2004-05
a
m e s s a g e
f r o m t h e c h a i r
Each year the Clements Department of History organizes a symposium (or on
occasion a series of lectures) supported by a generous gift from
Ruth Sharp Altshuler honoring her son, Stanton Sharp. The theme
of last year’s Sharp Symposium, organized by
Dan Orlovsky,
was “The University and
Academic Freedom: From the Berkeley Free Speech Movement to the
Patriot Act.” Its inspiration came from our concern about the
parlous state of freedom of expression on some of our nation’s
campuses as well as our gratitude for our university’s historic
commitment to and fierce defense of free speech. In 1965 SMU
President Willis Tate received the Alexander Meiklejohn Award of the American Association of
University Professors “for support of academic freedom.” Since
then, there have been many other examples of the ways in which SMU
has been a leader in opening up and preserving opportunities for a
full and free discussion of controversial issues. In recent years
the Center for Teaching Effectiveness and the Maguire Center for
Ethics have established themselves as vibrant and vocal centers for
the examination and discussion of a wide range of social, political,
and economic topics. These two centers have provided opportunities
for members of my department as well as colleagues throughout the
university to advance the discussion of important issues both within
and outside our campus community. It was, therefore, within this
tradition, and in light of issues our country is facing today, that
our symposium revisited the Berkeley Free Speech Movement of 1964,
when our country was on the verge of major social, economic, and
cultural transformation, and analyzed its implications for campuses
nationwide in post 9/11 America.
If the Sharp Symposium was one of the major highpoints of the year, others included the recognition of the achievements of several of my colleagues. Melissa Dowling was named an Althshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor; Rick Halperin became (for the second time) Chair of Amnesty International USA; Kathleen Wellman was named a Dedman Family Professor; and President Vicente Fox awarded David Weber the highest honor that Mexico can give a foreign national, the Order of the Aztec Eagle. In a related honor, the Clements Center for Southwest Studies under Weber’s leadership was commended by the Texas Legislature in a special resolution for its path breaking role in enlarging our understanding of the Southwest.
My other colleagues have maintained the department’s tradition of teaching well and doing intellectual work of the first order. This newsletter is meant to offer a broader understanding of the richness of the department’s intellectual life and achievement and, most particularly, to remind our many audiences, at least in summary form, of what historians “do.” In this spirit, there will be occasional short essays by members of the department on subjects that will interest our readers. In this issue Melissa Dowling writes on her philosophy of teaching.
As always, I
wish to acknowledge the generosity of the department’s benefactors,
particularly Governor William P. Clements and Ruth Sharp Altshuler. Our
lives as teachers and scholars would be greatly reduced in scale and
ambition without their support.
Jim Hopkins
Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair
William P. Clements
Department of History
PO Box 750176
Southern Methodist University
Dallas TX
75275-0176
214-768-2984
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