John Marshall International Center for the Study of Statesmanship

The Jepson School of Leadership Studies has established the John Marshall International Center for the Study of Statesmanship to restore the study of great books as they relate to understanding and practicing responsible leadership.

Funded by the Thomas W. Smith Foundation, the center will be co-directed by leadership studies professors Gary McDowell and Terry Price.

"We were encouraged to apply for a grant to develop a program that would relate the study of the great books to leadership, more precisely to the study of statesmanship," McDowell said. The grant is for three years and the center began operations this semester, McDowell said.

The Marshall Center will host programs primarily focused on the Constitution, political economy, politics and ethical reasoning.

The first visiting lecturer under the Marshall Center's sponsorship is 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21. Waller Newell, a professor of political science and philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, will speak at the Jepson School faculty lounge. The lecture, "The Virtue that Dare Not Speak Its Name: The Role of Honor-Seeking in the Politics of a Democracy," will be followed by a reception.

Other speakers will be visiting the Jepson School throughout the year. The next lecture scheduled will be by Professor David Cannadine from the University of London in April 2009, McDowell said.

"Our hope lies in our original purpose: To revive the serious study of the great books in relation to statesmanship from an international perspective," McDowell said.

The Marshall Center will serve the faculty and students by encouraging the development of new courses and the creation of faculty seminars for the exchange of ideas about the nature and prospects of statesmanship. The first faculty seminar will take place in May 2009, McDowell said.

"We have a U of R advisory committee," McDowell said. "The Center will be for the university as a whole and the programs will be designed for both students and faculty from across the university."

The advisory committee includes professors Nancy Schauber in philosophy; Daniel Palazzolo in political science; Woody Holton in history; W. Hamilton Bryson in law; and George Goethals and Tom Wren in Jepson, McDowell said.

"I think it's nicely in line with Ed Ayers view that the schools should be working together," said Sandra Peart, Jepson School of Leadership Studies dean. "It's a center that we have here, but the programs it's going to offer will be ones that the faculty and students can come to from across the university."

"My view is people come at texts with a lot of different viewpoints," Peart said. "But the important thing is that you read them, and then you get to talk about them and discuss them."

Contact reporter Brittany Combs at brittany.combs@richmond.edu