Culture and Policy Conferences

 

Directed by Dr. Bradley C.S. Watson, the Center's Fellow in Politics and Culture, this program speaks to the cultural unease and the sociopolitical problems that are a prominent condition of contemporary public life. Through its biennial three-day conference, the Center focuses on the principles, norms, and mores of Western culture and their relation to the political and public policy situation of modern times. Participating scholars from various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences are brought to campus to present papers to fellow scholars, public policy experts, students, and the informed general public. The Center held the last Culture and Policy Conference, with the theme Courts and the Culture Wars, in the spring of 2001.

Past Conferences

Dr. Akbar Ahmed A Failure of Immigration: Thinking about Culture, Tradition, and Society After 9/11 Ibn Khaldun Chair in Islamic Studies and Professor of International Relations, American University

Dr. Robert Alt Regime Change in Iraq: The View from the Ground John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs, Ashland University

Dr. Alberto Coll True Liberty and Law: Fighting the War Against Terrorism without Surrendering Our Values Naval War College

Dr. Barry Cooper Understanding Terorism After 9/11 University of Calgary

Dr. David Corey Neither Niebuhr nor Yoder: The Christian Just-War Tradition Baylor University

Dr. Leon Craig The Liberal Regime Under Attack University of Alberta

Dr. James Kurth Western Identities versus Islamic Terrorists: Christians, Liberals, and Pagans at War Swarthmore College

Dr. Paul Marshall Understanding Radical Islam Freedom House

Dr. David Tucker Terrorism and the Western Way of Warfare Naval Postgraduate School

Dr. Ken Weinstein No tolerance for the Intolerant: Lessons from Early Modern Political Philosophy for the War on Terror Hudson Institute

Dr. Stephen Balch Liberal Education and Civic Education for Our Time President, National Association of Scholars

Lieutenant General Josiah Bunting III Barbarians at the Gates: Enemies of Character Virginia Military Institute

Dr. William Desmond Autonomy, Loyalty, and Civic Piety Hoger Instituut Wijsbegeerte

Dr. John Fonte Is the Purpose of Civic Education to Transmit or Transform the American Regime? Hudson Institute

Dr. Timothy Fuller Restoring the Essential Experience of Liberal Learning: Transcendence and the Study of Politics in the University Colorado College

Roger Kimball On Liberty, Or, How John Stewart Mill Went Wrong, Managing Editor, The New Criterion

Dr. Thomas Pangle Should Felons Vote? A Pardigmatic Debate Over the Meaning of Civic Responsibility University of Toronto

Dr. Colleen Sheehan The Commerce of Ideas and the Cultivation of Character in Madison's Republic Villanova University

Dr. Abigail Thernstrom Closing the Racial Gap: Culture Matters Manhattan Institute

Dr. Bruce Thornton Critical Consciousness and Liberal Education Professor of Classics at California State University Fresno

Dr. Robert Bork Courts and the Culture Wars John M. Olin Scholar in Legal Studies, American Enterprise Institute.

Dr. Murray Dry Tolerance And American Constitutionalism: The Case of Gay Rights Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Middlebury College.

Dr. John C. Eastman- The One-Way Ratchet and Other Problems With 'Stare Decisis' for Cultural Conservatives Professor of Constitutional Law, Chapman University School of Law.

Dr. Edward J. Erler- The California Supreme Court in the Culture Wars: A Case Study In Judicial Failure Professor of Political Science, California State University.

Dr. Christopher Manfredi- Courts, Culture and Community Professor of Political Science, McGill University.

Dr. Anthony Peacock- Race, Representation, and the Constitution: The Multicultural Challenge to Commercial Republicanism Assistant Professor of Political Science, Utah State University.

Dr. Charles E. Rice- The Right To Live, The Higher Law, and the Courts Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School.

Dr. Graham Walker- Religious Freedom Without Religious Neutrality: Our Once and Future Constitutional Common Sense Associate Professor of Politics, The Catholic University of America.

Dr. Keith E. Whittington- The Death of the Legal Constitution and the Spector of Judicial Review Assistant Professor of Politics, Princeton University.

Fr. Francis Canavan- From Ockkam To Blackmum: The Philosophical Roots of Liberal Jurisprudence Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Fordham University.

Dr. Jeremy Rabkin- Who Owns The Right To Privacy Associate Professor of Government, Cornell University.

Jean Bethke Elshtain, PhD.-Religion and Civil Society Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago Divinity School.

Leonard P. Liggio, PhD. - Liberty And Order In The Western Tradition Research Professor, George Mason University School of Law, and Executive Vice President, Atlas Economic Research Foundation

Daniel J. Mahoney, PhD.- Liberal Democracy And Moral Foundations Associate Professor of Politics, Assumption College

Gilbert Meilaender, PhD.- Fleeing the Universal: The Problem of Relativism Board of Directors Professor of Christian Ethics, Valparaiso University

Douglas J. Den Uyl, PhD.- The Formation of Character and Modern Liberalism Professor of Philosophy, Bellarmine College

Wilfred McClay, PhD - Judeo-Christian Tradition and Liberal Tradition in the American Republic Associate Professor of History, Tulane University

Catherine Heldt Zuckert, PhD.- Scientific Rationality vs. Morality Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame

Peter Berkowitz, PhD.- Public Philosophy and Postmodernity Associate Professor of Government, Harvard University

Christopher Wolfe, PhD - A Public Philosophy for Contemporary America Professor of Political Science, Marquette University

Hilton Kramer - Institutionalizing the Counterculture Editor and Publisher, The New Criterion and Art Critic, New York Observer

Claes G. Ryn, Ph.D. - Cultural Origins of Politics: The Modern Imagination of Escape Professor of Politics, Catholic University of America, Chairman, National Humanities Institute and Editor, Humanities

Joyce Little, Ph.D. - Christianity and the Spirit of the Age Professor of Theology, University of St. Thomas

Charles R. Kesler, Ph.D. - The Founding Fathers and American Culture Director, The Henry Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World and Associate Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College

William B. Allen, Ph.D.- Radical Challenges to Liberal Democracy Dean, James Madison College, Michigan State University

Stephen J. Tonsor, III, Ph.D. - What to Do While Awaiting the Apocalypse: The Role of Creative Minorities in a Time of Cultural Crisis Professor Emeritus of History, University of Michigan and Adjunct Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Ph.D. - Women in a Changing World: The Consequences and theImplications Eléonore Raoul Professor of Humanities and Professor of History, Emory Universit

Robert P. George, J.D., Ph.D. - Marriage and Illusion of Moral Neutrality Associate Professor of Politics, Princeton University and Practicing Constitutional Lawyer serving a six-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Hadley Arkes, Ph.D.- The Law and the Loss of Urbanity Edward Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions, Amherst College and Contributing Editor, National Review

Martha Bayles, Ph.D.- Immunity, Not Surgery: Why it is Better to Exert Cultural Authority than to Impose Censorship Literary Editor, Wilson Quarterly

Dinesh D'Souza- Multiculturalism and the Problem of Cultural Relativism John M Olin Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Ralph McInerny, Ph.D.- Revolt of the Masses Revisited Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies and Director, Jaques Maritain Center

James Q. Wilson, Ph.D.- Culture, Crime, and Human Nature James Collins Professor of Management, University of California, Los Angeles

Don E. Eberly- Family, Fatherhood, and Socialization Founder and President, Commonwealth Foundation and Founder and President, National Fatherhood Initiative

Glenn C. Loury, Ph.D.- Values and Judgements: Creating Incentives for Good Behavior Professor of Economics, Boston University and Chairman, Center for New Black Leadership

Linda Chavez- Ethnicity and Immigration President, Center for Equal Opportunity and Syndicated Columnist, USA Today

Heather R. Higgins, M.B.A.- Politics of Cultural Wars  Executive Director, Council on Culture and Community and Senior Fellow, Progress and Freedom Foundation

Midge Decter- Who Killed Dr. Kildare? Distinguished Fellow, Institute on Religion and Public Life

Robert Royal, Ph.D.- The Restoration of Citizenship and Civic Culture John M. Olin Fellow in Religion and Society and Vice President, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Gertrude Himmelfarb, Ph.D.- The Renewal of Civil Society Professor Emeritus of History, Graduate School of the City University of New York

Russell Hittinger, Ph.D.- Religion and the Secular Retreat from Modernity Warren Professor of Catholic Studies, Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of Tulsa and Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

T. William Boxx, M.A.- Christian Principles and Public Life Chairman, Philip M. McKenna Foundation

Michael Novak, M.A.- Culture Wars, Moral Wars Former U.S. Ambassador, George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy, American Enterprise Institute

By

T. William Boxx, M.A. Chairman, Philip M. McKenna Foundation &

Gary M. Quinlivan, Ph.D. Executive Director, Center for Political and Economic Thought

Thomas Sowell, Ph.D.- Culture, Economics and Politics Senior Fellow at Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Dwight R. Lee, Ph.D.- Go to Harvard and Turn Left: The Rise of Socialist Ideology in Higher Education Ramsey Chair of Private Enterprise and Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

S. Robert Lichter, Ph.D.- Economic and Political Perspectives in the Entertainment Media Co-Director, Center for Media and Public Affairs and Visiting Lecturer at Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University

George Weigel, M.A.- Taking Care of Business, Taking Care of Culture: The American Corporation  and the American Culture Wars President of Ethics and Public Policy Center

Don Lavoie, Ph.D.- Cultural Studies and the Conditions for EntrepreneurshipDirector, Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs and Associate Professor of Economics, George Mason University

Peter L. Berger, Ph.D.- Our Economic Culture Director, Institute for the Study of Economic Culture and Professor of Sociology, Boston University

Brigitte Berger, Ph.D.- The Family Connection in Democratic Capitalist Societies Professor of Sociology, Boston University.