Part of the Political Science department's series on Social Conflict and Democracy, this panel focuses on the enduring impact that race and slavery hold over U.S. politics.  Featuring guest speaker Maya Sen of Harvard, presenting on "The Political Legacy of Southern Slavery," the panel include three Univ. of Kentucky faculty experts as well: Christia Spears Brown (Psychology), Melynda Price (UK Law), and Ray Block (AAAS & Political Science).

Cosponsored by the Quantitative Initiative for Social & Policy Research (QIPSR) and the College of Arts & Science's Keys to Our Common Future initiative.

Professor Jennifer Merolla, will present, "Framing Immigrants," based on her book of the same name, on the influence of conservative, liberal and mainstream news frames on public support for mass deportations, comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act. UK faculty, Abby Córdova (PS), Janet Stamatel (SOC), are discussants.

Reception will follow in the Boone Center Library Room. 

Dr. Murray Bessette is the director of academic programs at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Prior to joining VOC, he was an associate professor of government at Morehead State University, specializing in political philosophy, national security, counter terrorism and intelligence studies. Dr. Bessette holds a BA and MA in political science from University of Alberta and an MA and PhD in political science from Claremont Graduate University.

Socialist revolutionaries have claimed that overcoming the bourgeois system would usher in a new way of life where the free development of each person is a condition for the free development of all. Life in this classless society would be marked by liberty, equality and solidarity. The appeal of these universally recognized ends both captured the imagination of those who believe there must be final political solution to all human ills and justified whatever actions were deemed necessary for bringing this situation into existence. And yet, in each and every instance, politically empowered socialism has produced a system of servitude, inequality and suspicion, where the life of a dissenter is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. Socialism’s inevitable failure makes a critical re-examination of the means appropriate to the pursuit of these ends all the more important today.

Co-sponsored with the Departments of History, Philosophy, and Political Science.