Hamilton in the News

As a guest on WHYY’s Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane, Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Professor of Government, discussed a wide range topics related to this week’s Republican National Convention. Comparing past party conventions – particularly those in 1964 and 1968 – to 2016, he noted the shift in purpose of the four-day events.

Rumors suggest that presumed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s short list of vice presidential candidates includes Hamilton alumnus and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack ’72. Although Virginia Senator Tim Kaine tops the list, many outlets point to Vilsack as “the person on the list she can most trust” and “the safest pick of all.”

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Professor of Government, was quoted in a Globe and Mail article titled Dallas shootings: Lasting consequences for race relations, policing and the election on July 11. In a discussion of violent events in 1968 especially those related to party conventions and predictions of what might occur this summer in Cleveland and Philadelphia, Klinkner observed, “The real wild card here is Trump. We’ve never had a major-party nominee who’s been willing to fan these flames” using nativist, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. 

During the week of July 11, Maurice Isserman, the Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History, published an opinion piece on the Reuters wire service comparing the national turbulence of 1968 to today’s unrest. He was also quoted in The Hindu’s Thread opinion blog on socialism and the presidential campaign, and penned an essay on the influence of party platforms in the 20th century for In These Times, a monthly non-profit magazine and online publication.

A spring meeting with Everson Hull, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, and Hamilton students planning a service trip to Nevis resulted in yet another meeting and alliance between Alexander Hamilton’s birthplace and the college. During the March visit Hull met with Christian Goodwillie, director and curator of Special Collections and Archives, to review documents from Hamilton’s Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection related to Nevis.

“What a wonderful way to end the Yun-Fei Ji show,” proclaimed Wellin Museum of Art Director Tracy Adler as two articles, both celebrating Yun-Fei Ji: The Intimate Universe, appeared online during the final week of the exhibition. A stellar review titled Yun-Fei Ji’s Ghost Stories of the Living, was published on June 29 by Hyperallergic, and an artist interview, Yun-Fei Ji: ‘I’m pessimistic about China’, debuted on June 26 in Studio International.

Beginning with his submission published in Vox titled The easiest way to guess if someone supports Trump? Ask if Obama is a Muslim, Professor of Government Philip Klinkner’s research has been referenced in articles in Salon, Fusion, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The Guardian and DailyKos and in an MSNBC broadcast.

The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art’s exhibition, Yun-Fei Ji: The Intimate Universe,  closes on July 2, but Reunions ’16 attendees have the opportunity to tour the show with Tracy L. Adler, museum director and exhibition curator, on Thursday, June 9, at 4 p.m. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday during reunion weekend.

The Library Journal, a major publication for libraries across the country, recently gave Continental Divide – A History of American Mountaineering by Maurice Isserman, the Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History, a starred review.

In her seventh interview on American Public Media’s Marketplace program in a year, Ann Owen, the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of Economics, discussed the recent surge in consumer spending in April. The increase was the largest in more than six years, due in large part to hefty spending on durable goods. Owen said that the “glass half full interpretation” would be that people are feeling more confident and are willing to make big purchases.