhood and in fact identify as and rather enjoy being a girl. When I pointed out, after a lengthy exchange, that he was trying to strong-arm me into changing my position by accusing me of, of all things, not being a good female, he quickly back-pedaled. He was simply trying to create an “educational moment,” he claimed. He then congratulated himself on having helped me “crystallize” my views. One of the ways I measured my growth at Hamilton was that after the second incident I (though still infuriated) felt that I had defended myself and ultimately made my point. Nothing of the kind happened during the first confrontation. I believe I have the AHI to thank for the difference in my response between the two incidents, and for that I am profoundly grateful. What is your favorite experience from Hamilton? Many of my best experiences in school related directly to the AHI, which I spent much of my time with. But there were two other major activities that occupied me as well: softball and our newspaper, Dexter. Dexter drained and frustrated us in many ways, but there was nothing quite like seeing the finished product and feeling that we had accomplished something very tangible. In fact, I even enjoyed seeing copies of the paper later strewn about the Diner with “FUCK THIS PAPER” written on them in blue crayon. I knew then that we’d done something worthwhile. Do you feel you received a well-rounded education at Hamilton? Yes. Though there are virtually no general education requirements at Hamilton, I had self-structured requirements to ensure that I would not become complacent or overly specialized. In this sense, I cannot overstate the blessing it was to have Professor Ambrose as my advisor. With his help, I was able to avoid some of the more outrageous and aggressive professors, but still manage to diversify my courses. I learned two languages, took math even though I hated it, and studied abroad. At the end of the day, I got a degree of which I could be proud. How did you get involved with the AHI? I got to know Professor Ambrose and was beginning to involve myself—cautiously—in the College Republicans when I met Professor Paquette. From there, I just volunteered for everything they proposed because I liked the people at the AHI and thought they were accomplishing good things. What is your favorite memory with the AHI? My favorite meetings at the AHI were typically the smaller groups, where talk was most intimate and frank. Presenting my senior thesis in front of the Christopher Dawson Society proved in many ways more fun and challenging than my official honors presentation. But perhaps above all these was the happiness I felt during our first AHI colloquium. Seeing the whole project come together so successfully and seamlessly was a pleasure beyond description. Were there any speakers or events with the AHI you found particularly enjoyable? The AHI did a remarkable job of getting consistent, interesting speakers to come to us. There were so many I enjoyed that I could not name a favorite—but I will say that my association with the AHI led me to attend talks, such as Carla Main’s talk on eminent domain [Bulldozed:'Kelo,' Eminent Domain and the American Lust for Land (Encounter Books, 2007], on topics I knew absolutely nothing about but felt the better educated for having heard. What was the AHI like in the early days, from a student’s perspective? To be a part of the AHI in the beginning was, in a word, exciting. The possibilities energized us and I felt that, even on a personal level, I could impact the future of the entire enterprise. The negative opinion that floated around campus at the time—that the AHI amounted to nothing more than a conservative brainwashing facility—never discouraged us. That may have been partly because a conservative student at Hamilton is leagues more likely to be stubbornly contrarian than susceptible to brainwashing. What made you choose to go into law? I watched a lot of Law & Order as a kid, which convinced me that criminals were a diabolically clever bunch and it was hero’s work to put them away. I have now worked as a public defender, prosecutor, and court staff attorney, and have encountered shockingly few medical doctors and sons of political dynasties committing intricate offenses. Dick Wolf misled me in that way. Nonetheless, I have found it rewarding work from every angle and, despite my disappointment at missing out on the gleeful corruption most lawyer jokes hint at, I believe that it has made me more even-handed, open-minded, quick-witted, and compassionate. Why Notre Dame? The long version: I had my heart set on Northwestern for law school. Both my parents went to graduate school there and we have many family friends in Chicago. Northwestern requires a 45-minute interview as part of the application process, so I took a few days off in my senior year and flew out there with my mother. As the interviewer read my resume, which conspicuously included indications of my political conservatism and religiosity, the conversation rapidly deteriorated. She managed to force the topic of abortion. I admitted that I was pro-life and Catholic and she demanded that I “keep my religion off her body” (it was quite happy to comply) and accused me of wanting poor women to die in back alleys. When I finally emerged, I was a bit shell-shocked. My mother and I decided that we should drive down to visit Notre Dame, because it was only about an hour away and, as she sagely pointed out, “at least they won’t ask you what you think about abortion.” When I walked on to Notre Dame’s campus, I was overcome by the sense that I belonged there. It was beautiful, the people were almost unnervingly kind and friendly, and they were unabashed about their faith, history, and traditions. Then they made choosing even more effortless by deciding to give me a scholarship. It was probably the easiest decision I have ever made. The short version is simply that I fell in love with Notre Dame, and that love continues unabated. And I figure that a place that can hold my affection and loyalty even as I go to law school there must do something right. What law firm do you work for? I have never worked for a firm, actually. I worked for the St. Joseph County Public Defender’s Office while I was in South Bend, then I returned to my hometown in New Jersey to work for the county Prosecutor’s Office, and now I have ended up in Albuquerque working with the staff attorneys at the New Mexico Court of Appeals. As an attorney, have you had any memorable cases? In my experience, defense attorneys have the best war stories. I first worked with misdemeanor clients in the county jail in South Bend, primarily domestic violence cases where the accused couldn’t make bail, and it took some adjusting to work in that environment. The other inmates sat in the tiny gallery as they awaited their turns, heckling each other during the judge’s presentation of the facts (e.g. my first day the judge recited “…and you did touch the victim in a rude, insolent or angry manner, to wit, by pulling her weave,” and everyone exploded with laughter). It had none of the sobriety I had expected for my first appearances on the record. Once I began to get my own felony clients, other concerns emerged—overanxious clients who called my cell at all hours to say they thought the FBI followed them everywhere; those who called their alleged victims from jail and thus forced all the attorneys to listen to their raunchy sex talk to check for anything incriminating; those who confessed that they could not remember the incident due to the twin influences of “tequila and crack,” and, when I made a sound of sympathy, said, “I can tell you’ve been there.” (I haven’t.) I suppose I should mention, though, that my office arrested and began prosecution of Joe Giudice, of Real Housewives of New Jersey fame, and I worked on that case as well before moving to Albuquerque. Do you have any higher plans than serving as an attorney? I wanted to be an attorney, so I am very content with where I am. The only higher things I aspire to now are having a family and assembling a winning pub trivia team. Tell me about your personal life. I have two siblings: a brother who works in Manchester, and a sister who is a rising sophomore at Skidmore. My significant other, who also lives in Albuquerque, works as a federal judicial clerk. I like logic problems, go through a lot of SPF 70, and use exclusively blue pens. How did the AHI influence you in your time at Hamilton? The AHI changed everything for me. I had grown tired of shuffling around Hamilton utterly cowed but felt I had no meaningful alternatives. As the AHI started to take shape and sweep me along with it, suddenly people appeared who would listen to what I had to say—some of whom even proved like-minded. It empowered and improved me. Later, I saw myself in the timid “closet conservatives” I met and valued the opportunity to share the AHI with them. Not everyone is a fighter by nature, and not everyone needs to be. Some do thrive in the trenches, and there is a definite satisfaction to be gained from “smiting them hip and thigh,” as Fr. Neuhaus described it. But I wanted those people who felt unready for that, who hid their beliefs or thoughts, who felt compelled to worship at the altar of conformity, to find the AHI and draw comfort from it. For all the absurdity surrounding “safe spaces” and self-censorship while I was at school, the AHI had created a genuinely safe space for debate; people remained thoughtful and civil even as they addressed controversial and complex issues, and it was a welcoming place. Did the AHI continue to influence you after you graduated? Absolutely. For many of us, higher education has become a gauntlet to run. As a conservative woman of faith, I felt that I needed to be better, smarter, more even-tempered and more prudent than everyone else just to avoid being shouted down and shamed. Trying as that could be, I take pride now in knowing that the people I knew in the AHI—not just conservatives, but independent thinkers of all stripes—are better equipped to face challenges after graduation. Who do you find influences/inspires you most in your work? I take inspiration from a variety of sources—everything from fictional characters to family members. But in my current work, I need very little external inspiration. I already love what I do. What do you think of the current state of the U.S. legal system? There are some things that I can identify as problematic—for example, police officers and prosecutors have significant discretion, and they don’t always exercise that appropriately—but ultimately I think that our adversarial system works as well as anything. Its most significant weakness is the current practice of plea bargaining, but that practice is unlikely to change for practical reasons, e.g. fiscal and case management. What do you think of the current state of the U.S. Government? I disagree with many (most?) of the current administration’s policies and goals. However, I find it hard to take an apocalyptic view of the state of the nation. In fact, our governmental structure has acted as a moderating force on many of the President’s more radical impulses. I am as grateful for that as I’m sure many at Hamilton were during Bush’s presidency, and I remain hopeful that all is not lost. Who is your favorite president? Bill Pullman [the actor who played the president in the 1996 film Independence Day]. If you could change one thing about the U.S. Government, what would it be? Probably the elected judiciary. Though it sounds undemocratic—and in fact it is—my experience suggests that judges are not the more competent, fair, or virtuous for being elected rather than appointed. Judges should decide cases based on law and principle, not on popular opinion; if we are concerned about corruption, increasing oversight on appointments actually strikes me as far easier than oversight on elections (as we have frequently seen). If we are concerned about democracy, we should rely less heavily on the judiciary to form and change our law. What do you enjoy outside of your work? I dedicate most of my free time lately to reading, weekly trivia nights, and playing rather abysmal tennis. The rest I spend roaming around Albuquerque with my significant other and eating all the green chile we can anatomically accommodate.

AHI to Hold Public Lecture on Lincoln: Philosopher and Statesman

AHIadmin — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 12:20:15 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Professor Joseph Fornieri, Department of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology will speak on his new book “Lincoln: Philosopher and Statesman”(Southern Illinois University Press, 2014), on Monday, November 3 at 7:00 p.m. in the Kennedy Auditorium, Taylor Science Center, Hamilton College. The event is open to the public. To see video of the conference, please click here. [caption id="attachment_3810" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Join us!"][/caption] A panel discussion will immediately follow the lecture. AHI Resident Fellow Dr. David Frisk and the honorable Frank J. Williams, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and co-founder of the Lincoln Forum, will participate with Dr. Fornieri. AHI Charter Fellow and Hamilton College Professor of History Douglas Ambrose will serve as moderator. Dr. Fornieri is also the Director of the Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty, which is in affiliation with the AHI. Among his accomplishments, Fornieri has received RIT’s Provost’s Award for outstanding teaching for junior faculty and the Eisenhart Award for outstanding teaching for tenured faculty. In 2009, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach First Amendment and American Political Thought at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. He is the author of Abraham Lincoln’s Political Faith (2005), an acclaimed scholarly work that explores Lincoln’s religion and politics as well as the author or editor of several other books on Abraham Lincoln’s political thought and statesmanship. Fornieri served as a member of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, 1809-2009 and is an acting Board Member of the Lincoln Forum.

Lt. Colonel Eric Hannis to Give Second Annual AHI Veterans Day Lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:37:33 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Lt. Colonel Eric Hannis, Senior Fellow for Defense Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC, will deliver the Second Annual Josiah Bunting, III Veterans Day Lecture, Tuesday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fillius Events Barn Lobby, Beinecke Student Activities Village, Hamilton College. The event entitled "Continentals at War: Hamiltonians and their Impact on our National Security” is open to the public. To see video of the lecture, please click here. Colonel Hannis has served on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, on active duty military duty as a U.S. Air Force officer, and in the private sector. He has published articles on national security and foreign affairs U.S. News & World Report, RealClearPolitics.com, Forbes.com, Heritage.org, GX–The Guard Experience (official magazine of the National Guard), among other publications. In the private sector, he was Vice President and head of the defense practice at the Russ Reid Company, a government relations firm, as well as Executive Director at Etherton and Associates, a defense consulting firm. Hannis currently serves as a Lt Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, as well as the German Armed Forces Military Proficiency Badge, gold level. He graduated with honors from Hamilton College, where he was a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity, and holds a J.D. from Catholic University School of Law with a certificate of specialization in international law. In 2013, the AHI established an annual lecture on Veterans Day in honor of General Josiah Bunting, III, Charter Member of the AHI's Board of Directors. General Bunting was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1963. He subsequently studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and at Columbia University as a John Burgess Fellow. During active duty with the United States Army, he served as an infantry officer in Vietnam with the Ninth Infantry Division. During his military career, General Bunting received the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Honor Medal–2nd class, Presidential Unit Citation, Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge, and Ranger Tab. Subsequently, he taught history at West Point and at the Naval War College. His administrative experience in higher education includes: President, Briarcliff College (1973-1977); President, Hampden-Sydney College (1977-1987); and Superintendent, VMI (1995-2003). General Bunting has published four novels, including The Lionheads (G. Braziller, 1972), a best-seller that was selected by Time Magazine as one of “The Ten Best Novels” of 1973. More recently, he has completed several works of non-fiction An Education for Our Time (Regnery 1998) and a biography Ulysses S. Grant (Times Book, 2004). He is chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s National Civic Literacy Board, and president of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. He also served on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

AHI's Paquette on SeeThruEd.com

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:55:46 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilizations's Robert Paquette blogs on higher education reform at See ThruEd.com.

ACTA Blogs on AHI Interview and "Barely Believable Bias"

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 18:57:00 +0000

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) recently blogged about "Barely Believable Bias" after a recent Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Undergraduate Fellow Amy Elinski interview with forum Elizabeth Farrington, one of the first students to have been nurtured by the AHI after its creation in 2007.

AHI Fellow David Frisk Publishes on 2014 Elections

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 13:16:52 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow David Frisk recently published an article entitled "The 2014 Elections: GOP Weaknesses," in The Imaginative Conservative. David Frisk, author of If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), is a Resident Fellow and instructor at the AHI. A former journalist with experience in grassroots conservative politics, he holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University.

Ambrose Moderates League of Women Voters Debate

AHIadmin — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 13:22:55 +0000

The American experiment in republican government has always depended on an informed and engaged citizenry. “Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people,” John Adams wrote in the 1780 Massachusetts constitution, were “necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties.” Each year, as Election Day draws near, citizens scrutinize candidates who wish to serve as elected officials, gaining the knowledge to make wise choices. On Wednesday, October 8, at the Jewish Community Center in Utica, NY, the League of Women Voters of Utica/Rome hosted a debate of the three candidates running for Oneida County Family Court judge. Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose served as one of the two moderators of the debate. Michael Green, who teaches at Mohawk Valley Community College, served as the other moderator.

Three candidates, Democrat Dawn Catera Lupi, Republican Julia Brouillette, and Independence Party candidate Karen Stanislaus, are vying for a newly created Family Court judgeship. The volume of cases handled by Oneida County Family Court has become so large that an additional position was created to help deal with the caseload. The debate allowed attendants to hear each candidate share her ideas about the cultural, economic, and social factors that have contributed to this steep rise in Family Court cases. The candidates also discussed their professional and personal qualifications for the job, which carries a ten-year term. After Ambrose and Greene questioned the panel for 45 minutes, individual audience members questioned the candidates for 30 additional minutes. Ambrose and his wife, AHI Fellow Sheila O’Connor-Ambrose, brought two of their children, Augusta, age 12, and Dominic, age 10, to the debate so that they could see and appreciate how citizens in a republic become informed voters.

Photos: AHI Lincoln Dinner, Book Presentation, and Panel Discussion

AHIadmin — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:14:29 +0000

On Monday, November 3 at 7:00 p.m. in the Kennedy Auditorium, Taylor Science Center, Hamilton College, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held a dinner, book presentation and panel discussion on Lincoln. Professor Joseph Fornieri, Department of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology spoke on his new book “Lincoln: Philosopher and Statesman”(Southern Illinois University Press, 2014). To see video of the conference, please click here. [gallery size="large"]

Photos by Philip Parkes

AHI Mentioned in Legal Insurrection Blog

AHIadmin — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 04:54:57 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) was recently noticed on Legal Insurrection as a model of how we need to present alternative educational opportunities to students independent of faculty who will not give conservative ideas a fair shake.

AHI Lecture on Abraham Lincoln Applauded

AHIadmin — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:00:34 +0000

In a recent letter to the editor in the Utica Observer Dispatch, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) was applauded for its excellent lecture on "Abraham Lincoln: Philosopher Statesman," by Professor Joseph Fornieri, Department of Political Science at Rochester Institute of Technology; the Hon. Frank Williams, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and co-founder of the Lincoln Forum; Dr. David Frisk, Resident Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute, and AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose. To see video of the conference, please click here.

Psi Upsilon Alums and Students Hold Banquet at AHI

AHIadmin — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:09:04 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3854" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Psi Upsilon Fraternity banquet and award ceremony."][/caption] On Saturday, 15 November, alumni and current members of the Hamilton chapter of Psi Upsilon Fraternity gathered at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) for a banquet and award ceremony. Members of the fraternity participate in the AHI Undergraduate Fellows Program and will be contributing support to the AHI's annual Red Cross Blood Drive. Patrick Gilrane (Hamilton, 1983), Managing Partner of The Wentworth Group, a private investment firm, and alumni brother of Psi Upsilon, organized the event. "We had a super time at AHI last night," said Mr. Gilrane, "the event could not have gone any better." The AHI was delighted to accommodate Mr. Gilrane and the brothers of Psi Upsilon," noted AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. He recognizes the importance of our mission and over the last several years has become a stalwart supporter of our organization." [caption id="attachment_3855" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Brothers of Psi Upsilon with event organizer Patrick Gilrane (center)"][/caption] "I have known Patrick for a long time and appreciate his interest in and support of our programming and events, concluded AHI President Richard Erlanger. " I am glad we were able to accommodate him and the Psi U alums for this event."

AHI Co-sponsors Debate on the Declaration of Independence with Colgate’s Center for Freedom and Western Civilization

AHIadmin — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 18:21:59 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3862" align="alignright" width="300" caption="December 2nd debate on the Declaration of Independence at Colgate University"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce a debate on the Declaration of Independence led by Professor Barry Shain, Department of Political Science, Colgate University, on Tuesday, December 2 at 4:30 p.m. in 108 Persson Hall, Colgate University. The Center for Freedom and Western Civilization at Colgate University, directed by Robert Kraynak, will co-sponsor the event with the AHI. The event is open to the public. Professor Shain will discuss his new book “The Declaration of Independence in Historical Context” (Yale University Press, 2014), a collection of 174 letters, papers, petitions, and proclamations from the years directly preceding the creation of the Declaration of Independence. The book challenges many of the dominant narratives that have shaped contemporary understanding of this seminal document. Discussion panelists include Sanford Levinson, W. St. John Garwood & W. St John Garwood, Jr., Centennial Chair; Professor of Government, University of Texas Law School; Robert Martin, Professor of Government, Hamilton College; and Professor Kraynak, who is also a Professor of Political Science at Colgate.

AHI Sponsors Book Signing by Former George H.W. Bush Speechwriter Curt Smith

AHIadmin — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 19:06:54 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to sponsor a book signing by Curt Smith, author of George H. W. Bush: Character at the Core (Potomac Books, 2014) on Thursday, December 11 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at AHI’s headquarters, 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The event is open to the public; refreshments will be served; and books for signing will be available at a discounted price. A 1973 graduate of SUNY-Geneseo, Mr. Smith is an acclaimed columnist, award-winning radio commentator and host, and author. In the 1970s he served as director of communications and press relations at Hamilton College. He joined the administration of George H. W. Bush in 1989. In 1992 Mr. Smith lectured at the Smithsonian Institution and then turned to radio and television. From 1994 to 1996 he hosted the Midday Milwaukee talk show on radio station WISN. He also hosted WROC-TV’s Perfectly Clear program from 2000 to 2002 and a 1997-2002 series on the Fox Empire Sports Network. From 2002 to 2012, Smith hosted the weekly National Public Radio affiliate series Perspectives on the National Public Radio affiliates WXXI 1370 AM and WXXX 91.5 FM in Rochester, New York. Smith currently analyzes politics for Rochester’s CBS and TIME-Warner TV affiliates, appears frequently on radio's syndicated Beyond the Beltway, and lectures at the University of Rochester. An enthusiast of sports as well as politics, he has published 12 books, including 2012's Mercy! A Celebration of Fenway Park's Centennial Told Through Red Sox Radio and TV.

Resident Fellow Mary Grabar Attends 50th Anniversary of Goldwater Campaign

AHIadmin — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 22:34:10 +0000

“Had I known about Barry Goldwater’s run for the presidency in 1964,” said AHI Resident Fellow Mary Grabar, “I would no doubt have become a ‘Goldwater Girl’—even at the age of seven. For one thing, Goldwater believed in freedom, law and order, and defending ourselves against the Communists. My parents escaped with me as a two-year-old from communist Yugoslavia (the part that is now Slovenia). I knew about communist oppression from stories at the dinner table. In 1964, my Rochester, New York, neighborhood was being wracked by riots and urban decay. Goldwater stood for all the things I wanted in a president, but didn’t yet know. [caption id="attachment_3869" align="alignright" width="300" caption="50th Anniversary of Goldwater Campaign"][/caption] “I was fortunate, thanks to the financial support of the Alexander Hamilton Institute, to attend the 50^th anniversary celebration of the Goldwater campaign in Washington, D.C., on 18 November. The event also raised funds for a statue of Goldwater in the nation’s capitol. At the AHI, I am preparing a book on one of Goldwater’s supporters, the African-American journalist and fiction writer, George S. Schuyler, one of the most conspicuous and controversial African-American journalists of his generation.” The event included a panel discussion at the Heritage Foundation, followed by a reception and dinner at the Capitol Liaison Hotel, where Goldwater’s sons, Michael and Barry Goldwater, Jr., spoke. “Although Barry, Jr. poignantly noted that this might be the last reunion for many of those there that night,” Grabar observed, “I was struck by how much the 1964 Goldwater campaign was a youth movement. Speaker after speaker noted how in their college years and high school years they were inspired to work for Goldwater, with one member of the audience mentioning that he quit college to do that. Would any other ‘failed’ presidential campaign (such as Michael Dukakis’s) inspire a gala reunion event was a question asked?” In truth, Goldwater knew he would not win the election, according to Lee Edwards, director of information for the campaign and now Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at the Heritage Foundation. But, Goldwater, who was both “profane and profound,” would lose in his “own way.” Barry Goldwater’s legacy was in “ignit[ing] a revolution, but an unlikely revolution,” said Edwards. He inspired a grassroots movement, bringing in an estimated one million volunteers and their small contributions, changing the way campaigns were financed. The revolution led to the election of Ronald Reagan. Jack Cox, who was Chief of Staff to Rep. Goldwater, reaffirmed Goldwater’s reputation as a “straight shooter,” that earned Goldwater credibility with the press. Vic Gold, deputy press secretary for the Goldwater for President campaign, said, “We really didn’t lose.” Gold came to the campaign, not only because he agreed with Goldwater’s policies, but because of Goldwater’s “authenticity and directness.” Candidates today are handled, he said, but “Barry Goldwater couldn’t be handled.” Goldwater’s many personal kindnesses, sometimes to the consternation of aides trying to keep him on a schedule, are legendary and were recalled that evening. Gold related how Goldwater was the only one who regularly visited a Senate colleague, a liberal Democrat, who had cancer. Distinguished speakers also included first lady of conservative activism, Phyllis Schlafly, who campaigned for Goldwater in 1960 and 1964. Her self-published book about Goldwater, A Choice Not an Echo, sold over 3 million copies and articulated his message to voters. She called the 1964 Republican convention, where most delegates were first-timers, the “most exciting week of my life.” Richard Viguerie recalled getting his start in Young Americans for Freedom in 1960 where he worked on fundraising. A capacity crowd filled Madison Square Garden in 1962 to hear the “star,” Barry Goldwater, speak--at midnight. Morton Blackwell, the youngest Goldwater delegate, recalled an October 1958 column in Newsweek that led to his serving on the 1963 steering committee. His contribution? “More efficient envelope stuffing.” Among the dinner speakers were Goldwater’s two sons, Mike Goldwater and Barry Goldwater, Jr. Mike who was active in the 1964 campaign, is the Goldwater historian. Mixing in humor, Barry Goldwater, Jr., recalled the challenges of growing up with a father who was in Washington much of the time. He had prepared to take over the Goldwater clothing business but it was sold his last year of college. He served in Congress for 14 years, saying he saw himself working side by side with his father, but had to go to Washington to do it. He recalled his father’s sayings, such as “if you have friends you are rich.” Looking out over the audience, he said he realized that he was rich. “It’s great to read about the 1964 campaign,” Grabar added. “There are many good books out there. But it’s special to be among those who volunteered and worked on it. The enthusiasm for the revolution that Goldwater inspired was palpable. What a treat. ‘Viva. Ole!’”

Video: Dartmouth College Lecture "Tyranny and Totalitarianism: Past, Present, and Future"

AHIadmin — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 03:33:40 +0000

On September 27, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Daniel Webster Center at Dartmouth College joined forces to sponsor the free conference, "Tyranny and Totalitarianism: Past, Present, and Future at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The three sessions can be viewed below: Session 1: Ancient Tyranny Presentation of Papers [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/113345135[/vimeo] Session 1: Ancient Tyranny Panel Discussion and Q&A [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/113359348[/vimeo] Session 2: Modern Tyranny - Presentation of Papers With Panel Discussion and Q&A [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2-xs3DOp4w&feature=youtu.be[/youtube] Session 3: The Future of Tyranny - Presentation of Papers With Panel Discussion and Q&A [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/113807680[/vimeo]

Video: AHI Abraham Lincoln Lecture, November 3, 2014

AHIadmin — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:31:18 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held a lecture on November 3, 2014 by Professor Joseph Fornieri, Department of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology who spoke on his new book “Lincoln: Philosopher and Statesman”(Southern Illinois University Press, 2014) at Hamilton College. A panel discussion followed the lecture and participants included Professor Fornieri, AHI Resident Fellow Dr. David Frisk and the honorable Frank J. Williams, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and co-founder of the Lincoln Forum. AHI Charter Fellow and Hamilton College Professor of History Douglas Ambrose served as moderator. Video of the lecture as well as the panel discussion can be viewed below. Presentation: “Lincoln: Philosopher and Statesman,” by Professor Joseph Fornieri [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/113819707[/vimeo] Panel Discussion with Q&A [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/113926613[/vimeo]

Support the AHI

AHIadmin — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 20:59:32 +0000

From the President’s Desk December 9, 2014 Please Support the AHI: As we near the end of 2014, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) hopes you will again consider a financial contribution of $100, $200, $300 or more to further our existing programs and future initiatives. For a sampling of our work in 2014 we invite you to read “A Message from the Desk of the President.” The AHI’s work centers on restoring the spirit of a tradition on which a great civilization was founded. If you haven’t made a donation yet, we hope that you will join in supporting us and our mission to create programs that provide for the innovative teaching of civic and economic knowledge in order to promote a genuine free marketplace for ideas. We are supported exclusively by our donors. We receive no funding from the government or from Hamilton College. The AHI is a tax-exempt organization within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Accordingly, contributions are deductible to the fullest extent provided by law. We look to parents, alumni, and other supporters to support our important and growing mission. Please consider an online donation which can be done via our website at: http://theahi.org/support-ahi/. If you wish to mail a donation to support the AHI, please send your contribution to:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) 21 W. Park Row Clinton, NY 13323

“Money is with propriety considered as the vital principle of the body politic; as that which sustains its life and motion, and enables it to perform its most essential functions.” -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist #30 Thank you for your support! Look for our Annual Report in January.

AHI Featured in New Report by the Pope Center

AHIadmin — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 03:07:26 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) was pleased to be featured in a new report entitled “Renewal in the University: How Academic Centers Help Restore the Spirt of Inquiry,” by Jay Schalin of the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.

The report focuses on the growing void in higher education and how new academic centers that preserve and promote the knowledge and perspectives that are disappearing from higher education, have cropped up to fill that void.

The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy is a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the nation. Located in Raleigh, North Carolina, it has been an independent 501(c)(3) organization since 2003. It is named for the late John William Pope, who served on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees.

Flagg Taylor Speaks on Statesmanship and Totalitarianism at AHI

AHIadmin — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 15:53:34 +0000

On Sunday, December 7, and Monday, December 8, at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), students, fellows, guests, and community members welcomed Skidmore College Associate Professor of Government Flagg Taylor for two searching discussions of the meaning of totalitarianism, both in its historical development and its incarnation in the former Czechoslovakia, a region to which he has traveled. Readings for discussion included his interview with former dissident Pavel Bratinka, published in the Winter 2012 issue of In the Public Interest, and a forthcoming review essay, “On Czech Dissent.” The Bratinka interview especially generated intense discussion during the dinner. [caption id="attachment_3717" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Flagg Taylor, Associate Professor of Government at Skidmore College"][/caption] On Sunday evening, during a Leadership Dinner with Hamilton College students and AHI fellows, Dr. Taylor began with a review of life in Czechoslovakia under the totalitarian Soviet regime. The “high Stalinist” period of show trials and purges in the 1950s gave way to the “thaw,” or what the Communist Party called “normalization,” in the 1960s. It was a period of less violence, but “lifeless bureaucratic totalitarianism.” The emergence of Vaclev Havel’s Charter 77 and the (Vaclev) Benda Family’s campaign for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted followed. The desire for free discussion of ideas remained even under a system that tried to repress the human spirit, creativity, and freedom. The humanities and social sciences were neglected in the communist education system, but dissidents employed creative methods to form “parallel institutions”: they gathered in each other’s apartments to discuss books and perform plays. Determined writers used the self-publishing method of samizdat to bypass censors and spread ideas. Dr. Taylor praised the former dissidents for their courage and willingness to talk about their experiences. They are very forthcoming and friendly to scholars, including students, doing research, he said. “Two passages from the Bratinka interview,” observed AHI Charter fellow Robert Paquette, “resonated in particular with all the participants at the dinner. First, in explaining the longevity of totalitarian regimes, Bratinka underscored that the absence of hope matters more than the fear of pain. ‘[I]f the hope for success is zero,” said Bratinka, ‘the prospect of losing your phone line or losing an opportunity for promotion at work becomes decisive. if there is absolutely zero hope that your actions can contribute to the downfall of the regime, the effect even of small setbacks becomes unbearable. That is what kept people silent and obedient.’” Second, in linking totalitarianism to a the problem of modernity, Pavlinka pointed out that ‘[i]n older times conflicts among men were judged and resolved by using a yardstick that was external and independent of men: God’s commands, natural law, other extrinsic means of coming to judgment in light of what was thought to be an unchanging objective measure. Modernity is when everyone becomes a yardstick unto himself.” On Monday evening, Dr. David Frisk’s continuing education class “Modern Statesmanship and Leadership,” which has attracted a wide variety of informed adults from the region, was treated to a guest lecture by Dr. Taylor, as well. His talk on the “remarkable transformation” of Eastern and Central European countries after the Soviet takeover fit into the discussion of assigned readings on General Douglas MacArthur, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Dr. Taylor reminded the class that Victory Day meant something different for those consigned to live under the Iron Curtain. Stalin had no grand strategy because of the communist belief in the historical inevitability of world communism, but the Soviets managed to transform a diverse region into a politically monolithic, and oppressive, bloc. It was a takeover that began well before the end of World War II and operated on various fronts: the monopoly of police and security forces, who were usually recruited from the uneducated class (by 1945, there were 20,000 functionaries in Poland alone); the takeover of cultural institutions, such as artists groups and youth groups; the takeover of the media, especially radio; control of electoral politics, often through deception about openness to other parties; control of economics, such as the confiscation and redistribution of land, the nationalization of heavy industry, and the burdening of businesses with regulations; and lastly, ethnic cleansing, such as the mass expulsion of ethnic Germans. A revisionist view of this period of totalitarianism among historians emerged in 1959. Soviet repression was blamed on what were deemed Western “imperialist” efforts, such as the Marshall Plan. In Dr. Taylor’s opinion this revisionist history is “almost wholly false.” On both occasions, Dr. Taylor’s remarks inspired lively discussions about the human spirit and desire for freedom, even under the most challenging circumstances. Participants asked questions and related current events, such as threats by Vladimir Putin to former Soviet satellites, renewed propaganda campaigns, and intolerance of dissenting views on college campuses. Dr. Taylor’s The Great Lie: Classic and Recent Appraisals of Ideology and Totalitarianism (ISI Press), a collection of works by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Vaclez Havel, Leo Strauss and other major, and less well-known, but important, thinkers, is available at the AHI Bookshelf.

AHI Announces “Media and Politics” Class for 2015

AHIadmin — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 22:29:46 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce a new continuing education course entitled “The Media and Politics.” It will begin on Monday evening January 26, at AHI headquarters, 21 W. Park Row in Clinton. The course, which is open to the public, will meet weekly from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will run until Monday, May 4, 2015. Admission and readings are free of charge. Credit is available for teachers, seating is limited, and refreshments will be served. AHI Resident Fellow Dr. David Frisk will teach the course. “The Media and Politics” will consider the impact of print and electronic – including new and social—media on Americans’ understanding of politics, including government. After a few weeks of historical background touching on the 19^th-century press and the rise of investigative or “muckraking” journalism, the course will focus on the modern media era, which began with mass-market magazines and television in the mid-20^th century. The course will conclude with several weeks’ examination of the current media scene, including websites, YouTube, and Twitter. Opinion journalism will also receive attention. Required readings will be drawn from journalists, scholars, and other informed observers and critics. Major themes will include how political news is obtained and reported; how the internal “culture” of journalism affects news coverage for better and worse; the controversy over the extent of political and other types of bias in the media; how political leaders and journalists influence each other’s work; the ethical dilemmas journalists face; and how changes in media economics and technology have affected how politics and government are covered—plus these changes’ impact on public knowledge. The course will follow the usual lecture-plus-discussion format, but will also include viewing and comparing of video clips. No coursework is involved except for the required readings. Dr. David Frisk holds a Ph.D. in political science (specializing in American politics and political philosophy) from Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of a highly acclaimed biography of a major opinion journalist, If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), He also worked for nine years as a newspaper reporter and feature writer, which included city government coverage. As a journalist, he won three professional awards. For more information on our “Media and Politics” class, please contact Dr. Frisk (dfrisk@theahi.org or 315-381-3335) or Professor Robert Paquette (bob@theahi.org or 315-292-2267) in advance.

Photos: Book Signing by Former George H.W. Bush Speechwriter Curt Smith

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:00:38 +0000

In December, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) sponsored a book signing by Curt Smith, author of George H. W. Bush: Character at the Core (Potomac Books, 2014).

Photos courtesy Philip Parkes

[gallery size="large"]

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Ben Swett Joins Irving Levin Associates

AHIadmin — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:08:54 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Benjamin Swett of Darien, Connecticut on his hiring by Irving Levin Associates, a leading publisher of business intelligence in the field of health care. For more than six decades, “Levin Associates has been providing Wall Street investors, senior care providers and health care executives with timely, accurate and reliable market intelligence on mergers and acquisitions, mortgage financing, private placements, IPOs and secondary offerings, as well as critical information on growth strategies and best practices for the industry.” A 2014 graduate of Hamilton College, Ben majored in history and was advised by AHI Charter Fellows Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette. In addition to his involvement with the AHI, Ben headed the Hamilton College Republican Club. At Levin Associates, Ben “concentrate[s] on the senior care market and write[s] about the buying and selling of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and independent living communities. The publications are directed mainly towards investors, brokers and other financial professionals in the healthcare and senior care M&A markets.” “Ben Swett participated in many of the most challenging activities sponsored by the AHI,” observed Paquette. “He comes from a fine family, has excellent character, and was willing to grapple with difficult material. The AHI fostered his education in great books. His intellectual maturation after reading cover-to-cover Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws and Tocqueville’s Democracy in America was delightful to behold. With nurturing, Ben also polished his writing into lucid, concise prose. Thus I am not surprised by his current job at Levin Associates.” At the end of the summer,” Ben noted, “I began writing a new publication devoted to senior care development market, called Senior Living Development News. In the newsletter, which comes out every two weeks, I am trying to find out who is developing where, how they are financing the projects, and where will companies build next. (Just so you and Professor Ambrose know, I kept all of my graded essays from both of your classes and refer to them often to keep improving my writing. So thank you for all the work you put into my papers!) The best part about my job is that I get to call developers, lenders and senior living operators to learn about their development strategies, who is really funding all the new construction out there, and how supply is meeting demand. Many developers are pointing to demographics and the retirement of the Baby Boomers as reason to build NOW, even though that generation is still a long time away from needing senior care or nursing services. Nevertheless, big banks and lenders are backing them, and the development of senior living communities is growing fast. Today (and really the next 30 years), is truly a fascinating time to be in the senior care industry.” “I sincerely miss the AHI, and the great friendships I formed there, said Ben. "I really have people like you and Professor Ambrose to thank for that. And I know that the environment you provide for higher learning, debate and camaraderie has had a great positive impact on my brother, so thank you for that too.”

AHI's Paquette Publishes on Advanced Placement Standards in History

AHIadmin — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 04:48:42 +0000

Professor Robert L. Paquette, Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), recently published the article "Push-Back on APUSH", on the National Association of Scholars (NAS) website.

AHI Resident Fellow Mary Grabar Publishes on Movie Selma

AHIadmin — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 04:42:56 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Mary Grabar recently published an article entitled "Selma and the Sanctimony of Liberals" on the website on PJ Media. Dr. Grabar was previously awarded the AHI’s Bakwin Fellowship in 2011. She earned a Ph. D. in English from the University of Georgia in 2002. After teaching at several colleges throughout Georgia, she taught English at Emory University from 2007-2013 through the Program in American Democracy and Citizenship. Dr. Grabar is also the editor of www.dissidentprof.com, a blog dedicated to educational reform. [caption id="attachment_3606" align="aligncenter" width="214" caption="Visiting Fellow Mary Grabar at the AHI"][/caption]

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Anderson Tuggle Admitted to Yale Law School

AHIadmin — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 04:45:54 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Anderson Tuggle has been accepted for admission into Yale Law School. Anderson, a resident of Hinsdale, Illinois and 2014 graduate of Hamilton College, is spending the current academic year in Turkey as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow. He will begin his studies at Yale in the fall of this year. At Hamilton College, Anderson majored in history. His stellar undergraduate career included election to Phi Beta Kappa and receipt of both the Edgar B. Graves Prize for the highest grade point average among history concentrators and the Edwin B. Lee Jr. Prize for the best work in Asian history. Anderson spent a semester abroad in India and wrote his honors thesis in history on “’A Bloodless Revolution: The Transition from Separate Monarchies to a Unified Democracy in the Princely States of Rajasthan, 1926-1956.” He served as Opinion Editor and Editorial Editor of Hamilton College’s Spectator newspaper, and was a member of the Executive Board of the College Democrats. Anderson regularly attended and was a vigorous participant in many AHI events, where he exemplified the thoughtful engagement that typifies many AHI Undergraduate Fellows. “Anderson is an exceptional student,” said AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose. “Not only is he smart, inquisitive, and thoughtful, but he also possesses an intellectual humility that leads him to actually listen to and consider ideas before he accepts or rejects them. He was a joy to teach in large part because his intelligence is matched by a sincere desire to learn.” Commenting on the news of Anderson’s acceptance to Yale, Ambrose stated, “Anderson loves challenges, he loves the life of the mind, and he loves engaging others in civil but intense discussions. He will be an ideal law student, one that will both benefit from and contribute to Yale’s demanding academic environment.” AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette taught Anderson as a first semester freshman. “Anderson stood out in a very demanding class that had a daunting list of required readings and assignments,” observed Paquette. What I will remember Anderson for, more than anything else, is that he combines intelligence with courage and character. As a leader of the Hamilton College Democrats, he stood up to defend the work of the AHI against malicious accusations. That young man is going places.” All of us at the AHI congratulate Anderson on his achievements and wish him well in the challenges ahead.

AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill Offers Course on Modern Britain

AHIadmin — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 04:52:20 +0000

AHI Resident Fellow Christopher Hill will be teaching a course on “Great Britain, 1688 to the Present” at Utica College during the spring semester, 2015. The course will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. in Hubbard Hall, beginning Thursday, January 22. Students from other local colleges, can take this course for credit through the Mohawk Valley consortium. Seniors may also audit the course for free. Those interested in taking or auditing the course should please email Professor Hill at chill@theahi.org for more information. The course will follow the theme of the development of modern liberal political philosophy, blending lectures and reading discussion. Topics will include the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution, imperialism and mercantilism, the Chartist movement, the World Wars, the Cold War, and Thatcherism. Readings will include writings by John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, David Hume, Karl Marx and Friedrich Hayek. [caption id="attachment_2056" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Resident Fellow Chris Hill"][/caption] Chris Hill earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and has advanced degrees in both medieval and modern European history. He has taught at the University of Texas and Hamilton College, where he received the Sidney Wertimer Award for excellence in teaching in 2010. His novel Virtual Morality, written while he was a graduate student, won the Editors’ Book Award from Pushcart Press in 2000.

AHI Announces the Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 16-18, 2015

AHIadmin — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 05:39:19 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the tentative schedule for the Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 16-18, 2015, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium is devoted to the theme “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity." Dr. Michael C. Munger, Professor of Political Science, Duke University, and Director of the Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program will be the keynote speaker at the event. To view the full list of conferees and session readings, please click here. Dr. Michael C. Munger, received his Ph. D. in economics in 1984 from Washington University in St. Louis. In 2008, Dr. Munger ran for governor in North Carolina on the Libertarian Party ticket. His prolific scholarship on the intertwining of markets, regulation, and government has received wide praise. He is an expert in the field of Public Choice. For further information about colloquium, please contact Bob Paquette at bob@theahi.org or (315)292-2267.

AHI's Paquette Blogs on School's Latest 'Lie'

AHIadmin — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 21:35:47 +0000

Professor Robert Paquettte, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Charter Fellow, publishes latest post entitled Hamilton College Professor: School's Latest 'Lie' on SeeThruEd.com.

Center for Statesmanship to Hold 1st Annual AP Friday: American Statesmanship & Political Greatness

AHIadmin — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 19:05:41 +0000

The Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty is pleased to announce the First Advanced Placement Friday, February 6 at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), CIMS, Louise Slaughter Hall, Rooms 2210-2240 (Second floor) from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Registration is first come first serve and there is limited availability. There is a $10 fee for high school students which includes lectures, lunch, and document package. To register, please contact Joseph Fornieri, Professor of Political Science Director at jrfgsm@rit.edu or 585-475-5889. The course will provide area high school students with a college learning experience led by top teacher-scholars who seek to enrich their understanding of the role of statesmanship in American history and government and will help prepare them for their Advancement Placement exams in History and Political Science in May. The Center is in affiliation with the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). SCHEDULE 9:00-9:30: Introduction: "Reviving Statesmanship" —Dr. Joseph R. Fornieri, Director of the Center for Statesmanship at RIT 9:30-10:20: "Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln: The Political Leadership of a Radical Reformer & Statesman" —Dr. John Daly, History Dept. at SUNY Brockport and Dr. Joseph R. Fornieri 10:30-11:20: "The New Science of Politics: The Statesmanship of Publius in Federalist Papers 9, 10, & 51" —Dr. Sean Sutton, Chair of Political Science Dept. at RIT 11:30-12:30: Lunch 12:30-1:20: "The Hamiltonian vs. Jeffersonian Vision of the American Republic" —Dr. Ken Deutsch, SUNY Geneseo, Dept. of Political Science 1:30-2:20: "The Political Leadership of Two Local Ladies: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony" —Dr. Rebecca Edwards, Chair of History Dept. at RIT

AHI to Sponsor Introductory Reading Group on Heidegger

AHIadmin — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 20:09:16 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will sponsor an introductory reading group on the enormously influential German existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976). The reading group will meet on the Hamilton College campus, Burke Library classroom 209, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on the following Thursdays: February 5, February 19, March 5, April 2, April 9, and April 23. It is open to the general public as well as to Hamilton students. To register, or for more information, please contact Dr. Frisk at dfrisk@theahi.org or 315-381-3335 (o) or 202-999-5751 (c), or Professor Robert Paquette, bob@theahi.org. Readings will be no more than 40 pages per class session. The topics covered will include an introduction to Heidegger’s great work Being and Time, Heidegger on the nature of truth, Heidegger on modern science and metaphysics, Heidegger on technology, and his distinction between philosophy and “thinking.” The group will be led by AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk who teaches our continuing education courses and has conducted reading groups in the past year on Edmund Burke and Leo Strauss.

Grabar Publishes on Common Core

AHIadmin — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:45:14 +0000

Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) recently published the article Obama's 'Free' Community Colleges Power Grab: Imposing Common Core on College Education? by the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research. The article was also published by the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy on February 15.

AHI Academic Advisor Roger Kimball Posts on Islam and Freedom

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 23:21:41 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Roger Kimball recently posted on Islam and freedom in The New Criterion. The article, "On some uses of “but,”" discusses recent reactions to the Charlie Hebdo attacks and what they reveal about the limits of free speech.

AHI Fellow Christopher Hill Speaks at Cato Institute Forum on Higher Education

AHIadmin — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 13:39:23 +0000

On Thursday, 5 February, the Cato Institute, one of this country’s premier libertarian think tanks, hosted a policy forum “Private Funding, Public Debate: Reviving the Spirit of Inquiry in Higher Education.” Discussion centered on a report “Renewal in the University: How Academic Centers Restore the Spirit of Inquiry,” written by Jay Schalin, Director of Policy Analysis, John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in Raleigh, North Carolina. The report not only contains considerable praise for the accomplishments of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), but features a picture of AHI headquarters on the cover. Invited panelists included AHI Fellow Dr. Christopher Hill, Mr. Schalin, C. Bradley Thompson, Executive Director, Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism, Clemson University; and John A. Allison, President and CEO, Cato Institute and former Chairman and CEO, BB&T Corporation. Neal McCluskey, Associate Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute, moderated the discussion. “Colleges often seem hostile to, or at least uninterested in, Western civilization, free markets, and other ‘conservative’ or ‘libertarian’ subjects,” noted the Cato Institute in advertising the event. “This has left a void that is increasingly being filled by privately funded academic centers founded in or near colleges and universities. The forum speakers discussed topics such as: How objective are such centers? Do their donors call all the shots? Can they significantly widen inquiry in academia?” To download video of this event, please click here. The event was also reported on in an article by The College Fix on February 6, 2015.

Liberty Fund Invites AHI's David Frisk to Entrepreneurship Conference

AHIadmin — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 19:07:33 +0000

Dr. David Frisk, Resident Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) was an invited participant in a conference “Freedom, Prosperity, and Heroic Entrepreneurship in Economic Debate,” co-sponsored by Liberty Fund and the Charles Koch Foundation, January 29-31 in Springdale, Utah. Strata.org, a free-market educational organization, hosted the conference. Topics in the six discussion sessions included the heroic qualities of entrepreneurship in comparison with other types of leadership, the role of entrepreneurs as risk-bearers and discoverers of profit opportunity, and the significance and encouragement of small entrepreneurs. Chris Fawson, Professor of Economics, Utah State University, led the discussion. “I greatly enjoyed the intellectual stimulation involved in our lively, probing discussions of these important topics, based on an interesting set of readings ranging from Hegel and Rousseau to Andrew Carnegie to detailed economic analyses,” Dr. Frisk said. “Although my background is in political science and history, economics—including its most dynamic aspects, such as entrepreneurship—is central to the social sciences and to Western civilization. The scenic location of the conference, just outside Zion National Park, was a nice plus.” Among the other participants were Dr. Arthur Hall, Director, Center for Applied Economics, University of Kansas and former chief economist for the Public Affairs group of Koch Industries; William Dennis, a recently retired Senior Research Fellow, National Federation of Independent Business; Elizabeth Busch, Associate Professor and Coordinator of American Studies, Christopher Newport University in Virginia; and Michael Kofoed, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Grabar Article is Subject of National Review Online Blog Post

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 14:59:44 +0000

Mary Grabar, Visiting Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilizations (AHI) recently wrote an article on President Obama's free community college plan. Her piece was mentioned on the "Phi Beta Con's" blog page, a blog belonging to National Review Online. The blog post, by Jesse Saffron, was titled "From Bad to Worse."

AHI Advisor Justin Shubow Publishes on the Inhumanity of Modern Architecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 15:08:11 +0000

Justin Shubow, Academic Advisor to the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) recently published the article "Architecture Continues to Implode: More Insiders Admit the Profession is Failing" on Forbes.com discussing the architecture profession and its brand crisis. Justin Shubow is President of the National Civic Art Society and on the AHI's Academic Advisory Board.

AHI Resident Mary Grabar Publishes on Common Core

AHIadmin — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 15:35:08 +0000

Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) just published a new article "Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush and the Albatross of the Common Core," for the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Fellows Invited to Colloquium on Liberty and Patriotism

AHIadmin — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 20:41:05 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) made its presence felt in a recent Liberty Fund Colloquium, “Liberty and Patriotism in America and the World,” which took Place at The Brice Hotel, Savannah, Georgia, February 19-22. Joseph Fornieri, Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Director, Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty (CSLL), organized the colloquium. The CSLL operates in affiliation with the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). AHI Senior Fellow Lee Cheek, Dean of the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science, East Georgia State, participated in the colloquium. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette served as moderator of a diverse group of fourteen participants that included Liberty Fund Senior Fellow Steven D. Ealy. Liberty Fund, a private, non-profit educational foundation headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, has as its primary mission the serious “study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.” Each year Liberty Fund sponsors more than 100 conferences in the United States and in foreign countries. Invited participants receive royal treatment, often in an unusually beautiful and welcoming setting, as well as a set of prescribed readings that will be the focus of spirited, yet civil conversation and debate. Liberty Fund officials like Dr. Ealy monitor the proceedings and evaluate the performance of the participants. In six sessions over two days, participants delved into the following topics: “Patriotism and Identity in the American Context”; “Washington and Republican Patriotism in Joseph Addison’s Cato”; Lincoln’s Patriotism and the Meaning of the Union”; “Roosevelt, Coolidge, and Kennedy”; “Civic Nationalism and Patriotism”; and “Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism.” Participants examined the differences between patriotism and nationalism, American exceptionalism and American triumphalism, and civic republicanism and liberalism. Paquette convened the discussion by asking participants to contemplate the meaning of “public orthodoxy,” a term drawn from the Greek word politeia, which defines that “matrix of convictions, usually enshrined in custom and folkways,’ often articulated formally and solemnly in charter and constitution, occasionally summed up in the creed of a church or the testament of a philosopher, that make a society The Thing it is and that divides it from other societies as, in human thought, one thing is always divided from another.” If such a public orthodoxy exists, how should it be nurtured and defended and what are the implications posed by a public orthodoxy for the limits of tolerance and for the openness of a liberal society. The notion of public orthodoxy draws on the writings of thinkers as diverse as Edmund Burke, T. S. Eliot. Leo Strauss, and Willmoore Kendall. In the final session, participants addressed the meaning of a civic education, whether such a thing as a citizen of the world exists and whether a cosmopolitan or multicultural education actually advances its stated goals to make the world a better place or fosters dangerous illusions by thinking a moral community can be advanced without first securing what Burke referred to as the little platoons: family, community, and private associations.

AHI Academic Advisor Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Remembered

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 22:20:26 +0000

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (1941-2007, a former Academic Advisor to the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), is remembered in a recent article by Andrew Ladd in First Things.

AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose to Direct Reading Group on Josef Pieper

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 22:25:26 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is please to announce that Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose will direct a reading group on Josef Pieper on the Hamilton College campus, Kirner Johnson Building, room 138, from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM on the following Thursdays: February 26, March 9, April 9, and April 30. Those interested in joining the group should contact Professor Doug Ambrose, who will be leading the discussion dambrose@hamilton.edu. The AHI's Christopher Dawson Society for the Study of Faith and Reason is sponsoring a reading group on Pieper’s Leisure: The Basis of Culture. The AHI has generously provided free copies of the book to those interested in joining the group. T. S. Eliot was not only one of the greatest poets of the 20^th century, but also a leading Christian cultural critic. His Christianity and Culture remains a profound exploration about the nature of Christian commitment in contemporary society. Eliot considered his contemporary, Josef Pieper (1904-1997), a German Catholic philosopher, a leading voice in the effort to answer what Eliot saw as the fundamental question of our time: “what—if any—is the ‘idea’ of the society in which we live? to what end is it arranged?’” In his introduction to Pieper’s classic work, Leisure: The Basis of Culture, Eliot wrote that Pieper’s “influence should be in the direction of restoring philosophy to a place of importance for every educated person who thinks, instead of confining it to esoteric activities which can affect the public only indirectly, insidiously, and often in distorted form. [Pieper] restores to their position in philosophy what common sense obstinately tells us ought to be found there: insight and wisdom.“

Don’t Delay! Please Reserve Your Spot for the AHI Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 16-18, 2015

AHIadmin — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:04:41 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has announced the tentative schedule for the Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 16-18, 2015, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. Don’t delay! Please reserve your spot by contacting Bob Paquette at bob@theahi.org, or (315) 292-2267.

The colloquium is devoted to the theme “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity.” Dr. Michael C. Munger, Professor of Political Science, Duke University, and Director of the Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program will be the keynote speaker at the event on Thursday, April 16.

Dr. Michael C. Munger received his Ph. D. in economics in 1984 from Washington University in St. Louis. In 2008, Dr. Munger ran for governor in North Carolina on the Libertarian Party ticket. His prolific scholarship on the intertwining of markets, regulation, and government has received wide praise. He is an expert in the field of Public Choice.

The full list of conferees and session readings can be found below, or on the AHI website.

List of Conferees

Keynote: Michael Munger, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, Duke University

Discussion Leader: Carey Roberts, Chairman, Department of History, and Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Liberty University.

Conferees:

Sarah Burns, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology

Jennifer Delton, Douglas Family Chair in American Culture, History, and Literary and Interdisciplinary Studies, Skidmore College

Peter Coclanis, Albert Ray Newsome Distinguished Professor; Director, Global Research Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. James Ely, Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law Emeritus and Professor of History Emeritus at Vanderbilt University John Steele Gordon, Independent Scholar, North Salem, New York. Michael Haines, Department of Economics, Colgate University (pending) James Harrigan, Fellow, Institute of Political Economy, Utah State University David Harper, Clinical Professor of Economics and Director of Graduate Studies, New York University Christopher Hill, Resident Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute Adam Kissel, Program Officer, Higher Education, Charles Koch Foundation. George Leef, Director of Research, John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, Raleigh, North Carolina. Michael C. Munger, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, Duke University Hester Peirce, Senior Research fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University Janet Riordan, Director of Community Programs, Bradley Foundation Jeffrey Wagner, Professor and Chairman, Department of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology

Session Readings

Session I: “Dangers Portended”

1. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, ed. Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), pp. 646-73. 2. James Burnham, The Managerial Revolution: What Is Happening in the World (New York: John Day Company, 1941), pp. 71-95. 3. Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, 3^rd. ed (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950), pp. 61-62, 81-86, 121-132. 4. Bertrand de Jouvenel, Sovereignty: An Inquiry into the Political Good (1955), pp. 167-198. 5. Michael Polanyi, Knowing and Being: Essays by Michael Polanyi, ed. Marjorie Grene (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969), pp. 49-72. Session II: “Rule of Law and Regulation” 1. F. A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960), 220-249. 2. Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (New York: Basic Books, 2000), pp. 153-159, 162-190, 194-206. 3. Alan S. Blinder, “What’s the Matter with Economics?” New York Review of Books, 12/18/2014 4. Philip K. Howard, “Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans,” Daily Beast, 12/27/2014 5. Richard Epstein, The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014), pp. 569-83. Session III: “Entrepreneurship and Innovation” 1. Joseph A. Schumpeter, “The Creative Response in Economic History,” Journal of Economic History, 7 (November 1947): 149-159. 2. Israel Kirzner, “Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach,” Journal of Economic Literature 35 (March 1997): 60-85 3. Joseph Stiglitz, “Economic Foundations of Intellectual Property Rights,” Duke Law Journal, 57, (Apr., 2008): 1693-1724. 4. Carl Schramm and Robert E. Litan, “An Entrepreneurial Recovery,” Wilson Quarterly, 34 (Spring 2010):44-47. 5. “A Conversation with Jeff Bezos,” Foreign Affairs, 94 (January/February, 2015):2-6. 6. James Bessen, “The Anti-Innovators: How Special Interests Undermine Entrepreneurship,”Foreign Affairs, 94 (January/February, 2015):55-60. 7. Mariana Mazzucato, “The Innovative State: Governments Should Make Markets, Not Just Fix Them,” Foreign Affairs, 94 (January/February, 2015): 61-68. Session IV: “Freedom, Property Rights, and Uncertainty” 1. Harold Demsetz, “Some Aspects of Property Rights,” Journal of Law and Economics, 9 (October 1966): 61-70. 2. Armen A. Alchian and Harold Demsetz, “The Property Rights Paradigm,” Journal of Economic History, 33 (March, 1973):16-27. 3. Alan Ryan, “Please Fence Me In,” New York Review of Books,” 9/23/1999. 4. Richard Epstein, Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985), 5. Kevin L. Kliesen, “Uncertainty and the Economy,” Regional Economist,” (April 2013), http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/articles/?id=2366 Session V: “Taxation and Entitlements” 1. George P. Schultz, “How to Get America Moving Again,” Wall Street Journal, 8/8/2014 2. Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962): 161-189. 3. Joseph Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future (New York: Norton, 2012), pp. 264-290. 4. Joseph Stiglitz, “Reforming Taxation to Promote Growth and Equity,” May 28, 2014 5. N. Gregory Mankiw, “Defending the One Percent,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27, (Summer 2013): 21-34. 6. Michael J. Boskin, “A Broader Perspective on the Tax Reform Debate,” in The Economists’ Voice: Top Economists Take on Today’s Problems, ed. Joseph Stiglitz, Aaron S. Edlin, J. Bradford DeLong (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), pp. 141-152. Session VI: “Whither America and the World? 1. Robert William Fogel, The Fourth Great Awakening & the Future of Egalitarianism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007): 176-242 2. Jim Manzi, “The New American System, National Affairs, no. 19 (Spring 2014).

AHI Presents Clinton Showing of New Documentary Film that Sets the Record Straight on Jewish Homeland

AHIadmin — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 12:38:28 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4110" align="alignleft" width="243" caption="AHI presents a new documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to present the showing of Body and Soul – The State of the Jewish Nation, a new documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield, on Tuesday, March 31, at 7:00 p.m. in the Bradford Auditorium of the Kirner-Johnson Building at Hamilton College. The event is free and open to the public. For more details, visit www.theahi.org. A post-screening discussion with the audience will be lead by director/producer Gloria Z. Greenfield. Body and Soul – The State of the Jewish Nation is her third feature-length documentary film. She produced The Case for Israel - Democracy’s Outpost, released by Doc Emet Productions in 2008; and produced and directed Unmasked Judeophobia, released by Doc Emet Productions in 2011. Islamist ideologues understand the power of rewriting history and they have broadened their campaign to dismantle the nation-state of the Jewish people with the erasure of Jewish history and creation of pseudo-history. Body and Soul – The State of the Jewish Nation presents a comprehensive examination of the broad and deep connections between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel. World-renowned historians, archaeologists, political scientists, religious leaders, and international law and media experts trace the evocative evolution of the relationship between the Jewish People and their homeland that is more than 3,000 years old. “Jewish identity is born in a journey to the Land of Israel”, declares former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of the United Kingdom. That journey begins in Antiquity and brings the viewer into modernity, where the development of political Zionism catalyzed the blossoming of a new Jewish spirit. That renewal of Jewish spirit resulted in the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel, an event that author, commentator and Harvard University Professor Ruth Wisse cites as “a miracle of truly Biblical proportions.” This powerful 64-minute documentary not only presents the undeniable historical connection between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel, but also succeeds in debunking the propaganda, myths and misinformation that have become accepted as truth by so many. Prior to founding Doc Emet Productions, where she serves as President, Gloria Z. Greenfield was a senior executive in the publishing world; senior marketing manager in the high tech industry; strategy manager for the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education; director of the Adult Learning Collaborative for Combined Jewish Philanthropies; and executive director of The David Project, where she broadened the organization’s mission to focus on Jewish leadership development and launched groundbreaking Israel advocacy programs for American students in Israel. In January 1980, Greenfield was featured in Ms. Magazine as a “woman to watch in the ‘80s”. An alumna of the State University of New York at Oswego, she was honored with their “Distinguished Alumna Award” in October 1983; and in May 2005, the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Boston presented Gloria with their Keter Torah Award for her contribution to Jewish education.

AHI Welcomes Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon as Newest Senior Fellow

AHIadmin — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:57:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon has joined the AHI as Senior Fellow. Dr. Pilon has published extensively on international relations and national security. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C. “On behalf of all those associated with the AHI, we would like to welcome Dr. Pilon to the AHI,” said AHI President Richard Erlanger. “We are pleased to add yet another outstanding scholar to our organization.” “Dr. Pilon has an inspiring record defending the values of Western culture, and her scholarship indicates values and principles that are most compatible with the AHI's mission,” stated AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. Dr. Pilon earned her PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago. Her books include: and The Bloody Flag: Post-Communist Nationalism in Eastern Europe—Spotlight on Romania (1992); Every Vote Counts: The Role of Elections in Building Democracy (2007); Why America is Such a Hard Sell: Beyond Pride and Prejudice (2007); Cultural Intelligence for Winning the Peace (2009); and Soulmates: Resurrecting Eve (2011). Transaction Publishers has just released a new edition of her first book, Notes From the Other Side of Night, which tells the story of her family’s emigration from Romania when she was a teenager. Her anthology on civic education, Ironic Points of Light, was published in Estonian and Russian in 1998. She has also helped write and edit a textbook on civic education used, in country-specific versions, throughout Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, endorsed by the Departments of Education in those countries. Over the years she has published more than two hundred articles and reviews on international affairs, human rights, literature, and philosophy and has made frequent appearances on radio and television. Dr. Pilon has taught at several colleges and universities including the National Defense University, Air University’s Language and Culture Center, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, American University, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Institute of World Politics, where she was director of the Center for Culture and Security. In 2014, she helped found the Daniel Morgan Academy. During the 1990s, she was first director and later vice president for programs at IFES (The International Foundation for Election Systems), where she designed and managed a wide variety of democratization-related projects. She has held post-doctoral fellowships in international relations at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and at the Institute of Humane Studies. During the 1980s she was Senior Policy Analyst in United Nations Studies at the Heritage Foundation.

AHI Resident Fellow Mary Grabar Publishes Latest Article in Minding the Campus

AHIadmin — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:04:00 +0000

Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) just published a new article "Save Money with Adjuncts, Spend it on Bureaucrat," in Minding the Campus, a project of the Manhattan Institute’s Center for the American University. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Resident Fellow Mary Grabar Publishes About Bill Ayers at Penn State

AHIadmin — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 14:18:55 +0000

Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), recently published the article "The Wrong Complaints about Bill Ayers at Penn State" on PJ Tatler. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI and Hamilton College Republican Club Co-Sponsors Appearance by Manhattan Institute Fellow Heather Mac Donald

AHIadmin — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 17:59:43 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Heather Mac Donald, Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, New York City, will speak on “Are Cops Racist?” Wednesday, April 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the Bradford Auditorium, Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. The AHI is co-sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public, with the Hamilton College Republican Club. Heather Mac Donald's work as contributing editor at City Journal has canvassed a range of topics including homeland security, immigration, policing and "racial" profiling, homelessness and homeless advocacy, educational policy, the New York courts, and business improvement districts. Her writings have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Republic, Partisan Review, The New Criterion, Public Interest, and Academic Questions. Her book The Burden of Bad Ideas a collection of essays from the pages of City Journal details the effects of the sixties' counterculture's destructive march through America's institutions. Her second book, Are Cops Racist?, another City Journal anthology, investigates the workings of the police, the controversy over so-called racial profiling, and the anti-profiling lobby's harmful effects on black Americans. Her most recent book, The Immigration Solution: A Better Plan Than Today's, coauthored with Victor Davis Hanson and Steven Malanga, chronicles the effects of broken immigration laws and proposes a practical solution to securing the country's porous borders. A non-practicing lawyer, Mac Donald has clerked for the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, has been an attorney-adviser in the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and a volunteer with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City. She has testified before the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights of the Committee of the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives; the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims; the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. In 1998, she was appointed to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's task force on the City University of New York, thanks in large part to her City Journal essays on education. The New Jersey State Law Enforcement Officers Association conferred its Civilian Valor Award on her in 2004. She was awarded the 2008 Integrity in Journalism award from the New York State Shields. She was also the recipient of the 2008 Eugene Katz Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration from the Center for Immigration Studies and the 2012 Quill & Badge Award for Excellence in Communication from the International Union of Police Associations. She was a recipient of 2005 Bradley Prize for Outstanding Intellectual Achievement. She is also a frequent guest on FOX News, CNN, and other television and radio programs. Mac Donald received her B.A. in English from Yale University, graduating with a Mellon Fellowship to Cambridge University, where she earned her M.A. in English and studied in Italy through a Clare College study grant. Her J.D. is from Stanford University Law School. [caption id="attachment_4186" align="aligncenter" width="645" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette speaks to David M. DesRosiers, publisher of Real Clear Politics, who traveled to Clinton for the Heather Mac Donald event and to visit the AHI. Photo by Philip Parkes"][/caption]

AHI Annual Report 2014

AHIadmin — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 15:42:38 +0000

Friends of the AHI: The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the release of our 2014 Annual Report. It details our programs and achievements over the last year. We encourage you to look inside for the many and varied achievements of the young men and women who have been nurtured by the AHI during their undergraduate years. [caption id="attachment_4141" align="alignright" width="233" caption="AHI Annual Report 2014"][/caption] Also, the AHI is excited to announce two upcoming events this spring:

The Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium at the Turning Stone Resort April 16-18, will be devoted to “Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity.” Michael C. Munger, Professor of Political Science, Duke University, and Director of the Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, will keynote. Dr. Munger, an adjunct fellow at the Cato Institute, ran for governor in North Carolina in 2008 on the Libertarian Party ticket. His prolific scholarship on the intertwining of markets, regulation, and government has received wide praise and he is an authority in the field of Public Choice.

In May, the AHI will co-sponsor a conference at RIT on “Spontaneous Orders,” a concept crucial to the Austrian School of Economics. Dr. Lauren Hall, Professor of Political Science at RIT, will direct the conference.

For those who have already contributed to our mission, we thank you for your generosity. We ask those who have not yet contributed to help us to complete major initiatives, to undertake additional programming, and to maintain a scholarly center that the American Council of Trustees and Alumni calls an “oasis of excellence.” We are supported exclusively by our donors. We receive no funding from the government or from Hamilton College. We look to parents, alumni, and other supporters to support our important and growing mission. You can donate online via PayPal. If you wish to mail a donation to support the Alexander Hamilton Institute, please send your contribution to:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization

21 W. Park Row

Clinton, NY 13323

Enjoy our 2014 Annual Report, and if you have any questions, please contact us at www.theahi.org. Sincerely, Richard Erlanger, President Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow

AHI Senior Fellow to Speak on Upcoming Radio Shows on Abraham Lincoln

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 19:42:31 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that our Senior Fellow Professor Joseph Fornieri, Department of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology will be speaking on two upcoming radio shows about his book “Lincoln: Philosopher and Statesman”(Southern Illinois University Press, 2014) as well as the 150^th anniversary of Lincoln’s death and the end of the Civil War. Professor Fornieri's first radio interview will be Thursday, April 16 at 12:05 p.m. on WXXI Rochester, NY and the second will be on Saturday, April 18 at 10:00 a.m. on SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio on the Catholic Channel 129. Fornieri is Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, New York, where he teaches American politics, political philosophy, and constitutional rights and liberties. He is the author of Abraham Lincoln’s Political Faith (2005), an acclaimed scholarly work that explores Lincoln’s religion and politics. He is also the author or editor of three other books on Abraham Lincoln’s political thought and statesmanship: The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln (2003; revised ed. 2009); (with Kenneth L. Deutsch) Lincoln’s American Dream: Clashing Political Perspectives (2005); and (with Sara V. Gabbard) Lincoln’s America, 1809-1865 (2008). His Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman will be published in the spring, 2014. In addition, Fornieri has co-edited (with Kenneth L. Deutsch) An Invitation to Political Thought (2009), an introductory text to the classic political thinkers of the Western tradition from Plato to Nietzsche. Fornieri has won several teaching awards at RIT, including the Provost’s Award for outstanding teaching for junior faculty in 2002 and the Eisenhart Award for outstanding teaching for tenured faculty. He was a Fulbright Lecturer, 2008-2009 in Prague, Czech Republic where he taught American political thought and First Amendment Law at Charles University.

Photos: Showing of Gloria Greenfield Documentary "Body and Soul - The State of the Jewish Nation"

AHIadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:39:07 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) sponsored the showing of Body and Soul – The State of the Jewish Nation, a new documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield, on Tuesday, March 31, at 7:00 p.m. in the Bradford Auditorium of the Kirner-Johnson Building at Hamilton College. The post-screening discussion with the audience was lead by director/producer Gloria Z. Greenfield. [gallery size="large"]

AHI’s David Frisk Speaks on Conservatism at Law School

AHIadmin — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 21:03:11 +0000

Dr. David Frisk, Resident Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), spoke in February on a panel at the Florida State University College of Law in Tallahassee. The event was titled: “The Movement: Conservatives vs. Libertarians and the Fight for the Future.” Dr. Frisk and Randall Holcombe—a professor of economics at FSU who is a senior fellow of the James Madison Institute and served for six years on then-Governor Jeb Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors—analyzed how these branches of American politics arose and where they seem to be headed. The February 25 discussion was sponsored by the law school’s chapter of the Federalist Society, a prominent organization of lawyers, judges, legal academics, and law students who view issues in the profession from a right-of-center perspective. “It was great to speak on this deeply interesting topic, especially to an audience that probably leaned toward the libertarian side, but was willing to hear an analysis highly sympathetic to actual conservatism,” Frisk said. “A lifetime of relevant reading, plus the extensive research for my biography of the late conservative leader William Rusher—If Not Us, Who?, published in 2012 by ISI Books—informed my presentation. I enjoyed getting to know the Federalist Society’s chapter leaders in addition to my counterpart Dr. Holcombe. It’s an important organization at a significant law school. Many thanks to Judge Frank Shepherd of the state Court of Appeal in Miami and to Dean Donald Weidner for recommending me.”

AHI's Grabar Publishes on the Common Core

AHIadmin — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 21:09:15 +0000

On March 23, Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) published the article "Common Core Test "Refuseniks'" for the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

Final Schedule Posted for the AHI's Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 17:51:37 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has posted the final schedule for the Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 16-18, 2015, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium is devoted to the theme “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity." Dr. Michael C. Munger, Professor of Political Science, Duke University, and Director of the Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program will be the keynote speaker at the event. To view the full list of conferees and session readings, please click here. Dr. Michael C. Munger, received his Ph. D. in economics in 1984 from Washington University in St. Louis. In 2008, Dr. Munger ran for governor in North Carolina on the Libertarian Party ticket. His prolific scholarship on the intertwining of markets, regulation, and government has received wide praise. He is an expert in the field of Public Choice. For further information about colloquium, please contact Bob Paquette at bob@theahi.org or (315)292-2267.

AHI Academic Advisor Robert George Publishes on Academic Freedom

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 21:19:42 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Robert George recently published an article on academic freedom.

AHI Resident Fellow Pubishes on the Failure of American Welfare Bureaucracies

AHIadmin — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 17:26:44 +0000

On April 15, Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) published the article "The Failure of American Welfare Bureaucracies" for the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI’s Grabar Participates in “Diversity, Conformity, and Conscience in Contemporary America” Conference at Saint Vincent College

AHIadmin — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 17:39:17 +0000

On April 10 – 11, 2015, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar presented her paper, “The Diversity Hokum: The ‘Disappearing’ of George S. Schuyler,” at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. This biennial Culture and Policy Conference was put on by the Center for Political and Economic Thought, in cooperation with the Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics, and Government. Grabar joined eight distinguished scholars from the fields of law, political science, history, and public policy, to discuss the demands for conformity in American law and social practice. Her paper addressed the subject of her research at the AHI, George S. Schuyler, the prominent African-American journalist and novelist (1895-1977) who fought conformity, censorship, and the communist threat during his 50-plus-year career as an editor and columnist at the Pittsburgh Courier, and as writer, speaker, and radio host and debater at numerous other prominent venues. Grabar’s paper also addressed Schuyler’s principled stand against communist-led cultural and political separatism, his fight for truthful reporting and freedom of expression at his newspaper, and his “disappearance,” Soviet-style, by academic gatekeepers in African-American studies departments. “This was the first time I have spoken publicly about the subject of my research, the staunch defender of freedom, George Schuyler. He stood up for principle, in spite of the consequences in terms of loss of employment and personal danger,” said Grabar. “I was delighted to present this important figure in American letters and history to my colleagues, as well as to students and community members attending the conference. The two days of discussion and social activities were wonderful opportunities to get to know accomplished scholars in other fields who are concerned about the loss of freedom in thought and expression—even as demands for more ‘diversity’ are being made.”

Resident Fellow David Frisk Interviewed by Talk Radio Legend Barry Farber

AHIadmin — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 18:12:42 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow David Frisk was a guest for one hour on "The Barry Farber Radio Show" on April 1. Farber was a pioneer of talk radio in New York in the early 1960s. One of his favorite guests, then and later, was the late William Rusher, publisher of New York-based National Review magazine and an early spokesman for the conservative movement. Farber has called the fearless, razor-sharp Rusher’s appearances and debates on his shows “the best of my best broadcast days.” The recent interview touched on Rusher’s career plus the history and current state of American conservatism. Dr. Frisk was first interviewed by Farber in early 2012, upon publication of his highly acclaimed biography If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books). “I so appreciate Barry’s offer to be on his show a second time,” Frisk said. “His generous comments about the book were creatively expressed, as befits a consummate radio professional. My hope is that listeners’ interest in the rich, instructive history of political conservatism in America was piqued or renewed—especially because its self-definition and morale haven’t been at their best in the past decade or more.” As a Resident Fellow at the AHI since 2013, Dr. Frisk is responsible for its adult education courses and currently teaches “The Media and Politics.” His other classes have included “What is Conservatism?” and “Modern Statesmanship and Leadership.” He also leads student reading groups, mainly on political philosophy, at Hamilton College under AHI sponsorship. In addition, he is working on an edited volume of essays reflecting on the 1964 Goldwater campaign and a book that will analyze the extent of “fusion” between the conservative and classical-liberal philosophies. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University. Farber’s career as a radio host began in 1960. Later, he was most famously a host on WOR and WMCA in New York. In 2002, the prominent industry publication Talkers magazine ranked him among the top ten radio talk show hosts of all time. Today, at a sprightly 84, Barry Farber still broadcasts for an hour each weekday evening on CRN-1 Digital Talk Radio, which promises that he is “as smooth and civilized as Jack Daniels whiskey, and with just as much kick.”

George Leef on the AHI's "Superb Colloquium"

AHIadmin — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 12:33:53 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) well-attended 8th Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium was featured in a recent article in the National Review. In the article "The Alexander Hamilton Institute's Superb Colloquium" by George Leef, the colloquium's format was praised as "an excellent way of getting good, engaged college students thinking about crucial issues."

AHI Alumnus Joseph Bock Practicing Law in New Jersey

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 00:09:36 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4216" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Joe Bock took the oath to begin his first term as Municipal Public Defender for Boonton, NJ."][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Joseph Bock on beginning his first term as Municipal Public Defender in his home town of Boonton, New Jersey. An AHI Undergraduate Fellow during his matriculation at Hamilton College, Joe was graduated in 2009. He majored in history and earned four letters as a member of the varsity football team. At Rutgers School of Law-Newark, he served as President of the Federalist Society, and under his leadership, he helped earn for the organization the National Federalist Society's Award for Most Improved Chapter. He received his J.D. in 2012. After completing work as Judicial Law Clerk to The Honorable Judge James M. DeMarzo, Joe joined the firm of Dorsey & Semrau, where he specializes in municipal law, tax law, and criminal defense. The firm serves as municipal counsel to several different towns in Morris, Passaic, and Sussex Counties. In January 2015, Joe took the oath to begin his first term as Municipal Public Defender for Boonton. Under the direction of AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, Joe wrote his senior thesis on the theory of government of founding father James Wilson, one of the most influential framers of the United States Constitution. “I cannot express how grateful I am,” said Bock, “for the investment that the AHI and Professor Paquette made in me.” “I first met Joe Bock in 2006 in a course that I taught in nineteenth-century American history,” Paquette recalled. “What struck me immediately was the character and work ethic of this young man, who proved to be a diamond in the rough. You knew he had what it takes to succeed by watching him perform year after year as an undersized, yet tenacious, nose tackle on a losing team. He never gave up and showed impressive leadership skills. Joe’s intellectual growth remains a source of great pride to me and other members of the AHI family. The AHI looks forward to Joe’s return to break bread in AHI headquarters and to share what he has learned during his career in law with the current crop of AHI undergraduates.

AHI Senior Fellow Lee Cheek Publishes on the Scholarly Legacy of Mel Bradford

AHIadmin — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 00:27:45 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Senior Fellow Lee Cheek recently published with Sean Busick, on the scholarly legacy of Mel Bradford in the current issue of Modern Age.

AHI's Grabar to Speak on "Radicals and Bombers in Education"

AHIadmin — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 20:08:21 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar will speak on Thursday, May 7, on "Days of Age: Bill Ayers and the Legacy of 1096's Radicals and Bombers in Education" at the Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors in Los Angeles, California. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

Dissident Prof Writes about the AHI's 8th Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium

AHIadmin — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 20:18:33 +0000

Dissident Prof recently wrote about the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) 8th Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, discussing the breadth of panel topics, and the superb level of discussion throughout the colloquium. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Sponsors Undergraduate Publication

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 00:53:58 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to share the undergraduate publication Enquiry, Volume II, No. 26. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse."

AHI Senior Fellow Juliana Pilon Publishes on "Simulating Intelligence"

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 01:06:06 +0000

Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) newest Senior Fellow, recently published a paper on "Simulating Intelligence" in The Intelligencer, vol. 21, No. 1, Winter 2014-15, pp. 121-22. Dr. Pilon, who joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow in March, has published extensively on international relations and national security. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C.

AHI Resident Fellow Discusses the Need for Educational Reform

AHIadmin — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 01:13:40 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar published on the need educational reform in her latest article in the City Journal on April 23. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Alex Klosner Awarded Fellowship

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 01:49:34 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Undergraduate Fellow Alex Klosner on being awarded a summer fellowship from the Charles Koch Institute. Alex, a resident of Ilion, New York, and a sophomore economics major at Hamilton College, will attend two, week-long seminars in Washington, D.C. and work at the Empire Center for Public Policy in Albany, New York. [caption id="attachment_4261" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Alex Klosner"][/caption] Founded in 2005 by Edmund McMahon, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Center for State and Local Leadership, the Empire Center is “an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank” whose mission centers on “promoting public policy reforms grounded in free-market principles, personal responsibility, and the ideals of effective and accountable government.” The Center conducts research on New York’s business climate, promotes greater government transparency and fiscal responsibility in state and local governments. The Charles Koch Institute, which funds the award, is, according to its mission statement “a non-profit educational organization focused on the importance of free societies and how they increase well-being for the overwhelming majority of people. Through sound research, education and robust discussion, the Institute aims to advance understanding of what it means to flourish and how to enhance people’s ability to lead better lives.” During the summer of 2014, Alex worked two jobs: as a full-time employee for an insurance company and as a research assistant for AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield, an economist, who is working on a text in financial economics. Alex has been involved with the AHI since his freshman year, writes for the AHI’s publication Enquiry, serves as treasurer for the Hamilton College Republicans, tutors refugees in Utica through Project SHINE, and is a member of the Hamilton College Student Assembly. "While assisting me with my book, "Economic Efficiency in Financial Markets," said Bradfield, “Alex performed diligently, cheerfully, promptly, and carefully in all that I asked him to do. A few of his assignments were clerical and mundane. Many of the tasks required him to use his knowledge of economic theory to read my work with an eye to accuracy of my logic. He was trustworthy in all the tasks." “Alex Klosner has a very high ceiling,” added AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, who has taught Alex. “He combines intelligence, industriousness, and exemplary character into a set of skills well suited to the needs of the Empire Center. He went through a rigorous process of competition, and, thanks to the Charles Koch Institute, will continue his educational ascent into an accomplished and responsible citizen.”

AHI to Co-Sponsor RIT Conference on Spontaneous Orders

AHIadmin — Thu, 07 May 2015 01:26:17 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study for Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce its co-sponsorship of “Cosmos and Taxis,” a conference about the importance of spontaneous orders in the development of human betterment, Friday, May 8, CIMS building 2210/2220, and Saturday, May 9, Campus Eastman 1300-1310 on the Rochester Institute of Technology campus. [caption id="attachment_4289" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Cosmos+Taxis Conference at RIT"][/caption] What is a spontaneous order? “The theory, simply put,” according to Ronald Hamowy, who has written about it in relation to the Scottish Enlightenment,” “holds that the social arrangements under which we live are of such a high order of complexity that they invariably take their form not from deliberate calculation, but as the unintended consequence of countless individual actions, many of which may be the result of instinct and habit.” Thus, social phenomenon like markets and language should not be seen as the products of rationalist construction, imposed from the top down, but rather as the accumulated wisdom of the ages, the result of an infinite number of bottom-up, trial and error interactions over long durations of time by persons each of whom has knowledge of the infinite complexity of particular circumstance that another does not. As the Nobel Prize-winning economist Friedrich Hayek said of the genesis of capitalism, it “presumes that apart from our rational insight we possess a traditional endowment of morals, which has been tested by evolution but not designed by our intelligence. We have never invented private property because we understood these consequences, nor have we ever invented the family.” During the eighteenth century, such Scottish Enlightenment thinkers as David Hume, Adam Smith, and Adam Ferguson performed pioneering work in the Western world on the creation of complex structures. This thinking served as an indispensable backdrop for the development of Austrian School Economics and the epistemology associated with it. Sponsors of the conference in addition to the AHI include The Charles Koch Foundation, RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, and RIT’s Department of Political Science and Department of Economics. AHI Alumnus Thomas Cheeseman, completing work on a J.D. at Vanderbilt Law School, will present on “Political Escapism, Micro-politics, and Spontaneous Order” in Panel 5 on Saturday, 9 November, at 4 pm in Eastman 1300-1310 on the RIT campus.

SCHEDULE

Cosmos + Taxis

May 8-9, 2015

Rochester Institute of Technology

Breakfast for all days is available as a hot buffet at the hotel or continental style at the conference site. Shuttles will transport conferees from hotel to conference site at 15 minute intervals from 8:00 to 8:45am. Thursday: (Travel day - Attendance is not required at any of these events) Meet and greet at hotel for early arrivals, 5:00 – 6:00pm Dinner at Lovin’ Cup (near hotel) – 6:30 – 8:30 (Shuttle from hotel, 6:00 – 6:30) Hospitality in hotel – 8:30 – 10:30 Friday (all events will be held at RIT, CIMS building 2210/2220): 9:00 – 10:30 PANEL 1: Cities Chair: Lauren Hall Wendell Cox, (discussant: Sandy Ikeda) Pierre Desrochers, Jane Jacobs as spontaneous order theorist: induction and evolutionary metaphors (discussant: Nurit Alfasi) Sandy Ikeda, A city cannot be a work of art (discussant: David Andersson) 11:00 – 12:30 PANEL 2: Spontaneous Orders and Political Economy Chair: David Andersson Nurit Alfasi, The coding turn in urban and regional planning (discussant: Pierre Desrochers) Jason Potts, Spontaneous order in the formation of non-territorial political jurisdictions (discussant: Chor Yung Cheung) 12:30 – 1:30 – Lunch 1:30 – 2:45 – Roundtable on Adam Smith 3:15 – 4:30 – Roundtable on spontaneous orders and interdisciplinary work (students strongly encouraged) 4:30 – 5:30 - Keynote address by Professor Mario Rizzo, “Ecological Rationality” 5:30 – 6:30 – Cocktail reception Shuttles to hotel, 6:30 to 7:00 7:30 – 9:30 – Dinner 9:30 – 11:30 – Hospitality in hotel Saturday (all events will be held on the RIT Campus Eastman 1300-1310): Shuttles from hotel, 8:00 – 8:45 9:00 – 10:30 PANEL 3: Theoretical Approaches I, Smith and Montesquieu Chair: Laurent Dobuzinskis Pavel Kuchar, Mirrors to one another: sympathy and social norms (discussant: Leslie Marsh) Sarah Mackenzie Burns, Montesquieu and capitalist peace theory (discussant: Gus diZerega) 11:00 – 12:30 PANEL 4: Theoretical Approaches II Chair: Chor Yung Cheung Paul Lewis, The emergence of 'emergence' in the work of F.A. Hayek: an historical analysis (discussant: Steve Horwitz) Chor Yung Cheung, From the division of labor to the division of knowledge: the role of reason in the thought of Smith and Hayek (discussant: Paul Lewis) Eugene Callahan, agent based modeling (title TBA) (discussant: Leslie Marsh) 12:30 – 1:30 – Lunch Shuttles to hotel, 1:30 - 2 1:30 – 3:30 – Executive committee meets (free afternoon for conferees) Shuttles back to Eastman building, RIT campus, 3:15-3:45 4:00 – 5:30 PANEL 5: Democracy and Citizenship Chair: Sarah Burns Troy Camplin, Democracy, postmodernism and spontaneous order (discussant: Gus diZerega) Thomas Cheeseman, Political escapism, micro-politics and spontaneous order (discussant: Laurent Dobuzinskis) Steve Horwitz, Spontaneous orders and self-governance: the importance of unsupervised childhood play (discussant: Lauren Hall) Shuttles back to hotel, 5:45 – 6:15 7 – 9:00 – Dinner 9 – 11:30 – Hospitality Sunday: Shuttles to airport, usual schedule

AHI Congratulates Anne Neal and ACTA for Salvatori Prize

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 May 2015 15:51:27 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Director Anne Neal and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) upon winning the 2015 Salvatori Prize in recognition of their What Will They Learn? project and historical literacy initiatives. The prize, presented by the Heritage Foundation, is awarded to an individual or organization that advances “the principles of the American Founding, embodies the virtues of character and mind that animated the Founders and exemplifies the spirit of independent and entrepreneurial citizenship in the United States.” ACTA, is a non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization dedicated to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability in higher education.

AHI's Mary Grabar Interviewed by FrontPage Magazine

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 May 2015 15:55:31 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar was recently interviewed by FrontPage Magazine for the article "Bill Ayer's and the Legacy of '60s Radicals in Education." Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI-Baylor University to Hold Seventh Annual Summer Conference

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 May 2015 16:10:02 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4359" align="alignleft" width="192" caption="Announcing the AHI-Baylor Summer Conference 2015"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that its Seventh Annual Summer Conference, co-sponsored with the Department of Political Science at Baylor University, will be held June 18-19 at 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The conference is open to the public, but seating is limited. Please call 315-292-2267, or contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org to reserve a seat. The conference will focus on “Churchill and de Gaulle: Statesmanship in a Democratic Age,” and discussions will be led by Professor Daniel Mahoney, Department of Political Science, Augustine Chair in Distinguished Scholarship, at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. 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. A list of conference participants can be found here. Summer conference readings can be found here.

AHI Academic Advisor Peter Coclanis Publishes Op-Ed on GMO-Hypocrisy

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 May 2015 16:16:18 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to highlight a recent opinion piece by Peter Coclanis. The op-ed, "GMO Announcement Shows Chipotle must be Spanish for Hypocrisy," appeared in The News & Observer and discussed Chipotle's marketing. Peter Coclanis is Albert R. Newsome Distinguished Professor of History and Director of the Global Research Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill (USA), and an Academic Advisor of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI).

SAVE THE DATE! SPECIAL EVENT... 'Hamilton, The Musical'

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 May 2015 17:27:12 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is thrilled to announce it will be hosting a special fund raising event in conjunction with the new hit musical Hamilton. Hamilton has played to rave reviews and received a range of Tony nominations. Please plan to join your friends at the AHI and enjoy an evening that will reconnect us with our famous founding father in a fun and extremely entertaining way.

DATE: Wednesday, October 7 TIME: 8:00 p.m. The AHI is a registered not-for-profit 'Academic Center of Excellence' and 100% of the proceeds will go to support its work and mission. For more information on the gala evening, please contact Bob Paquette (bob@theahi.org) or Cordelia Menges (ccmenges@aol.com).

AHI Alumnus Steve Pet Receives Scholarship to Attend UVA Law School

AHIadmin — Thu, 28 May 2015 19:41:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Steven Pet on his receipt of a scholarship to attend the University of Virginia School of Law. He will begin classes in the fall of this year. [caption id="attachment_1553" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Steven Pet"][/caption] Steve was graduated in 2012 summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Hamilton College. A history major, he received the Edgar Baldwin Graves Prize for excellence in history; Putnam Prize for distinguished record in American history; Dean Alfange Prize for best essay on American constitutional government; and Cunningham Prize for best essay on Abraham Lincoln. He wrote his senior thesis under the direction of AHI Charter Fellows Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette. As an AHI Undergraduate Fellow, Steve was awarded a summer fellowship from the Gilder Lehrman Institute in New York City and was one of two students chosen in 2012 by the AHI to present a paper at the prestigious Annual Undergraduate Conference in the American Polity, held at Georgetown University. He presented on “Pulling the Lever of Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln, the Slaves, and the Coming of the Emancipation Proclamation.” From 2012 to 2014, Steve has worked in government administration for the Federal Trade Commission in the Bureau of Competition. In informing AHI fellows Paquette and Ambrose of his decision to attend the University of Virginia School of Law, Steve acknowledged the nurturing role of the AHI in his intellectual development and, indeed, devoted his sample essay in applying to law schools to the AHI. “I joined AHI as a student fellow,” he wrote, “despite my liberal politics, or – perhaps more accurately – because of them. Eager to debate wide-ranging perspectives, I attended lectures by prominent conservative scholars, presented at AHI-sponsored conferences, and joined discussion groups on hot-button political issues. . . . Sustained dialogue among men and women of different ideological backgrounds promotes empathy among students and faculty, weakens assumptions and stereotypes, and prevents majorities and minorities alike from slipping into intellectual complacency. Intellectual diversity, however, demands more than mere tolerance of dissent. It also requires a commitment, especially on the part of the majority, to debate openly and honestly with ideological opponents, accepting that they play a valuable role in advancing knowledge.” “Steve Pet stood out,” observed Paquette, “as one of the most dedicated students I have ever taught during my thirty-four years at Hamilton College. He always came to class prepared to discuss my rather daunting list of required readings. After class, he sought me out for additional criticism of his work. One of his great strengths is the stamina that he possesses in carefully sifting through evidence before determining what is relevant to obtain the desired configuration in explaining an event. He turned in a senior thesis that was potentially publishable. His combination of intelligence, character, and aptitude for detail makes him a superb candidate for the best law schools, and in my mind, UVA Law School is one of the very best in the country. Steve joins a growing list of AHI alums who have an impressive list of accomplishments to their credit at a very young age.” “Steve Pet possesses a first-rate historical mind, an exemplary work ethic, and an insatiable inquisitiveness,” added Ambrose. “I believe he could have become an important and accomplished historian, but he knows himself well; he wants to be a lawyer, and he will be an exceptionally good one. In the classes in which I taught him and in our frequent conversations outside of class, he displayed an intellectual hunger and honesty that expressed themselves through his attentiveness, his probing questions, his appreciation for complexity, and his willingness to rethink his assumptions and even his settled convictions. Unlike so many across today's political spectrum, Steve listens carefully to everyone and thinks before he speaks. He is refreshingly free of dogmatism and cant and is willing to consider alternative points of view and interpretation. He gets along with a wide variety of his peers, and I have witnessed him debate others in intense but respectful encounters both in and outside the classroom. His interactions with others provide him with further opportunities to seek and find answers to the questions that drive his curious and active mind. I wish him the best as he begins what promises to be a distinguished career at the University of Virginia Law School.”

AHI's Grabar on Transforming Education Beyond Common Core

AHIadmin — Thu, 28 May 2015 19:45:20 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently published the article "Transforming Education Beyond Common Core: Getting the Word Out About Gaming for Social Change." Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

Photos: AHI Alumnus Dean Ball Honored in Ceremony at AHI

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 May 2015 23:31:22 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) alumnus Dean Ball was honored at a dinner ceremony on May 2. Dean serves as Policy Manager at the Manhattan Institute's Center for State and Local Leadership. [gallery size="large"]

AHI Hosts Commencement Celebration for ADP Hamilton Graduates

AHIadmin — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:23:36 +0000

On Saturday, May 23, the independent Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) hosted a commencement celebration for members of the Hamilton College chapter of Alpha Delta Phi and their families. AHI board member Robert Hamill, a 1984 graduate of Hamilton College and ADP alumnus, and his wife Tracey organized the event. [caption id="attachment_4349" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Congratulations class of 2015!"][/caption]

More than seventy persons attended. Mr. Hamill and AHI Charter Fellow James Bradfield, also an alumnus of ADP, spoke to the celebrants on the rich tradition of ADP, dating back to its founding as a literary society at Hamilton College in 1832. The 2015 ADP graduates of Hamilton College included Mr. Hamill's son, Bobby, a major in Chinese.

AHI Undergraduate Joe Simonson Accepts Position with New York Post

AHIadmin — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:27:59 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4353" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Joe Simonson speaks at the Carl Menges colloquium in April."][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Joe Simonson, co-leader of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows Program and previous Editor-in-Chief of Enquiry, on his new position as the Editorial Page Assistant at the New York Post. Founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton, the New York Post is one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the country and home to a variety of influential writers and syndicated columnists. Joe will be working under the leadership of Mark Cunningham. On top of managing the Letter- to-the-Editor section of the paper and assisting in various administrative roles, Joe will participate in the daily editorial process and have opportunities to pen his own pieces. “The Post’s editorial board certainly helps set the tone in conversation for not just New York City, but nationwide as well,” said Joe. “Those who know me know that the Post is a perfect fit for my personality.” A transfer student from the University of Arizona, Joe graduated in 2015 with a degree in history from Hamilton College and spent much of his college career working in campus media and participating in programming by the Alexander Hamilton Institute. Previously, he worked as an assistant production intern at TheBlaze where he wrote for a daily radio show. Joe thanked the Alexander Hamilton Institute for helping him mature intellectually throughout his time at Hamilton College. “The AHI provides so many opportunities for students to hone in on their talents. I cannot thank the AHI enough for providing me with all the support I’ve needed to make my time at Hamilton the best it could be. On top of helping me intellectually flourish through its various enrichment programs and the mentoring by the various professors and scholars who work with the AHI, I’ve made a number of friends for life. I truly do not believe I would have this fantastic opportunity at the Post if it were not for the AHI.” "Joe has a quick mind, wide curiosity, and feistiness, which are among the most important qualities in professional journalism," said AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk, who led several “Great Books” reading clusters that included Joe. “These qualities were developed partly by his strong performance editing and writing for 'Enquiry,' which involved not only reliable productivity but imagination in writing about issues—and, too, the ability to stand firm under pressure that reflected the campus orthodoxy. In addition, his knowledge of today's political world is already what one would hope for in a young person who has worked successfully in the field. Equally significant is that Joe has strong, well-expressed beliefs about public affairs, something that's helpful in both opinion journalism and reporting. I will follow his career with much interest.” AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette taught Joe Simonson in several courses and supervised his senior thesis, a study that centered on the founding generation’s evolving attitude toward the French Revolution. “Joe Simonson will bring to The New York Post intelligence, high-energy, tenacity, and impressive courage. Let me provide you with one example. During the fall semester, Joe published a piece critical of a campus ‘Die-In’ in response to the Eric Garner and Michael Brown deaths. Officials at Hamilton College covered up the disruptions, the fact that state police were called out, and that a minority student went on a rant at the terminus of the march in the campus library by denouncing the country, capitalism, police ‘pigs,’ and ‘white plutocrats.’ Joe was vilified not only by activist students but also by one left-wing professorial zealot on campus. As if a vitriolic private email was not enough, this ‘educator’ followed up denouncing him in a published a piece in the campus newspaper. Joe’s knees not only did not buckle, he stood tall to meet his accusers head on. This country would be a far better place if more young people had the fortitude, combativeness, and principles of Joe Simonson. The AHI will miss him greatly.”

AHI-Affiliated Scholars Sign Open Letter Critical of Advanced Placement History Standards

AHIadmin — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 19:30:50 +0000

On June 2, fifty-five scholars published an open letter critical of the 2014 Advanced Placement United States History framework produced by College Board, a non-profit corporation that has a monopoly on such testing in American high schools. The signatories included five scholars affiliated with the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI): Academic Advisors Robert George, Princeton; Harvey Mansfield, Harvard University; Mark Smith, University of South Carolina; Paul Rahe, Hillsdale College; and AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. The letter has received extensive national media coverage. Peter Berkowitz, writing in Real Clear Politics, observed that “the College Board’s U.S. history curriculum framework not only embodies ideas and issues associated with college-level study but also the intellectual prejudices and partisan preferences that increasingly deform university history teaching.” Stanley Kurtz, in National Review Online, touches on several areas in which the AP Framework is grossly deficient. “The APUSH critics,” wrote Michelle Malkin for the New York Post, “make clear in their protest letter that they champion a “warts and all” pedagogical approach to their US history lessons. But they point out that ‘elections, wars, diplomacy, inventions, discoveries — all these formerly central subjects tend to dissolve into the vagaries of identity-group conflict’ as a result of the history-exam overhaul.” In January of this year, AHI Charter fellow Robert Paquette clanged the alarm bell by publishing an article “Push-Back on APUSH” for the National Association of Scholars. “The advanced history advanced in these pages,” Paquette asserted, “carries a range of prompts about identities, social justice, and exploitation. The words ‘race,’ ‘class,’ and ‘gender,’ for example, appear dozens of times. ‘Property’ and ‘patriotism’ are mentioned twice; the Bible, once; ‘honor’ and ‘virtue,’ not at all. Does APUSH’s operational manual aim to elevate teachers’ and students’ understanding of American history or to smuggle into the classroom, Howard Zinn-style, a useable past, one tailor-made to advance identity politics and a progressive ideology?”

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Phil Parkes Awarded Seat at AEI Honors Program

AHIadmin — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 13:11:03 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Philip J. Parkes on having been awarded a prestigious seat at the American Enterprise Institute’s Summer Honors Program. This highly competitive program, which ran from June 1-June 15, provides “a public policy and career development opportunity for undergraduate student leaders.” [caption id="attachment_4459" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Philip Parkes (seated on the left)"][/caption] Parkes, a history major at Hamilton College from Camillus, New York, received a stipend and travel and housing vouchers to support two weeks of engagement in hot-button public policy issues under some of Washington’s finest free-enterprise scholars. Each week consisted of policy debate and analysis on topics ranging from national security strategy to entitlement reform. In the second week, Parkes teamed up with other participants to work on the “front lines” of U.S. workforce research using real-time census data to study labor force participation rates. His findings will contribute to a forthcoming publication by an AEI scholar The internship also provided valuable networking opportunities. Parkes conversed with journalist Jonah Goldberg (of National Review), former U.S. Congressmen Newt Gingrich, and former deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General John Yoo. “One of the most exciting things about the program,” Parkes observed, “was the high caliber of the other student participants. From Fulbright and Truman scholars to regularly published journalists and widely-syndicated political talk show hosts, the ideologically diverse group challenged my beliefs and helped widen my grasp of global politics. AEI’s approach to policy analysis reminded me in many ways of the AHI. Each values evidenced argument over superficial rhetoric and is not afraid to recognize what makes the United States exceptional among other nations. More importantly, each makes an effort to welcome intellectual dissent as an opportunity to grow, not a threat from which to be insulated. I am deeply grateful to Professors Paquette and Ambrose for their work with the AHI, and especially to Professor Paquette for his willingness to mentor me both inside and outside the classroom. The AHI has been a delightful place to grow intellectually and as a person.” “Phil Parkes,” AHI Charter fellow Douglas Ambrose observed, “is the kind of student for whom we history professors pray: curious, engaged, and sincerely interested in understanding the people he studies. In my “Christianity in America” course, Phil impressed me with his willingness to take his human subjects seriously. He grappled with the often complex and even paradoxical character of various belief systems, never succumbing to the temptation to dismiss such systems as nonsensical or judge them simply as rationalizations for oppression or self-interest. Phil knows that historical understanding requires the student to maintain a certain humility, a recognition that the assumptions and convictions of our times often interfere with our efforts to penetrate the minds and hearts of past peoples. And that humility allows the student to be open to the wisdom those past peoples may have possessed and may still pass on. A true lover of knowledge, Phil has participated in numerous AHI special events, including my reading cluster on the Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper. He is also a talented musician and photographer. All of us at the AHI are proud of his having earned an internship at AEI, and we know that his love of learning, his admirable work ethic, and his exemplary character will make him a most valued asset at AEI.” AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette has also taught Parkes. “I have gotten to know Mr. Parkes quite well during the past year,” said Paquette. “During the summer, while working at Hamilton College, he visited the independent AHI and took part in a conference on Alexis de Tocqueville directed by Jim Ceasar of the University of Virginia as well as in other programming. During the fall semester, he participated in almost every event the AHI sponsored. He shows a high-level of intelligence and a willingness to grapple with difficult texts in reading groups and at our Leadership Dinners with distinguished guests. During the fall semester, he attended my course ‘Revolutions,’ which undertakes a comparative study of four revolutions during the so-called age of democratic revolution: the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the Spanish American revolutions. The course has a daunting reading load that includes cover-to-cover reading of Gordon Wood's Creation of the American Republic and William Doyle's Oxford History of the French Revolution. Mr. Parkes came to class chomping at the bit to engage the material; he asks intelligent questions; he writes well; and he has a fine analytical mind. Indeed, Mr. Parkes is the embodiment of what a traditional liberal arts education strives to achieve. He is a talented photographer, artist, and musician with broad interests in physics, philosophy, history, political science, and economics. That he won this award as a sophomore in competition with older students speaks volumes about his gifts.”

Photos: AHI Fellow Chris Hill Gives Magna Carta Lecture During Open House

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:43:09 +0000

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AHI Well Represented at Western Civilization Summit in Texas

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:59:28 +0000

On June 8-9 the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) in Austin, Texas, hosted a “Western Civilization Summit” that featured five scholars associated with the independent Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). [caption id="attachment_4479" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Professor Paquette at Western Civilzation Summit"][/caption] AHI Academic Advisor Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, delivered the keynote address on Monday evening. Panel I, “Why Teach the West,” on Tuesday morning featured as moderator AHI Director Stephen Balch, director of The Institute for the Study of Western Civilization at Texas Tech University. Speakers for the first session included AHI Academic Advisor Paul Rahe, Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the Western Heritage at Hillsdale College and AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. AHI Academic Advisor Richard Vedder, Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University, spoke on the afternoon panel “How to Create More Western Civilization Programs.” To view the panel "Why Teach the West," please click here. TPPF, a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan research institute, seeks “to promote and defend liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise in Texas and the nation by educating and affecting policymakers and the Texas public policy debate with academically sound research and outreach. Under the leadership of Preside Brooke Rawlins, TPPF, according to the Texas Tribune, has become a major player state politics, especially with proposals to lower property taxes. In February, TPPF completed its new headquarters a six-story, 40,000-plus-square-foot building, located near the Texas State Capitol. A standing-room only crowd packed the Joe B. Hogsett Theater to listen to the panelists who were also livestreamed to a larger audience. [caption id="attachment_4478" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="AHI's Paquette speaks at Texas Public Policy Foundation Western Civilzation Summit"][/caption] Paquette devoted his remarks to why the teaching of Western civilization should remain at the center of a liberal arts curriculum, extending points expressed in the AHI’s charter about the momentous origin and flourishing in Western culture of freedom, democracy, and capitalism. He drew on his thirty-five year career at Hamilton College to “understand the rather remarkable process by which the unum of a civic culture that once stood as a beacon light to the rest of the world was pushed to the margin by an academic vanguard, to be replaced by a pluribusof lavishly funded activist workshops, programs, and studies populated by professors, most of whom have a sneering contempt for American exceptionalism.” In speaking of capitalism, Paquette underscored the momentousness for the world of the West’s breakout from Malthusian cycles into self-sustained economic growth in the late eighteenth century. In Western Europe, GDP per person, Paquette observed, if plotted on a graph, would look essentially like a flat line “from 1000 AD to 1445, when Gutenberg invented the printing press, ascending thereafter into a very modest slope until about the time of Jefferson’s presidency when the line spikes as if shot through the roof.” During Tuesday’s luncheon, the Honorable Kent Hance, Chancellor Emeritus, Texas Tech University, provided an engaging and humorous power point presentation on “The Impact of Western Civilization. Ninety-seven percent of the world’s leading scientific discoveries, Hance noted, “have happened in Europe or North America. . . . Of the 214 most notable inventions since 1415, all were created in the West.”

AHI’s Richard Brookhiser Attempts to Rescue Alexander Hamilton from Treasury Decision

AHIadmin — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 19:04:32 +0000

In Democracy in America (1835-1840), the French intellectual and statesman Alexis de Tocqueville singled out the “celebrated Alexander Hamilton” for his great contributions to constitutional thought in The Federalist. For the French statesman and diplomat Talleyrand, Hamilton ranked with Napoleon as one of the “greatest men of our epoch.” In Alexander Hamilton: A Biography (1979), the great historian Forrest McDonald noted, “For many decades after the Civil War his [Alexander Hamilton’s] niche in the pantheon of American demigods was beneath only Washington’s, if indeed it was not at Washington’s right hand.” Few men better represented the meritocratic ideal during an age of democratic revolution than Hamilton, who rose to the pinnacle of greatness in the founding of that great experiment in republican government after migrating to colonial New Jersey bearing with him the stigma of an out-of- wedlock birth in poverty in a tiny island pervaded by slavery in the eastern Caribbean. His ingenious financial plan to pay off the debt and fund the government likely kept the fledgling United States from disintegrating into separate states or groupings of separate states. These and other impressive accomplishments notwithstanding, the United States Department of Treasury under Jacob L. Lew, has announced that it is moving ahead with plans to displace Hamilton from featured status on the ten-dollar bill with an as yet unnamed woman. Criticism of this decision has come fast and furious. Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Richard Brookhiser, author of Alexander Hamilton, American (1999), has risen to Hamilton’s defense in an article, “First Aaron Burr, Now Jack Lew,” published in the June 19 issue of The Wall Street Journal. Brookhiser describes many of Hamilton’s significant accomplishments, especially in the area of finance and banking. Hamilton, Brookhiser observes, “laid the foundations” of Americas “future prosperity . . . . Most revolutionary governments over the past two centuries have been chaotic, dishonest and poor. The U.S. might have gone that route [without Hamilton]. We would then speak, not of banana republics, but of maple or pine republics—and we would have been the first one.”

Photos: AHI-Baylor University Summer Conference 2015

AHIadmin — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 18:53:27 +0000

On June 18 and 19, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held its Seventh Annual Summer Conference, co-sponsored with the Department of Political Science at Baylor University at 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The conference focused on “Churchill and de Gaulle: Statesmanship in a Democratic Age,” with discussions led by Professor Daniel Mahoney, Department of Political Science, Augustine Chair in Distinguished Scholarship, at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. A record crowd of more than seventy persons attended the event. Professorial visitors in the audience included Jerome Foss, St,. Vincent College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania; Joseph Wysocki, Belmont Abbey College, Belmont, North Carolina; Robert and Christina Jeffrey, Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina; Elizabeth Amato, Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, North Carolina, and Robert Kraynak, Colgate University, Hamilton New York. The well-attended conference was organized by AHI Senior Fellows David and Mary Nichols both from the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, in Waco, Texas. David Clinton, chairman of Baylor's Department of Political Science, served as one of the sixteen panelists. "The 2015 AHI Summer Conference was, as always," observed Professor Clinton, "an intellectual feast and a convivial occasion. The AHI has long since mastered the art of arranging a two-day interchange on a topic important to the preservation of the accomplishments of Western Civilization; the discussions were rich and filled with insights, guided by our expert moderator, Dan Mahoney. I was also impressed with the atmosphere of camaraderie that brought together all the participants, whether at the table or in the audience, in a shared endeavor of thoughtful exploration of our shared concerns. In part, this aim was accomplished through the ample opportunities for social interaction outside the formal conference sessions. The entire experience set a standard met by very few academic gatherings, and AHI can be proud of its accomplishment." [gallery size="large"]

Photos Copyright Thomas Loughlin Jr., Utica, NY

AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk Publishes on RealClearPolitics

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 18:53:12 +0000

An analysis of the 2016 presidential race co-authored by Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow David Frisk ran on one of the nation's foremost political websites, RealClearPolitics, on June 21. “It is rather exciting to be published by RCP,” Dr. Frisk said, “since it's a must-read for many people engaged in or fascinated by politics, and is almost entirely an 'aggregator' site. They re-run commentary, including some of the finest, from elsewhere—with very few things written expressly for them, as ours was.” [caption id="attachment_4492" align="alignright" width="300" caption="AHI's David Frisk"][/caption] Titled “GOP Presidential Candidates: The More the Scarier,” the piece makes two main points: that the extraordinary size of the Republican Party's candidate field will probably worsen its public image and its internal conflict, and that the situation reflects longstanding dysfunctions among the conservatives who are the party's largest single force. It ends with brief remarks on the political assets and liabilities of each major candidate. “An important factor in lengthening the candidate roster and also making a quick winnowing unlikely,” write Frisk and his co-author Jonathan Riehl, “is a long decline in political discipline among conservatives … One notable result of this indiscipline is trouble judging who is most worth backing in a presidential race—the proliferation of fuzzy thinking about who is most likely to win a general election, remain true to conservative principles, and deliver for conservatives as president.” Riehl, a communications instructor at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina, is completing a book on the history of the Federalist Society. They have previously written a commentary analyzing from a historical standpoint the possibility of a conservative third party, which ran in the magazine section of Politico, another major site. In addition to his piece on the presidential campaign, Frisk also recently published on the website of First Things, a leading journal focused on cultural and religious topics, where he reviewed The Peace That Almost Was: The Forgotten Story of the 1861 Washington Peace Conference and the Final Attempt to Avert the Civil War. A Resident Fellow of the AHI since 2013, Dr. Frisk teaches its popular adult education classes, covering political thought, history, politics, and social problems, while also running reading groups on major thinkers for Hamilton College students. He will soon edit and contribute to a volume looking back on the Goldwater presidential campaign, which is expected to include essays by AHI co-founder Professor James Bradfield, Professor Philip Klinkner of the Hamilton government department, and AHI Resident Fellow Mary Grabar, among others. In addition, he is researching his envisioned major book, a study of the difficult relationship between libertarianism and traditionalist conservatism. A former award-winning journalist, he received his Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University in 2009. Dr. Frisk is the author of the widely acclaimed biography If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), contributed an essay on the late Senator Jesse Helms to Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Congress: Case Studies in Legislative Leadership (Praeger, 2014), and has presented several papers at American Political Science Association conventions, most recently last year.

AHI Senior Fellow Lee Cheek Publishes Op-Ed on Vandalism and Southern Memory

AHIadmin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 00:00:38 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Senior Fellow Lee Cheek recently published an op-ed entitled "Don't Dishonor Calhoun," in The Post and Courier discussing vandalism and the southern memory.

Hoover Institution Fellow Gifts AHI with Western Civilization Collection

AHIadmin — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 03:03:34 +0000

Dr. Robert Hessen, a specialist in business and economic history, served as a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, since 1974. His major publications include Steel Titan: The Life of Charles M. Schwab (1975) and In Defense of the Corporation (1979), which, at present, is in its fifth printing. He has published widely in scholarly journals and such mainstream media as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Edging to retirement, Dr. Hessen was looking for an appropriate resting place for more than “1000 books, primarily focused on Western history and culture.” He chose the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). On Wednesday morning, a tractor trailer deposited the volumes in thirty-four boxes on two pallets at the rear of AHI headquarters. The books not only cover European and American history, but such specialized topics as property, family, utopias, and totalitarianism as well. Dr. Hessen’s gift will nicely supplement the AHI’s existing collections, which include Liberty Fund’s Library of Liberty, Eugene D. Genovese’s southern history collection, and Richard Erlanger’s military history collection. [caption id="attachment_4533" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Volumes arrive at the AHI"][/caption] “The AHI is deeply grateful to Dr. Hessen for this extraordinary act of generosity, said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “His work on the moral and legal history of the modern corporation is well known to those of us interested in securing private property rights. The AHI’s newest senior fellow, Juliana Pilon, proved decisive in landing for the AHI this rich collection. Dr. Pilon has been a blessing to the AHI since her arrival.”

AHI Alumnae Eryn Boyce Wins Thesis Prize

AHIadmin — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 01:53:38 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4537" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Eryn Boyce"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates AHI alumnae Eryn Boyce of North Wales, Pennsylvania, on receiving a best thesis award from the Department of Historic Preservation, University of Pennsylvania. She wrote her master’s thesis on John Riddell (d. 1873), an architect who specialized in Italianate and Gothic designs. His Architectural Designs for Model Country Residences(1861) stands as one of the most beautiful volumes of architecture produced in the nineteenth century. Eryn, a 2013 graduate of Hamilton College, majored in history. She attended courses taught by AHI Charter Fellows Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette. Paquette supervised her senior honors thesis on Henry Chapman Mercer, the amateur archaeologist and ceramicist who built the renowned Fonthill Castle in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Eryn reached out to the AHI after receiving her master’s degree to thank Ambrose and Paquette for their guidance and support. The award, she said, reflected “in large part . . . the instruction in historiography and writing I received from you, Professor Ambrose, and other members of the history department.” Eryn is currently working at the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle in Doylestown. “Simply put, Eryn Boyce composed one of the finest senior theses I have supervised during my thirty-five year career at Hamilton College,” said Paquette. “Henry Chapman Mercer possessed an impressively versatile mind. His interests ranged from the history of antiquity to tile making, to the formulation of reinforced concrete. Like Mercer, Eryn Boyce has an impressively versatile mind. During her matriculation at Hamilton College, she lived up to the high standards of a traditional liberal arts education. I fully expect her to rise to preeminence in her field.”

AHI Alumnus Tim Minella to Receive Ph.D.

AHIadmin — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 12:38:28 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates alumnus Timothy Minella on the successful defense of his dissertation. A specialist in the history of science, he will receive his Ph. D. in August from the University of South Carolina. In 2010, he received the University of South Carolina’s prestigious Presidential Doctoral Fellowship, awarded to an outstanding applicant in any field of graduate study to support four years of study. [caption id="attachment_4545" align="alignleft" width="94" caption="Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Tim Minella"][/caption] In the aftermath of his successful defense, Tim reached out to the AHI Charter Fellows Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette to thank them for their “guidance and support” over the years. "They went out of their way during my tenure at Hamilton to encourage my various interests in politics, philosophy, and history," said Minella. “Early on in the process of applying to graduate school, they put me in touch with Mark Smith, Professor of History at the University of South Carolina. Professor Smith served on the committee that approved my dissertation. Throughout my time at USC, Professors Paquette and Ambrose have continued to give me valuable advice and encouragement. In addition, the AHI awarded me the generous Bakwin Fellowship that supported the research for my dissertation. I would not be in the position I am today without the AHI and Professors Paquette and Ambrose.” Tim’s dissertation, “Knowing in America: The Enlightenment, Science, and the Early Republic,” analyzes practices of science and technology in the early U.S. as windows onto the American Enlightenment. Although scholars have emphasized the important impact of Enlightenment thought on the American founding, the historiography tends to argue for the decreasing influence of the Enlightenment on American culture as the nineteenth century progressed. In addition, scholars tend to see a decline in American science after Benjamin Franklin as nineteenth-century Americans began to focus primarily on the practical problems of everyday life. Tim questions these interpretations by connecting scientific practice in the Early Republic with transatlantic Enlightenment thought, analyzing American conversations about knowledge creation in practical pursuits such as agriculture. “I place American science in the context of Enlightenment debates about how human beings could create knowledge, or epistemology,” Minella observed. “This part of the dissertation involves a review of American exposure to such Enlightenment thinkers as John Locke, David Hume, and Thomas Reid. Then, I conduct several case studies of different kinds of science in America, including agriculture and natural history, and I analyze how Enlightenment epistemology informed the practice of these sciences. Finally, I consider how Enlightenment epistemology and American scientific practice shaped American discourse about political economy and political philosophy. In books and pamphlets that discussed political topics, American writers attempted to support their arguments by applying what they saw as proper epistemological methods. Through discussion of these topics, I show that the Enlightenment continued to make its mark on American culture throughout the early nineteenth century.” Tim graduated in 2009 from Hamilton College Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in physics and government. AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose taught Mr. Minella as an undergraduate and encouraged his pursuit of an advanced degree in history. “In his first two years as an undergraduate at Hamilton College,” Ambrose observed, “Tim Minella distinguished himself as an exceptional student. In his senior year, I was blessed to have Tim take my course on “The Founders and Their Progeny.” It was only his second history course, but, I am proud to say, it helped him redirect his formidable intellectual gifts. As he did throughout his career at Hamilton, Tim has impressed his professors and his fellow students at South Carolina with his probing intellect, his commitment to excellence, his rigorous work ethic, and his rare ability to make people reconsider their assumptions and interpretations. What I once said of Tim’s performance in my seminar still rings true as he moves toward his Ph.D.: ‘No one I have taught works as hard, thinks as deeply, reads as carefully, or writes as well as Tim Minella.’ All of us at the AHI are proud to have Tim return as this year’s Bakwin Fellow, and we are confident that Tim will soon be a distinguished and important scholar.” “Tim Minella has pride of place as one of the very first undergraduates nurtured by the AHI,” Paquette observed. “He stands out in my mind not only for his impressive intellectual gifts and range of interests but for his rock solid Middle-American character as well. Allow me to praise his parents: They raised one responsible, hardworking, and honorable young man.”

AHI Alumnus Dean Ball Interviews Robert Putnam for Minding the Campus

AHIadmin — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 15:29:28 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) alumnus Dean Ball recently interviewed Robert Putnam for Minding the Campus. The interview discussed Robert Putnam's latest book, Our Kids. Dean Ball is Policy Manager, Center for State and Local Leadership, at the Manhattan Institute.

October 7, 2015: The AHI Requests the Pleasure of Your Company at a Broadway Musical Theatre Benefit

AHIadmin — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 15:55:33 +0000

To purchase tickets for this gala evening, please contact: Bob Paquette: bob@the ahi.org, or Cordelia Menges: ccmenges@aol.com

Please respond by August 1, 2015 to secure your tickets.

BENEFACTOR Tickets @ $750 each include dinner before the show and premium seating.

PATRON Tickets @ $500 include best seats available.

SPONSOR Tickets @ $350 each include good seats in either the orchestra or front mezzanine.

SUPPORTER

I am unable to attend the event, but I would like to make a tax deductible donation.

DATE: Wednesday, October 7, 2015 8:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Richard Rodgers Theatre 226 West 46th Street New York, NY 10036

AHI Announces Free Course on the Modern U.S. Constitution

AHIadmin — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:53:34 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will offer a free course titled: “The Constitution in the 20th Century and Today: Key Decisions and Controversies” from September 14 to December 14. The combined lecture-discussion is open to the public and will meet Monday evenings at the AHI building, 21 W. Park Row in Clinton, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The readings—a historical textbook on constitutional rulings, plus specially selected material from a variety of authors and Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents—will be provided free of charge. Professional credit for teachers is available. Space is limited, so advance signup is required. To register, or for more information, please contact Dr. Frisk (dfrisk@theahi.org) at 315-381-3335, or Professor Robert Paquette (bob@theahi.org) at 315-292-2267. [caption id="attachment_3453" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="David Frisk, Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow, AHI."][/caption] The course will begin with the deep political divisions over constitutional interpretation in recent decades, deal briefly with the debate on the judicial branch during the American Founding and with early American constitutionalism, then focus on most of the major areas in which the Supreme Court has adjudicated in the 20th century and more recently: economic regulation under the “commerce clause,” government's war powers, freedom of speech and political activity, desegregation and racial quotas, religious “establishment” and religious liberty, criminal justice, the separation of powers and federalism, the “takings” or property rights clause, and the cultural issues of abortion and gay rights. Instructor David Frisk, a Resident Fellow at the AHI since 2013, has previously taught its popular continuing education classes on the media and politics, modern statesmanship, conservative political philosophy, and recent socioeconomic trends. A former award-winning journalist, he holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University and is the author of the widely acclaimed biography If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012). “The Constitution is the revered guarantor of our freedoms and of responsible government, yet has always given rise to heated conflicts about its proper interpretation,” Dr. Frisk noted. “Citizens of all political persuasions are right to respect it, and equally right to fear its misuse. This course is intended to deepen understanding of the main disagreements in constitutional law, to provide a clear sense of why the Supreme Court has ruled as it has in many cases that have greatly affected American life, and to explain why its interpretation of our Constitution has often changed.”

AHI Fellows Participate in “Political Power and Individual Liberty” Seminar

AHIadmin — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 14:01:25 +0000

On August 6-7, twelve scholars of diverse fields gathered at Liberty Fund headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, to participate in a Socratic seminar spanning four sessions over two days to discuss Richard Epstein’s book The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Harvard University Press, 2014). Invited participants included two fellows of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI): Charter Fellow Robert Paquette and Pamela Jensen, Professor Emerita of Political Science, Kenyon College. Liberty Fund Senior Fellow Steve Ealy supervised the sessions; Daniel Lowenstein, Professor Emeritus, UCLA School of Law, moderated the discussion. Richard Epstein ranks as one of the most cited legal scholars in the United States. A senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at New York University, Epstein made his mark early on as an authority on the law of torts and of eminent domain. In his book, Epstein has turned in a different but related direction to produce a magnum opus in the field of constitutional jurisprudence. In this thick volume of more than 700 pages, Epstein navigates a middle ground between the originalist/textualist and progressive/living constitution schools of constitutional interpretation. “The United States Constitution must, on any neutral evaluation,” declares Epstein in the first sentence of the book’s introduction, “count as the greatest triumph of political statecraft in the history of the World.” Epstein then proceeds to argue for limited, republican government, secure private property rights, free exchange, security of contracts, and protection of individual rights as the theoretical pillars of the Constitution and how they should serve as an extrinsic standard with which Supreme Court justices should be guided in handing down decisions. Those who have considered Epstein a hard-line libertarian will be disappointed in this book. Indeed, with impressive analytical skill, Epstein contends, “[T]he Constitution is not a libertarian document . . . . [I]t is a classical liberal document that allows for both taxation and eminent domain.” For any undergraduate student considering a career in law, Epstein’s volume is a must read. It contains examinations of Supreme Court cases from Marbury v. Madison (1803) to National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2014). Pierre F. Goodrich, an Indianapolis lawyer and entrepreneur, founded Liberty Fund in 1960. It has as its central mission “the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.” It sponsors scores of seminars and colloquia on themes related to liberty both inside and outside the United States. At Liberty Fund gatherings, scholars and informed citizens who range the political spectrum have spirited, intensive, and civil conversations of the kind that too often does not occur on college and university campuses. Liberty Fund republishes a wide variety of books that explore the idea of liberty and offers online the capacious Library of Economics and Liberty, “dedicated to advancing the study of economics, markets, and liberty.” “Liberty Fund proved once again why it is the gold standard of non-profit organizations of its kind,” observed Paquette. “The organization will soon be making national news with the opening of its spectacular new $22 million headquarters at 111th Street and U.S. 31 in Carmel, Indiana. “The design of this architectural marvel will serve virtually as an open-armed invitation to freedom-loving citizens of all ages who will— apologies to Dante— ‘Indulge all hope, ye who enter here.’”

AHI Alumnus and Ph.D. Candidate Will Eagan Interviewed

AHIadmin — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 13:36:20 +0000

[caption id="attachment_1680" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Will Eagan"][/caption] Will Eagan, from Hingham, Massachusetts, a 2011 alumnus of the independent Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), is completing a doctorate in statistics at Purdue University. This summer current AHI Undergraduate Fellow Amy Elinski caught up with him to conduct an interview, seeking his thoughts on higher education and his memories of the AHI. He has an inspiring story to tell. Tell me about your experience at Hamilton My time as a Hamilton student was a mixed success. By finding the correct professors I was able to learn much about a genuine liberal education, hone my writing skills, and develop myself as a researcher. I really enjoyed my time as a mathematics major, spending the summers conducting astronomy research, and of course being part of the AHI immediately after its founding. I feel so blessed to have the AHI as part of my college experience. Did you have any particularly hard times with certain professors? I preface my answer with my definition of a professor, one who conducts truly original research and inspires students through teaching along with providing service to the academy. I believe there are those on the Hamilton College faculty who fail to satisfy that definition and whose actions with respect to me and other members of the college community are unworthy of the title professor. When I saw examples of the worst, my Socratic reflections regarding the purpose of higher education allowed me to see how essential the AHI’s programming has been to my personal intellectual development. The AHI gave me the courage to consult one of the great scholars of Western Civilization of the twentieth century. He offered me encouragement and told me “There are few principles important to academic life as freedom of inquiry and the solemn obligation of the faculty to educate and expand students’ perspectives rather than to indoctrinate and attempt to coerce them to accept a particular set of beliefs or ideas.” Now that I am in the role of instructor at Purdue University, I strive to promote a truly free and challenging learning environment to embody the best of higher education. What is your favorite experience from Hamilton? My favorite memory was presenting my senior thesis at the American Astronomical Society Meeting in January 2011. Several top astronomers encouraged me to apply to graduate school, and that was the pivotal moment when I could convince my parents (and myself) I could be accepted into a Ph.D. program and even win a fellowship. Although this event was unrelated to the AHI, the leadership lunches and regular interaction with leading outside scholars is the best preparation for these spontaneous moments. Do you feel you received a well-rounded education at Hamilton? As I a proponent of liberal education, I reject the “open curriculum.” A liberal arts college needs a directed curriculum with rigorous courses in core disciplines: literature, foreign language, history, economics, government, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and statistics. I received a well-rounded education better than most of peers by recognizing this fact midway through my Hamilton College career, but I would have been much better off as a graduate had there been a serious curriculum from the day I stepped on campus. I advise all new students to talk to someone like Professors Douglas Ambrose and Robert Paquette early on and seek their advice on how to achieve a rigorous liberal arts education; not just in history but in all the disciplines. Also, I offer the additional advice: GPA is overrated. Take courses where you will be challenged and learn the most and step out of your comfort zone. If you are successful, opportunities will arise from graduate programs or employers. If you could change one thing about your time at Hamilton College, what would you change, if anything? When I was applying to schools, I intended to double major. A double major is a huge mistake. I should have just been a mathematics major and sought out the best faculty the college had to offer across disciplines. My advice to college freshman is that you are first a student of the liberal arts before any particular discipline. As a double major, you take courses in too few departments. Many courses I took were redundant or I could have done (perhaps better) through self-study. I recommend college freshmen to follow ACTA’s What Will They Learn and talk to people at the AHI for how to best utilize your time at Hamilton College. Also, seek out good professors. Good professors will challenge you; that is the ultimate sign they respect you as a serious student. How did you get involved with the AHI and favorite memory of the AHI? I first became involved with an upperclassman and friend named Joe Bock. Joe told me to attend a speaker. The speaker was Colgate University Professor of Political Science and AHI Senior Fellow Robert Kraynak. I would say this was my favorite memory of the AHI because it was the moment I knew this experience was something I could not find on campus. I was so impressed with him, I brought him back as a speaker. My interactions with him allowed me to discover so many intellectuals from whose work I could learn. Were there any speakers or events with the AHI you found particularly enjoyable? Honestly, all the events and speakers were enjoyable. The leadership lunches were the most enjoyable because it offered an opportunity for me to converse with scholars beyond the mathematical sciences. I really did enjoy playing summer baseball with Baylor political scientists David and Mary Nichols, lunch with Dr. Steve Hayward, and meeting Harvard’s John Stauffer. What made you choose to pursue a Ph.D. and what are you studying? I am pursuing a Ph.D. in statistics, which is a distinct discipline from mathematics. Ever since I was in high school I wanted to pursue a Ph.D. Originally my desire was to pursue mathematics, but my research experience as undergraduate convinced me that the ability to understand data was the future, and it really appealed to my curiosity. Also, different professors encouraged me to pursue a Ph.D. in statistics. Is there any particular discipline in statistics you're focusing on in your studies? Very good question! Most branches of statistics interest me. Currently, I hold two divergent interests. The first is applied and the second is methodological. I hold a growing passion in understanding very large genomic datasets and understanding the treatment of diseases using those. My second interests are in the Bayesian inference and its relation to non-parametrics and machine learning. I am very curious so I am willing to research anything! Why did you choose Purdue? When you apply to a Ph.D. program you really focus on the department. Purdue was exactly what I was looking for. After becoming interested in the interdisciplinary application of Bayesian statistics and being the only student at Hamilton with that interest, I realized I needed to be part of a large department. For me a large department offered the most opportunities and chance to embrace the breadth of my discipline at the graduate level. Purdue’s Department of Statistics is one of the largest and best departments in the country, and since so much of the department’s research aligns with my interests, it made for a very good fit. When Purdue offered me a very generous fellowship, it sealed the deal. Please discuss the leadership at Purdue under Mitch Daniels. I have not yet met President Daniels, but I see him at the fitness center often. I really applaud his efforts to freeze tuition and end speech codes. He is also pioneering a charter school system to improve STEM in Indianapolis as a feeder program for Purdue. I think making higher education affordable is something every president should make a top priority especially at state universities, and I hope other institutions follow suit. One thing I see as promising is how much President Daniels reaches out to organizations like the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for courageous ways to improve the academy rather than cocooning oneself from the public in denial about the dumbing down of standards. One future challenge for colleges like Hamilton, Trinity, and other elite schools in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is the rise of the honors colleges at state universities. The large universities have economies of scope and scale on their side. What are some of the biggest differences between Purdue University and Hamilton College that you've observed during your time at each? Purdue University is a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Agricultural, and Mathematical Sciences) focused state-research university in the Big Ten Conference with about 40,000 students. Hamilton College is private liberal arts college in NESCAC with about 1,800 students and is exclusively undergraduate. I have been nothing but impressed with Purdue University. First, Purdue emphasizes affordability and accountability. There is considerable pressure and expectations from the community to make your time here affordable and, as a public university, Purdue has to be compliant with federal legislation. Second, Purdue believes in academic rigor. Every student I meet has some plan for the future with the serious coursework to back it up. Additionally, the university really works to ensure quality control of coursework across all levels. I see many undergraduates completing impressive internships. Also, Purdue houses a large number of international students and faculty and is one of the largest universities in the United States. I really think it elevates the reputation of the institution when it attracts attention across the world (and the moon thanks to Neil Armstrong!). Academically, Purdue is much more utilitarian in outlook than Hamilton. I would say Hamilton students are more willing to take courses in disciplines outside their majors and are far less concerned with their postgraduate plans. There are opportunities for undergraduates to work with faculty at Purdue, but it is probably easier to do so at Hamilton with no competition from graduate students. Quite fortunately, the AHI brings many of the advantages of Purdue (or perhaps any large research university) with a Western Civilization focus. To attend AHI programming is free. Many of the discussions and panels at the AHI are at the graduate level, as are the talented students drawn to the lively debate and to hear top scholars lecture. I encourage all Hamilton College students at the very least to check out the AHI; you will be impressed! Do you have any higher plans beyond those outlined in your above answer? Not yet. What are you doing with your summer? This summer I am doing three things: (1) edit a grant proposal for my adviser (2) founding the Purdue University student chapter of the American Statistical Association (3) studying for qualifying exams. Can you please explain the purpose and mission of the American Statistical Association and what compelled you to found a student chapter at Purdue? As the name suggests, it is directly related to the American Statistical Association (ASA). The concept started last year. Purdue is the largest producer of bachelor degrees in statistics (we battle with UC-Berkeley for that title) and one of the five largest graduate programs. One professor approached me with the idea. This was one of my unfulfilled undergraduate dreams. I formed a similar group my final semester at Hamilton, but there was little appreciation for statistics with so few people there to share my passion. Ironically, my organization contained more faculty than students as active members. Also, an illness forced me to cut back on my ambition. Purdue offers a great place to put together a great statistics community for both graduates and undergraduates, and I really want to form a welcoming and vibrant statistics community open to all students. Tell me about your personal life. Since graduating from Hamilton in 2011, my biggest challenge is overcoming a debilitating illness. I am now effectively cured and still working to improve myself. In my spare time, I mentor for the Disabilities Resource Center at Purdue University to help younger students like myself and other young men in the same situation through my doctor’s office. As a hobby now, I am trying to learn to converse in Mandarin Chinese. Would you mind elaborating more about your battle with illness? I don’t mind telling the story to inspire others with chronic and severe illnesses. I have been cured of intestinal disease known as ulcerative colitis in its severe and chronic form. The disease has at times taken away my ability to even drink water and most foods. I even have gone through the process of receiving nutrition through an IV. My battle with illness began before my senior year, and to some degree and I still struggle with it today. I was diagnosed with the disease over spring break of my senior year after losing fifty pounds and a considerable amount of blood. I feared cancer and welcomed the eventual diagnosis so that I could begin treatment. When I gave my speech at the AHI colloquium in 2011, many of those in attendance incorrectly believed I had had an eating disorder. I remember Professor Paquette out of concern offering me a chance to opt out, but I really wanted to take a moment and thank the AHI, which contributed so much to my personal intellectual development. I especially wanted a chance to thank AHI senior fellow and Colgate University Professor of Political Science Dr. Robert Kraynak for introducing me to the study of political philosophy. Unfortunately I would like to say things got better after my diagnosis; I was wrong. I ultimately failed to achieve remission even with the treatment of the most sophisticated drugs. To be cured of the disease, I had to undergo a sequence of three surgeries to have one of intestines removed and then have my digestive system reconstructed to function without it. The process was very trying and required me to reteach myself how to sleep and eat. Now I am recovered and I am quite functional, but I will never be quite the same. The lesson I take away from my struggles is that when the worst happens, you can more fully appreciate the wonderful things that exist around you. I now welcome the opportunity to mentor others with UC or any other conditions and urge them to tackle their ailments head on. Wisdom on this score for all to hear comes from professional figure skater and cancer survivor Scott Hamilton: The “only disability in life is a bad attitude.” How did the AHI influence you in your time at Hamilton? Without the AHI, I would not know what a liberal education is. Did the AHI continue to influence you after graduation? Absolutely! The AHI is about learning to become a young intellectual and student of Western Civilization. Improving your writing skills can really open doors for someone in the hard sciences whose undergraduate education prioritize quantitative thinking. Any memorable stories you’d like to share? I remember Professor Paquette going over my first paper I wrote for him in his office. I had to come to the library early on a Saturday morning, but it was well worth it. This meeting was the first time someone took the time to improve my prose. Ever since then I have improved as writer. When I teach, I encourage all my students to work on their soft skills. By practicing every day you can blossom into a polished student by graduation Anything else you’d like to add? One thing which astounds me about the AHI is every week I hear about another wonderful, new development.

AHI's Grabar Writes on the Common Core

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 19:50:27 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently published the article "Common Core, Creeping into Everything." Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Theatre Benefit is SOLD OUT!

AHIadmin — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 20:25:39 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to inform you that all available tickets for our special theatre benefit in conjunction with 'Hamilton' on Wednesday, October 7th, 8 p.m. at the Richard Rodgers Theatre have been purchased and the event is now SOLD OUT. We heartily express our appreciation to all of those who purchased tickets and we look forward to seeing you all on Broadway! If you would still like to support the AHI, you can donate via our website.

Oxford University Press Announces Paperback of AHI's Paquette and Smith's Volume on Slavery

AHIadmin — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 15:15:48 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Charter Fellow Robert Paquette and Academic Adviser Mark Smith on the announcement by Oxford University Press (OUP) that it will be publishing a paperback version of The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas (2010). Co-edited by Paquette and Smith, this widely praised volume, more than 700 pages in length, contains more than thirty essays by specialists in the field. Part I: “Places” focuses on countries in the Americas where slavery was prominent. Part II: Themes, Methods, and Sources,” examines a wide range of thematic issues such as economics, demography, race, biology, and gender. The paperback version will be available in January 2016. In notifying Paquette and Smith of the decision, Dr. Hollie Thomas, Editorial Assistant for OUP, referenced the many positive reviews of the volume and excerpted quotes from a number of them.

"Written by a variety of scholars ranging from some of the doyens of the subject ... to some promising newcomers, the individual contributions provide incisive, nuanced introductions to a wide range of topics and themes." Keith Masoon, English Historical Review

"Will serve as an excellent resource for serious history students and instructors, who will find this an invaluable class resource. Recommended." - Julie Biando Edwards, Library Journal

"This book is comprehensive and is required reading for anyone interested in teaching a course on slavery in the Americas...essential... The editors and contributors are to be applauded for successfully piecing together the many different threads of a most complex and interesting field." David Ryden, History: Reviews of New Books

"This handbook provides a very valuable introduction to trends in the recent historiography on slavery in the Americas. The readers of the volume (as well as its editors) have been well served by the craftsmanship and erudition of those who have contributed to it." - David Richardson, H-Soz-u-Kult

"an excellent work.Its articles are uniformly well crafted, edited and documented." Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave Studies

“The news on the paperback edition is very welcome,” said Smith, Carolina Distinguished Professor of History, University of South Carolina, “not least because it grants access to even wider audiences truly trenchant essays on the state-of-the-field. My hope is that this paperback edition will make this cutting edge collection more available to undergraduates and informed citizens.” “Mark and I have been most gratified by the reception to the volume,” Paquette added. A good deal of thought and sweat went into the production, and it has paid off. The contributors represent an exciting mix of younger and older scholars who delve into both historical and historiographical issues on one of the most important institutions in history.”

AHI Academic Advisor Richard Brookhiser Receives 2015 Henry and Anne Paolucci Award

AHIadmin — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 16:27:10 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates AHI Academic Advisor Richard Brookhiser on receiving the 2015 Henry and Anne Paolucci Award from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) for Founders' Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln (Basic Books, 2014). The ISI's Paolucci Book Award honors the best work that advances conservative principles. The award is named in memory of Henry and Anne Paolucci, distinguished scholars, teachers, and writers who exemplified the ideal of the public intellectual. Brookhiser, a senior editor of National Review and the acclaimed author of eleven books, will receive the award and give a talk on his book on Thursday, October 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the Wilmington Country Club, Wilmington, Delaware and registration is required.

Cato’s Roger Pilon Joins AHI and Speaks on Classical Liberal Constitution

AHIadmin — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 18:30:20 +0000

On Wednesday evening, August 19, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) gathered students and fellows for a Leadership Dinner that featured Roger Pilon, founder and director of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies. Dr. Pilon, one of the foremost libertarian Constitutional scholars in the country, prefaced a lively discussion of constitutional jurisprudence with a brisk and refreshing journey through Western history to discuss the classically liberal philosophy and political theory that shaped the founding of the United States and the framing of the Constitution. He engaged a wide range of student questions on Supreme Court jurisprudence, including such recent cases as King v. Burwell (2015) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). In the process, Dr. Pilon discussed interpretative methods of various Supreme Court justices, the use and abuse of the Commerce Clause to expand the regulatory state, and how judges and legal scholars of both the right and the left have betrayed what he regards as the classically liberal principles that informed the original understanding of the Constitution by its framers. The AHI is centering its programming in 2015-2016 on constitutional history and law. [caption id="attachment_4649" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Roger Pilon (center) converses with Will Swett and other AHI Undergraduate Fellows at Leadership Dinner."][/caption] Dr. Pilon received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from George Washington University. In serving as publisher of the highly regarded Cato Supreme Court Review, a journal he helped found in 2001, he has stood at the forefront of an intellectual movement that seeks to “examine those [Supreme Court] decisions and cases in the light cast by the nation’s first principles—liberty and limited government—as articulated in the Declaration of Independence and secured by the Constitution.” In introducing the journal’s first issue, he underscored the founders’ embrace of limited government and their concerns about the nature of power to naturally agglomerate power to itself. The founders “justified our independence by setting forth their philosophy of government. They began with an appeal to natural law and natural rights, to the idea that there is a higher law of right and wrong from which to derive the positive law and against which to judge that law.” Dr. Pilon commented on the impressive intellectual range of the AHI’s undergraduate fellows and the high quality of their questions. Before departing, he accepted an invitation from AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette to join the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors. “Roger Pilon brings to the AHI a formidable intellect with a passion for truth seeking and fiery commitment to the protection of individual liberty against the onslaught of Leviathan,” said Paquette. “We look forward to working with him and his wife Juliana, an impressive scholar in her own right and the AHI’s newest senior fellow, to undertake a number of programmatic initiatives in Washington D.C.”

AHI Announces Eighth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence

AHIadmin — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 19:10:38 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), in partnership with the Kinder Forum is pleased to announce the Eighth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on September 17, 2015, at 1:00 p.m. in Hulston Hall on the University of Missouri campus. The lecture, which will be delivered by Boston University Professors of Law James E. Fleming and Linda C. McClain, is free and open to the public. The lecture will examine contemporary conflicts over law and morality through exploring Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court’s recent marriage decision, and Justice Kennedy’s opinion of the Court along with the four dissenting opinions. James E. Fleming is an alumnus of the University of Missouri, where he received his A.B. summa cum laude in 1977 with a major in Political Science. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard University Law School. At present, he is Professor of Law, The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law, and Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life at Boston University School of Law. He is currently at work on a new book project that addresses the legal enforcement of morals. Linda C. McClain received her A.B. with High Honors in Religion from Oberlin College, her M.A. from the University of Chicago Divinity School, her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, and her LL.M. from the New York University School of Law. She is currently Professor of Law and Paul M. Siskind Research Scholar at Boston University School of Law. The lecture honors Judge David Aldrich Nelson (1932-2010), a charter member of the AHI’s board of directors who served for more than two decades on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

AHI to Participate in Debate: “The Common Core: Is It Good for Students and Teachers?"

AHIadmin — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 13:22:16 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar will participate in a public debate "The Common Core: Is It Good for Students and Teachers?" The event is open to the public and will take place Thursday, October 15, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Palace Theater, Hamilton, NY. Common Core refers to government initiatives to create national educational standards for students in grades K-12. These initiatives have raised parental concerns on a wide variety of issues such as curricular content and federal control of local schools. Before coming to the AHI, Dr. Grabar taught college English for more than twenty years, most recently at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. She founded the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as an immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia. She has published widely on educational issues, including on Common Core, especially for the Selous Foundation in Washington, D.C. The town-hall style debate will feature five panelists. Each will present their assessments of the Common Core program and respond to questions from the audience as well as from the panelists. In addition to Dr. Grabar, John Palmer, Associate Professor of Education, Colgate University; Jennifer McDowell, teacher, Norwich High School and author of a master's thesis on the Common Core; Gary Weeks, English teacher, Sherburne-Earlville School (retired); and Sue Lehmann, mathematics teacher, Hamilton Central School, will serve as panelists. AHI Senior Fellow Robert Kraynak, Professor of Government at Colgate University and director of Colgate’s Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, organized the event. For further information, please contact Dr. Kraynak at rkraynak@colgate.edu.

Enquiry: Issue 28, August 31, 2015 Published

AHIadmin — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 12:48:03 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the most recent issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Advisor Peter Coclanis Publishes in WSJ on Big Agriculture

AHIadmin — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 01:40:40 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Peter Coclanis recently published an article entitled "Trying to Teach Big Agra in a Hotbead of Locavores," in The Wall Street Journal. Peter Coclanis is Albert R. Newsome Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

AHI's Grabar Writes About Ending Campus Microaggressions

AHIadmin — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 22:26:15 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently published the article "A Modest Proposal For Ending Campus Microaggressions" in The Federalist. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

Enquiry: Issue 29, September 7, 2015 Published

AHIadmin — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 22:37:50 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the September 7 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Fellow Writes on Position Flip by Huckabee on Common Core

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 01:45:10 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently published the article "Huckabee Hucksterism on Common Core?" Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

Enquiry: Issue 30, September 14, 2015 Published

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 14:16:41 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the September 14 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI's Grabar Writes on Planned Parenthood Lobbying as "Classics" Education on Campus

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 22:15:03 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently published the article "Planned Parenthood Lobbying as "Classics" Education." Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Awards Menges Prizes on Constitution Day

AHIadmin — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 22:23:36 +0000

On September 17, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) celebrated its ninth birthday. Since its inception, the AHI has used Constitution Day to announce the names of those undergraduates who have received awards as a result of their participation in the AHI’s annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, which, in 2015, was devoted to “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity.” This year’s prize winners are Zoe Garman and Danielle Stemper from the Rochester Institute of Technology and Michael Adamo from Hamilton College. The Rochester Institute of Technology brought a busload of students to the eighth annual colloquium. It was held April 16-19 at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York, and consisted of six sessions over two days. Two RIT professors, Sarah Burns, Department of Political Science, and Jeffrey Wagner, Department of Economics, participated in the sessions, and Professor Burns selected the RIT recipients based on the quality of their participation in the colloquium. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette directed students in a class on “Conservative Thought in the United States” to explore how traditional conservatives, neoconservatives, and libertarians differ in their understanding of capitalism, its limitations and achievements, and what the future holds for capitalism in the United States. Students would base their answers on readings assigned to the colloquium’s participants and their discussions of them during the conference. All of the students would also have to integrate into their answer major points from the keynote address of Dr. Michael Munger, director of Duke University’s Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, on “The Entrepreneurial Virtues,” Michael Adamo, a history major from South Windsor, Connecticut, composed the best paper. “Of the dozen or so students who tackled the assignment,” said Paquette, “Adamo’s paper stood out for both its nuanced, penetrating understanding of the issues that distinguish various strains of right-of-center thinking in the United States and for its tightness and lucidity of expression. He communicates explanation with clarity and efficiency.” Ms. Garman and Ms. Stemper received book prizes specially selected to advance their intellectual interests. Mr. Adamo received an iPad Mini with his named inscribed on it. Carl B. Menges, who established the prizes, received his A. B. cum laude in 1951 from Hamilton College and his M.B.A in 1953 from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. He served for more than twenty years as a member of the Board of Trustees of Hamilton College and is a charter member of the AHI’s Board of Directors.

Roger Scruton: "The Law of the Land: Reflections on Law and Migration"

AHIadmin — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 19:15:59 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Roger Scruton, one of the most influential philosophers of his generation, will speak on "The Law of the Land: Reflections on Law and Migration.” The event will take place Thursday, October 15, at 8:00 p.m. in the Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. The AHI is co-sponsoring Dr. Scruton’s appearance with Skidmore College and its Benjamin Franklin Forum. Dr. Scruton, a specialist in aesthetics, has been called the most accomplished conservative philosopher since Edmund Burke. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Cambridge University in 1972. He has published more than thirty books, including several novels, and composed two operas. His most recent books include The Soul of the World (2014), How to be a Conservative (2014), and Notes from Underground (2014), a novel about Czechoslovakia. In 1982, he helped found The Salisbury Review, a British journal devoted to limited government and the preservation of the best of traditional Western culture, and served as its editor for nearly two decades. For additional information, contact Dr. Flagg Taylor, Department of Government, Skidmore College, 315-580-5244, ftaylor@skidmore.edu

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Issue Student Publication Enquiry, for September 28, 2015

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:42:38 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the September 28 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI's Frisk Presents Paper at Political Science Convention

AHIadmin — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 19:14:40 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow David Frisk presented a paper at the American Political Science Association's (APSA) 2015 convention in San Francisco on September 6. The APSA Annual Meeting is the crossroads of the political science profession—its largest and most noted event. [caption id="attachment_3453" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="David Frisk, Theodore J. Eismeier Fellow, AHI"][/caption] Dr. Frisk's essay was titled: “Aristocracy and the American Regime: The New Humanists' Problem with Modern America.” The New Humanists—not to be confused with the secular humanists, associated with philosopher John Dewey—were a set of academic cultural conservatives that was prominent from the 1910s to the 1930s. Their most famous voice was Irving Babbitt of Harvard, author of Rousseau and Romanticism and Democracy and Leadership. The best-known and most prolific cultural-conservative scholar of recent decades, Russell Kirk, praised Democracy and Leadership as “one of the few truly important works of political thought” ever produced in the United States and “perhaps the most penetrating work on politics ever written by an American.” “Babbitt's courageous emphasis on the moral quality of public life, and the centrality of virtue and character to good political leadership,” Dr. Frisk explains, “have had too little influence on conservative and classical-liberal thinking. I see this paper as eventually a significant part of a chapter in a book I have begun working on, which will explore what several under-appreciated political concepts can contribute to the long-elusive 'fusion' of conservative and classical-liberal thought.” “Although aristocracy in the sense of 'rule by the best' is an essential theme in ancient political philosophy, its significance in modern times has tended to be either the rightly rejected idea of special power for a hereditary class, or else just exceptional ability of some kind—certainly a tremendously valuable thing, but in itself morally neutral.” “In contrast, the New Humanists sought to revive the concept of people with superior virtue—especially in the sense of rejecting man's natural will to power and following what they believed was an equally real ability to live according to a demanding conscience. They expressed the hope that such people might play a stronger, more authoritative role in society, mainly by force of example.” In Democracy and Leadership, Babbitt warned that not only the secularization of modern times, but also specifically American and classical-liberal overemphases on material progress and the completely self-reliant individual, were lowering the country's moral tone while making politics an increasingly selfish clash of interests. Presenting on the same panel were Andreas A.M. Kinneging, professor of legal philosophy at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and a prominent conservative scholar it the country; Geoffrey Vaughan, associate professor of political science at Assumption College in Massachusetts and director of its Foundations of Western Civilization Program; and Ethan Alexander-Davey, a graduate student working with Professor James Ceaser of the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. The panel, which focused on the theme of aristocratic principles in the modern era, was sponsored by the Ciceronian Society, an organization of scholars stressing traditionalist and religious themes in political philosophy, law, and history. It is recognized as an “affiliated group” by APSA, allowing it to set up its own panels. Last year, at the APSA convention in Washington, Frisk presented “A Commentary on the 'Patrick Henry/Onslow' Debate,” a series of public essays by John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams (or an author writing at Adams's direction) in which they argued vehemently about constitutional powers. A Resident Fellow at the AHI since 2013, Dr. Frisk teaches its adult education courses in history, politics, and political philosophy, and leads reading groups for Hamilton College students. He is the author of If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012).

AHI's Mary Grabar Discusses the Common Core on Scott Adams Radio Show

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 23:36:07 +0000

On September 24, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Mary Grabar was interviewed about the Common Core on the Scott Adams Radio Show Bugle Call. [caption id="attachment_3606" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Resident Fellow Mary Grabar at the AHI"][/caption] Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Fellow's Recent Article Reported on in Accuracy in Academia

AHIadmin — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 02:00:57 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Mary Grabar's recent article "Planned Parenthood Lobbying as "Classics" Education" was reported on by Accuracy in Academia, a non-profit research group based in Washington, D. C., that wants schools to return to their traditional mission-the quest for truth. To promote this goal, AIA documents and publicizes political bias in education in Campus Report, its monthly newsletter. Grabar followed-up on her original story with a second article entitled "Planned Parenthood Talks Only to Womyn's Studies Professors and Students," discussing her many requests for more information from Planned Parenthood about their activities on the Hamilton Campus as well their "Pink Out" day.

AHI Undergraduate Fellows Issue Student Publication Enquiry, for October 5, 2015

AHIadmin — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 17:54:42 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the October 5 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

WUTQ to Interview AHI's Mary Grabar on the Common Core

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 19:36:20 +0000

Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will be interviewed Ocotber 15 on WUTQ's Talk of the Town at 8:40 a.m. about the Common Core. In the evening, Grabar will also participate in the debate “The Common Core: Is It Good for Students and Teachers?” at at 7:00 p.m. at the Palace Theater, Hamilton, NY. The debate has been organized by AHI Senior Fellow Robert Kraynak, Professor of Government at Colgate University and director of Colgate’s Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, organized the event. For further information, please contact Dr. Kraynak at rkraynak@colgate.edu. Today, Grabar's article "The Legacy of Arne Duncan: Common Core and so Much More! (Part 1)" appeared in a post for the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens.

Join Us for the Fourth Annual ADP/AHI Blood Drive!

AHIadmin — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 20:16:58 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3102" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Red Cross truck at the AHI for past ADP/AHI blood drive"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will host its fourth annual Red Cross blood drive in partnership with the Red Cross and the Hamilton College chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, on Saturday, October 24 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY. Every donor will receive a free gift and food and refreshments for the event, courtesy of the AHI, will be provided by Michael’s Restaurant. Drop-ins are welcome, but if you would like to schedule an appointment, please call Robert L. Paquette at 315-292-2267. International crises have increased the demand for blood. The AHI encourages citizens in Clinton and the surrounding area to help in a most worthy cause. The annual event also recognizes Clara Barton’s historic ties to Clinton. In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Association of the Red Cross. As a young woman in 1851, she attended a pioneering coeducational academy, the Liberal Institute, run by the Universalist Church in Clinton, NY. Please join us in support of this worthy cause!

AHI's Grabar on the Democratic Debate

AHIadmin — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 19:29:07 +0000

Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), recently wrote the article "Somewhere Over the Rainbow... the Dreamy Democratic Debate" for Townhall.com.

Enquiry, Published for October 12, 2015

AHIadmin — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 20:28:29 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the October 12 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Resident Fellow Book Review

AHIadmin — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 20:42:36 +0000

AHI Resident Fellow Mary Grabar recently reviewed the book "The President and the Apprentice: Eisenhower and Nixon, 1952-1961," by Irwin F. Gellman, Yale University Press, New Haven & London. Her review, "The Nixon Vice Presidency, Setting the Historiacal Record Straight," was recently published by the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research.

Enquiry, October 19, 2015

AHIadmin — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 20:45:12 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the October 19 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Resident Fellow Writes on the Legacy of Arne Duncan and the Common Core

AHIadmin — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 01:41:06 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Resident Fellow Mary Grabar recently continued her discussion on the Common Core in the Part II article, "The Legacy of Arne Duncan, Common Core, and So Much More: College." Grabar's Part I article, "The Legacy of Arne Duncan: Common Core and So Much More!" appeared in a post for the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research on October 14. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens.

AHI Praised in Forbes Article

AHIadmin — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:14:25 +0000

In the October 21 Forbes article "Getting Intellectual Diversity on Campus," Richard Vedder, who directs the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), teaches at Ohio University, and is an Adjunct Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, discusses the benefits of non-profits like the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). When discussing the pursuit of intellectual diversity on campus in his article, Vedder states:

"While fighting for diversity of views within the university is worthwhile, there is an alternative approach that appeals greatly to me, exemplified by the “Uncomfortable Learning” program at Williams College, and, in some ways similarly, of the Alexander Hamilton Institute (AHI) located near Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Neither program is officially connected in any way with the college – indeed, Hamilton’s administration has generally been openly hostile to AHI. Yet both used alumni funding to create a non-profit entity separate from the college, but designed to benefit college students. I have spoken at both places and think both programs are first-rate, bringing major scholars to campus (or, in Hamilton’s case, near campus). They are speakers who generally hold contrarian views – different from those of the academic majority."

AHI Adviser Roger Kimball Publishes on Campus Assault on Free Speech

AHIadmin — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 00:49:16 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisory Roger Kimball recently published The Campus Assault on Free Speech, Wesleyan Edition." Roger Kimball, is the Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books.

Paquette Interviewed by Campus Reform

AHIadmin — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 01:27:00 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's Robert Paquette was recently interviewed by Campus Reform. The article reports that Paquette is the only "undergraduate professor from the top 50 liberal arts colleges that has donated to a Republican presidential candidate in the current election cycle." "I do believe these numbers give an accurate representation of the political leanings of faculty on most college campuses" Paquette wrote in an e-mail to Campus Reform. [caption id="attachment_3318" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Robert Paquette holding crystal eagle, symbol of the Jeane Kirkpatrick Award, presented at the Ronald Reagan Dinner."][/caption] Robert Paquette is an expert on conservative thought and an advocate for the freedom of expression on college campuses. He holds a B.A. from Bowling Green State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. He is also the author of many books and articles including “Sugar Is Made with Blood: The Conspiracy of La Escalera and the Conflict between Empires over Slavery in Cuba and History” and “Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese.” Paquette co-founded the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization in 2007. In 20014, he received the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the American Conservative Union Foundation awarded him the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom. The prize honors the memory of Dr. Kirkpatrick, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, for her fierce defense of academic freedom.

Enquiry, October 25, 2015

AHIadmin — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 01:32:49 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the October 25 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

Grabar's Latest on Obama Administration's Common Core

AHIadmin — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 22:11:54 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Resident Fellow Mary Grabar recently wrote the article "Obama Administration Condemns Own Common Core Test," for Frontpage Magazine discussing how the administration recently called for less stringent testing in the wake of mounting concern.

AHI Co-Sponsors Lecture by Conservative Philosopher Roger Scruton

AHIadmin — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 11:30:36 +0000

On October 15, Roger Scruton, one of the most influential philosophers of his generation, gave a lecture on “The Law of the Land: Reflections on Law and Migration” at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. The lecture was co-sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) along with Skidmore College and its Benjamin Franklin Forum. http://vimeo.com/144080610 Dr. Scruton, a specialist in aesthetics, has been called the most accomplished conservative philosopher since Edmund Burke. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Cambridge University in 1972. He has published more than thirty books, including several novels, and composed two operas. His most recent books include The Soul of the World (2014), How to be a Conservative (2014), and Notes from Underground (2014), a novel about Czechoslovakia. In 1982, he helped found The Salisbury Review, a British journal devoted to limited government and the preservation of the best of traditional Western culture, and served as its editor for nearly two decades.

Colonel Alex Crowther to Deliver Third Annual Josiah Bunting Veterans Day Lecture

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 12:56:21 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4835" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Colonel Alex Crowther"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Colonel Glenn "Alex" Crowther will deliver the Third Annual Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day lecture. The lecture, entitled “Service,” will take place on Wednesday, November, 11 at 7 pm at the Kennedy Auditorium, Room GO27, Taylor Science Building, Hamilton College. Colonel Crowther spent 30 years on active duty with the U.S. Army. He served overseas eight times in Latin America, Korea, Iraq, and Belgium. He is Airborne, Air Assault, Pathfinder and Ranger qualified and has the Expert Infantryman’s Badge. He has a wide variety of Army and Joint Awards including the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Bronze Star. He has also been awarded the State Department Meritorious Honor Award and the Canadian Land Force Achievement Award. He served six Joint tours. His work at the strategic level includes tours at the Army Staff, the Joint Staff J5 (Strategic Plans & Policies), and as a Research Professor at Strategic Studies Institute (the U.S. Army's think tank). He was personally selected to be a Counterterrorism Advisor for the US Ambassador to Iraq, a Political Advisor for the Multinational Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) Commander and a Special Assistant for the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. He was also a Senior Analyst at Wikistrat, the world’s first massive multiplayer online consultancy. He is currently a Cyber Policy Specialist at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP) in the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. He is also an adjunct Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct Research Professor of National Security Studies at the Strategic Studies Institute. Colonel Crowther has a BA in International Relations from Tufts University, an MS in International Relations from Troy State University, and a Ph.D. in International Development from Tulane University. The lecture honors General Josiah Bunting III, a member of the AHI’s Board of Directors. General Bunting was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1963. He subsequently studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and at Columbia University as a John Burgess Fellow. During active duty with the United States Army, he served as an infantry officer in Vietnam with the Ninth Infantry Division. During his military career, General Bunting received the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Honor Medal–2nd class, Presidential Unit Citation, Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge, and Ranger Tab. Subsequently, he taught history at West Point and at the Naval War College. His administrative experience in higher education includes: President, Briarcliff College (1973-1977); President, Hampden-Sydney College (1977-1987); and Superintendent, VMI (1995-2003). General Bunting has published four novels, including The Lionheads (G. Braziller, 1972), a best-seller that was selected by Time Magazine as one of “The Ten Best Novels” of 1973. More recently, he has completed several works of non-fiction An Education for Our Time (Regnery 1998) and a biography Ulysses S. Grant (Times Book, 2004). He is chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s National Civic Literacy Board, president of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and an AHI board member. He also served on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

AHI Presents Third Annual Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day Lecture

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 20:56:43 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4839" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="AHI Veterans Day Lecture Announcement"][/caption]

AHI Resident Fellow to Speak on "Gamifying the Classroom"

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 21:23:53 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to announce that Resident Fellow Mary Grabar will be lecturing on "Gamifying the Classroom: How the U.S. Department of Education Is Using Video Games and Common Core to Transform K-16 Education," Tuesday, November 17, 2015, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Her talk begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Solarium, 321 W. Hill Street, Decatur, GA 30030 (Oakhurst Neighborhood) and refreshments will be served. [caption id="attachment_4493" align="aligncenter" width="411" caption="AHI's Mary Grabar"][/caption]

Enquiry, November 2, 2015

AHIadmin — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 21:35:47 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the November 2 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Academic Advisor Roger Kimball Publishes on Campus "Crybullies"

AHIadmin — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 01:22:39 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Roger Kimball recently published "The Rise of the College Crybullies" in The Wall Street Journal. Roger Kimball, is the Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books.

Enquiry, November 9 and November 16 Issues

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 02:53:54 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the November 9 and November 16 issues of Enquiry have been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

Antique Chairs Donated to the AHI

AHIadmin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 03:43:21 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) resides in a historic Federal-style mansion, completed in 1832 by Othniel Williams (1787-1832), a lawyer and graduate of Yale University. On September 11, AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, received a phone call from Louisville, Kentucky. The caller knew of the history of the building, and in the mid-twentieth century, his family had come into possession of two ornately carved antique chairs that had once resided in the house from about 1850 until before World War II. In 1943, the grandparents of the caller’s wife’s, both from upstate New York, purchased the antique chairs. [caption id="attachment_4885" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="AHI Gifted Antique Chairs"][/caption] In 1900, Alice Gordon Root married Thomas Flint Nichols, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Hamilton College. In a letter dated October 29, 1945 from Auburn, New York, Mrs. Nichols, formerly of Clinton, describes the provenance of the chairs: “As I understand it, the chairs were a part of the furnishings of what was known as the Othniel Williams house in Clinton, N. Y. and were purchased about 1850. Mr. Williams was an important personage in the village [of Clinton], was Treasurer of Hamilton College for many years and his house, partly because of its size, was the social center of the village.” A granddaughter of Othniel Williams sold the chairs to the Nichols family in the late 1930s as part of the settlement of the estate. The chairs arrived at the AHI on November 10. When properly reconditioned, they will sit proudly in the Eugene D. Genovese and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Reading Room. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Antique Chair"]

Antique Chairs Donated to the AHI

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4872" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Ornately Carved Antique Chair"][/caption]

AHI Academic Adviser Paul Rahe Praised for New Book on Sparta

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 03:36:13 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to report that Academic Adviser Paul Rahe was recently praised for his new book The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, on Sparta and the defeat of the Persian empire. Paul Rahe is the Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in Western Heritage and professor of history at Hillsdale College. His previous books include the seminal three-volume work Republics Ancient and Modern.

AHI's Frisk Interviewed on Talk Radio About Current Politics

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 03:48:39 +0000

Dr. David Frisk, a Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), was recently a guest on “Wake Up!” with Steve Curtis, KLZ-560 radio in Denver, CO. Their hourlong topic on November 24 was the current state of American politics and the presidential race. In addition to his morning drive-time show, which aims at “aggressive political, social, and spiritual dialogue,” Curtis has held a leadership role in the Denver Tea Party and is a former state Republican chairman in Colorado. [caption id="attachment_3567" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="AHI's David Frisk "][/caption] “It was enjoyable to share my analysis and perspective with this excellent, knowledgeable host,” Frisk commented. “Steve began the interview by not only mentioning the AHI, but asking me to explain what it is and allowing a little time for that. It seemed that he was quite receptive—and his listeners were undoubtedly glad to hear about us, especially after all the recent outrages that have occurred on various college campuses. He was very interested in my remarks about the political scene and the challenges of right-of-center reform politics. I have already been scheduled for a second appearance next month.” Among the main topics discussed were the differences between outsider candidates like Donald Trump and candidates with more traditional backgrounds. Another was the concept of “running government like a business.” Dr. Frisk, who has been at the AHI since 2013, teaches its popular continuing education courses, which cover politics, political philosophy, history, and currently the U.S. Constitution. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University and is the author of the widely reviewed and acclaimed biography If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012). Frisk also leads reading groups for Hamilton College students and is editing and contributing to a volume of essays re-examining the 1964 Goldwater campaign. In addition, he has started work on a book that will analyze the relationship between classical liberalism and traditionalist or social-cultural conservatism.

Enquiry: November 30, 2015

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 04:13:33 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the November 30 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Mike Adamo Quoted on Campus Unrest

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 04:25:02 +0000

Mike Adamo, editor of the student-run publication Enquiry was recently quoted on campus unrest in The Daily Caller. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

The College Fix Interviews AHI Undergraduate Ryan Glenn on Hamilton College Protest

AHIadmin — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 20:52:56 +0000

The College Fix recently interviewed Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Undergraduate Fellow Ryan Glenn about the Hamilton College protests. Glenn writes for the student-run publication Enquiry.

Enquiry: December 7, 2015

AHIadmin — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 03:44:40 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the December 7 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Resident Fellow 's Latest Book Review

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 18:27:59 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Resident Fellow Mary Grabar recently reviewed the book Common Core Dilemma: Who Owns Our Schools?, by Mercedes Schneider. Mary Grabar is a regular contributor to the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research (SFPPR) News & Analysis.

AHI's Grabar on Recent College Protests Across the U.S.

AHIadmin — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 13:27:53 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently wrote about the protests on various college campuses in her article "Contraries: Silly Season at School, Protests, and a Cowboy Song." Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

From the President’s Desk

AHIadmin — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:51:54 +0000

Dear Friends:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is nearing the end of another very successful year. Please know how grateful we are for your continued support. Recent unrest and outright thuggery at many of this country’s most prestigious colleges and universities—Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton, Claremont McKenna, and Hamilton College, to name a few—can only serve to underscore why the AHI came into existence in the first place, some nine years ago. More important, investigative reporting has exposed the weakness of campus administrators in confronting what can only be described as a potentially deadly assault on the most basic principles of academic freedom and liberal arts education. In no way do we believe that the wave of campus restiveness has crested as we head into a presidential election year. Far from it. In 2015, the AHI continued to extend the reach of its programmatic activities and initiatives, raising public awareness of its mission and making many new friends along the way. In that regard, Carl and Cordelia Menges deserve special mention for the memorable fund-raising event they organized for the AHI in New York City on October 7^th. The festivities began at the Barbetta Restaurant in the Theater District, where Mr. Menges and AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette addressed attendants on the history and mission of the AHI, and ended at the nearby Richard Rodgers Theater for a performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s inspiriting hit musical Hamilton. More than 130 persons purchased tickets, and the AHI is deeply grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Menges and the members of the organizational committee for their superlative work in selling every ticket. We are also grateful to the scores of people who sent in donations even though they were unable to attend the event. In 2015, the AHI also continued to receive recognition for its efforts at educational reform. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni named the AHI an “oasis of excellence.” In the October 21 issue of Forbes, the economist Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), praised the AHI in “fighting for a diversity of views” in higher education and described the AHI as “first-rate [in] bringing major scholars” to venues on and off campuses. George Leef, Director of Policy Research, the John William Pope Center for Higher Education, praised the AHI annual Carl B. Menges colloquium as “an excellent way of getting good, engaged college students thinking about crucial issues.” One recent graduate of Hamilton College who was nurtured by the AHI spoke to Leef’s point. “It is hard to express my gratitude and admiration for the AHI,” he said. In rising up the ladder of a financial investment firm, he added, “I barely knew what any of this stuff was before the AHI talk on private equity my junior year.” The AHI now engages hundreds of students on multiple campuses. This year, we sponsored or co-sponsored activities at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Skidmore College, Dartmouth College, Utica College, University of Missouri, Baylor University’s Department of Political Science, and Hamilton College. We also co-sponsored a timely event in the fall with Colgate University’s Center for Freedom & Western Civilization on the Common Core curriculum. Here is a sampling of our work in 2015:

During the spring semester, the AHI offered a new continuing education course entitled “The Media and Politics,” taught by Resident Fellow David Frisk.

During the spring semester, AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose directed a reading group for the Christopher Dawson Society on Catholic intellectual Josef Pieper.

During the spring semester, David Frisk responded to student demand at Hamilton College by directing an introductory reading group on the influential German existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger.

On February 6, The Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty, which is in affiliation with the AHI, offered a course on Advanced Placement at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Directed by AHI Senior Fellow Joseph Fornieri, the course provided area high school students who seek to enrich their understanding of the role of statesmanship in American history and government with a college learning experience in preparation for their Advanced Placement exams in History and Political Science.

February 19-22, AHI Fellows participated at the Liberty Fund Colloquium, “Liberty and Patriotism in America and the World,” in Savannah, Georgia. AHI Fellow Joseph Fornieri organized the colloquium, Senior Fellow Lee Cheek participated in the colloquium and Charter Fellow Robert Paquette served as moderator.

March 31, the AHI sponsored at Hamilton College the showing of Body and Soul: The State of the Jewish Nation, a new documentary film by award-winning filmmaker Gloria Z. Greenfield.

On April 8, the AHI co-sponsored an event with the Hamilton College Republican Club that brought Heather Mac Donald, Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, New York City, to Hamilton College to speak on the subject “Are Cops Racist?”

In April, the AHI held the Eighth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium devoted to the theme “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Rule of Law: How to Return America to Prosperity.” Dr. Michael C. Munger, Professor of Political Science, Duke University, and Director of the Duke Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, provided the keynote address on April 16 to a record crowd.

June 18-19, the AHI co-sponsored with the Department of Political Science, Baylor University the Seventh Annual Summer Conference. Daniel Mahoney, holder of the Augustine Chair for Distinguished Scholarship at Assumption College, directed the conference, which attracted a record number of attendants.

On August 6-7, Charter Fellow Robert Paquette and Pamela Jensen, Professor Emerita of Political Science, Kenyon College, gathered at Liberty Fund headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, to participate in a Socratic seminar to discuss Richard Epstein’s book The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Harvard University Press, 2014).

On August 19, the AHI gathered students and fellows for a Leadership Dinner that featured Roger Pilon, founder and director of Cato’s Center for Constitutional Studies.

During the fall semester, Resident Fellow David Frisk taught at the AHI a course open to the public on “The Constitution in the 20th Century and Today: Key Decisions and Controversies.” A record number of citizens in the region signed up for the course.

In partnership with the Kinder Forum, the AHI held the Eighth Annual David Aldrich Nelson Lecture in Constitutional Jurisprudence on Constitution Day at the University of Missouri campus. Professors of Law James E. Fleming and Linda C. McClain, both of Boston University, addressed the audience on the recent Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.

On October 15, Roger Scruton, one of the most influential philosophers of his generation, delivered a lecture on “The Law of the Land: Reflections on Law and Migration” at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. The AHI co-sponsored the lecture with Skidmore’s Benjamin Franklin Forum.

Also on October 15, Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar participated in a public debate “The Common Core: Is It Good for Students and Teachers?” at the Palace Theater, Hamilton, New York. AHI Senior Fellow Robert Kraynak, Professor of Government at Colgate University and director of Colgate’s Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, organized the event.

On October 24, the AHI held the fourth annual Red Cross blood drive in partnership with the Red Cross and the Hamilton College chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity to show our continued support of the Clinton community.

This year marks the 800^th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta. On November 7, the AHI co-sponsored with Dartmouth’s Daniel Webster Center a conference that explored the significance of Magna Carta in political and legal history as well as the charter’s importance in current debates about due process and religious liberty.

On Veterans Day, 11 November, Colonel Glenn “Alex” Crowther delivered at Hamilton College the Third Annual General Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day Lecture on “Service.”

What’s ahead (a sampling):

Our signature event, the annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium will be held April 14-16 at the Turning Stone Resort. This year’s theme: “Toleration, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society.” Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs for the Cato Institute and Publisher of Cato Supreme Court Review, will keynote the event.

In a few weeks, the AHI will announce a major initiative to establish a kindred-spirit program at an elite liberal arts college in the northeast.

On April 1-2, the AHI will co-sponsor with the Benjamin Franklin Forum at Skidmore College, the Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity. Professor Diana Schaub, Loyola University Maryland, will keynote.

In 2016, the AHI will announce completion of the Eugene D. Genovese and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Reading Room. The Genoveses, among the most influential intellectuals of their generation, served as academic advisors to the AHI before their deaths in 2012 and 2007, respectively. Eugene Genovese bequeathed to the AHI his massive collection on southern history, which collection is in the process of being catalogued.

In 2016, the AHI will sponsor two reading clusters, open to the public, at Hamilton College. One designed in particular for pre-law students will focus on great works in legal history. Dr. Beth L’Arrive of Colgate University will lead a second cluster that will focus on Plato’s Republic.

In 2016, the AHI will make a major announcement about a major initiative to advance communications, public relations, and technology.

In 2016, the AHI brand will be seen on several major scholarly publications.

We continue to be impressed by AHI Undergraduate Fellows, past and present.

Former AHI Undergraduate Fellows continue to achieve: Benjamin Swett of Darien, Connecticut, was hired by Irving Levin Associates, a leading publisher of business intelligence in the field of health care; Anderson Tuggle was accepted for admission into Yale Law School; Joseph Bock began his first term as Municipal Public Defender in his home town of Boonton, New Jersey; Dean Ball was honored at a dinner ceremony on May 2. Dean serves as Policy Manager at the Manhattan Institute’s Center for State and Local Leadership; Joe Simonson, was hired as the Editorial Page Assistant at the New York Post; Sarah Larson joined MBT Bank; Sarah Izzo serves as an analyst for the Advisory Board Company; Thomas Cheeseman is finishing his classwork as a scholarship student at Vanderbilt Law School; Tim Minella received a Ph. D in the history of science; Liz Farrington completed her coursework at Notre Dame Law School and is working as a lawyer in New Mexico; Will Eagan is finishing a Ph.D. in statistics at Purdue University; Will Robbins is an analyst at Morgan Stanley; and Steven Pet received a scholarship to attend the University of Virginia School of Law.

Current AHI Undergraduate Fellows are also excelling: Phil Parkes was awarded a summer internship at the American Enterprise Institute; Amy Elinski worked as a summer intern in the area of national security; Alex Klosner was awarded a summer fellowship from the Charles Koch Institute; and Zoe Garman and Danielle Stemper from the Rochester Institute of Technology and Michael Adamo from Hamilton College received awards as a result of their participation in the AHI’s annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium.

Also, in October, the AHI Undergraduate publication Enquiry went online. The student-run publication began in 2013, but was upgraded to an online version this year.

How can you help? Some of you who will receive this letter have already made tax-deductible contributions to the AHI for this year. We thank you for your generosity. We ask those who have not yet contributed to help us to complete major initiatives to undertake an ever expanding list of programmatic activities Please consider a financial contribution of $100, $200, $300 or more to further our existing programs and future initiatives. We hope that you will consider supporting our mission of educational reform and our creation of innovative programming designed to promote intellectual diversity and a genuine free marketplace for ideas. We accept donations directly via our website, or if you wish to mail a donation to support the Alexander Hamilton Institute, please send your contribution to:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization

21 W. Park Row

Clinton, NY 13323

One final note. Those unfamiliar with the AHI often ask, “What is its purpose?” Answer: Can any person looking clear-sightedly at the academy today honestly deny that we are needed?

Sincerely, Richard Erlanger, President Douglas Ambrose, Charter Fellow James Bradfield, Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow

AHI's Frisk Publishes on Presidential Campaign

AHIadmin — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 18:47:48 +0000

“Donald Trump and the End of a Movement” was the topic of an opinion piece co-authored last week by David Frisk, a Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). Appearing on the prominent Washington Examiner website on Friday, December 18, it ran through the weekend as the lead item in the Op-Ed section. In addition, it received excellent placement on another major political site, Lucianne.com. Dr. Frisk and Jonathan Riehl, a former political speechwriter who is completing a book on the conservative legal world, warn that a thoughtless enthusiasm about the Trump candidacy suggests a potentially fatal decline in the conservative movement's historic solidity and seriousness: “One cannot imagine William F. Buckley or Russell Kirk or Richard Weaver or Milton Friedman tolerating Donald Trump's disgraceful conduct and rhetoric,” they write. “ … [C]onservatism in our time, whether gentle or harsh, has always claimed an intellectual coherence, a moral seriousness ... a consistency of aim that is irreconcilable with Trump's vapid, scattershot, 'trust me—I'll be great' messaging.” The piece further argues: “Trump's lack of caution or discipline in attacking the Democrats doesn't even begin to demonstrate that he will reliably represent their ideological opposites.” Many of his backers, Frisk and Riehl add, have leapt illogically from their frustrated hostility toward conventional Republican politicians to a virtually blind faith in Trump “despite his obvious vulnerability to multiple questions about his own political trustworthiness.” Frisk co-authored another piece on the presidential campaign at RealClearPolitics last June and has been a talk-radio guest several times this year—most recently with the Steve Curtis “Wake Up!” program on Denver's KLZ-560 on December 17. A Resident Fellow at the AHI since 2013, he teaches its popular adult education classes and leads student reading groups at Hamilton College. His course this fall was titled: “The Constitution in the 20^th Century and Today.” He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University and is the author of a major biography: If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement. Writings by AHI staff represent their own opinions, not necessarily the organization's. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit , the AHI does not engage in election-related activity or attempt to influence the outcome of elections.

AHI Resident Fellow on the Demise of Free Speech

AHIadmin — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 19:04:53 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently wrote how the new left's monstrous movement turns on its own in her article "2015: The Year of Self-Criticism for Leftist Speech Codes?" Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

Support the AHI

AHIadmin — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 16:37:38 +0000

As we near the end of 2014, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) hopes you will again consider a financial contribution of $100, $200, $300 or more to further our existing programs and future initiatives. For a sampling of our work in 2015 we invite you to read “A Message from the Desk of the President.” The AHI’s work centers on restoring the spirit of a tradition on which a great civilization was founded. If you haven’t made a donation yet, we hope that you will join in supporting us and our mission to create programs that provide for the innovative teaching of civic and economic knowledge in order to promote a genuine free marketplace for ideas. We are supported exclusively by our donors. We receive no funding from the government or from Hamilton College. The AHI is a tax-exempt organization within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Accordingly, contributions are deductible to the fullest extent provided by law. We look to parents, alumni, and other supporters to support our important and growing mission. Please consider an online donation which can be done via our website, or if you wish to mail a donation to support the AHI, please send your contribution to:

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI)

21 W. Park Row

Clinton, NY 13323

Former AHI Alumni Take Over Leadership of HCAGR

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 16:11:05 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Lachlan Markay will now lead the Hamilton College Alumni for Governance Reform (HCAGR). Many of HCAGR’s new leadership are also former AHI Undergraduate Fellows and the group recently re-launched its website and you can link to their debut posting here. HCAGR was launched in 2004 by alumni with objections to high-profile administrative issues at the time. While we share many of the general concerns that they have voiced in the decade since, we seek to apply those shared ideals to issues affecting campus today. In doing so, we will strive to be as inclusive as possible. We believe liberal values are universal, not confined to any ideology, political faction, or identity. HCAGR as an independent group and does not receive funding from nor is it affiliated with the AHI.

AHI Announces Course on America's Red/Blue Divide

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 16:54:36 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) will offer a free course titled: “Background to the 2016 Election, Part I: Roots of the Red/Blue Divide” from January 25 to May 2. The combined lecture-discussion is open to the public and will meet on Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the AHI building, 21 W. Park Row in Clinton. The readings will be provided free of charge. Professional credit for teachers is available. Space is limited, so advance signup is required. To register or for more information, please contact the instructor, Dr. David Frisk (dfrisk@theahi.org or 315-381-3335), or Professor Robert Paquette (bob@theahi.org). The course will begin by considering the nature of political polarization, then spend three weeks each examining the development of the deep divisions between Americans on: economic policy and the role of government, social issues, and foreign policy and security. This material will cover much of the 20^th century as well as the present. The final weeks will focus on the role of parties, movements, and the media in the “red/blue” divide—plus the possibilities of conciliation and compromise. A course in the fall, also related to this year's presidential election, is likely to cover several major elections in U.S. history plus the current one. Instructor David Frisk, a Resident Fellow at the AHI since 2013, has previously taught its popular continuing education classes on the Constitution in the 20^th century and today, the media and politics, modern statesmanship, conservative political philosophy, and recent socioeconomic trends. A former award-winning journalist, he holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University and is the author of the widely acclaimed biography If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012). “The division between our country's political-cultural Right and Left is perhaps more profoundly obvious than ever today,” Dr. Frisk noted. “A careful consideration of it, including how it came about, is essential to fully understanding what promises to be an especially impassioned and unpredictable election year. In addition, the 'red/blue' divide raises fascinating questions—of a longer-lasting nature—about how modern democratic politics work and how they should work.”

AHI's Grabar Writes for PJ Media

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 17:59:45 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently wrote an article for PJ Media entitled "Oregon State University to Hold Segregated Workshops on Race." Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Receives Donation of Oscar de Mejo Painting “Declaration of Independence”

AHIadmin — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:48:51 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5008" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="“Declaration of Independence,” by Oscar de Mejo (1911-1992)"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the receipt from private collectors of “Declaration of Independence,” a painting by Oscar de Mejo (1911-1992). De Mejo was born in Trieste, Italy. He migrated from London to the United States in 1947. Before his death, he had acquired a considerable reputation as a painter of Naïve art. On his passing, The New York Times noted that his “primitive and sometimes surreal paintings have been exhibited in the United States and in Europe.” He had a particular interest in depicting American heroes and scenes from American history. Gillo Dorfles in a foreword to a published volume on De Mejo’s paintings, calls them “ironic,” De Mejo looks on his subjects “with a benevolent and unconventional eye.” In 1982, he painted “Declaration of Independence,” a 48” by 68” representation in acrylic of Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin presenting the draft of the Declaration to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The painting is now on display in the Alice & James Bradfield Room of the AHI, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, New York. [caption id="attachment_5009" align="alignright" width="300" caption="“Declaration of Independence,” a painting by Oscar de Mejo (1911-1992) hanging in the AHI's Bradfield Room"][/caption] “The two persons who gifted the AHI with the De Mejo painting,” said AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, “have stood by our side from the beginning. Both have an interest in higher education reform. Both understand the importance of history and tradition in maintaining the greatness of the Republic. The AHI is deeply grateful to the donors for their wonderful and humbling act of generosity. The spot in the Bradfield Room where the painting now hangs seems to have been made to order."

Enquiry: January 25, 2016

AHIadmin — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 17:23:39 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the January 25 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Announces the Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 14-16, 2016

AHIadmin — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 03:38:06 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the tentative schedule and participants for the Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 14-16, 2016, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium is devoted to the theme “Tolerance, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society.” Dr. Roger Pilon Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute and Publisher, Cato Supreme Court Review will deliver the keynote address on Thursday evening, April 14. Sessions Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, which are open to the public, will discuss terrorism, marriage, campus politics, immigration and other pressing national issues. Fifteen scholars from a variety of disciplines will participate on the panel. Dr. Pilon received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from George Washington University. In serving as publisher of the highly regarded Cato Supreme Court Review, a journal he helped found in 2001, he has stood at the forefront of an intellectual movement that seeks to “examine those [Supreme Court] decisions and cases in the light cast by the nation’s first principles—liberty and limited government—as articulated in the Declaration of Independence and secured by the Constitution.” Dr. Pilon joined the AHI’s Board of Academic Advisors in August 2015. For further information about colloquium, visit www.theahi.org, or contact Bob Paquette at bob@theahi.org, or (315) 292-2267.

AHI Academic Adviser Justin Shubow Publishes on Rebuilding Penn Station

AHIadmin — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 22:50:15 +0000

Writing for Forbes, National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow published an op-ed in which he called for rebuilding New York's original Penn Station. Justin Shubow is an Academic Advisor to the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI).

Center for Statesmanship to Hold 2nd Annual AP Days

AHIadmin — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 23:35:19 +0000

The Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty (The Center) is pleased to announce the "Second Annual Advanced Placement Days" on Thursday, February 4 and Friday, February 5 at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Sessions will be held at the CIMS, Louise Slaughter Hall, Rooms 2210-2240 (Second floor) from 9:00 a.m. to 2:05 p.m. Session readings can be found on The Center’s website. To register, please contact Joseph Fornieri, Professor of Political Science Director at jrfgsm@rit.edu or 585-475-5889. The course will provide area high school students with a college learning experience led by top teacher-scholars who seek to enrich their understanding of the role of statesmanship in American history and government and will help prepare them for their Advancement Placement exams in History and Political Science in May. The Center is in affiliation with the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). SCHEDULE 9:00: Introduction: "Reviving Statesmanship: Lincoln’s Legacy" —Dr. Joseph R. Fornieri, Director of the Center for Statesmanship at RIT 9:20: "The New Science of Politics: The Statesmanship of Publius in Federalist Papers 9, 10, & 51" —Dr. Sean Sutton, Chair of Political Science Dept. at RIT 10:15: "Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln: The Political Leadership of a Radical Reformer & Statesman" —Dr. Joseph R. Fornieri, Political Science Dept. at RIT 11:10-12:10: Lunch (1 hour) 12:15-1:10: "The Hamiltonian vs. Jeffersonian Vision of the American Republic" —Dr. John Daly, History Dept. at SUNY Brockport 1:15-2:05: "The Political Leadership of Two Local Ladies: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony", —Dr. Rebecca Edwards, Chair of History Dept. at RIT

AHI Announces New Facebook Page

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 18:24:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that we have created a new Facebook page. We invite you to visit and like the AHI’s new Facebook page to receive all official news, events and other AHI-related updates. This will not replace our current group, which will continue to live as a forum for the AHI community.

Enquiry: February 1, 2016

AHIadmin — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 18:29:29 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the February 1 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI's Frisk Speaks to League of Women Voters on Campaign Finance

AHIadmin — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 21:56:52 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) Resident Fellow David Frisk spoke last month to the Utica-Rome (NY) chapter of the League of Women Voters (LWV) on campaign finance reform. The presentation was part of the state and national LWV's “consensus study” deliberations designed to help members learn more about the topic and reach a current common position. The LWV has long advocated more effective campaign finance reform. [gallery size="large"] His talk on January 23 at the Radisson Hotel in Utica focused on three of several goals the LWV is considering in this context: protecting the political process from distortion by large-scale fundraising, encouraging more equitable competition among candidates, and voters' ability to get enough information in campaigns. “Despite my own general opposition to regulation of the political process by government,” Dr. Frisk said, “I agree with its advocates that the amount of time candidates, especially officeholders, spend raising money is a problem. It reduces their ability to consider complex issues—including the rights and wrongs of more governmental power—adequately, and to listen more than superficially to average citizens. Furthermore, it seems worthwhile even in our increasingly digital age to find ways in which the cost of television ads can be reduced, and in which candidates could more easily do relatively substantive broadcasts. So there was definitely common ground.” Frisk, who holds a Ph.D. in political science from Claremont Graduate University and teaches the AHI's free adult education courses in politics, history, and political philosophy, also stressed the importance of other factors—in addition to fundraising and major donors' wishes—that strongly influence politicians' positions. The invitation was due to recommendations from local LWV members who have recently taken these classes at the AHI. “Many thanks to Carole Torok-Huxtable, Dawn Laguerre, and Tom Loughlin, in addition to the chapter's Voter Service chair, Karen McBride,” Frisk said. “I really enjoyed the opportunity and the friendly dialogue, and would be glad to do it again.”

Enquiry: February 8, 2016

AHIadmin — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 19:17:04 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the February 8 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI and Skidmore’s Benjamin Franklin Forum Co-Sponsor Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity

AHIadmin — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 18:53:43 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce its co-sponsorship of the Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity with Skidmore College’s Benjamin Franklin Forum. The conference will take place April 1-2 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. On Friday evening, April 1 at 6:00 p.m. Diana Schaub, Professor, Department of Political Science, Loyola University Maryland, will deliver the keynote address. Sessions and student panels will be held on Saturday, April 2 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and are open to the public. For registration or further information, please contact Robert L. Paquette bob@theahi.org or Flagg Taylor ftaylor@skidmore.edu. The topic of this year's conference is the American polity broadly understood. The conference seeks to provide elite undergraduate students from across the country with the experience of presenting an academic research paper to an audience of their peers. AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose and AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk will be among the scholars who will participate as commentators on the panels. In previous conferences, student papers have ranged widely, covering topics in religion, history, economics, philosophy, and political science. Keynote speaker Diana Schaub, a member of the Hoover Institution’s Jill and Boyd Smith Task Force on the Virtues of a Free Society, was the recipient in 2001 of the Richard M. Weaver Prize for Scholarly Letters. From 2004 to 2009 she was a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. She is the author of Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters (Rowman and Littlefield, 1995), along with a number of book chapters and articles in the fields of political philosophy and American political thought. She is also a co-editor (with Amy and Leon Kass) of What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song (ISI, 2011). She is a contributing editor for The New Atlantis; her work has also appeared in National Affairs, The New Criterion, The Public Interest, The American Enterprise, the Claremont Review of Books, Commentary, First Things, The American Interest, and City Journal.

AHI Makes Important Contributions to Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas Now in Paperback

AHIadmin — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 21:35:59 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates AHI academic advisor Mark Smith, Carolina Distinguished Professor of History, University of South Carolina, and AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette on the publication in paperback of the Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas (2010). Smith and Paquette edited this acclaimed resource, which contains the work of thirty-eight authors. The volume, almost 800 pages in length, covers places as well as themes and methods. Each essay addresses both historical and historiographical issues. AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose composed two of the essays: “Religion and Slavery” and “Masters,” which he co-authored with the late Eugene D. Genovese, a charter member of the AHI’s academic advisory board. AHI Academic Advisers Daniel C. Littlefield, Carolina Distinguished Professor, University of South Carolina; Peter Coclanis, Albert Ray Newsome Distinguished Professor and Director, Global Research Institute of Economics, University of South Carolina; Paul Finkelman, President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law, Albany Law School; and John Stauffer, Professor of English and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University, contributed to the volume as well. Littlefield wrote the article "Colonial and Revolutionary United States"; Coclanis,"The Economics of Slavery"; Finkelman, United States Slave Law”; and Stauffer, “Abolition and Antislavery.” AHI Academic Adviser Stanley Engerman, John Munro Professor of Economics and Professor of History of Economics, University of Rochester, the leading authority in the world on the comparative history of slavery, completed the volume with an epilogue on “Post-Emancipation Adjustments.” “The positive response to the volume both inside and outside of academic circles has proved most gratifying,” said Paquette. “Mark and I were quite pleased when we heard last year of Oxford’s decision to move ahead with a paperback edition. The AHI can take great pride in the volume.”

Enquiry: February 15, 2016

AHIadmin — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 22:36:44 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the February 15 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

Enquiry: February 22, 2016

AHIadmin — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 02:28:53 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the February 22 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

Latest Articles From AHI Resident Fellow

AHIadmin — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 02:02:20 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently wrote the following articles: "Muslim Indoctrination and the Department of Education: From Hijab Dress-Up to Convert," and "School is About Freedom Marco Rubio, Not Just Money". Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI's Julianna Pilon Publishes in Washington Free Beacon

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 13:53:18 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) Senior Fellow, Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon, was recently published in the Washington Free Beacon. Her February 28 article entitled "The Banality of Evil’s Brood" is a review of Jay Nordlinger, ‘Children of Monsters: An Inquiry Into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators.’ Dr. Pilon, who joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow in March, has published extensively on international relations and national security. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C.

AHI Visiting Fellow on 'Big History'

AHIadmin — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 14:03:14 +0000

Mary Grabar, Visiting Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), recently published the article "'Big History' Kicks American History to the Back of the Class" which discusses the fading out of the teaching of American history. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

Op-Ed by AHI Academic Advisor Richard Vedder in Wall Street Journal

AHIadmin — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 18:03:17 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Richard Vedder wrote an opinion piece which appeared in The Wall Street Journal on March 1. His article "The Transformation of Economics" discusses the five biggest changes that Vedder has seen in economics over the past half-century. Richard K. Vedder, Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics and Faculty Associate, Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University.

Announcing the AHI Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS) June 19 – July 2

AHIadmin — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 16:06:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS) program aims to prepare promising and motivated college students for the challenges of a rapidly changing global environment by offering them an opportunity to engage with some of the best thinkers on and practitioners in the field of national security. These will include both current and former officials in the Intelligence Community, Congress, the Pentagon, the White House, non-governmental organizations, industry, and academia, including members of premier think-tanks and news organizations. Program participants will be afforded a rare inside glimpse of the many different cultures that must all work together to succeed. By observing the process of national security policymaking up close, from the perspective of the practitioners themselves, the program will serve to encourage and enhance the students’ leadership skills and open opportunities for future professional development. The program is designed for no more than 20 students. Each morning, the participants will have a chance to conduct in-depth discussions on specific readings which will have been assigned ahead of time, to take place in The Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies & Citizenship, which is the Washington campus of Hillsdale College Afternoons will be devoted to on-site visits hosted by at least one representative of the organization or agency sponsoring the event. Dinner and evening events organized by groups and individuals will provide additional networking opportunities. Students will be housed at American University. Both housing and meals will be provided. Students are expected to arrive in Washington on Sunday afternoon, June 19th, and leaving on Saturday morning, July 2nd. They are responsible for travel to and from Washington, DC. Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon, who earned her PhD in philosophy at the University of Chicago, will direct the program. The author of several books and over two hundred articles on international affairs, she has taught at several colleges and universities, and managed democracy-strengthening programs. Her new book, soon to be published, is titled The Art of Peace: Engaging a Complex World. Applications are now open. The deadline for submission is May 6, 2016. All materials are to be sent to Professor Robert Paquette, email: bob@theahi.org; postal address, Alexander Hamilton Institute, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY 13323 Application requirements:

The most recent transcript of courses and grades
Two letters of recommendation from faculty members
A 100-word explanation why the student wishes to participate in this program.
A 250-word essay describing the most critical national security challenge facing the nation.

This program is made possible by a grant from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

Enquiry: February 29, 2016

AHIadmin — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 14:56:45 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the February 29 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

Resident Fellow's Article on Melissa Click Case Appears in Real Clear Politics

AHIadmin — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 21:58:53 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently wrote an article for Federalist on the Melissa Click case which was also picked up by RealClearPolitics.com. In her article "Melissa Click: One Bad Professor Fired, Thousands More to Go," Grabar discusses that although Click was eventually fired for her actions, "[T]housands of professors, however, work without fear and do not feel bound to any job description by their employers: taxpayers and tuition payers. Compared to most working Americans, they enjoy incredible job security, comfortable compensations, and easy working conditions. In exchange, they abuse their authority by imposing their political views on students." Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI’s Zach Oscar Awarded Summer Internship with ACTA

AHIadmin — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 01:57:38 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5139" align="alignright" width="252" caption="AHI Undergraduate Fellow Zachary Oscar"][/caption] The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Zachary Oscar on being awarded a summer internship with the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. ACTA is “an independent, non-profit organization committed to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability at America's colleges and universities.” Each year, ACTA awards internships to both undergraduate and graduate students to conduct research on higher education and to undertake a wide range of administrative tasks. According to ACTA’s website, interns will “participate in a special series of seminars with ACTA staff and board members.” Interns also benefit from reading clusters centered on great books and directed by Michael B. Poliakoff, Vice President of Policy for ACTA, who possesses a Ph.D. in classical studies. Oscar, a resident of Carmel, New York, is a sophomore at Hamilton College and will be majoring in history. “As an intern at ACTA,” he noted, “I will be primarily working on the ‘What Will They Learn?’ project. It assesses the core curricula of colleges in order to ascertain whether their requirements adequately prepare their students for the competitive job market and the ‘real world.’ In my opinion, it is truly vital for students not only in college, but also looking at colleges while in High School, to be made aware of the advantages and disadvantages of curriculum requirements so that they can better become well-rounded individuals in multiple academic fields before declaring their major. I am very excited to be a part of an organization that believes the same thing.” AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette serves as Oscar’s adviser. “I am delighted to learn that Zach was chosen for this highly competitive internship. He joins an illustrious group of former AHI undergraduate fellows—Max Brindle, Sarah Larson, and Sarah Scalet—in obtaining the award. I have taught Zach in class and know that he has an ascending trajectory. He has a voracious appetite for the classics and great books generally. He is currently participating in the AHI’s Plato reading cluster. He will be a terrific fit with Dr. Poliakoff and ACTA.”

Paquette Sheds New Light on Roger Taney and Dred Scott Case

AHIadmin — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 21:09:52 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3305" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Robert Paquette"][/caption] Robert Paquette, Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) has published in the spring 2016 issue of the journal Academic Questions an article (see abstract) that provides new information about Chief Justice Roger Taney and his thinking in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), one of the most important and controversial cases ever decided by the United States Supreme Court. Academic Questions, the official journal of the National Association of Scholars (NAS), is “dedicated to strengthening the integrity of scholarship and teaching.” Paquette’s article, "The Mind of Roger Taney: New Light on the Dred Scott Decision" inaugurates “Disciplinary Notes,” a new feature of the journal. Scott was a Missouri slave who had been taken by his owner to free soil in Illinois and Minnesota. With the help of antislavery white friends in Missouri, Scott sued in a Missouri lower court in 1846 to obtain his freedom on the grounds that the fact of his having entered a free state had ipso facto released him from bondage. Before the case reached the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Missouri had overruled a lower court’s decision to grant Scott his freedom. In a 5-2 decision, with Taney leading the way, the Supreme Court reaffirmed Scott’s enslavement by arguing that by returning to Missouri the laws of that state would apply. Taney’s opinion, however, went far beyond the narrow question of Scott’s status, entering into the questions of Congressional authority under the Constitution and the validity of the Missouri Compromise. In performing archival research on a related project, Paquette came across a letter, never before published, from British consular official, G. P. R. James in Richmond, Virginia, to his superiors in the Foreign Office on the tumultuous political situation in the United States in 1857. James, a widely read novelist at the time, referred to Taney as an “old and intimate friend” and conversed with him multiple times shortly after Taney had rendered his opinion in the case. James’s missive amounted to confidential intelligence, drawn from someone James considered one of the “most enlightened of the Statesmen of this Country,” on the likelihood and consequences of a rupture between North and South. James discussed the Dred Scott case and many other volatile issues with Taney. Paquette points out that James’s intelligence contradicts the view of some scholars that Taney hoped his far-reaching opinion in Dred Scott would settle once and for all the controversial question about whether Congress had the power to prohibit slavery in the territories. The essay discusses James, analyzes his letter, and provides an edited transcription of the entire letter. Robert L. Paquette is Professor of History at Hamilton College and a co-founder of the AHI. Professor Paquette is an expert on conservative thought and an advocate for the freedom of expression on college campuses. Professor Paquette holds a B.A. from Bowling Green State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. He is also the author of many books and articles including “Sugar Is Made with Blood: The Conspiracy of La Escalera and the Conflict between Empires over Slavery in Cuba and History” and “Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese.” In 2014, Paquette was awarded the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom, by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the American Conservative Union Foundation.

Enquiry: March 8, 2016

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 20:10:43 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the March 8, 2016 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

Library of Law and Liberty Publishes Paquette on Capitalism and Slavery

AHIadmin — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 23:32:47 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to congratulate Charter Fellow Robert Paquette on the recent publication his review of Edward Baptist's The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism in the Library of Law and Liberty. [caption id="attachment_4372" align="alignright" width="239" caption="AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette"][/caption] In his review, Paquette states that "recent polling of the millennials’ attitudes toward socialism suggests that higher education on the postmodern campus has better prepared graduates to denounce capitalism than to defend it." Robert L. Paquette is Professor of History at Hamilton College and a co-founder of the AHI. Professor Paquette is an expert on conservative thought and an advocate for the freedom of expression on college campuses. Professor Paquette holds a B.A. from Bowling Green State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. He is also the author of many books and articles including “Sugar Is Made with Blood: The Conspiracy of La Escalera and the Conflict between Empires over Slavery in Cuba and History” and “Women, Culture and Faith: Selected Writings of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese.” In 2014, Paquette was awarded the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom, by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the American Conservative Union Foundation. With Mark Smith, he co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas (2010), which will be released in paperback this month.

April 1-2 Schedule Released for the Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity

AHIadmin — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 17:32:00 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the schedule and event details for the Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity, April 1-2 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. On Friday evening, April 1 at 8:00 p.m. Diana Schaub, Professor, Department of Political Science, Loyola University Maryland, will deliver the keynote address. The topic of this year’s conference is the American polity broadly understood and the event is co-sponsored by the AHI and the Benjamin Franklin Forum. For further information, please contact Robert L. Paquette bob@theahi.org, or Flagg Taylor ftaylor@skidmore.edu. AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose and AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk will be among the scholars who will participate as commentators on the panels. AHI Undergraduate Fellows Will Swett, Elizabeth Barry, and Taylor Elicegui will be participating in the group discussions, along with presenter Mike Adamo. Sessions and student panels will be held on Saturday, April 2 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and are open to the public. Students should come to the conference having read two the following documents:

Keynote speaker Diana Schaub, a member of the Hoover Institution’s Jill and Boyd Smith Task Force on the Virtues of a Free Society, was the recipient in 2001 of the Richard M. Weaver Prize for Scholarly Letters. From 2004 to 2009 she was a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. She is the author of Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters (Rowman and Littlefield, 1995), along with a number of book chapters and articles in the fields of political philosophy and American political thought. She is also a co-editor (with Amy and Leon Kass) of What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song (ISI, 2011). She is a contributing editor for The New Atlantis; her work has also appeared in National Affairs, The New Criterion, The Public Interest, The American Enterprise, the Claremont Review of Books, Commentary, First Things, The American Interest, and City Journal.

Event Schedule

Annual Undergraduate Conference on the American Polity (April 1-2)

Friday, April 1 Afternoon: Arrival and check-in at Courtyard Saratoga Springs, 11 Excelsior Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 5:30 PM: Reception 6:00 PM: Dinner Location: Payne Room, Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 8:00 PM: Keynote Speaker: Professor Diana Schaub, Loyola University: “Learning to Love Lincoln: Frederick Douglass’s Journey from Grievance to Gratitude.”* Location: Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall, Skidmore College *Students should come to the conference having read two documents: 1. Frederick Douglass’s Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln originally delivered on April 14, 1876. 2. Chapter 17, “The Last Flogging,” from Douglass’s autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom. Saturday, April 2 8:30AM: Coffee, continental breakfast, Payne Room, Tang Teaching Museum Panel commentators: AHI Charter Fellow Doug Ambrose and Resident Fellow David Frisk 9:00-10:30AM: Panel #1, Payne Room, Tang Teaching Museum

Emily Mangan, Skidmore College: “Tocqueville on the Democratic Intellect”
Matthew Bristol, Skidmore College: “Retreat with Honor: LBJ’s Decision not to Run in 1968”
Drew Hoffmaster, Texas Tech University: “Donald Trump’s Party: An Analysis of the Trump
Candidacy”

10:30-11:00AM: Break 11:00AM-12:30PM: Panel #2, Payne Room, Tang Teaching Museum

Owen Smitherman, Princeton University: “Leadership, Slavery and the Civil War”
Michael Adamo, Hamilton College: “Anti-Capitalism and Paternalism in Pro-Slavery Thought”
Tim Rice, College of the Holy Cross: “Refreshing the Founding: Mercy Otis Warren and a New Approach to Early American History”

12:30-2:00PM: Lunch at Skidmore’s Dining Hall 2:00-3:30PM: Panel #3, Payne Room, Tang Teaching Museum

Jack Schreuer, Skidmore College: “Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian Constitutionalism”
Savannah Barksdale, Texas Tech University: “Comparing the United States and Texas Constitutions”
Dimitri Halikias, Yale University: “The Democratic Thought of the Anti-Federalists”
Julie Nelson, Baylor University: “A Foundational Consideration: Why Religion Should be Treated as Special”

6:30PM: Dinner and Directed Discussion with Professor Schaub, Payne Room, Tang Teaching Museum

“Best of Enemies” Showing Sparks Lively Discussion

AHIadmin — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 13:00:55 +0000

Students and other invited guests at Hamilton College this week watched “Best of Enemies,” a fascinating documentary about a legendary media event—the televised feud in 1968 between the American conservative movement's great intellectual publicist, William F. Buckley Jr., and the outspoken left-wing novelist/essayist Gore Vidal. The highly acclaimed 2015 film, full of clips featuring people with special knowledge of the combatants as well as segments illustrating their deeply personal sparring, was shown for the benefit of students in the popular “Conservative Thought in the United States” class taught by Hamilton history professor Robert Paquette, a Charter Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). [caption id="attachment_5194" align="alignright" width="300" caption="William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal in BEST OF ENEMIES, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures."][/caption] After the showing, historian Maurice Isserman and political scientist Philip Klinkner, both of the college, and David Frisk, a resident fellow of the AHI with a doctorate in political science, shared observations on “Best of Enemies.” The panelists at the April 4 event in Bradford Auditorium commented on the political and media contexts of the late 1960s as well as the two personalities, also weighing the significance of the Buckley-Vidal confrontation in light of later political and cultural developments. Professor Isserman is co-author of America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s and the author of several books about the modern American Left. Professor Klinkner is an expert on parties and elections, author of The Losing Parties: Out-Party National Committees, 1956-1993, and co-author of The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America. Dr. Frisk is the author of a biography of a major associate of Buckley's: If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement. A stimulating question/comment period, with wide audience participation, followed the panel. “The best-known sound bite from the Buckley-Vidal interchanges during their paired, intentionally confrontational election-year commentary for ABC News,” Frisk notes, “began with Vidal's baseless accusation that Buckley was a 'sort of pro-Nazi or crypto-Nazi,' and his more justified contention that Buckley had, at that moment, exaggerated his World War II service record. It was followed by Buckley's offensive response: ' … you queer—stop calling me a crypto-Nazi, or I'll sock you in your goddamned face and you'll stay plastered.' But the film shows that their mutual insults in these nightly faceoffs during the Republican and Democratic conventions covered a much wider, more interesting range. They often illuminated, at least briefly, what was at stake in that memorably polarized, indeed violent election year. The political and 'values' gap between Buckley and Vidal was not just vehemently expressed, but also substantively enormous. It was akin to that between zealous conservatives and zealous 'progressives' today. It was voiced in exceptionally literate, clever, rapid-fire language—however cruel at points—that is perhaps best appreciated in our era of duller, less sophisticated public faceoffs. This made it especially fun to watch and interesting to analyze. Most important, though, 'Best of Enemies' gave the audience much material for reflection on the nature and the reasonable bounds of political debate.” An article about the movie event "Political Coverage: Fact of Farce" can also be found on the Hamilton College website.

Enquiry: April 4, 2016

AHIadmin — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 17:29:38 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the April 4, 2016 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

Enquiry: April 11, 2016

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 11:10:07 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the April 11, 2016 issue of Enquiry has been published. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

AHI Resident Fellow Continues Presidential Campaign Commentaries

AHIadmin — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:15:44 +0000

Dr. David Frisk of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) co-authored another opinion piece in the Washington Examiner on April 8, titled: “In Defense of a Contested Convention.” [caption id="attachment_3838" align="alignright" width="300"] AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk[/caption] In discussing the Republican presidential race, it argues that despite a widespread popular prejudice to the contrary, a candidate has no claim on a party's nomination simply by winning the most votes or delegates during the primaries—that delegates are obligated to consider the best interests of the party, and that the allegedly undemocratic complexities of delegate selection are in keeping with the complexity of the American constitutional system as designed by our founders, which deliberately avoids pure democracy. It also maintains that the requirement to win an actual majority of delegates in order to capture the nomination is a crucial one. “ … a political party is an organization with its own interests, and not merely a tool for individual candidates and those who vote for them,” Frisk and Jonathan Riehl write. “It must be able to safeguard its interests in order to remain an effective representative, over time, for the diverse coalition of voters whose own interests and beliefs it advances or protects. … “Delegates deserve more than a rubber-stamp status for two reasons: Plurality or even majority support for a candidate among primary voters may coexist, and this year does, with intense rejection of that candidate among a large swath of its voters. … In addition, delegates may judge, and as people with a history of commitment to the GOP and of political involvement and knowledge have a right to judge, that a front-running candidate is simply an unsuitable nominee despite his popularity within the party.” In 2015, Frisk co-authored a Washington Examiner piece warning that Donald Trump's candidacy was a potentially fatal threat to American conservatism as a political force, and one at RealClearPolitics which cautioned that the extremely large size of the Republican candidate field was unhealthy for the political process. In addition, he has been a guest on talk radio several times in the past year addressing current political affairs, especially with Steve Curtis's morning drive-time program at Denver's KLZ 560-AM. He appeared most recently on Curtis's show on March 31, and is scheduled again on the internet radio program of New York talk radio pioneer Barry Farber (http://crntalk.com/barryfarber/) by the end of this month. Opinions expressed by AHI staff are their own and do not reflect the views of the AHI, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that has no involvement in campaigns or elections. A Resident Fellow of the AHI since 2013, Dr. Frisk teaches its popular adult education classes in political science, history, and political philosophy, also leading and assisting with reading groups at Hamilton College. The author of the widely acclaimed biography If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012), he is continuing with research and writing involving the history and philosophical basis of American conservatism.

AHI's Washington Program on National Security - Application Deadline May 6

AHIadmin — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 15:39:58 +0000

Applications are now open for the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS) June 19- July 2 in Washington, DC. The deadline for submission is May 6, 2016. There is no electronic application process. Application requirements: 1. The most recent transcript of courses and grades 2. Two letters of recommendation from faculty members 3. A 100-word explanation why the student wishes to participate in this program. 4. A 250-word essay describing the most critical national security challenge facing the nation. All hard copy materials are to be sent to Professor Robert Paquette, email: bob@theahi.org; postal address, Alexander Hamilton Institute, 21 West Park Row, Clinton, NY 13323 The WaPoNS program aims to prepare promising and motivated college students for the challenges of a rapidly changing global environment by offering them an opportunity to engage with some of the best thinkers on and practitioners in the field of national security. These will include both current and former officials in the Intelligence Community, Congress, the Pentagon, the White House, non-governmental organizations, industry, and academia, including members of premier think-tanks and news organizations. Program participants will be afforded a rare inside glimpse of the many different cultures that must all work together to succeed. By observing the process of national security policymaking up close, from the perspective of the practitioners themselves, the program will serve to encourage and enhance the students’ leadership skills and open opportunities for future professional development. The program is designed for no more than 20 students. Each morning, the participants will have a chance to conduct in-depth discussions on specific readings which will have been assigned ahead of time, to take place in The Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies & Citizenship, which is the Washington campus of Hillsdale College Afternoons will be devoted to on-site visits hosted by at least one representative of the organization or agency sponsoring the event. Dinner and evening events organized by groups and individuals will provide additional networking opportunities. Students will be housed at American University. Both housing and meals will be provided. Students are expected to arrive in Washington on Sunday afternoon, June 19th, and leaving on Saturday morning, July 2nd. They are responsible for travel to and from Washington, DC. Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon, who earned her PhD in philosophy at the University of Chicago, will direct the program. The author of several books and over two hundred articles on international affairs, she has taught at several colleges and universities, and managed democracy-strengthening programs. Her new book, soon to be published, is titled The Art of Peace: Engaging a Complex World. This program is made possible by a grant from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Phil Parkes Awarded Hertog Fellowship

AHIadmin — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 21:33:13 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) congratulates Philip J. Parkes on his award of a prestigious summer fellowship by the Hertog Foundation. Parkes, an AHI undergraduate fellow from Camillus, New York, is completing his junior year at Hamilton College, where he is majoring in history. [caption id="attachment_4459" align="alignright" width="300"] AHI Undergraduate Fellow Philip Parkes (seated on the left)[/caption] The Hertog Foundation is a non-profit organization that offers high-caliber educational programs in political philosophy, economics, history, and the art of warfare to elite college students as well as graduate students. The structure of the Foundation’s 1-2 week long summer classes, which include intensive seminar discussions and interaction with a host of distinguished public men and women, allows participants to approach intellectual questions from a sustained, intensive perspective. “As a Supreme Court Hertog ‘fellow,’ Parkes observed, “I have been awarded a scholarship to spend one week studying methods of judicial interpretation in five landmark Supreme Court cases. The seminar will be taught by a specialist in federal regulation at Boyden Gray and Associates. He is a recent graduate of Harvard Law School and former clerk for David B. Sentelle, Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The intensive program will keep us busy from dawn-to-dusk with morning classes, afternoon lectures, and evening networking opportunities.” “Phil Parkes has followed one prestigious summer fellowship with another,” noted AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette. “In 2015 he won a prestigious fellowship with the American Enterprise Institute. The Hertog fellowships are also highly competitive. Those of us at the AHI who have nurtured Phil over the years recognize him as an energetic and versatile young scholar with an impressive range of intellectual interests. His success in these national competitions comes as no surprise to me.” I am deeply grateful,” Parkes added, “for everything that Professor Paquette and Professor Ambrose, as well as the other AHI scholars, have done to help me further my education. Thanks to their support and encouragement, after this summer I will have had the opportunity to pursue my academic and career interests in Washington, D.C. for two summers in a row."

AHI Senior Fellow Pilon Publishes on the 2016 Presidential Campaign

AHIadmin — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 21:46:48 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) Senior Fellow, Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon, recently published the article "The Unbearable Lightness of the 2016 Presidential Campaign" in the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Pilon, who joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow in March, has published extensively on international relations and national security. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C.

AHI Announces Creation of Churchill Institute in Hartford, Connecticut

AHIadmin — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 22:00:54 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the creation of the Churchill Institute for the Study and Extension of Western Civilization (CI) in Hartford, Connecticut. Created in affiliation with AHI, the Churchill Institute will be directed by Dr. Gregory B. Smith, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Trinity College, and will have as its primary mission to encourage, in every way possible, serious teaching, learning and scholarship about Western Civilization, and to promote a vigorous discussion of its preservation and future trajectory. “We are incredibly pleased to support the creation of the independent Churchill Institute,” said AHI President Richard Erlanger. “We are excited to be able to provide support for Professor Smith in the development of a new affiliate, which will focus on the texts and history of Western Civilization with an eye to understanding its successes, and occasional excesses –a focus comparable with the AHI’s own mission.” “Trinity College, like many other elite liberal arts colleges,” added AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, “is suffering from gross imbalances and excesses that have chilled debate and betrayed the ethos of liberal arts education. I have every confidence that Dr. Smith with the support of concerned Trinity alums can help redress the problem and return Trinity to a more welcoming climate for free enquiry and honest and open debate. The AHI would like to thank in particular the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for their indispensable support in helping make this noble initiative a reality.” “I would like to thank the AHI for its support in the creation of the Churchill Institute,” said Smith. “Truly liberating education is at stake in our time. It is under attack by fashionable cadres that are taking over our colleges and universities intent upon creating a monologue that first diminishes Western Civilization and then fosters forgetfulness of its very existence under the alleged charge of its uniformity of excess and repression. But this forgetfulness only leads to fragmented individuals incapable of an integrated understanding of themselves, their world and the liberty that is possible only in truly free institutions and with a genuine liberal arts education.” Dr. Smith met with AHI leadership at the recent Carl B. Menges Colloquium at the Turning Stone Resort and announced the creation of CI during the opening ceremonies of the colloquium on 14 April. “Can't remember a conference, meeting, or get together,” Smith observed, “that I enjoyed more than this weekend.” Although CI will initially direct its activities to promoting its mission on the campus of Trinity College, it will also engage broader communities of alumni, parents, students, faculty, community leaders, high school and prep school students and their faculty and administrators, and all interested audiences. “CI will also attempt to link up with, support, and offer mutual and reciprocal fructification for like-minded institutions,” Smith added, “by promoting speakers, conferences, student and faculty publications, and other appropriate venues for discussion and dissemination of the broadest and most vigorous appreciation of ideas. By all means possible, CI will attempt to counteract the increasing one-sidedness of contemporary education and its superficial a-historicality.” Gregory Smith is Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Trinity College. He worked at the State Department and as a Portfolio Manager before turning to teaching. He was a speech writer in both Reagan-Bush campaigns and the first Bush-Quayle campaign, and worked on various senatorial campaigns and the McCain presidential bid. Professor Smith previously taught at Carleton College and at the University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Michigan. Dr. Smith has written dozens of articles and reviews in journals and multiple op-ed pieces. His published books include Nietzsche, Heidegger and the Transition to Postmodernity, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996); Martin Heidegger: Paths Taken, Paths Opened, (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007); and Between Eternities: On the Tradition of Political Philosophy, Past, Present and Future, (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, a division of Rowman and Littlefield, 2008).

AHI Senior Fellow Lee Cheek Publishes on Traditionalist Icon Russell Kirk

AHIadmin — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 00:56:24 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Senior Fellow Lee Cheek recently published on traditionalist icon Russell Kirk on the Library of Law & Liberty. In his article, "A Kirkian Renaissance," Cheek discusses the flourishing of Kirk scholarship take taking place today—especially the recent work of Brad Birzer—and with the anticipation of future studies. "My late friend and mentor would be honored and humbled by these scholarly advances," said Cheek.

AHI’s New Western Civilization Treasure Room Complete

AHIadmin — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 02:17:46 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is excited to announce the completion of the Western Civilization Treasure Room at our headquarters in Clinton. The new room now houses the gift of some “1000 books, primarily focused on Western history and culture” given to the AHI in July by Dr. Robert Hessen of the Hoover Institution. [caption id="attachment_5180" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Western Civilization Treasure Room at the AHI"][/caption] Dr. Robert Hessen, a specialist in business and economic history, served as a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, since 1974. His major publications include Steel Titan: The Life of Charles M. Schwab (1975) and In Defense of the Corporation (1979), which, at present, is in its fifth printing. He has published widely in scholarly journals and such mainstream media as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The books not only cover European and American history, but such specialized topics as property, family, utopias, and totalitarianism as well. Dr. Hessen’s gift supplements the AHI’s existing collections, which include Liberty Fund’s Library of Liberty, Eugene D. Genovese’s southern history collection, and Richard Erlanger’s military history collection.

AHI to Hold Movie and Panel Discussion on the Documentary "Best of Enemies"

AHIadmin — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 22:44:57 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Undergraduate Fellows Program will sponsor the showing of "Best of Enemies," on Monday, April 4 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Bradford Auditorium, Room 125, Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. The movie is a documentary about the debates between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal when both were hired by ABC News to provide commentary during the televised coverage of the 1968 Republican and Democratic conventions. A panel discussion will follow. Panelists include AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk, Phil Klinkner, Department of Government, Hamilton College, and Maurice Isserman, Department of History, Hamilton College. AHI Charter Fellow Bob Paquette, will moderate the discussion. For more information, please contact bob@theahi.org.

Recent Ph.D. Tim Minella Returns to AHI for Discussion and Lecture

AHIadmin — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 12:27:07 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Tim Minella, one of the first undergraduate students to be nurtured by the AHI, will return to Clinton to speak to students on history and science on Wednesday, April 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:45a.m., Room 201, Kirner-Johnson Building, Hamilton College. A Leadership Dinner for AHI Undergraduate Fellows and Dr. Minella will be held Tuesday evening April 5 at the AHI headquarters. For further information, please contact bob@theahi.org. [caption id="attachment_5190" align="alignright" width="213" caption="Tim Minella '09 to Speak at the AHI"][/caption] Dr. Minella was graduated in 2009 from Hamilton College, Phi Beta Kappa. He majored in physics and government. Inspired by AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose, Minella pursued an advanced degree in history. He received a prestigious Presidential Scholarship from the University of South Carolina to pursue a Ph. D. in the history of science. He received his doctorate in 2015, completing a dissertation "Knowing in America: The Enlightenment, Science, and the Early Republic." Dr. Minella describes his dissertation as follows: "This dissertation analyzes practices of science and technology in the early United States as windows onto the American Enlightenment. Although scholars have emphasized the important impact of Enlightenment thought on the American founding, the historiography tends to argue for the decreasing influence of the Enlightenment on American culture as the nineteenth century progressed. In addition, scholars tend to see a decline in American science after Benjamin Franklin as nineteenth-century Americans began to focus primarily on the practical problems of everyday life. I question these interpretations by connecting scientific practice in the Early Republic with transatlantic Enlightenment thought and analyzing American conversations about knowledge creation in practical pursuits such as agriculture. I place American science in the context of Enlightenment debates about how human beings could create knowledge, or epistemology. This part of the dissertation involves a review of American exposure to such Enlightenment thinkers as John Locke, David Hume, and Thomas Reid. Then, I conduct several case studies of different kinds of science in America, including agriculture and natural history, and I analyze how Enlightenment epistemology informed the practice of these sciences. Finally, I consider how Enlightenment epistemology and American scientific practice shaped American discourse about political economy and political philosophy. In books and pamphlets that discussed political topics, American writers attempted to support their arguments by applying what they saw as proper epistemological methods. Through discussion of these aspects of science, I show that the Enlightenment continued to make its mark on American culture throughout the early nineteenth century." According to Charter Fellow Bob Paquette “Tim Minella has pride of place as one of the very first undergraduates nurtured by the AHI. He stands out in my mind not only for his impressive intellectual gifts and range of interests but for his rock solid Middle-American character as well. We are so pleased that he is able to return to the AHI to help mentor another generation of Undergraduate Fellows.”

AHI Receives Grant from Charles G. Koch Foundation

AHIadmin — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 13:18:53 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce our receipt of a $22,000 grant from the Charles Koch Foundation in support of the Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium "Tolerance, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society" which will be held April 14-16, 2016, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. Charter Fellow Bob Paquette expressed the AHI’s deepest appreciation to the Charles Koch Foundation. “We are grateful to the Charles Koch Foundation for supporting our ninth annual colloquium,” said Paquette. Their support of our programming allows us to further our mission to promote excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy, and capitalism as these ideas were developed and institutionalized in the United States and within the larger tradition of Western culture.” Exploring the theme "Tolerance, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society," the ninth annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium will feature several distinguished panelists and speakers. This year, the event commences on Thursday evening, April 14 with a special keynote address from Dr. Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs of the Cato Institute and Publisher of the Cato Supreme Court Review. Fifteen scholars from a variety of disciplines will join our panel to discuss critical national issues such as terrorism, marriage, campus politics, and immigration. Sessions on Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16 are open to the public. To register, contact Bob Paquette at bob@theahi.org, or (315) 292-2267.

AHI's Annual Colloquium Schedule and Session Readings Posted

AHIadmin — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 21:33:36 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium is fast approaching. We will open the event Thursday evening April 14 with a dinner lecture featuring keynote speaker Dr. Roger Pilon Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute and Publisher, Cato Supreme Court Review.

The full schedule for the colloquium can be found on our website at: http://theahi.org/initiatives/ahi-colloquia/tolerance-the-constitution-and-the-limits-of-an-open-society/
Session readings can be found at: http://theahi.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AHI-Colloqium-2016.pdf

For additional information or questions regarding this event, please contact us at 315-292-2267 or by email at bob@theahi.org.

AHI Academic Adviser Peter Coclanis Publishes on Study Abroad

AHIadmin — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 20:08:03 +0000

The article "Study Abroad's Seven Deadly Sins" by Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Peter Coclanis, recently appeared in The New York Times and discusses the potential threats to the benefits of study abroad college programs. Peter A. Coclanis is director of the Global Research Institute and a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Enquiry: May 2, 2016

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 May 2016 18:35:07 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that the May 2, 2016 issue of Enquiry has been published. This is the last edition of Enquiry for this academic year. Enquiry, is an independent publication sponsored by the AHI. A student-run publication, it has as its mission the promotion of “free thought and discourse.”

Recent Ph.D. Tim Minella Accepts Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Emory University

AHIadmin — Mon, 02 May 2016 19:20:20 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Timothy Minella has accepted the offer of a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Emory University's Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry for the 2016-17 academic year. Dr. Minella was one of the first undergraduate students to be nurtured by the AHI and on April 6, he returned to Clinton to speak to students on history and science. Dr. Minella was graduated in 2009 from Hamilton College, Phi Beta Kappa. He majored in physics and government. Inspired by AHI Charter Fellow Douglas Ambrose, Minella pursued an advanced degree in history. He received a prestigious Presidential Scholarship from the University of South Carolina to pursue a Ph. D. in the history of science. He received his doctorate in 2015, completing a dissertation "Knowing in America: The Enlightenment, Science, and the Early Republic."

AHI Resident Fellow Post on the Forgotten History of the 'Silent Black Majority'

AHIadmin — Mon, 09 May 2016 16:54:52 +0000

Dr. Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), recently published the article "The Forgotten History Of ‘The Black Silent Majority’" in the Federalist. The article discusses the history of the "black silent majority," working- and middle-class citizens who saw their once-vibrant cultural center terrorized by drug pushers and their efforts to take back their neighborhoods. Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Senior Fellow Juliana Pilon Publishes on "The Equality Temptation"

AHIadmin — Mon, 09 May 2016 17:30:15 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Senior Fellow Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon recently published an article of interest in The Washington Free Beacon. The article entitled "The Equality Temptation," is a review of Ryzsard Legutko's newly translated book "The Demon in Democracy: Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies." Dr. Pilon, who joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow in March, has published extensively on international relations and national security. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C.

Photos: Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium Keynote Lecture

AHIadmin — Tue, 10 May 2016 17:57:04 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) held the Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium April 14-16, 2016, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. The colloquium was devoted to the theme “Tolerance, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society.” Dr. Roger Pilon Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute and Publisher, Cato Supreme Court Review delivered the keynote address on Thursday evening, April 14. Sessions Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, discussed terrorism, marriage, campus politics, immigration and other pressing national issues. Fifteen scholars from a variety of disciplines participated on the panel. [gallery size="large" ids="5523,5525,5528,5530,5531,5532,5533,5534,5535,5536,5537,5538,5539,5540"]

(Photos Copyright Larry A. Rocco Photography, Rome, NY)

National Association of Scholars Praises Paquette and AHI

AHIadmin — Sat, 14 May 2016 16:58:12 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Charter Fellow Robert Paquette was recently praised by the National Association of Scholars (NAS) for his work in the creation of the institute. In his article "Springfield Purges Men in Literature," NAS author Peter Woord discusses the occurrences on college campuses around the country to "marginalize, discredit, and silence the views of faculty members who dissent" from the from the current campus orthodoxies" and how many college professors have quit or been forced to leave for non-conformity. Wood discusses the few that remain like Professor Paquette calling them "rare exceptions of men willing to bear all the opprobrium heaped on those who refuse to conform to the ideological fashions on campus." [caption id="attachment_5534" align="alignleft" width="300"] AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette[/caption] Professor Robert Paquette received his B. A. cum laude in 1973 from Bowling Green State University; he received his Ph. D. with honors in 1982 from the University of Rochester. He has published dozens of books and articles on the history of slavery. His Sugar Is Made with Blood (Wesleyan University Press, 1988) won the Elsa Goveia Prize, given every three years by the Association of Caribbean Historians for the best book in Caribbean history. More recently, his essay “Of Facts and Fables: New Light on the Denmark Vesey Affair” (co-authored with Douglas Egerton) won the Malcolm C. Clark Award, given by the South Carolina Historical Society. He has co-edited (with Stanley Engerman) The Lesser Antilles in the Age of European Expansion (University Press of Florida, 1996); (with Louis A. Ferleger) Slavery, Secession, and Southern History(University Press of Virginia, 2000); (with Stanley Engerman and Seymour Drescher) Slavery (Oxford University Press, 2001); (with Mark M. Smith) The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas (Oxford University Press, 2010); with Rebecca J. Fox, “Unbought Grace”: An Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Reader” (University of South Carolina Press, 2011); He is currently working on A Grand Carnage (Yale University Press), a study of the largest slave insurrection in United States history and, with Douglas Egerton, Court of Death: A Documentary History of the Denmark VeseyAffair (University Press of Florida). In 2005, the University of Rochester invited him to return to his alma mater to receive the Mary Young Award for distinguished achievement. A recipient of grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, the National Endowment of the Humanities,as well as for the AHI from VERITAS, Thomas W. Smith Foundation, Watson-Brown Foundation, Armstrong Foundation, Apgar Foundation, Jack Miller Center, and Charles G. Koch Foundation. In 2007, Paquette co-founded the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization. In 2006-2008, he served on the Scholars Council of the Jack Miller Center. In 2008 he was appointed to the advisory board of the Cobb Forum on Southern Jurisprudence and Intellectual Thought of the Watson-Brown Foundation. That same year President George W. Bush forwarded Paquette’s nomination to the Senate for a seat on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2012, the American Freedom Alliance awarded him the Heroes of Conscience Award. He has taught at Hamilton College for thirty years. He held the Publius Virgilius Rogers Chair in American History for seventeen years until January 2011, when he resigned the title in protest. In 2013 The United States Commission on Civil Rights appointed him to the New York State Advisory Committee. In 2014, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the American Conservative Union Foundation awarded him the Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick Prize for Academic Freedom.

AHI Academic Adviser Harvey Mansfield Interviewed on Problems in Higher Ed

AHIadmin — Sat, 14 May 2016 17:07:42 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Academic Advisor Harvey Mansfield, was recently interviewed on the problems in higher education by Minding the Campus. Harvey Mansfield is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1962. He has written or translated works on Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Alexis de Tocqueville and Edmund Burke as well as a book on Manliness.

AHI – Baylor University to Hold Eighth Annual Summer Conference

AHIadmin — Fri, 27 May 2016 21:05:22 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce the schedule for the Eighth Annual Summer Conference, June 20-21 at 21 W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. The AHI co-sponsors the annual conference with the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. Conference sessions are open to the public, but seating is limited. Those interested in attending should contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org or 315-292-2267 to reserve a seat. This year’s conference will focus on “The Cold War and American Statesmanship.” Professor David Clinton, Chairman, Department of Political Science, Baylor University, will lead the discussion. Dr. Clinton received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and has published extensively on international relations. His books include The Realist Tradition in Contemporary International Relations (2007) and Tocqueville, Lieber, Bagehot: Liberalism Confronts the World (2003) AHI Senior Fellows David and Mary Nichols, both from the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, have organized this year’s conference. Panelists will include members of the department as well as the AHI’s David Frisk and Mary Grabar. For a PDF of conference readings, please click here. For a list of conference participants, please click here.

AHI Resident Fellows Latest Two Articles

AHIadmin — Fri, 27 May 2016 21:41:54 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Dr. Mary Grabar recently wrote the following articles: "School Shouldn't Exercise Students Like Animals," and "No Retreat from Hillary's Village." Mary Grabar, Ph.D., has taught college English for over twenty years. She is the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project, Inc., an education reform initiative that offers information and resources for students, parents, and citizens. The motto, “Resisting the Re-Education of America,” arose in part from her perspective as a very young immigrant from the former Communist Yugoslavia (Slovenia specifically). She writes extensively and is the editor of EXILED. Ms. Grabar is also a contributor to SFPPR News & Analysis.

AHI Alumnus Joe Simonson Publishes in NY Post on PC Madness

AHIadmin — Fri, 27 May 2016 21:55:05 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) alumnus Joe Simonson published an article recently in New York Post. The article entitled "PC Police are Backing Islamic Terrorists over Eagles of Death Metal," discusses the bands recent cancellations from two upcoming French music festivals.

AHI Academic Advisor Jay Sekulow Publishes on Justice Department

AHIadmin — Tue, 31 May 2016 20:23:55 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Jay Sekulow recently published the the opinion article "America is Getting Everything but Justice from Obama's Justice Department" on Fox News. Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which focuses on constitutional law.

AHI Resident Fellow Reviews Book on Left-Right Conversions

AHIadmin — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 21:02:16 +0000

David Frisk, a Resident Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), recently published a review of Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Reshaped the American Century on the prominent Liberty Law website sponsored by Liberty Fund. [caption id="attachment_3838" align="alignright" width="300"] AHI Resident Fellow David Frisk[/caption] The new book by Daniel Oppenheimer examines the political transformation of six figures in the twentieth century: Whittaker Chambers, James Burnham (later a major force at National Review), Ronald Reagan, Norman Podhoretz, David Horowitz, and Christopher Hitchens. Its purpose is to show the ways in which even seemingly firm ideological commitments can turn out to be ill-fitting and vulnerable. In addition to his “sensitive, precise, colorful writing that flows compellingly from one year to the next,” Dr. Frisk notes, “Oppenheimer accomplishes the admirable feat of making his subjects' earlier political selves semi-attractive even to a conservative reader. In a similar spirit, Whittaker Chambers sought to convey not just the sincerity but the plausibility of his turn to the Communist Party as a young man. Had he not succeeded in this, his landmark 1952 memoir, Witness, would have been a still considerable but lesser book. Oppenheimer's good discussion of Chambers is no substitute for that great work, but it helps that he tends to avoid judgmental hindsight about his subjects. … The past plausibility of the now-implausible is a crucial lesson that any deep historical study teaches.” On the other hand, Frisk remarks, Exit Right should have said more about the impact these figures eventually had as conservatives (or, in the case of Hitchens, “as a casually mislabeled conservative”). This would have improved the book “by explaining what each man's costly break—which, in one way or another, meant a major lost investment—arguably allowed him to achieve later for his new side.” A Resident Fellow at the AHI since 2013, Dr. Frisk teaches its popular adult education courses in history and politics, also assisting with AHI reading groups at Hamilton College. He is the author of If Not Us, Who? William Rusher, National Review, and the Conservative Movement (ISI Books, 2012).

AHI Senior Fellow Review Published in Cato Journal

AHIadmin — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 23:32:42 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization’s (AHI) Senior Fellow Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon recently a review of Harry Redner's "The Tragedy of European Civilization: Towards an Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century" in the Spring-Summer 2016 issue of The Cato Journal. Dr. Pilon, who joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow in March, has published extensively on international relations and national security. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C. She is currently responsible for the AHI's newest initiative the Washington Program on National Security (WAPONS) to be held in Washington, DC June 19 - July 2, 2016.

AHI Academic Adviser Roger Kimball Publishes on Angela Davis and Radical Chic

AHIadmin — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 11:59:55 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Academic Advisor Roger Kimball recently published the article "Angela Davis and Radical Chic," in The Wall Street Journal. Roger Kimball is the Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion and President and Publisher of Encounter Books.

ACTA VP Calls AHI a Model for Enriching Intellectual Diversity

AHIadmin — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 01:42:01 +0000

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) Vice President of Policy Michael Poliakoff "tells the story of the Alexander Hamilton Institute, a model for enriching intellectual diversity. This tale of donor intent and academic excellence explains the difference between the Institute's mission and Hamilton College's lazy version of diversity."

AHI Senior Fellow Publishes Latest Review of Stephen Bryen's Book on Technology and War

AHIadmin — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 01:29:00 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Senior Fellow Juliana Geran Pilon, recently published a review of Technology Security and National Power: Winners and Losers, by Stephen D. Bryen which appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of The US Army War College Quarterly - Parameters Dr. Pilon, who joined the AHI as a Senior Fellow in March, has published extensively on international relations and national security. From 2010 to 2013, she directed the Center for Culture and Security at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C.

Reminder: Eighth Annual Summer Conference June 20

AHIadmin — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 20:21:59 +0000

The Eighth Annual Summer Conference on “The Cold War and American Statesmanship,” will be held June 20-21 at 21 at W. Park Row, Clinton, New York. Conference sessions are open to the public, but seating is limited. Those interested in attending should contact Robert Paquette at bob@theahi.org or 315-292-2267 to reserve a seat. Professor David Clinton, Chairman, Department of Political Science, Baylor University, will lead the discussion. Dr. Clinton received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and has published extensively on international relations. His books include The Realist Tradition in Contemporary International Relations (2007) and Tocqueville, Lieber, Bagehot: Liberalism Confronts the World (2003) The AHI co-sponsors the annual conference with the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. AHI Senior Fellows David and Mary Nichols, both from the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, have organized this year’s conference. Panelists will include members of the department as well as the AHI’s David Frisk and Mary Grabar. For a PDF of conference readings, please click here. For a list of conference participants, please click here.

AHI Washington Program on National Security Begins June 19

AHIadmin — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 02:08:38 +0000

On Sunday evening, June 19, Dr. Juliana Pilon, Senior Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and director of its Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS), will welcome twenty-one students at a dinner that will kick off an innovative two-week program in Washington, D.C. 2016 Schedule >> 2016 Readings >> 2016 List of Program Experts >> Students from Hamilton College, Rochester Institute of Technology, Trinity College, Texas Tech University, St. Vincent College, Mercyhurst University, East Georgia State College, Liberty University, Christopher Newport University, and the University of North Texas will participate in the inaugural educational program, engaging with some of the best thinkers on and practitioners in the field of national security, including both current and former officials in the intelligence community, Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House. The schedule includes meetings with Ambassador Steve Steiner at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Lee Edwards and Marion Smith at the Victims of Communism Foundation, Alex Crowther at the National Defense University, Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib at the Afghan Embassy, Josh Carter at the U.S. Senate, and Dr. Todd Leventhal at the State Department. During morning and afternoon sessions, students will discuss a wide range of readings, including excerpts from The Black Book of Communism and from Dr. Pilon’s forthcoming The Art of Peace, as well as articles and papers on national security by Eric Hannis of Raytheon, former Defense Intelligence Official John J Dziak, international business professor Tomasz Mroczkowski, former Pentagon official Seth Cropsey, Special Operations Forces professor J. Michael Waller, and many others. Discussions will be led by the authors. AHI Executive Director, Professor Robert Paquette, will visit the group on June 29, at the headquarters of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. The program’s multiple sites will also give students an opportunity to visit the capital’s most important centers of intellectual thought and landmarks. Sessions will be held every day at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center. In addition, there will be visits to the Cato Institute, the National Defense University, American University, the Heritage Foundation, the Hudson Institute, where students will interact with experts. Students will also enjoy tours led by specialists at the International Spy Museum, the Holocaust Museum, and the Laogai Museum. On Sunday afternoon, there will be a picnic at the home of Roger and Juliana Pilon. The program, initiated by Dr. Pilon shortly after she joined AHI in March of 2015, will give students an opportunity to observe the process of national security policymaking up close, from the perspective of the practitioners themselves. It is intended to encourage and enhance students’ leadership skills, as well as open opportunities for future professional development. Dr. Pilon, author of several books and over 200 articles on international affairs, earned her PhD in philosophy at the University of Chicago. She has managed democracy-strengthening programs as Vice President of Programs at the International Foundation for Election Systems, and has taught at several colleges and universities, including Emory University, National Defense University, and George Washington University, among others. A total of twenty-one students will take part in the program. The number and quality of applications made it difficult to decide on selection, said Dr. Pilon. No other program includes such a wide variety of distinguished experts and so many site visits. “National security education is sorely lacking. Too often there is a distinction between military and civilian exercise of power, when in fact both are indispensable. Our students will come away with a deeper appreciation of all it takes to keep our nation safe,” she said. “The AHI owes Dr. Pilon a special debt of gratitude for bringing about what will be a memorable experience for these outstanding undergraduates from across the country,” Paquette observed. “One rarely sees her combination of energy, intellect, and organizational ability. She has put together a truly exciting program.” A breakfast on Saturday, July 2, will wrap up this year’s program and send students on their way to celebrate the July 4^th holiday.

AHI Resident Fellow Mary Grabar Publishes on IRS Hit List

AHIadmin — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 15:03:20 +0000

Mary Grabar, a Resident Fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), discusses how she was treated differently by the IRS because she's a Conservative, in a recent article by Capital Research Center and in and article she penned for PJ Media.

AHI WAPONS Students Visit the Afgan Embassy

AHIadmin — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 19:37:33 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5662" align="alignleft" width="300"] 22 Students Begin the AHI's Washington Program on National Security[/caption] On June 21, a delegation of 22 students from the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI)'s Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS) visited Afghanistan embassy. The program is directed by AHI Senior Fellow Dr. Juliana Pilon and aims to prepare promising and motivated college students for the challenges of a rapidly changing global environment by offering them an opportunity to engage with some of the best thinkers on and practitioners in the field of national security. Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon, who earned her PhD in philosophy at the University of Chicago is the author of several books and over two hundred articles on international affairs, she has taught at several colleges and universities, and managed democracy-strengthening programs. Her new book, soon to be published, is titled The Art of Peace: Engaging a Complex World. This program is made possible by a grant from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

In Its Eighth Year AHI Summer Conference Continues to Inspire

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 01:55:34 +0000

By Resident Fellow Mary Grabar In what has become an annual tradition, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, held their eighth annual summer conference on June 20 and 21 at AHI headquarters in Clinton, New York. This year’s theme, “The Cold War and American Statesmanship,” focused on writings by Ambassador George Kennan, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and President Ronald Reagan. Dr. David Clinton, an expert on international relations, especially American foreign policy and diplomacy, and chairman of Baylor’s Department of Political Science, directed the discussion. In five sessions over two days, participants explored the origin and evolution of the Cold War and the role of statesmanship in the course of its history. [caption id="attachment_5667" align="alignright" width="300"] AHI Undergraduate Fellow Alex Klosner at Summer Conference[/caption] Lively discussions during the day were followed by evening get-togethers on nearby Hatch Lake at the cottage of Baylor professors and AHI senior fellows David and Mary Nichols. Attendees, including students, members of AHI, area and affiliated faculty, family members, and members of the Clinton-area community, continued the conversations over a barbeque dinner. The Nicholses have handled the organization of the summer conference since 2008, the first full year of AHI’s operation. AHI co-founder Robert Paquette welcomed the attendants by recalling the words of a previous attendee, who called the AHI “a serious place where serious people gather to discuss issues seriously.” Paquette stated that such conferences are especially needed during “an age of intensification of specialization.” We need to get “out of our sandbox,” he said as he introduced sixteen panelists who came from a range of disciplines and research areas. “By focusing on the writings produced by great minds, he noted, the summer conference offers opportunities for persons of all walks of life to enrich their lives in a world of infinite complexity.” This year’s topic, the Cold War, continues to inspire debates among historians, political scientists, diplomats, and political leaders, while its impact on American society continues to be felt. Accordingly, readings under discussion ranged from the Cold War’s beginnings immediately following World War II, when George Kennan occupied a high-ranking diplomatic post in the Soviet Union, to President Reagan’s farewell speech in 1989, after the long-hated Berlin Wall had come down. As Dr. Clinton noted, the Cold War was a time when the achievements of Western civilization were at risk. The three authors under discussion, while not “carbon copies,” all called themselves conservatives at some point as they sought to protect Western civilization from the multi-level threat of Communism generally and of the Soviet Union specifically. George Kennan, striving to assess the Soviet threat while living under the regime’s restrictions, provided insights into the Russian character and reigning ideology. Readings included the famous 1946 “Long Telegram,” his 1947 lecture to the National War College, and passages from his Memoirs. They were wrapped up by Kennan’s later assessments in American Diplomacy (1951) and Realities of American Foreign Policy (1954). The readings began with Kennan’s attempt to educate Washington about the Soviet threat in a 5,500-word telegram, while, as Professor Clinton put it, “having a very bad day.” Kennan described how ideology disrupted natural loyalties and relations and inspired defensiveness and anxiety, while he warned against Americans similarly adopting an attitude of belligerence and hysteria. Likening Communism to a disease that attacks a society weakened by “disunity,” Kennan advised Americans to strengthen its own values as a bulwark of defense. Henry Kissinger, a “realist,” saw diplomacy in the nuclear age stymied by bureaucrats and technicians and by a build-up of nuclear weapons that could not be used to counter the range of challenges. As Britain and France acquired nuclear weapons and the U.S. became more dependent on foreign oil, Kissinger attached increasing importance to the structuring of an American-led international order. He faced the challenge of getting consensus from the American people still divided over the Vietnam War as he participated in the Paris peace talks. Excerpts from a number of Kissinger’s works were discussed, including A World Restored (1954), The White House Years (1970), Years of Upheaval (1982), as well as two of President Richard Nixon’s annual reports to Congress, which outlined “The Nixon Doctrine.” President Ronald Reagan criticized the Nixon/Kissinger policy of détente (continued under President Gerald Ford) as inadequate. He began his strategy of strength with his presidential campaign. It focused on the inadequacy of U.S. response to human rights violations by the Soviet Union as well as the weakness and irresolution displayed during the Iranian hostage crisis. Tuesday afternoon’s final session examined Reagan’s foreign policy as expressed in his inaugural and farewell addresses and the “Evil Empire Speech” (1983), delivered before the National Association of Evangelicals, as well as in his autobiography An American Life (1990). A passage near the end of Reagan's Farewell Address sparked one of the conference’s most intense discussions: "But now, we're about to enter the nineties and some things have changed. Younger parents aren't sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom-freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs protection." In thinking about President Reagan’s line about the need to “reinstitutionalize” the American spirit, Paquette closed out the conference by referring to Who Are We? (2004), a book by Kissinger’s contemporary and sometime rival, Samuel Huntington. Nearing the end of his life, Huntington, one of the most distinguished political scientists of his generation, saw the United States in crisis, besieged by internal and external threats to a distinctive civilization. Who Are We? issued a cri de coeur about the need to define the United States’ core values, its public orthodoxy, as an indispensable prerequisite to the development of an effective international strategic vision in defense of the national interest. The hope for a renewal in the idea of a confident and coherent American identity, he observed, lay in the young people, future leaders, attending the conference. The annual summer conference provided opportunities for students to interact with professors. Debbie O’Malley, who recently defended her dissertation prospectus at Baylor, returned this year for the fourth time (serving as a panelist in 2013 and 2014) and said that the AHI conference on Alexis de Tocqueville two years ago made her rethink her thesis and inspired a new direction for her dissertation, now titled, “Religious Institutions and Associational Freedom in U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence.” She has had a general interest in religious freedom, but prior to the 2014 conference had been thinking in terms of individual rights. Of concern to her is the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (2011), in which the Supreme Court upheld the policy of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, that required student groups to accept all students regardless of their status or beliefs in order to obtain recognition. A campus gay rights group had challenged the Christian Legal Society’s requirement that members subscribe to a “Statement of [Christian] Beliefs.” She called the decision and the policy a “stealthy way of undermining speech” and in conflict with freedom of association, or the “ability to structure groups by beliefs”—the concept of voluntary association described by Tocqueville as a bulwark against the tyranny of the majority. “Tocqueville showed me what’s at stake,” she said. “Freedom of association is essential for the whole of society, not just the individual.” O’Malley was so excited by the idea that occurred to her during the conference that she told Professor David Nichols about it as he was driving her to the airport. He liked the idea right away and is directing her dissertation. Drawing on her earlier experience, O’Malley added that the conferences are helpful in preparing for the comprehensive exams given at the end of the summer. Jeremy Schmuck, a first-time attendee and first-year graduate student in International Relations at Baylor, said he enjoyed the hospitality and appreciated the opportunity to meet several good scholars from Baylor and elsewhere. Alex Klosner, an AHI undergraduate leader and rising Hamilton College senior, sees the AHI’s activities as fostering intellectual and academic nurturing. He attended as a member of the audience, something he has been doing since coming to Hamilton. The AHI, he said during a break, “exposed me to several viewpoints I would not have been exposed to in regular classes.” Klosner also was inspired by the 2014 conference on de Tocqueville. He enrolled in Professor Paquette’s course, “Tocqueville’s America,” in which the students read both volumes of Democracy in America, cover to cover. An economics major, Klosner says that Tocqueville has “profound relevance today.” One point that has remained with him is Tocqueville’s statement, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” In addition to local and out-of-state students and academics, the summer conference attracted several community members to its audience. Dawn Laguerre, a public relations professional who lives in nearby Utica, is a frequent participant in AHI activities, such as community classes, lectures, and summer conferences. After a lunchtime conversation with Professor Clinton, she told me that she enjoys the “academic smorgasbord of ideas.” “It’s exciting and stimulating to hear such a diverse number of ideas from students,” she said. She particularly liked the discussion around the Kissinger readings and the distinction between a “philosopher-king” and “a policy maker.” Keith (“Kit”) Blackmore, a local veterinarian, has attended all eight summer conferences and says he always finds the interplay among panelists and with audience members enjoyable to watch. He described the conference as “a comfortable group of friends talking intelligently.” Blackmore has participated in all the community classes. “AHI is a comfortable place for me,” he commented. Recalling this spring’s class on the “Red/Blue Divide,” he said that AHI is a place where “people of different political positions can talk to each other.” This year’s conference took place during two days of perfect summer weather. Some students departed on their way to comprehensive exams or to write dissertations. The influence of the AHI’s annual summer conference will show, as it did for Debbie O’Malley, in this work.

Photos: Eighth Annual AHI-Baylor Summer Conference

AHIadmin — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 19:55:58 +0000

On June 20 and 21, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Department of Political Science, Baylor University held their eighth annual summer conference at AHI headquarters in Clinton, New York. This year’s theme, “The Cold War and American Statesmanship,” focused on writings by Ambassador George Kennan, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and President Ronald Reagan. Dr. David Clinton, an expert on international relations, especially American foreign policy and diplomacy, and chairman of Baylor’s Department of Political Science, directed the discussion. In five sessions over two days, participants explored the origin and evolution of the Cold War and the role of statesmanship in the course of its history. [gallery size="full" ids="5684,5685,5686,5687,5688,5689,5690,5691,5692,5683,5682,5681,5679,5678,5667"]

Photos: AHI's Washington Program on National Security (WAPONS)

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 18:23:15 +0000

On July 1, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI)’s Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS) completed its final session at American University. The inaugural AHI program was directed by AHI Senior Fellow Dr. Juliana Pilon and aimed to prepare a delegation of 21 promising and motivated college students for the challenges of a rapidly changing global environment by offering them an opportunity to engage with some of the best thinkers on and practitioners in the field of national security. [gallery size="large" ids="5703,5704,5705,5706,5707,5708,5709,5710,5711,5712"]

Photos: AHI's Bob Paquette Addresses WAPONS Students in Washington, D.C.

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 18:39:14 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization's (AHI) Bob Paquette at the office of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) in Washington, D.C. addressing undergraduate participants in the inaugural WAPONS program. Held June 19 - July 2, WAPONS offered a delegation of 21 college students with an amazing opportunity to engage with some of the best thinkers, practitioners, and both current and former officials in the Intelligence Community, Congress, the Pentagon, the White House, non-governmental organizations, industry, and academia, including the premier think-tanks and news organizations, thus affording the participants a rare inside glimpse of the many different cultures that must all work together to succeed. [gallery size="large" ids="5712,5711,5710,5709,5708"]

Dr. Janice Hauge to Join AHI as Senior Fellow

AHIadmin — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 19:31:42 +0000

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Janice Hauge has accepted an invitation to join the AHI as a Senior Fellow. Hauge, Associate Professor, Associate Department Chairperson, and Director of Graduate Admissions, in the Department of Economics at the University of North Texas (UNT), is a recognized authority on telecommunications policy research. A recipient of UNT’s President’s Council Teaching Award, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in microeconomic theory, industrial organization, and strategic behavior. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="158"] Dr. Janice Hauge is AHI's newest Senior Fellow[/caption] Hauge began teaching at UNT in 2003. She also publishes research focusing on competition policy and regulation, primarily addressing the telecommunications and broadband industries. From 2005 to 2009, she worked as a tutor and project supervisor for the Master’s Program in Telecommunication Regulation and Policy at the University of West Indies. She currently is chairman of the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference and has served since 2005 as Senior Research Associate at the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida. After earning a B.A. degree in American Studies and Economics from Hamilton College in 1989, Hauge earned a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics in 1991 and her Ph.D. from University of Florida in 2001. While at Hamilton College, she qualified for commission as 2^nd Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps. She was an honor graduate in the leadership training course and graduated first in her class of 1988. AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette taught Dr. Hauge at Hamilton College. They reconnected, and Paquette invited her to participate as a panelist in April’s Ninth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, “Toleration, the Constitution, and the Limits of an Open Society.” “As the Hamilton College undergraduate Janice Jenny,” said Paquette, “she made a lasting impression on campus. She was both an outstanding student and outstanding athlete. As I recall, she lettered in two sports and was most valuable player in one. Indeed, in 1989 she received the Paul S. Langa Prize Scholarship, which is awarded to the top female athlete at Hamilton College. But what stood out to me was her combination of intelligence, grit, and character. I demanded a lot of her in the classroom because I knew she could elevate her game. She did. Her adult life bespeaks the finest values represented by the AHI.” Hauge, who now lives with her husband Mark and their daughter Jenna in Denton, Texas, keeps up with her athletic pursuits by participating in ultra-marathons. She also is active in her church, Shady Shores Baptist. She recalls sitting in Professor Paquette’s classes: “I knew he was strict, demanding, and an excellent writer and I desperately wanted to impress him with my own excellent work. As a 21 year old I was certainly intimidated. As such, I worked harder writing my senior thesis under his direction than I had ever done in all my schooling prior. Despite my efforts the drafts I proudly produced for him were carefully edited and returned to me with less than glowing comments. I would relate my disappointment to my roommates, regroup, and start again. That experience turned out to be tremendously beneficial. I learned to work hard and to accept challenges for what they are, realized my innate need to be challenged, and found a productive expression for my passion for learning. Of all I wrote for my American Studies major, I have since forgotten all but one comment about one assignment: Professor Paquette noted “flashes of brilliance.” I saved no other papers, but I still have that note. It’s a blessing to have a professor willing to pour into students with tireless effort and dedication. I realized it then and am grateful to have the opportunity to work together now.” At the invitation of the AHI, Dr. Hauge will present the Fourth Annual Josiah Bunting III Veterans Day lecture on the Hamilton College campus on 11 November. After the Veterans Day address on campus, Dr. Hauge will join undergraduates at AHI headquarters for a “Leadership Dinner” during which a writing of Dr. Hauge’s choosing will be discussed. “What an honor to be back in Clinton and to be able to talk to undergraduates in a place I remember as the Alexander Hamilton Inn where visiting parents and townspeople would go for dinner and drinks, Dr. Hauge added. “I am excited about coming back and being a part of the educational initiative started by one of my favorite professors.”

AHI Resident Fellow Mary Grabar reviews The Devil’s Pleasure Palace

AHIadmin — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 10:35:45 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Resident Fellow Mary Grabar reviewed The Devil’s Pleasure Palace: The Cult of Critical Theory and the Subversion of the West by Michael Walsh (Encounter Books) for the Summer 2016 issue of Academic Questions, the journal of the National Association of Scholars (NAS). Grabar writes that Walsh “aims to describe the history and effects of the ‘Frankfurt scholars,’” the Marxist exiles from post World War II Europe--Theodor Adorno, Wilhelm Reich, Walter Benjamin, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, and Max Horkheimer--who “poisoned academe with the nihilistic ideas of Antonio Gramsci and Georg Lukács.” These professors and writers greatly influenced the New Left, and thereby degraded art and academic inquiry. She writes that it is in large part due to the teaching by “intellectual descendants of the New Left” that today’s students come to see themselves as “super ‘critical thinkers’ and morally capable of discerning ‘microagressions.’” They imbibe such pernicious ideas as Marcuse’s concept of “repressive tolerance” (defined in his 1965 essay, “A Critique of Pure Tolerance), which Walsh aptly and humorously summarizes as “’tolerance for me, but not for thee.’” Such use of “jaunty, often funny prose” is a strength of the book, but the mingling of high and low culture “ranging from Goethe’s Faust and Milton’s Paradise Lost to musical compositions by Wagner and Schubert to such movies as Roger Rabbit and Fatal Attraction” in quick succession limits its range. Walsh’s book introduces the important subject, but a more sustained treatment is needed, Grabar concludes. The National Association of Scholars is a non-profit organization whose members are committed to advancing “rational discourse as the formation of academic life in a free and democratic society.” Membership is open to all. More information can be found at www.nas.org.

AHI Awarded Apgar Foundation Grant

AHIadmin — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 21:46:26 +0000

The Apgar Foundation, which has as one of its central missions the promotion of “an understanding of the Western and American intellectual heritage,” has awarded a $30,000 grant to the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI). In announcing the award in a letter to AHI leadership, Frederick J. Fransen expressed Apgar’s pleasure with “the work that the AHI is doing to promote quality, truly liberal education, and look forward to working with you to identify other possible areas of support. Keep up the good work!” [caption id="attachment_3606" align="alignright" width="214"] Resident Fellow Mary Grabar at the AHI[/caption] The grant will be used to “expand the reach” of the AHI in communications and development. Dr. Mary Grabar, whose status at the AHI will now change from visiting to resident fellow, will see her role expanded. She will take on a variety of assignments as a reporter and special features writer. In addition, the grant will allow the AHI to hire two undergraduate interns with computer skills to help manage the AHI’s new website. “This past academic year of campus takeovers by opponents of free academic inquiry and free speech,” Dr. Grabar observed, “has reinforced the idea of how important places like the AHI are. It stands like a beacon welcoming Hamilton College and area students, scholars, and community members who wish to engage in traditional scholarly activities such as the pursuit of truth, the preservation of our Western heritage, and the free and collegial exchange of ideas. I am proud to continue my association with AHI, which goes back to 2010 when I made my first visit, and which continued each subsequent year with summertime visits, including a month in 2011 as a Bakwin Research Fellow. Since 2014, I have been able to witness on a daily basis the profound effect that AHI has and the work that goes into running it. Now, thanks to the Apgar Foundation, I will have the ability to use my college teaching and writing experience to expand AHI’s reach as a resident fellow. I am delighted to have this opportunity to put my full efforts into disseminating news about AHI’s good work and contributing to higher education reform. I wish to express my profound appreciation to the Apgar Foundation for their generosity.” “The Apgar Foundation has proven to be a dear friend of the AHI,” said AHI Executive Director Robert Paquette. “Previous grants have allowed us to develop not only programming, but affiliated organizations on or near other campuses. The Apgar Foundation is well aware of the Dr. Grabar’s Dissident Prof website and the fine work she is doing there critiquing educational infamias. The entire AHI family very much appreciates Apgar’s ratification of our efforts at preserving the best traditions of a great civilization.”

AHI Undergraduate Leader Liz Barry Quoted in Wall Street Journal

AHIadmin — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:35:06 +0000

Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) Undergraduate Fellow Elizabeth Barry was recently quoted in The Wall Street Journal regarding her political affiliation stating that she is taken “even less seriously" now by her peers due to Mr. Trump's candidacy.