September 15 through 19, 2008
Full schedule of events can be found online: www.library.vcu.edu/constitution/
This month, Virginia Commonwealth University joins campuses across the nation in commemorating the September 17, 1787 signing of the Constitution. VCU's week-long series of events and programming is designed to promote greater awareness of this extraordinary document and to foster reflection upon its principles, which continue to influence our daily lives more than two hundred years after its ratification.
Upcoming VCU events from September 15-19 include the new Constitution Day Lecture series, featuring:
The Constitution: Relevant for 200 years. Now are there dangers on the horizon?
Stephen McCullough, State Solicitor General for Virginia
Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Forum Room, University Student Commons
Stephen McCullough is the State Solicitor General for Virginia. The State Solicitor General is part of the Attorney General's Office and represents Virginia's interests in the United States Supreme Court. His responsibilities also include defending Virginia laws from constitutional challenge. Over the years, Mr. McCullough has represented Virginia in a wide range of civil and criminal matters in state and federal courts. This past January, Mr. McCullough argued Virginia v. Moore in the United States Supreme Court. In April, the Court decided the case unanimously in Virginia's favor. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and of the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond.
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
David Hajdu, Professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
with moderator Tom De Haven (VCU) and guest M. Thomas Inge (Randolph Macon)
Thursday, September 18th, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Grace E. Harris Hall, Auditorium (Room 101)
David Hajdu is the author of The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America and two other books, Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, and Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina. He will discuss the federal crackdown on comic books that occurred during the 1950s and led to decades of self-censorship under the so-called Comics Code Authority. More information on David Hajdu is available online.
The discussion will be moderated by VCU's own Tom De Haven, author of It's Superman!, Funny Papers, Derby Dugan's Depression Funnies, and other comic-themed works. Guest speaker will be M. Thomas Inge of Randolph-Macon College, editor of the Handbook of American Popular Culture and author of Anything Can Happen in a Comic Strip.
The entire schedule for the week-long series of events can be found online at www.library.vcu.edu/constitution/. Questions? Contact Renee Bosman at 828-8978.