Oglethorpe University “Constitutionalism and the Constitution Between Populism and Cosmopolitanism” with Khalil Habib, Sara Henary, and Benjamin Gross, September 16

Constitutionalism and the Constitution Between Populism and Cosmopolitanism

Speakers: Ben Gross, Sara Henary, & J. David Alvis

Date: Friday, September 16th at 1 p.m. , 2 p.m., & 4 p.m.

Location: Conant Performing Arts Center

Oglethrope University has convened three distinguished scholars to discuss the place of the Constitution and constitutionalism in contemporary political discourse and practice.  Many have noted that in the U.S., and indeed across the developed world, there is a divide between the “somewheres” and the “anywheres,” a distinction coined by the British commentator David Goodhart.  Our cosmopolitan elites are, needless to say, the “anywheres,” while our populist leaders and their followers affirm that “a country is still a country.”  This division has all sorts of implications for both the way we talk about and interpret the Constitution and our constitutional and institutional practices.

The lectures

1:00 p.m. – “The Everywheres & the U.S. Constitution”  (Ben Gross, Jacksonville State University)

2:30 p.m. – “Tocqueville on Belonging and Community in America”  (Sara Henary, Missouri State University)

4:00 p.m. – “A Government of Laws?  The Politics of Judicial Review in Marbury v. Madison”  (David Alvis, Wofford College)

The speakers:

Benjamin I. Gross is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama.  He received his B.S. and M.A. in political science from Northern Illinois University and his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas, where he studied with (among others), Steven Forde, my old friend from the University of Toronto.

Sara Henary is Associate Professor of Political Science at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.  She received her B.A. in political science from Rhodes College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.  At Rhodes, she was a student of Dan Cullen, my old friend and frequent partner in crime.

David Alvis is Associate Professor of Government and International Affairs at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. He received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Dallas and his Ph.D. from Fordham University. Professor Alvis spent several years early in his career as a very popular instructor in Oglethorpe’s Core Curriculum.