"Lincoln’s Intelligent Patriotism" Lecture this Thursday

The Catholic University of America is hosting a lecture series as part of their spring 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Semester.  The first lecture in the series, “Lincoln’s Intelligent Patriotism” by Dr. Joseph Fornieri, with take place this Thursday, January 15, 2009, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.  This program is free and open to the public, and will take place at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, Slowinski Courtroom, at 620 Michigan Ave., N.E. in Washington, D.C.

Program Description:

Joseph Fornieri, associate professor of political science, Rochester Institute of Technology, and a noted scholar on Abraham Lincoln’s political philosophy, will deliver a lecture “Lincoln’s Intelligent Patriotism.” Fornieri’s talk is part of Catholic University’s Spring 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Semester marking the 200th anniversary of the president’s birth.
Fornieri’s lecture is the first in a series of talks this semester at CUA celebrating the Lincoln bicentennial. Details about the other lectures will follow. In addition, Catholic University is offering five courses during the spring 2009 semester that will examine Lincoln in history, politics and culture.

In his talk, Fornieri, who is a CUA alumnus, will explore Lincoln’s political philosophy in light of President-elect Barack Obama’s symbolic embrace of the 16th president as his role model. Fornieri will look at Lincoln’s conception of patriotism as the love of ordered liberty that is best secured under the auspices of a nation state dedicated to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. In reconciling “the love of one’s own” with justice, Lincoln’s intelligent patriotism was formulated as a concrete historical response to the forces of nationalism and sectionalism of his era. His intelligent patriotism remains highly relevant to the challenges of 21st-century globalization. Is patriotism, the love of one’s country, a chauvinistic vice that is necessarily unjust? Should we regard ourselves as cosmopolitan citizens of the world rather than particular citizens of a nation state?

A member of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Fornieri received his doctorate in politics from Catholic University in 1996. His fifth book, “Lincoln’s America: 1809-1865,” has just been published by Southern Illinois University Press. Fornieri recently received a 2009 Fulbright Teaching Award, to spend the winter of 2009 at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, teaching courses in constitutional rights and liberties and American political thought.

The Jan. 15 lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact 202-319-5114.

For complete details, see the Catholic University of America website: http://publicaffairs.cua.edu/Releases/2009//09LincolnFornierMedAdv.cfm

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of President Lincoln’s Cottage.
Do you have a Lincoln event you want to share with our readers?   Please send complete details of your event including location, date and time, and ticket or reservation information to [email protected].
Categories:
Share this: