Every year, The Tocqueville Program coordinates a series of lectures by distinguished scholars and public intellectuals on a particular theme with a special course created specifically to address that theme. This course, “Issues in Political Thought,” integrates the writings of our lecturers with classic texts of political thought to encourage students to see contemporary issues in the light of the broader perspective made possible by the study of the history of political philosophy.
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Each year, one lecture in the Tocqueville series honors Professor Ernest J. Walters, who joined the Political Science Department in 1962, and served as the department’s chair from 1979 to 1984. He retired in 1989 as professor of political science emeritus, and continued to teach in Furman’s Learning in Retirement program until his death in 1997.
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In this new series, the Tocqueville Program will promote reflection on the history, psychology, and metaphysics of revolution.
In this series, the Tocqueville Program considers the nature and history of liberalism and the challenges to it, with a view to helping us soberly navigate the unsettled age that is dawning.
In this series, the Tocqueville Program undertakes an examination of three fundamental forms of human association: love, friendship, and politics.
In this series, the Tocqueville Program addresses the theme of "Tocqueville and the American Republic."
In this series, the Tocqueville Program continues its examination of what St. Augustine called the "two cities:" the "earthly city" and the "city of God."
In this series, the Tocqueville Program continues its thorough examination of our namesake's masterpiece, Democracy in America (1835).
In this series, the Tocqueville Program examines the essential connection between liberal democracy and liberal education.
The inaugural program focuses a new frontier of ethical and political questions stemming from the use of biotechnology.