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Hopeful developments at Hamilton
In recent years, Hamilton College has undergone the sort of serial embarrassment that can demoralize and even destroy institutions. In 2002, there was Annie Sprinkle, former prostitute turned performance artist who was paid to come to campus to demonstrate sex toy use and to show clips from her porn films. In 2004, there was Susan Rosenberg, former Weather Underground operative and convicted terrorist who was offered a visiting faculty position as "artist and activist in residence." There was the invitation to Ward Churchill--which resulted in the revival of his inflammatory post-9/11 essay, "On the Justice of Roosting Chickens," which in turn resulted in Colorado's investigation of Churchill for academic misconduct, which in turn resulted in Colorado's determination that Churchill should be fired by said misconduct. Along the way, there has also been a scandal surrounding Hamilton's less-than-democratic procedure for electing alumni to the board of trustees.
Now Hamilton is in the news again--but this time for a truly impressive and promising project, the Alexander Hamilton Center. Dedicated to promoting "excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy and capitalism as these ideas were developed and institutionalized in the United States and within the larger tradition of Western culture," the Center is a well-conceived counterpoint to the kinds of ideological extremism exemplified by the notorious Kirkland Project, and it looks like it bids fair to be well-funded and wel-leveraged as well. Following the lead of Princeton and Brown, which have both opened campus centers dedicated to a more traditional study of American institutions, the Center will focus on such topics as "The meaning and implications of capitalism, its genesis and impact; the role of markets, money and financial institutions in economic growth; the importance of the rule of law and property rights in wealth creation;" "The nature and paradox of civil liberty; the compatibility of freedom with equality and of virtue with efficiency; the role of merit, distinction, and hierarchy in the formation of civilization;" "The role of religion in American politics; the moral basis of democracy; separation of church and state;" "The significance of natural law and natural rights in shaping Western political and legal culture; the common law tradition in the United States and the principles on which it is based."
Hamilton acknowledges that the serial embarassments of recent years have fueled the creation of the center. History professor Robert Paquette, one of the center's founders, explained that "The idea for the Alexander Hamilton Center predated the Rosenberg and Churchill business, but to be sure those fiascos did energize us."
Posted by acta online on October 25, 2006 at October 25, 2006 05:09 AM
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Dedicated to promoting "excellence in scholarship through the study of freedom, democracy and capitalism as these ideas were developed and institutionalized in the United States and within the larger tradition of Western culture," the Center is a well-conceived counterpoint to the kinds of ideological extremism exemplified by the notorious Kirkland Project,
Sigh. Well conceived it may be, but I cannot help but wish that those who dissent from the Official Idea in liberal arts faculties had half as many intellectual historians and twice as many sociologists in their ranks. Sorry to play the fault finder....
Posted by: Art Deco at October 25, 2006 05:53 PM