Seminar: Political and Historical Implications of the Trump Administration

---

The Department of History, Politics and International Relations is hosting a seminar series open to the broader community, and available for student credit, with guest speakers and readings on the political and historical implications of the Trump Administration.

The seminar examines the Trump administration in its political and historical context. We will hear short presentations from experts and read articles and book excerpts on constitutional law and civil liberties, US history, world history, national security, trade, and diplomacy.

It is open to the entire community, however students may earn one or two credits (pass/fail) for attending sessions, complete readings, and submitting weekly journal commentary online. Seating is limited for this series, which begins Monday, Jan. 23.

The Trump Administration: Political and Historical Implications:  An Informal Seminar for Faculty, Staff, Students, and Community Members

Mondays, 12-12:50 p.m., Webster Groves Campus, H. Sam Priest House 104

Each session will open with a featured speaker commenting briefly (approximately 20 minutes, no more than 25) on the reading agenda for each week. The remaining 25 minutes will be open for commentary and discussion by the audience. The guest speaker will have five minutes for closing commentary. Discussion will address both the readings and the speech, but priority in discussion will be for those who address, critically or supportively, the reading.

To learn more and get readings for each session, please contact Robbie O’Toole, department representative at 314-098-7060 or  robbieotoole@webster.edu .

Weekly Topics, Readings

Week 1, Jan 23:  Finding Populism
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Steve Miller, adjunct professor of History and author of The Age of Evangelicalism: America's Born-Again Years  (Oxford University Press)

Week 2, Jan 30:  What President Trump Can (and Cannot) Do
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Gwyneth Williams, professor of Political Science

Week 3, Feb. 6: Regarding the F-word: The Use and Misuse of Historical Analogies
Presenter/discussion leader Warren Rosenblum, professor of History

Week 4, Feb. 13:  "Black Lives and Public Activism in the Age of Trump"
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Sylvester Brown, former St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist and founder of the non-profit When We Dream Together

Week 5, Feb. 20: 'Immigrants and Civil Liberties'
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Kristin Anderson, associate professor of History

Week 6, March 6: 'Foreign Policy'
A discussion of foreign  policy

Week 7, March 20: 'Political and Historical Implications an Informal Seminar for Faculty, Staff, Students and Community Members' 
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Allan MacNeil, professor of Political Economics

Week 8, March 27: "Fake News"
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Art Silverblatt, professor emeritus, School of Communications

Week 9, April 3: "Conspiracy Theory and the Deep State"
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Dan Hellinger, professor, History, Politics & International Relations

Week 10, April 10: "Globalization and World (Dis-) Order"
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Kelly-Kate Pease, professor of International Relations

Week 12, April 17: "The Fate of the Environment"
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Amanda Rosen, professor of International Relations
Reading: Jedediah Purdy, “Environmentalism Was Once a Social-Justice Movement It can be again”

Week 13, April 24: "Trump and Gender"
Presenter/Discussion Leader: Kate Parsons, Department of Philosophy, will be the presenter for the penultimate session.  
Reading: Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap (excerpt); Nina Burleigh, “The Presidential Election was a Referendum on Gender and Women Lost,” Newsweek.