The American Right: Political scholar to lecture on conservatism Feb. 5

January 22, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Looking for a way to participate in Super Tuesday? Political expert Donald Critchlow will present “Civic Engagement and Modern Conservatives” at 7 p.m. Feb. 5 in the Ocora Room in Pugh Hall on the University of Florida campus. The event is free and open to the public.

A professor of history at St. Louis University, Critchlow specializes in American political history. He has authored five books, including the recently published “The Conservative Ascendancy: How the G.O.P. Right Made Political History,” and founded the Journal of Policy History.

“Donald Critchlow is one of several new interpreters of the modern American Right who insist on taking conservatism seriously and who are beginning to place the changing political culture of our time into a clearer historical perspective,” said UF history professor William Link, author of “Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism,” to be released, coincidentally, on the day of the lecture. “Critchlow has contributed among the most significant scholarship about the roots of the ideological polarization that has persisted into our own time.”

Critchlow’s talk is the third event in a series organized by the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at UF, the Graham Center Forum on Civic Engagement, being held this year to highlight the center’s mission of enhancing public leadership.

Established by former Florida governor and retired U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, the Graham Center for Public Service provides students with opportunities to train for future leadership positions, meet current policymakers and take courses in critical thinking, language learning and studies of world cultures. Its mission is to foster public leadership and solve issues related to the Americas and homeland security.

For more information, visit http://www.graham.centers.ufl.edu.