University Lectures to present roundtable discussion on 2008 presidential election on Oct. 21

University Lectures to present roundtable discussion on 2008 presidential election on Oct. 21October 09, 2008Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

The 2008 presidential election has had an unprecedented historical tone. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s selection as the first African American nominee from a major party, U.S. Sen. John McCain’s surprise selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential nominee, and issues ranging from the economy to the war in Iraq have focused the attention of the world on who will be elected to lead the United States beginning on Jan. 20, 2009.

Patricia Williams, the James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia University School of Law, and Fred Barnes, co-founder and executive editor of The Weekly Standard and co-host of “The Beltway Boys” on FOX News, will offer their views on the election in a University Lectures roundtable discussion at Syracuse University on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. “Election 2008: Predictions and Analysis” will be moderated by Arthur Brooks, Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy in SU’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The event, sponsored in cooperation with University College, is free and open to the public. Reduced-rate parking will be available in the Irving Garage.

Williams and Barnes will discuss the election process, the message that was conveyed by the millions of first-time voters who came out for the Democratic primaries, and the selection of Gov. Palin as the Republican vice presidential nominee. Williams and Barnes will also offer analysis on the McCain and Obama campaigns and offer their predictions on multiple facets of the Nov. 4 general election.

Williams writes the monthly “Diary of a Mad Law Professor” for the Nation magazine, covering broad issues of social justice, including the rhetoric of the war on terror, race, ethnicity, gender, all aspects of civil rights law, bioethics and eugenics, forensic uses of DNA, and comparative issues of class and culture in the United States, Britian and France. A graduate of Wellesley College and Harvard Law School, she has served on faculties of the University of Wisconsin School of Law, Harvard University’s Women’s Studies Program and the City University of New York Law School at Queen’s College.

As a law professor, Williams has testified before Congress, acted as a consultant and coordinator for a variety of public interest lawsuits, and served as a past member of the boards of the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Society of American Law Teachers and the Nation Organization for Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund. She is recipient of the Alumnae Achievement Award from Wellesley, the Graduate Society Medal from Harvard and a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant. Before entering academia, she practiced law as a consumer advocate and deputy city attorney for the City of Los Angeles, and as a staff attorney for the Western Center on Law and Poverty.

Her book “The Alchemy of Race and Rights” (Harvard University Press, 1991) was named one of the 25 best books of 1991 by the Voice Literary Supplement and one of the “feminist classics of the last 20 years” by Ms. Magazine’s 20th Anniversary Edition. Her latest book is titled “Open House: Of Family, Friends, Food, Piano Lessons, and a Search for a Room of My Own” (Picador, 2005).

Barnes served as senior editor and White House correspondent for The New Republic from 1985-95. Previously, he covered the Supreme Court and the White House for the Washington Star before moving on to the Baltimore Sun in 1979. He served as the national political correspondent for the Sun and wrote the “Presswatch” media column for the American Spectator.

He is host, along with Mort Kondracke, of the “The Beltway Boys” on FOX News Channel. Barnes appears regularly on FOX’s “Special Report with Brit Hume.” From 1988-98, he was a regular panelist on “The McLaughlin Group.” He has also appeared on “Nightline,” “Meet the Press,” “Face the Nation” and “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”

In addition, Barnes hosts the weekly radio show “Issues in the News” on Voice of America. Formerly, he was chief correspondent on the PBS series “National Desk.”

Barnes authored the book “Rebel in Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush” (Three Rivers Press, 2006), based on his exclusive interviews with top administration officials, as well as with President Bush.

Barnes is a graduate of the University of Virginia and was a Neiman Fellow at Harvard University.

Now in its eighth year, the University Lectures maintains its tradition of bringing to the Syracuse University campus some of the most influential movers and shapers from around the world for the 2008-09 season. Eight distinguished speakers have been invited this year to educate in the areas of human rights; the 2008 presidential election; race and American public schools; innovation; and exploration. The series is supported by the generosity of the University’s trustees, alumni and friends. For more information, visit http://lectures.syr.edu.