Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., April 2, 2012 — Williams College will host a conference on April 7th devoted to an examination of the award winning new biography by John Lewis Gaddis, George F. Kennan: An American Life. The conference, running 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 7, in Griffin Hall, room 3, and will feature several panels by noted historians and political scientists and will conclude with a presentation by Professor Gaddis.
The schedule is as follows:
Panel 1: The Making of a Cold War Intellectual
8:45-10 a.m., with Frank Costigliola, University of Connecticut; Walter Hixson, University of Akron; Christina Klein, Boston College; Mark Lawrence, UT-Austin/Williams College; and Frank Ninkovich, St. Johns University
Panel 2: Kennan and the Art of Foreign Policy
10:15-11:45 a.m., with David Ekbladh, Tufts University; Hope Harrison, George Washington University; Fredrik Logevall, Cornell University; David Mayers, Boston University; and Anders Stephanson, Columbia University
Panel 3: Kennan, Realism, and American Grand Strategy
1-2:15 p.m., with David Kaiser, Naval War College; Douglas Macdonald, Colgate University; James McAllister, Williams College; and Mark Sheetz, Belfer Center at Harvard University
2:15-2:45 p.m. Concluding Remarks: John Lewis Gaddis, Yale University
Professor Gaddis’ pathbreaking study of Kennan, written with exclusive access to Kennan’s archives and interviews spanning three decades, has received widespread praise from scholars and distinguished policymakers. In the words of former Secretary of State George Schultz, “When a great historian writes about a great man, the result is bound to be outstanding. This book exceeds even that high expectation.” Gaddis has already won two prestigious awards for his biography from the New York Historical Society and the National Books Critics Circle.
Gaddis is currently the Robert A. Lovett Professor of History at Yale University. He has been called the “Dean of Cold War Historians” by The New York Times. He is best known for his analysis of the strategies of containment employed under the presidencies ranging from Harry S. Truman to Ronald Reagan. He has previously received numerous awards and honors including the Bancroft Prize and the Harry S. Truman Book Award. In 2005, Gaddis was awarded a National Humanities Medal from President George Bush.
George F. Kennan, the subject of Gaddis’ latest book, was an American advisor, diplomat, Ambassador, and award winning historian. He is best known as the architect of the strategy of containment that guided America throughout the Cold War, as well as for the leading role he played in the development of the Marshall Plan. Kennan served as U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union in 1952 and as U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1961 to 1963. He died in 2005 at age 101.
The event is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Stanley Kaplan Program in American Foreign Policy and the Political Science Department.
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For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Communications (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at http://www.williams.edu/map/
To visit the college on the Internet: http://www.williams.edu/ Williams College can also be found on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/williamscollege and Twitter: http://twitter.com/williamscollege
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For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Communications (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/map
To visit the college on the Internet: www.williams.edu Williams College can also be found on Facebook: www.facebook.com/williamscollege and Twitter: twitter.com/williamscollege
Published March 27, 2012