Northfield, Minn. (PRWEB) October 13, 2016
The Institute for Freedom & Community at St. Olaf College will host ‘“Who’s in Your Wallet?” Hamilton, Jackson, Tubman, and the Presidential Election’ on October 20 as part of The Institute’s 2016-17 event series. This event is free, open to the public and hosted at St. Olaf College, located 45 minutes south of the Twin Cities.
“Who’s in Your Wallet?”
Thursday, October 20, 2016
7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Tomson Hall 280
St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Avenue, Northfield, Minn.
“Who’s in Your Wallet?” will address the controversy over faces on the fronts of the $10 and $20 bills, which provides an interesting backdrop on how we think about the 2016 presidential election and broader issues in American society. A panel of three visiting speakers, Michael Federici, Michael Lind, and Margaret Washington, will address elements of the election from Jacksonian, Hamiltonian, and Tubmanian perspectives.
Michael Federici is professor of political science at Mercyhurst University and department chair. One of his more recent books, The Political Philosophy of Alexander Hamilton, goes beyond the analyses of Hamilton that pit him as a monarchist, elitist, and proto-nationalist thinker and instead, looks at how Hamilton’s political philosophy was misunderstood. Federici received his Ph.D. and M.A. from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and his B.S. in economics from Elizabethtown College.
Michael Lind’s most recent book, Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States, dives into his knowledge on topics from Jackson, Hamilton, and Lincoln’s America with a view to their relevance in the current presidential election. Lind is policy director of The Economic Growth Program as well as a co-founder of New America, a think tank and civic enterprise. He became New America’s first fellow in 1999. A graduate of the University of Texas and Yale University, Lind has taught at Harvard and Johns Hopkins and has been an editor and staff writer for The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New Republic, and The National Interest. He is a columnist for Salon and writes frequently for The New York Times and The Financial Times.
Margaret Washington is a professor of history at Cornell University where she specializes in African American history and culture, African American women, and Southern history, including Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. She is one of the foremost authorities on the black experience. Washington’s most recent major work, Sojourner Truth’s America, unravels Sojourner Truth’s world within the broader panorama of American history, slavery, and other significant reforms in the turbulent age of Abraham Lincoln. Washington holds a B.A. from California State University, Sacramento, an M.A. from New York University, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis.
The speakers will address elements of the current election that reflect at least one of the following: (1) an Andrew Jacksonian dimension (e.g., populism and democracy, distrust of central government, distrust of banks or high finance, strong federal executive in practice, ethnocentrism, nativism, indigenous rights); (2) an Alexander Hamiltonian dimension (e.g., faith in banks and high finance, energetic federal executive, strong central government, cooperation between government and industry, meritocracy and distrust of popular democracy, anti-racism, anti-slavery, pro- immigration); (3) a Harriet Tubmanian dimension (e.g., gender, race, freedom, equality, basic human rights).
For more information, visit institute.stolaf.edu.
About The Institute
The Institute for Freedom & Community was established at St. Olaf College, a private liberal arts college, in 2015 to encourage free inquiry and meaningful debate of important political and social issues. The Institute programs, including coursework, Public Affairs Conversation, public affairs internships and public lectures, aim to challenge assumptions, question easy answers, and foster constructive, respectful dialogue among those with differing values and contending points of view.
About St. Olaf College
One of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, St. Olaf College offers a distinctive education grounded in academic rigor, residential learning, global engagement, and a vibrant Lutheran faith tradition. By cultivating the habits of mind and heart that enable graduates to lead lives of financial independence, professional accomplishment, personal fulfillment, and community engagement, St. Olaf College provides an uncommon educational experience that fully prepares students to make a meaningful difference in a changing world.