Description:

The lecture will be follwed by a viewing of the final presidential debate.

The Question of America and the Answer of History

The United States is an experiment, an investigation into the question asked by Alexander Hamilton: Can a political society really be governed by “reflection and choice” rather than by “accident and force”? Lepore offers an answer, arguing from the evidence of history.

Jill Lepore

Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she writes about American history, politics, and law. Her books include The Name of War (1998), winner of the Bancroft Prize; New York Burning (2005), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Book of Ages (2013), a finalist for the National Book Award; and The Secret History of Wonder Woman (2014), winner of the American History Book Prize. Her most recent article in The New Yorker (September 19, 2016) is entitled “The State of the Presidential Debate.” She is currently writing a history of the United States.

The RICHARD W. LEOPOLD Lectureship

Professor Leopold’s undergraduate students established the Richard W. Leopold Lectureship within the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in 1990 to honor an eminent diplomatic historian and dedicated educator. For more than 40 years, most of them at Northwestern University, Leopold distinguished himself as an attentive teacher. Generations of undergraduate students, many of whom enjoy successful careers as educators, writers, lawyers, and public officials, remember Leopold’s scholarship, teaching, and friendship. The lectureship honors Leopold’s contribution to the University and recognizes his enduring influence on the lives of his students.