This lecture is free and the public is welcome to attend.
Hatzenbuehler will discuss his soon-to-be published book on Thomas Jefferson. The book argues that Jefferson, though celebrated as a nationalist, is best understood as a member of the Virginia gentry, who viewed the nation through the lens of his native "country," the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Throughout his life, Jefferson was torn between his participation in a privileged order and his periodic dissent from the order's ways. In taking Virginians to task for their failure to improve Virginia society, he masked his own reluctance to make fundamental changes in his life.
The zenith of Jefferson's criticism came in Notes on the State of Virginia, where he chided his fellow Virginians for failing to take advantage of the opportunities that independence from Great Britain promised – including writing a new state constitution, establishing religious freedom, educating all of the state's youth, farming grains instead of planting tobacco, and abolishing slavery. The height of his withdrawal from the commitment to the change he advocated came after his presidency, when he allowed his gentry culture to ensnare him.
Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest, largest and most selective all-discipline honor society. Phi Kappa Phi inducts annually more than 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni. The Society has chapters on nearly 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines.
Since its founding, more than 1 million members have been initiated. Some of the organization's more notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA Astronaut Wendy Lawrence, Baylor University head women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, writer John Grisham and Netscape founder James Barksdale. The Society has awarded approximately $11.5 million since the inception of its awards program in 1932. Today, more than $700,000 is awarded annually to qualifying members and non-members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad scholarships, member and chapter awards and grants for local and national literacy initiatives.
The Society's mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others."
For more information on Phi Kappa Phi, contact Dr. Ann Hunter, President, ISU Chapter 110 of Phi Kappa Phi, 282-3463, oakeann@isu.edu, or Dr. Joanne Tokle, ISU chapter secretary, 282-2934.