Spring 2013
“The Betrayal of Liberal Education”
February 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm in Persson Hall Auditorium, Room 27
Lecture by Peter Berkowitz, Tad & Dianne Taube Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Chair, National Security & Law Task Force; & Co-Chair, Virtues of a Free Society Task Force. In addition to his Senior Fellowship, Peter Berkowitz is co-founder and director of the Israel Program on Constitutional Government; a member of the Policy Advisory Board at the Ethics and Public Policy Center; and has served as a senior consultant to the President's Council on Bioethics. Among his works are Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist (Harvard, 1995); Virtue and the Making of Modern Liberalism (Princeton, 1999); and Israel and the Struggle over the International Laws of War (Hoover, 2012), and forthcoming in 2013, Constitutional Conservatism. He holds a JD and a PhD in political science from Yale University; an MA in philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and a BA in English literature from Swarthmore College. Co-sponsored with The Institute for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.
“Does Affirmative Action Hurt Those it Intends to Help?”
March 27, 2013 at 4:15 pm in Love Auditorium, 300 Olin Hall
Lecture by Richard Sander, UCLA Professor of Law, with commentary by Rhonda Levine, Professor of Sociology. After earning a B.A. in Social Studies at Harvard, Richard Sander joined Vista and worked for a small neighborhood-housing group on Chicago's south side. He continued to work on issues of fair housing and integration as he pursued degrees in law (J.D., 1988) and economics (M.A. 1985, Ph.D., 1990) at Northwestern University. In 1989 he joined the faculty of the UCLA School of Law. After California voters approved Proposition 209 in 1996 – banning the use of race as a criterion of judgment in various government programs, including admissions at UCLA – Sander successfully argued for the adoption of class-based preferences in the Law School’s admissions. In 1998-99, Sander helped the Empirical Research Group (ERG) to assist faculty members in developing greater quantitative and methodological sophistication in their policy-related work. In a series of articles in Stanford Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and North Carolina Law Review, Sander argues that race preferences impose unexpected but substantial costs on their intended beneficiaries. In 2012, he, with Stuart Taylor, co-authored Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It's Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won't Admit It (Basic Books, 2012). Co-sponsored with The Institute for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and the Arnold Sio Chair on Diversity and Community.
"Beyond 2014: The Afghan National Security Forces After NATO"
March 28, 2013 at 4:30 pm in Persson Hall Auditorium, Room 27
Lecture by Candace Rondeaux, Candace Rondeaux is a research fellow at the Center on National Security at Fordham University Law School. Her work focuses on international law, security and counterterrorism policy in South and Central Asia. Based in Brussels, Rondeaux lived and worked in Afghanistan for five years, serving most recently as the senior analyst for the International Crisis Group in Kabul. Before joining ICG in 2009 she was the Islamabad/Kabul bureau chief for The Washington Post, capping a nine-year career spent working as a journalist for several leading newspapers in the United States. She received several honors and awards for her reporting on criminal justice and legal affairs, and was part of the Washington Post team awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2007. Virginia Tech massacre. Her writing and analysis has also been featured by the Foreign Affairs, The International Herald Tribune, Foreign Policy, The Boston Globe, The New York News, The New York Observer, The New York Daily News and The Village Voice. Rondeaux earned a B.A. in Russian Area Studies from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.A. in Journalism from New York University. She is currently working on a book about the Afghanistan National Security Forces. Co-sponsored with Project Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan Reconstruction: Prospects for a Sustainable Future”
April 15, 2013 at 4:30 pm in Persson Hall Auditorium, Room 27
Lecture by Parker Laite ’06, senior program analyst at the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). SIGAR is a watchdog agency responsible for safeguarding U.S. reconstruction funds spent in Afghanistan. To date, this work has included reviews of U.S. programs related to local governance and community development, infrastructure development, and counternarcotics. Prior to joining SIGAR, he served on the Congressional Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan's Stability and Reconstruction Operations team, where he focused on the use of contractors in carrying out Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction-related programs including construction, training and development of police and security forces, civil-society development, democratization of institutions, and rule of law. Parker started his career in government service with U.S. Senator Susan Collins, working in both her personal office and with the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Parker holds a M.A. in International Affairs from Georgetown University (2010), and a B.A. from Colgate University (2006) in German. Co-sponsored with Project Afghanistan.
“What Is a Civilizational Struggle: The Work of Samuel Huntington”
Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium: Samuel Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations
April 18-20, 2013, Turning Stone Resort, 5218 Patrick Road Verona, New York
The Alexander Hamilton Institute and Colgate's Center for Freedom & Western Civilization will co-sponsor a major colloquium 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, will keynote.
Co-Sponsors: Robert Kraynak, Professor of Government and Director, Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, Colgate University Robert L. Paquette, Co-Founder, Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization
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Thursday, 18 April 2013
5:30 p.m. Past, Present, and Future of the AHI
Robert Paquette, Co-Founder and Charter Fellow, AHI Dean Ball, AHI Undergraduate Leader of the Montesquieu Group
7:30 p.m. Keynote Address Sixth Annual Carl B. Menges Lecture
Introduction of James Kurth by Professor Robert Kraynak, Director, Center for Freedom and Western Civilization, Colgate University
Keynote Address, Dr. James Kurth, Claude Smith Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College
- Friday, 19, April 2013
8:45 a.m. Session I: “Huntington v. Fukuyama: One World or Many”
11:00 a.m. Session II: “What Is a Civilization?”
4:00 p.m. Session III: “Huntington and the Clash of Civilizations?”
- Saturday, 20 April 2013
8:45 a.m. Session IV: “Huntington and His Critics”
11:00 a.m. Session V: “Clashes within Civilization”
4:00 p.m. Session VI: “The Future of the West”
Participants: Steve Ealy, Senior Fellow, Liberty Fund (discussion leader); James S. Robbins, Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs, Washington Times; Kenneth Minogue, Emeritus Prof. of Political Science & 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, Alexander Hamilton Institute; 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
“Liberty Defined: The Future of Freedom”
Congressman Ron Paul
April 24, 2013 at 5 pm in the Colgate Memorial Chapel
Admission by ticket only.
Ron Paul ran unsuccessfully for president in 2012, 2008 (both times as a republican) and in 1988 (as a Libertarian). At last year's Republican National Convention Paul received 190 delegates. Before running for president, Ron Paul served in Congress from 1976-1977, 1979-1985, and 1997-2013. Congressman Paul graduated from Gettysburg College and Duke University Medical School. He served in the Air Force and worked as an obstetrician/gynecologist before getting into politics. He has long been a critic of the federal government, especially on the topics of the economy, foreign policy, the war on drugs and other domestic social policies. His son Rand Paul is a senator from Kentucky. Sponsored by Colgate University's College Republicans; The Institute for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; The Budget Allocation Committee; Students for a Sensible Drug Policy; and The Colgate Entrepreneur’s Club.
Fall 2012
"Obamacare before the Court: Was the Robert's Decision Right?"
September 17 at 4:15 p.m. in Persson Hall Auditorium, Room 27
Constitution Day Debate on the Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the natural health insurance law. Co-sponsored with the Institute for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).
"Maternal Health Care in Afghanistan" September 24 at 4:30 p.m. in Persson Hall Auditorium, Room 27
Lecture by Ann Lin, advisor to Afghanistan's Ministry of Health and assistant director of Johns Hopkins Medicine International will discuss the health care structure in Afghanistan and the conditions of maternal and child health. Co-sponsored with Project Afghanistan and Women's Studies.
"The Senate Today: Would the American Founders Approve?" October 2 at 4:15 p.m. in Persson Hall Auditorium, Room 27
Lecture by Alan Frumin '68, the official U.S. Senate Parliamentarian for twenty years. He will explain how the Senate was envisioned by the Founders and how it works or doesn't work today. The Edgar Shor Memorial Lecture, co-sponsored with PPE, the Political Science Department, and the Colgate Washington D.C. Study Group.
"Thomas Jefferson and the Power of Ideas in Politics" October 13 at 5:00 p.m. at 20 Utica Street, the downtown Hamilton Center for Arts and Culture
Lecture and Discussion by Robert Kraynak, Colgate University, on Thomas Jefferson's three great accomplishments – the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom, and the founding of the University of Virginia – and what they teach us about the power and weakness of ideas in politics. Sponsored by Great Mind Series.
"The 2012 Elections and the Future of American Politics" October 26 at 4:30 p.m. in Love Auditorium, Olin Hall
Lecture by Monica Crowley '90, Fox News Commentator, on the presidential and national elections, followed by a student panel of College Democrats, Republicans, and Democracy Matters members. Co-sponsored by Family Weekend and open to the public, with a buffet dinner afterwards in the ALANA Cultural Center.
"American Military Strategy in Afghanistan" October 29 at 4:30 p.m. in Persson Hall Auditorium, Room 27
Major Fernando Lujan, U.S. Army Special Forces, will discuss the problems and perils of American military strategy in the Afghan war. Co-sponsored with Project Afghanistan.
"The Religious Beliefs of the American Founders" November 15 at 4:30 p.m. in Persson Hall Auditorium, Room 27
Lecture by Gregg Frazer, professor of history at Masters College, CA will discuss his new book on the religious beliefs of the American founding fathers. He will also lead a Brown Bag Luncheon discussion on Friday, Nov. 16 in Persson Hall 108 on key chapters of his book.
"The Clash of Civilizations: A Conference on Samuel Huntington's Thesis" April 18-20 at the Turning Stone Casino and the Alexander Hamilton Institute in Clinton, N.Y.
A two day conference on the controversial thesis of the late Sam Huntington and its relevance to the debates today about Islam, the West, China, and the global contest of ideas. For details, see the website of the Alexander Hamilton Institute (
theahi.org).