Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. Edward Larson will give the 12th annual Thomas Jefferson Lecture at The University of Tennessee Space Institute on Monday April 28, at 3 p.m. His lecture, entitled “1800 and the Emergence of Modern American Politics,” will examine the similarities of the ongoing election with the election of 1800.

“Going to the polls in 2008, citizens of the United States have a lot to learn from the election of 1800,” said Larson in a recent interview. 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. His lecture at UTSI will delve into the subject of his 2007 book, A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election Of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign.

A prolific author and respected voice of authority on American history, Dr. Larson is a Professor of History at Pepperdine University as well as 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 Court-TV, NPR, BBC, CBC, The History Channel, C-Span, The Today Show, Booknotes, Nova, PBS News Hour, Fox Network, Odyssey Network, and Showtime Network. 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.

This event is free and open to the public. All are encouraged to come and hear one of the world’s greatest American historians.

2008 THOMAS JEFFERSON ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS—Callie Dixon, Franklin County High School sophomore; Brooke Hill, Huntland High School senior, and Jonathon Davis, Tullahoma High School sophomore, are pictured above at The University of Tennessee Space Institute. These students each wrote the winning essay at their respective schools for the annual Thomas Jefferson Essay Contest held in conjunction with UTSI’s annual Thomas Jefferson Lecture. These students read their winning essays about “The Election of 1800” aloud before a panel of judges at UTSI on April 16. The overall winner will be announced as part of the lecture program on Monday, April 28 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 two runner-ups will each receive a $150 prize.

— UTSI Photo