Starting in September we will be welcoming back Jared Day, PhD here to resume our American History and Current Events Lectures. The American History lectures will be held virtually at 2pm the first Friday of each month. Likewise, the Current Events lectures will be held virtually at 2:00pm the third Friday of each month. Please call to register for either or both sessions and get the sign-in code for them. September’s & October’s lecture topics along with a description are listed below. November & December topics will be announced in an upcoming newsletter.
Andrew Jackson – Hero of Democracy?
Part 1- September 4th at 2pm, Part 2- October 2nd at 2pm:
This set of lectures will examine one of the most transformative and controversial presidents in US history, Andrew Jackson, a politician and leader who became a political and social icon for a generation of Americans in the first half of the nineteenth century. We will explore Jackson’s early life and military career along with the political rise of the “near west” as a distinct region and a force in American society. With seminal crises involving the Second National Bank, Nullification, the Cherokees’ “Trail of Tears,” and many other events, Jackson’s presidential tenure represented a clear demarcation away from the patrician politics of the era of the founding fathers and towards a democracy that was, by turns, more inclusive, more populist, and more volatile.
India: An Asian Superpower? – October 16th at 2pm
This lecture will examine the exceptional economic development of the world’s largest democracy, India. It will explore the key strengths and weaknesses of its economic development strategies as well as the historical, cultural and geographical limitations the country has had to endure.