November, 12, 2019
Amicus Curiae Lecture
Marshall’s Amicus Curiae Lecture Series continues at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, at Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall with a lecture by David J. Barron, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. His lecture is titled “Waging War: When Congress and the Commander in Chief Clash,” and the event is free and open to the public.
Barron will explore the history of the United States’ Commanders in Chief and Congress battling over the power to wage war, going back even before the colonies became a nation and continuing to the present. Based on his research and his own experiences as a legal adviser in the U.S. Department of Justice on national security matters, Barron will discuss how presidents and those who have advised them have proved adept, with rare exception, at avoiding constitutional crises by waging war on terms even reluctant or hostile Congresses can accept.
“Judge Barron brings a deep knowledge of history and law, as well as personal experience at the highest levels of the judicial and executive branches, to his discussion of a very relevant topic,” said Patricia Proctor, director of the Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy. “He is also an entertaining writer and speaker who will deliver a thought-provoking presentation to our audience. We are very fortunate to have him in the Series.”
Barron joined the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2014, and before that served as the S. William Green Professor at Harvard Law School, which he joined in 1999. Barron served in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1996 to 1999 and as acting head of the office from 2009 to 2010. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Barron holds a bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor from Harvard University. His book, Waging War: The Clash Between Presidents and Congress, 1776 to ISIS, won the William E. Colby Award in 2017. The award is given annually by Norwich University to a first solo work of fiction or nonfiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of military history, intelligence operations or international affairs.
This lecture is sponsored by Marshall’s Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council.
November 9, 2019, 3:00
A Conversation with Sarah Vowell
Sarah Vowell is the New York Times bestselling author of seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. Her most recent book and the evening’s topic is titled Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. By examining the connections between the American past and present, she offers personal, often humorous accounts of everything from presidents and their assassins to colonial religious fanatics, as well as thoughts on utopian dreamers, pop music, and the odd cranky cartographer.
Vowell was a contributing editor for the public radio show “This American Life” from 1996–2008, where she produced numerous commentaries and documentaries and toured the country in many of the program’s live shows. She was one of the original contributors to McSweeney’s, also participating in many of the quarterly’s readings and shows. She has been a columnist for Salon.com, Time, and San Francisco Weekly, and is a contributing op-ed writer for the New York Times.
Vowell is also the voice for Violet Parr in Disney Pixar’s The Incredibles and Incredibles 2.
Drinko Library Atrium
Drinko Library
Marshall University
November 8, 2019, 3:00
Dr. Alan Gould Memorial and Reception
October 22, 2019, 7:00
the A.E. Stringer Visiting Writers Series
Treuer is Ojibwe from the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. The author of seven books, including Res Life: An Indian’s Journey Through Reservation Life (2012), Prudence (Riverhead Books, 2015) and The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present (2019), a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award in the Nonfiction category.
According to a review of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee in the Washington Post, “Treuer is an easy companion: thoughtful, provocative and challenging. He tells a disturbing yet heroic story that may very well be seen as a definition of ‘American exceptionalism.’”
Treuer also has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Esquire, Slate, and the Washington Post, among others. He has a Ph.D. in anthropology and teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Southern California.
The reading is free and open to the public.
Corbly Hall
Room 105
Marshall University
October 3, 2019, 7:00
September 24, 2019, 11:30
President’s Media Quoits Challenge
Winners Dr. Robert Bookwalter and Michael Prewitt
Buskirk Field
Marshall University
September 24, 2019, 11:00
John Marshall Birthday Cake Celebration
Student Body President Stephanie Rogner and Vice-President Anna Williams
Memorial Student Center Plaza
Memorial Student Center
Marshall University
September 20, 2019, 2:00
President’s Invitational Quoits Tournament
Winners Bill Rosenberger and Brent Sturm pictured with President Gilbert and Maurice Cooley
Buskirk Field
Marshall University, Huntington WV
September 17, 2019, 2:30
Robert C. Byrd Forum on Civic Responsibility
(from left to right) Jennifer Wells, Dr. Sarah Denman, Brandon Dennison, Audy Perry, Esq.
Francis Booth Experimental Theatre
Joan C. Edwards Playhouse
Marshall University, Huntington WV
September 11, 2019, 7:00
Amicus Curiae Lecture
Brookhiser is the author of John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court, which was published in 2018 to critical acclaim. He will discuss how Chief Justice Marshall made the U.S. Supreme Court — a weak institution at the time he became the nation’s fourth Chief Justice in 1801 — the peer of Congress and the presidency by the time of his death in 1835. Brookhiser explores how Marshall worked this transformation by discussing the man, his methods, and one of his great cases — as well his many critics, during his lifetime and after.
“Of course, here at Marshall University, we remain fascinated by and invested in Chief Justice Marshall’s profound contribution to our country,” said Patricia Proctor, director of the Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy, which sponsors the Amicus Curiae series. “It is absolutely wonderful that Richard Brookhiser has agreed to participate in the lecture series to give us his insights about the life of the great Chief Justice.”
Brookhiser is a senior editor of the National Review and a columnist for American History. He is also the author of more than a dozen books, including James Madison (2011); Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution (2003); America’s First Dynasty: The Adamses,1735-1918; Alexander Hamilton: American (1999) and Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington (1996).
Brookhiser wrote and hosted the Michael Pack films “Rediscovering George Washington,” which aired on PBS in 2002, and “Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton,” which aired on PBS in 2011. John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court (2018) is his most recent book. He is a graduate of Yale University.
Erickson Alumni Center
Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall
Marshall University, Huntington WV
September 11, 2019, 10:00
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
Joan C. Edwards Playhouse
Marshall University
Open Quoits Tournament
Winners Bill Rosenberger and Brent Sturm
Buskirk Field
Marshall University, Huntington WV
May 3, 2019, 7:00
Honors Convocation
In the week prior to the Marshall University Commencement each spring, the Honors College hosts the Elizabeth Gibson Drinko Honors Convocation. The Honors Convocation is an inspiring, campus-wide celebration of outstanding undergraduate student achievement. The evening ceremony and reception recognizes not only students who are graduating from the Honors College, but also students at all points in their course of study who are chosen by academic departments across the university to receive special recognition for excellence in areas of academics or service. This is an excellent opportunity for faculty to formally and publicly recognize achievements made by their students–whether or not they are in the Honors College. The college will contact departmental chairs in the first half of the spring semester to solicit nominations for honors and awards as determined by each department to be given at the convocation.
April 25, 2019, 7:00
Amicus Curiae Lecture
Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg are Professors of History at Louisiana State University. They are also the authors of several highly-regarded and best-selling books. Most recently, Dr. Isenberg’s book, White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, has been a New York Times bestseller and an international phenomenon. Dr. Burstein’s most recent highly-regarded book is Democracy’s Muse: How Thomas Jefferson Became an FDR Liberal, a Reagan Republican, and a Tea Party Fanatic, All the While Being Dead. They will lecture on the topic of their newest book, The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality, to be published by Viking in April 2019. Dr. Burstein earned his Ph.D. in American History from the University of Virginia; his M.A. from the University of Michigan, and his B.A. from Columbia University. Dr. Isenberg earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in American History from the University of Wisconsin and her B.A. in History from Rutgers University.
Erickson Alumni Center
Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall
Marshall University
April 11, 2019, 7:00
Amicus Curiae Lecture
How the South Won the Civil War: The Significance of the West in American History
Heather Cox Richardson is Professor of History at Boston College. She will lecture on the topic of her newest book, How the South Won the Civil War: The Significance of the West in American History, to be published by Oxford University Press in 2019. According to Dr. Richardson, “America’s current political crisis lies in a curious quirk of historical timing: the end of the Civil War coincided with the push of settlers across the Mississippi River. That coincidence, which first nurtured Confederate ideology and then permitted it to take over national politics, has shaped American politics ever since.” Dr. Richardson is the author of several highly-regarded books that, among other accolades, have been Editors’ Selections of the History Book Club and the New York Times Book Review. She is a national commentator on American political history and the Republican Party. With Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Ron Suskind, she co-hosts the weekly WBUR politics and history podcast, “Freak Out and Carry On.” Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and she is a regular columnist for Salon.com. She earned her Ph.D. and her B.A. from Harvard University.
Erickson Alumni Center
Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall
Marshall University
March 6, 2019, 7:00
Amicus Curiae Lecture
Jan-Werner Mueller is Professor of Politics at Princeton University, where he also directs the Project in the History of Political Thought. His highly-acclaimed book, What is Populism?, has been translated into more than twenty languages. He studied at the Free University, Berlin; University College, London; St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and Princeton University. He earned his D. Phil from Oxford University.
Erickson Alumni Center
Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall
Marshall University, Huntington WV
March 4, 2019, 7:00
Sara Denman Faces of Appalachia Symposium
DAVID TROWBRIDGE (Ph.D., Kansas) is an Associate Professor of History and the Director of African and African American Studies at Marshall University. Dr. Trowbridge is the author of A History of the United States and the creator of Clio, a website and mobile application that connects users with the history and culture that surrounds them. Clio has grown to over 5000 entries across the United States and is available for free at www.theclio.com. Dr. Trowbridge has also authored several articles in leading academic publications such as the Journal of American History and Journal of African American History. Among his current projects are the publication of a book on African American pioneers in the American West following Reconstruction, and a second book entitled Jim Crow in the Land of John Brown which details the origins of segregation and the Black Freedom Struggle in America’s Heartland.
Francis Booth Experimental Theatre
Joan C. Edwards Playhouse
Marshall University, Huntington WV
February 19, 2019, 7:00
Amicus Curiae Lecture
The Honorable Robert Wilkins, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, author of Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100-Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture
In this special Amicus Curiae Lecture, the Simon Perry Center will partner with the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum to host Judge Wilkins, who played a key role in the establishment of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, and is author of the book Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100-Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Before ascending to the federal bench, Judge Wilkins practiced from 1990-2002 as a Public Defender for the District of Columbia, where he ultimately served as Special Litigation Chief. In 2002, he joined the law firm of Venable LLP as a partner. Before his appointment to the federal bench, Judge Wilkins also served as the lead plaintiff in Wilkins, et al. v. State of Maryland, a landmark civil rights lawsuit that inspired nationwide legislation and executive reform of police stop-and-search practices and the collection of data regarding those practices. In 2010, he was appointed U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia, where he served until his appointment to the the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Erickson Alumni Center
Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall
Marshall University, Huntington WV
February 7, 2019, 4:00
2019 Carter G. Woodson Lecture: Dr. Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander, Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Norfolk State University
1619 Commemoration. 400 Year Anniversary of the Arrival of Africans at Jamestown. Click here to view pictures and video of the event.