Issues in Contemporary American Society

Fall & Spring Semesters 2006-2007

Political Science Lyceum Guest Lecture Series
Developed by CSU Office for Student Life and the Department of Social Sciences

For additional information on these programs contact Dr. Joe Trachtenberg at: joetrachtenberg@clayton.edu or 678-466-4810.

Seventh Annual CSU Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

Taylor Branch
Pulitzer Prize Winner 

Theme: "Keeping the Promise."

Events on : Thursday, January 18th, 2007

Student Forum with Taylor Branch in A & S Bldg., Room G-132 at 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.;

Pre-Address Reception for Taylor Branch in Spivey Hall at 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.;

Keynote Address by Taylor Branch in Spivey Hall, 7:30 p.m.

TAYLOR BRANCH, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, is the author of a grand three-volume work that is both a biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a history of the Civil Rights Movement under his leadership. The product of nearly 25 years of intensive archival research and the collection of oral history, the trilogy has been hailed as one of the greatest achievements in the field of American biography. Branch has just published the third and final volume, "At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-68" (2006), which chronicles the last three years of King's life, from the march on Montgomery to his assassination in Memphis.

"The engrossing final installment of Branch's three-volume biography… gives us not only the civil rights leader's life but also the rapidly changing pulse of American culture and politics. The America we find in this last chapter of King's life is on fire--the Republican Party has begun to court white Southern voters; the Civil Rights movement itself has fractured; and King sees bold challenges to his teaching of nonviolence in the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles. King himself has evolved, spreading his interests beyond civil rights to become a more outspoken critic of the Vietnam War and of poverty." - "Publishers Weekly" (starred review)

Branch received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Christopher Award, and the "Los Angeles Times" Book Award for the first volume in the trilogy, "Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963" (1988). The book was also named a "Best Book of the Year" by the "New York Times" and "Boston Globe."

"In remarkable, meticulous detail, Branch provides us with the most complex and unsentimental version of King and his times yet produced." - "Washington Post Book World"

A second volume, "Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-1965" (1997), appeared nearly ten years later.

"a magisterial history of one of the most tumultuous periods in postwar America. Branch's scholarship is strong, his storytelling colorful…. Reading Branch, it is easier to see why even the most remarkable revolutions are never complete." - "Newsweek"

Earlier in his career, Branch worked as a staff writer for "Washington Monthly," "Harper's," and "Esquire." His previous nonfiction books include "Blowing the Whistle: Dissent in the Public Interest" (1972, edited with Charles Peters), and "Labyrinth: The Pursuit of the Letelier Assassins (1982, with Eugene Propper). Branch also co-wrote the autobiography of NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell, "Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man" (1979), and produced a novel "The Empire Blues" (1981). In 1991, Branch was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowship for his contributions to American history.

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Prof. Charles S. Bullock III
University of Georgia
Richard B. Russell Chair in Political Scientist

"The 2006 Elections and Beyond"

12:30 to 1:20 p.m., Wednesday, January 31st in the University Center, Room UC-272

 CHARLES S. BULLOCK, III, holds the Richard B. Russell Chair in Political Science at the University of Georgia.  He has been at the University of Georgia since 1968 with the exception of one year when he served as legislative assistant to Congressman Bill Stuckey and two years when he was Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston. Bullock is author, co-author, or co-editor of 16 books and more than 150 articles.  He has published in major political science, public administration and education journals.  His most recent book, Open Seat Competition for the U.S. House, co-authored with Keith Gaddie, was published in 2000 by Rowman and Littlefield.   Runoff Elections in the United States, a comprehensive analysis of runoff elections, which Bullock co-authored with Loch Johnson, won the V. O. Key Award for being the best book on southern politics published in 1992. Bullock’s teaching and research specialties are legislative politics and southern politics.  He has been recognized for outstanding teaching by the Department of Political Science, the Honors Program, and the Student Government Association at the University of Georgia.  In 1993, Bullock was one of four professors in the College of Arts and Sciences to receive its highest teaching award.He has received research grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Education.   His research has won awards from the Southern Political Science Association and the Southwest Political Science Association. In 1991, Bullock received the William A. Owens Creative Research Award presented by the University of Georgia.Bullock has served as a consultant to the attorney generals’ office in five states and to more than 50 states and local governments.  He has been involved in redistricting litigation in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.He is a past president of the Southern Political Science Association and the Georgia Political Science Association and a past chair of he Legislative Studies Group.  He has served on the Executive Council of the American Political Science Association.Bullock serves on the editorial boards of the Social Science Quarterly, The American Review of Politics, The Georgia Review, The Election Law Journal, and Politics and Policy.  He is the Politics section editor for The New Georgia Encyclopedia.

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Andrew Goldberg
Dogwood Alliance
Environmentalist

"Environmental Preservation & Southern Forests."

12:30 to 1:20 p.m., Monday, March 12th in the University Center, Room UC-272 

ANDREW GOLDBERG is the Director of Implementation and Research at the Dogwood Alliance a growing regional network, comprised of 70 grassroots organizations in 17 states and concerned citizens from across the nation. We share a mission of protecting Southern forests and communities by engendering broad-based, diverse support for ending unsustainable industrial forest practices. Previously, Andrew was the Coordinator for Environmental and Natural Resource Programs at Western Carolina University 's Center for Regional Development. Andrew remains adjunct faculty at WCU’s College of Business .Andrew received a JD and Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from Lewis & Clark Northwestern Law School in Portland , Oregon where he was a Natural Resources Scholar. He completed his undergraduate studies at Tufts University in Boston , MA .An Appalachian Trail through-hiker, Andrew has a strong commitment to protecting Southern Forests. While practicing environmental law in Vermont , he was a co-founder of Forest Watch one of the largest environmental groups in Vermont where he worked on forest protection issues.  Mr. Goldberg lives in Asheville, North Carolina .

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