KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� Oct. 16, 2024 鈥� With many U.S. citizens already casting their votes for the November election, there may not be a better time for a talk about the historic battles for voting rights, struggles over the Electoral College, and what is needed to sustain democracy in the U.S.
Historian Alex Keyssar, who has been called 鈥淎merica鈥檚 greatest historian of democracy,鈥� will visit the 溏心vlog免费B站 on Wednesday, Oct. 23, to discuss 鈥�,鈥� as part of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Center for the Humanities鈥� yearlong lecture series, 鈥淪ustaining Democracy.鈥�
His talk, which starts at 3 p.m. in the Carothers Library鈥檚 Galanti Lounge, will address the reforms needed to reinvigorate and sustain democracy in the U.S. The event will be in person and livestreamed. Registration is recommended.
鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled about having Alex Keyssar come to campus just two weeks before the November election,鈥� said Evelyn Sterne, director of the humanities center. 鈥淗is work as a historian has deep implications for understanding contemporary policy and politics.鈥�
Keyssar, the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy at Harvard University鈥檚 Kennedy School of Government, is the author of the award-winning 鈥淭he Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States鈥� (2000), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
The book, which was updated in a 2009 edition, challenges the notion that the history of voting rights is a simple progression of an increase in access to voting. In reality, over the course of our history, the right to vote has been deeply contested for many segments of the population 鈥� women, Black Americans, and white male workers and immigrants, among many others. In Rhode Island, for example, immigrants had to own land in order to vote until 1888.
In his most recent work, 鈥淲hy Do We Still Have the Electoral College,鈥� Keyssar attempts to make sense of why an arcane American institution has endured despite multiple efforts to reform or abolish it. The book 鈥渃onclusively demonstrates the absurdity of preserving an institution that has been so contentious throughout U.S. history and has not infrequently produced results that defied the popular will,鈥� one reviewer wrote.
鈥淜eyssar鈥檚 talk will fit perfectly into our yearlong series, which is bringing speakers to analyze how the arts and humanities can help to inspire democratic engagement,鈥� said Sterne. 鈥淚t also should be of great interest to students, faculty, staff and community members attending this fall鈥檚 Honors Colloquium series, 鈥楧emocracy in Peril.鈥� Presented by a renowned historian with expertise in the nation’s core political institutions, it will be an incredibly timely analysis on the eve of the election.鈥�
Along with being a celebrated historian, Keyssar chaired the Social Science Research Council鈥檚 National Research Commission on Voting and Elections. He is also the author of the award-winning 鈥淥ut of Work: The First Century of Unemployment in Massachusetts鈥� and coauthor of 鈥淭he Way of the Ship: America鈥檚 Maritime History Reenvisioned, 1600-2000.鈥�
Along with the Center for the Humanities, 鈥淪ustaining Democracy鈥� is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of English, Department of Gender and Women鈥檚 Studies, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Division of Research and Economic Development, 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Honors Program, Multicultural Student Services Center, Office of Community, Equity and Diversity, and Office of the President.