{"id":47463,"date":"2020-10-20T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=47463"},"modified":"2020-11-05T14:28:32","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T19:28:32","slug":"hnn-founder-rick-shenkman-to-speak-on-how-possibilities-pitfalls-of-politics-challenge-our-stone-age-brains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2020\/hnn-founder-rick-shenkman-to-speak-on-how-possibilities-pitfalls-of-politics-challenge-our-stone-age-brains\/","title":{"rendered":"HNN founder Rick Shenkman to speak on ‘Why is Democracy so @#$&! Hard?’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Albert N. Keim Lecture Series<\/strong> brings scholars to campus each year in honor of the well-loved history professor, who was a teacher and administrator for 35 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The upcoming lecture features historian, author, and investigative reporter Rick Shenkman <\/strong>on the topic, \u201cWhy is Democracy so @#$&! Hard?\u201d <\/em>at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event is free and open to the public on EMU\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>. (You do not need a Facebook account to view.) <\/em>Members of the EMU community can access a Zoom link through logging into MyEMU and visiting the events calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History department chair Mary Sprunger<\/strong> believes Keim \u2013 \u201c a voracious consumer of political news\u201d \u2013 would have appreciated this timely appearance, so close to an important election, of a historian-provacateur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sprunger says she\u2019s hoped to invite Shenkman to campus for many years: \u201cHe first came to my attention as the founder and editor (recently retired) of History News Network<\/a> (HNN), an online platform that brings history to bear on the news. When I saw his book, Political Animals: How Our Stone-Age Brain Gets In the Way of Smart Politics<\/em><\/a> <\/em>(Basic Books, 2016), I was even more intrigued. His work brings together history and politics in the best kind of way and, with the election just around the corner, he was the perfect speaker for this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event is part of the EMU University Colloquium Series, and is co-sponsored by the Keim Lectureship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More on Shenkman\u2019s Lecture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1940s, six in ten Americans hadn\u2019t gone past the eighth grade. Today a majority have attended college. But surveys show that Americans today are no better educated about politics. A majority don\u2019t even know that we have three branches of government. What\u2019s gone wrong? The answer to the question would seem to be that we have a voter problem.  But Shenkman argues what we actually have is a human being problem. In his talk he draws on research in history and science to explain why modern humans fail so often at tasks they should be good at (like deciding which politicians we can trust with power). He also asks why, despite obvious improvements in our democracy \u2014 such as the extension of voting rights to African Americans in 1965 \u2014 the system seems to be so frustratingly unequal to the challenges we face.  He ends his talk on an optimistic note. Science shows that for all their faults human beings share one gift that saves them time and again:  our adaptability to change and our willingness in the end to face reality.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More on Shenkman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shenkman is the founder of George Washington University’s History News Network<\/a>, a website that features leading historians’ perspectives on current events. He can regularly be seen on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. He is a New York Times best-selling author of seven history books and an Emmy award-winning investigative reporter and the former managing editor of KIRO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Seattle. In 1997, he was the host, writer and producer of a prime time series for The Learning Channel inspired by his books on myths. In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of American Historians. He gives lectures at colleges around the country on several topics, including American myths and presidential politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More on the Keim Lecture Series<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Albert N. Keim Lecture Series honors the memory of Professor Albert N. Keim who has served as a history professor here for 35 years and was the academic dean from 1977 to 1984.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about past presenters, in this sampling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020:<\/strong> Professor Ernesto Verdeja<\/a>, of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at University of Notre Dame, discusses early warning and risk assessment projects to anticipate, and thus prepare for, possible outbreaks of mass political violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019:<\/strong> Federal public defender, immigrant rights attorney and playwright Kara Hartzler \u201994<\/strong><\/a> spoke on \u201cBorders, Jails, and Long Drives in the Desert: 25 Years of Immigration Law in the Southwest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017:<\/strong> Dr. Dongping Han<\/a>, professor at Warren-Wilson College and a native of rural China, addressed \u201cThe Cultural Revolution: A Reinterpretation from Today\u2019s China.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016:<\/strong> Artist\/activist Mark Strandquist<\/a> provided a lecture titled \u201c<\/strong>Performing Statistics: Connecting incarcerated youth, artists, and leading policy experts to challenge Virginia\u2019s juvenile justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2015:<\/strong> Charles R. Epp<\/a>, political scientist in the University of Kansas\u2019s School of Public Affairs and Administration, presented \u201cThe Police and Racial Discrimination in America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2014:<\/strong> Vincent Harding<\/a>, a pastor, activist and history professor who helped EMC professors initiate social change in Harrisonburg during the early 1960s, presented \u201cIs America Possible?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First date of publication 10\/17\/2020<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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