A Bicentennial Celebration: Loyola, Lincoln, and Leadership
The year 2009 is the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of the 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln. In honor of "Illinois' own", Loyola University will be offering a number of classes, events, and presentations on Lincoln.
BRIEF HISTORY:
The year 2009 is the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of the sixteenth President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln. The past 20 years has seen an explosion of research and best selling books dealing with every possible facet of Mr. Lincoln as a person, a politician, and as much put upon President. In 2000, a C-Span Presidential survey ranked Mr. Lincoln as the first among his fellow Presidential peers. In 2006, The Atlantic ranked Mr. Lincoln as the single most influential American of all time. For The Atlantic, Lincoln towers over luminaries as Washington, Jefferson, or FDR because: "He saved the union, freed the slaves, and presided over America's second founding as a nation."
As a nation and a people, we have been drawn to Lincoln not just for his accomplishments as a public person, but for his qualities as a "common man," a "man of the people." "Honest Abe" really was honest. He really was entirely self-educated. He really did split rails, run a general store, and join the militia to fight off hostile Indians. He really was awkward, gangly, and unkempt. He really spent the vast majority of his life in Central Illinois, and yet kept abreast of national and international news and politics. He really was a wordsmith who crafted letters and speeches that have endured as models of political insight and compassionate diplomacy. And, he really was an ambitious, hard working man, but one who always took time to talk to a neighbor or laugh with a friend.
Abraham Lincoln has become, both in academic circles and in the wisdom of folklore, an icon. But more than an icon, more than a face on a penny or a five-dollar bill, Lincoln has come to be recognized as a profound philosophical thinker and a gifted leader.
The Loyola community believes that there is a direct correlation between Lincoln's legacy and Loyola's heritage, traditions, and commitments regarding education and leadership – Learn Broadly, Serve Generously, Lead Courageously. In celebrating Lincoln, we believe we are celebrating both our past and our future as a people, as a state, and as a University.
Calendar of Events
| 2009 | |
|---|---|
| March 10 & 11, 2009 | Management Class # 399 "Lincoln and Leadership" #399 Springfield Trip Reception, Old State House Tours, Lectures |
| March 20, 2009 | Law School/Symposium "Lincoln and the Law" and/or "Lincoln as a Lawyer" WTC |
| March 31, 2009 | School of Communications/Speech Tom Gunning, U of Chicago - Film Scholar Tuesday, March 31st, 6-8 PM, Crown Center Auditorium, LSC, Moving Monuments: Evoking Lincoln on Film. |
| April 16, 2009 | Eric Foner, Columbia University "Lincoln and Democracy" |
| Past Events | |
| 2009 Events | |
| January 19, 2009 | Spring Semester |
| Spring/Class | History Department/Class "The Age of Lincoln" Ted Karaminski, LSC |
| Spring/Class | Management Department/Class "Lincoln and Leadership" # 399 Al Gini, WTC, W, 4:15-6:45 |
| February 11, 2009 |
"Lincoln and Leadership" A public lecture by award-winning and best-selling author, Doris Kearns Goodwin (Team of Rivals). This event was held at the Lake Shore Campus. |
| 2008 Events | |
| August 25, 2008 | School Starts |
| Fall/Classes | Philosophy Department/Class "Lincoln's Ethics" Tom Carson, LSC School of Communications/Class "Lincoln and Citizen Journalism" John Slania, WTC, MW 11:30-12:45 |
| October 16, 2008 | Psychology Department/Speech Joshua Wolf Shenk "Lincoln's Melancholy" Arthur Lurigio, LSC |
| November 8, 2008 | A Day Long Symposium: "Lincoln: A Question of Character" William Lee Miller Douglas Miller LSC |