JMC News and Events
See our latest news on advancing education in America's founding principles and history
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Faculty partner Nick Buccola's book featured by NY Times and C-SPAN
The Fire is Upon Us
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JMC faculty partner Nicholas Buccola has just published his latest book, The Fire is Upon Us, which focuses upon the monumental 1965 Cambridge Union debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. Since being released in October, the book has met with incredible success, being reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, Law & Liberty, and the New York Times.
This week, The Fire is Upon Us is being featured on ABC's The View, C-SPAN's BookTV, the New York Times Book Review podcast, and in the New York Times Sunday edition.
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Tune in to The View this morning at 11 a.m. EST to see a feature on The Fire is Upon Us!
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From the publisher:
On February 18, 1965, an overflowing crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America’s most influential conservative intellectual. The topic was “the American dream is at the expense of the American Negro,” and no one who has seen the debate can soon forget it. Nicholas Buccola’s The Fire Is Upon Us is the first book to tell the full story of the event, the radically different paths that led Baldwin and Buckley to it, the controversies that followed, and how the debate and the decades-long clash between the men continues to illuminate racial division today.
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Monday marked the annual observance of Veterans Day, a national holiday that honors the bravery and sacrifice of American veterans, past and present. The day, originally conceived to honor World War I veterans, now stands as a tribute to all American veterans who have faithfully served their country.
On the occasion of Veterans Day, we have gathered together fellows’ publications and online resources on the American military heritage, government policies for soldiers, as well as first-hand accounts of military life from veterans themselves. Take a moment to learn about the day's history and remember our veterans' sacrifices!
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Will you join us in the effort?
Our impact is expanding. As of this fall, one million students have been taught by a JMC fellow. Help us ensure many more young citizens learn about America's history and its founding principles.
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Religion and American Political Thought
On November 5, the John Dickinson Forum at George Fox University, a JMC partner program, will be hosting Jeffery Ventrella to discuss the influence of the Bible on American political thought.
The Education of Winston Churchill
On November 7, the Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions at the University of California-Los Angeles, hosted JMC faculty partner James Muller for a lecture on the formative years of Sir Winston Churchill.
The Decline of Statesmanship in the U.S. Senate
On November 8, the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond hosted Sean Theriault for a lecture on the decline of statesmanship in the United States Senate.
The Declaration of Independence Today
On November 13, the Political Theory Institute at American University, a JMC partner program, hosted Danielle Allen for a lecture on the Declaration of Independence.
The Missouri Compromise at 200
On November 21, the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be holding a one-day conference on the Missouri Compromise and its legacy. JMC fellows Thomas Merrill and Jim Zink will be speaking and S. Adam Seagrave will serve as a discussant.
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Disestablishment and Religious Dissent
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In forming these written constitutions, the delegates to the state conventions were forced to address the issue of church-state relations. Each colony had unique and differing traditions of church-state relations rooted in the colony’s peoples, their country of origin, and religion.
This definitive volume, comprising twenty-one original essays by eminent historians and political scientists, is a comprehensive state-by-state account of disestablishment in the original thirteen states, as well as a look at similar events in the soon-to-be-admitted states of Vermont, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Also considered are disestablishment in Ohio (the first state admitted from the Northwest Territory), Louisiana and Missouri (the first states admitted from the Louisiana Purchase), and Florida (wrestled from Spain under U.S. pressure). The volume makes a unique scholarly contribution by recounting in detail the process of disestablishment in each of the colonies, as well as religion’s constitutional and legal place in the new states of the federal republic.
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The Politics of War Powers
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JMC fellow Sarah Burns has recently written a book on war powers and the history and theory of presidential unilateralism, The Politics of War Powers: The Theory and History of Presidential Unilateralism:
The Constitution of the United States divides war powers between the executive and legislative branches to guard against ill-advised or unnecessary military action. This division of powers compels both branches to hold each other accountable and work in tandem. And yet, since the Cold War, congressional ambition has waned on this front.
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Even when Congress does provide initial authorization for larger operations, they do not provide strict parameters or clear end dates. As a result, one president after another has initiated and carried out poorly developed and poorly executed military policy. The Politics of War Powers offers a measured, deeply informed look at how the American constitutional system broke down, how it impacts decision-making today, and how we might find our way out of this unhealthy power division.
Burns’s work ranges across Montesquieu’s theory, the debate over the creation of the Constitution, historical precedent, and the current crisis. Through her analysis, both a fuller picture of the alterations to the constitutional system and ideas on how to address the resulting imbalance of power emerge.
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JMC Podcast
Dan Cullen Interviews Board Member Wilfred McClay
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Want to help transform higher education?
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.
We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.
www.jackmillercenter.org
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