Friday, April 11, 2008
Writer: Shanna Relford
news@utsi.edu
Dr.
Edward Larson, a prolific author, respected voice of authority on
American history, and frequent guest on television shows such as The
Today Show and History Channel programs, will speak at The
University of Tennessee Space Institute later this month. Dr. Larson
will be giving the 12th annual Thomas Jefferson Lecture, a lecture
series held at UTSI that has honored Thomas Jefferson, the third
President of the United States, the principal author of the
Declaration of Independence, and one of our country’s most
influential Founding Fathers, for the past 12 years. This year’s
lecture, entitled “1800 and the Emergence of Modern American
Politics,” is scheduled for 3 p.m. on April 28, 2008 and should be a
lively event as Professor Larson will offer insight into the ongoing
election by examining the election of 1800.
Dr. Larson won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1998 for his book,
Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial
and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. Dr.
Larson has authored seven books and is the co-author of seven more.
In his 2007 book, A Magnificent Catastrophe:
The Tumultuous Election Of 1800, America's First Presidential
Campaign, he examines the 1800 presidential election when
Thomas Jefferson, representing democracy and science, faced sitting
Federalist president John Adams. In a recent interview for The Paula
Gordon Show, Dr. Larson said, “Going to the polls in 2008, citizens
of the United States have a lot to learn from the election of 1800.
Even then, religion and science were very much at odds.” In his
"Independent Thinker" Book of the Month Review, New York Times
bestselling author Thom Hartmann said of A Magnificent
Catastrophe, “it deserves to bring Larson a second
Pulitzer.”
About Jefferson’s 1801 inauguration, Larson wrote in A
Magnificent Catastrophe, “Before taking the oath of
office, however, in a shy, small voice all but lost in the ornate,
crowded Senate chamber, Jefferson gave the greatest speech of his
political career. He beautifully crafted it to claim the middle
ground after the bitter, divisive campaign.”
Dr. Larson earned his B.A. from Williams College, a law degree from
Harvard, and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from the University
of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to being a Professor of History
at Pepperdine University, he is currently the Hugh and Hazel Darling
Chair of Law at Pepperdine and the Russell Professor of History at
the University of Georgia. He has made appearances on The Today
Show, Booknotes, Nova, PBS News Hour, Fox Network, Odyssey Network,
Showtime Network, and Court-TV and makes regular appearances on NPR,
BBC, CBC, The History Channel, and C-Span. His articles have
appeared in such varied journals as Nature, Scientific American,
Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, Wall Street Journal, Virginia Law
Review, Christianity Today, Christian Century, Journal of the
History of Medicine and British Journal for the History of Science.
In coordination with this year’s lecture, students from area high
schools, including Coffee County, Franklin County, Huntland and
Tullahoma High Schools, have been writing essays about “The Election
of 1800” for the 2008 Thomas Jefferson Essay Contest. The student
with the winning essay at each school will receive a $150 prize and
will read their essay aloud at UTSI on April 16 before a panel of
judges. The overall winner will be announced as part of the lecture
program and will receive a $300 prize. In addition, $500 will be
awarded to the school of the overall winner for academic program
development within the school.
The 12th Annual Thomas Jefferson Lecture will begin at 3 p.m. on
Monday, April 28, 2008 in the UTSI Auditorium with a reception to
follow in the lobby. This event is free and open to the public and
all are encouraged to come and hear one of the world’s greatest
American historians.
