News from the John W. Kluge Center: In the Know #13: The Newsletter of the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress

In the Know #13: The Newsletter of the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress

We at the Kluge Center would like to thank all of you, our supporters and friends, for your continued support and engagement through these difficult pandemic times. We hope that you are beginning to see changes around you that inspire hope for the future. This newsletter will continue providing regular updates on the Kluge Center’s activities, including our events, fellowship competitions, and blog posts. Please share this newsletter with anyone who might be interested in following Kluge, applying for fellowships, or viewing our events. Our dedication to bringing you the highest quality conversations on important public issues and scholarship will continue. Let’s keep the conversation going.

John Haskell, Director of the Kluge Center

 

The Pillars of Democracy

The Kluge Center held the first event in a new series, the Pillars of Democracy, on July 8. The recording of the live event, focusing on Congress, is now available. We are partnering with the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution for this endeavor. This series  examines central institutions in American society, and tries to understand why they are experiencing such a crisis of legitimacy. The next event, on August 19, will look at the presidency, and registration is open now.  Click here for more information and the schedule of events.

 

Kluge Kudos

We are proud of our alumni and their continuing work. In this section, you will find links to scholarly articles of interest by and featuring Kluge alumni, as well as awards, publications, events, and other accomplishments.  If you have suggestions for  featured items (subject to Library of Congress policy), please send them to scholarly@loc.gov for consideration. Please do not provide links to book reviews or sales sites, per Library of Congress policy.

 

Aynne Kokas (Kluge Fellow) testified for the United States International Trade Commission Hearing on July 1 on the business, trade, and economic effects of foreign censorship on US businesses. She was also quoted in the article “Chinese LGBT shutdown ‘may be result of backlash against Western influence’” published in the South China Morning Post. Last, she was recently mentioned in the article “Facebook’s Super Spreaders” published in The Wire China, which covers China’s relationship with Facebook and questions what message Beijing is trying to send with this relationship.

 

Bruce Jentleson (Kissinger Chair) wrote for Foreign Policy about the dangers of over-inflating the threat posed by China.

 

Michelle Jurkovich (Kluge Fellow) was interviewed on Duke University’s The Leading Voices in Food podcast on the global problem of hunger and her book "Feeding The Hungry: Advocacy and Blame in the Global Fight Against Hunger."

 

Philippa Koch (Larson Fellow) published the book “The Course of God’s Providence: Religion, Health, and the Body in Early America,” an exploration of the doctrine of providence—a belief in a divine plan for the world—and its manifestations in eighteenth-century America, from its origins as a consoling response to sickness to how it informed the practices of Protestant activity in the Atlantic world.

 

Alumni Spotlight

Rachel Shelden

Kluge Fellow, 2015-2016

 

What was most valuable about your time at the Kluge Center?

My time at the Kluge Center was incredibly valuable, both in connecting with such a wonderful community of scholars and in the resources that I was able to access at the Library of Congress. Many of the conversations I had while at the Library of Congress helped to shape the direction of my book project, but they also exposed me to an array of other fields and disciplines that I do not normally engage with. While at the Kluge Center, I spent the majority of my research time in the manuscript reading room, which is an unparalleled place to work, not only because of the resources but because of the staff as well.

 

Could you give a brief update on where you are now?

In 2019 I joined the faculty at Penn State and became the director of the Richards Civil War Era Center, which promotes rigorous scholarship on the intersection of slavery, race, and democracy through publications, postdoctoral fellowships, and workshops. I'm currently working on a book about the political world of Supreme Court justices in the nineteenth century that is under contract with UNC Press. I've talked and written a little bit about this project over the past year, including a piece for the Washington Post Outlook Section: "The Supreme Court Used to Be Openly Political. It traded partisanship for power."

You can find me on Twitter (@rachelshelden) and my website (rachelshelden.com). The Richards Center also publishes newsletters and other updates on our website: richardscenter.psu.edu.

 

Open Applications

Applications are now open for the Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology, Exploration, and Scientific Innovation. This position represents an opportunity for high-level scholarship to understand the interface between human society and the scientific exploration of the cosmos. In the spirit of Barry Blumberg, whose life and work spanned multiple disciplines, the Blumberg Program is interested in the concept of exploration broadly defined to include any aspect of space exploration within the parameters of NASA’s mission to “reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind.” The program is most interested in proposals that consider the philosophical, humanistic, legal, ethical, and policy dimensions of exploration.

 

Blog Posts

In an interview, former Kluge Fellow Katie Booth reflected on the legacy of Alexander Graham Bell in the deaf community, the topic of her recently published book. Other posts discussed some of the points raised in the event Social Movements and American Democracy in the 21^st century, and  shared the details for the first Pillars of Democracy event.

 

Events

Kluge Fellow Katie Booth discussed her book on the troubled legacy of Alexander Graham Bell in the deaf community. Scholars Council member Theda Skocpol moderated a panel discussion of the current trends in the social movements that are shaping American society. Distinguished Visiting Scholar Jesse J. Holland and Staff Fellow Megan Halsband discussed the Library’s collection of genre comics. Our new Pillars of Democracy Series launched with a first event on the US Congress, featuring Frances Lee and Sarah Binder, both of whom recently held chair positions at Kluge.

 

Did You Know? Interesting Facts About the Kluge Center

Did you know there have been 46 different chair and fellowship appointments in the Kluge Center’s history?

 

Social Media:

Be sure to follow our Twitter account to get all the latest on our blog posts, open applications, and any future events.

 

We Want to Hear From You:

Do you have thoughts on what would make an interesting blog post? Submissions for the Kluge Kudos and Media Mentions section? What about an idea for event programming? Please reply to this email or contact scholarly@loc.gov.