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Do American colleges serve any purpose? Tocqueville lecture series begins Feb. 22


Last updated February 17, 2016

By News administrator

John T. Agresto

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Furman University’s Tocqueville Program announces its 2012 Lecture Series, “Liberal Education & Liberal Democracy.” The first of three lectures takes place Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 4:30 p.m. in Watkins Room of University Center and is presented by author, lecturer and university administrator John T. Agresto.

His lecture, “Do American Colleges Today Serve Any Public Function?” is free and open to the public as are the other Tocqueville lectures. The lecture series is sponsored by Furman’s department of political science.

The Tocqueville program brings prominent scholars and public intellectuals to campus with the aim of encouraging open engagement with the moral questions at the heart of political life. The series is named for Alexis de Tocqueville, widely known as the first philosopher of modern democracy.

Agresto served as president of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, Chancellor and provost at the American University of Iraq at Sulaimani, and as assistant chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. His books include Mugged by Reality: The Liberation of Iraq and the Failure of Good Intentions, The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy, and The Humanist as Citizen: Essays on the Uses of the Humanities.

Upcoming Tocqueville lectures include:

Wednesday, March 14 – Harvey Mansfield, “Science and Liberal Education,” 4:30 p.m. in Watkins Room, University Center

Tuesday, April 17 – Anthony Kronman, “Liberal Education and Political Liberalism,” 4:30 p.m. in Watkins Room, University Center

For more information, contact Paige Blankenship in the department of political science, 864-294-3547, or visit: www.furman.edu/tocquevilleprogram.

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