Presidential Library to host foreign-policy symposium

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum today announced that it will host the 2010 Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Symposium on April 14-16, 2010, in Staunton, Virginia. At the symposium, titled “World of Power/World of Law: Wilsonianism and Other Visions of Foreign Policy,” the Presidential Library will convene scholars from around the nation and the world to examine the life, times, and ideas of Woodrow Wilson for two days of panel presentations, dialogue, and debate. The seminar, which is sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation and the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, will be the fifth national symposium the Presidential Library has held since the program’s inception in 2000.

Joel Hodson, the WWPL’s Director of Education, said, “With the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation and the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library has chosen to explore President Wilson’s continuing influence on American foreign policy.”

The Presidential Library invites scholars, including graduate students, to submit paper proposals, for possible inclusion in the symposium. Possible topics include but are not limited to:
– “Origins of Wilsonian Internationalism”
– “Wilsonianism: Its Effect on World Government and Democracy”
– “Twentieth-Century Postwar Visions on American Foreign Policy”
– “Civil Liberties in Wartime: Then and Now”
– “Is George W. Bush a Wilsonian?”

The Presidential Library will accept 250-word abstracts and a curriculum vitae no later than May 15, 2009. The abstracts can be sent electronically to Professor Theodore DeLaney, the Chair of the WWPL’s Education Committee, at [email protected], or by mail to Dr. Joel Hodson, Director of Education, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Post Office Box 24, Staunton, Virginia, 24402-0024. Selected applicants will be notified by June 15.

In 2000, the first WWPL National Symposium brought scholars together to present papers on “America: Transformation Toward the Modern, 1856-1924,” corresponding to the period of Wilson’s life. At the second National Symposium in 2002, entitled “Woodrow Wilson and His Critics,” scholars discussed President Wilson’s sometimes controversial domestic and foreign policies, including his ideas about national self-determination. At the third symposium, held in 2004, scholars discussed “The Election That Roared! The 1912 Presidential Campaign,” focusing on Wilson’s first presidential campaign, which many analysts suggest was the birth of the modern presidential election. In 2006, scholars examined the issue of race in three pivotal presidencies in a symposium entitled “Jefferson, Lincoln, and Wilson: The Dilemma of Democracy and Race.”

Those interested in more information about the symposium should contact Joel Hodson, Director of Education at the WWPL, at [email protected], or at 540.885.0897, ext. 103.

 

– News Release