Top of page

Archive: October 2014 (9 Posts)

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

New Scholars at the Kluge Center – October 2014

Posted by: Travis Hensley

A new season is upon us: the leaves are changing, there’s a chill in the air, and the Kluge Center has begun to welcome the first residents from last year’s competitions. The first cohort of fellows from our partnership with the British Research Councils has arrived, along with several other scholars. We welcomed a total …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

How the Discovery of Life Will Transform Our Thinking

Posted by: Jason Steinhauer

Astrobiology Chair Steven Dick believes that the discovery of life in the universe is a question of when, not if. Such a discovery will take different forms: microbial life, possibly complex life, maybe even intelligent life. Researching the scenarios and investigating the potential outcomes and ramifications has been at the essence of Dick’s year-long residency …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

Real Realpolitik

Posted by: Jason Steinhauer

In the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs, John J. Mearsheimer writes that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia “shows that realpolitik remains relevant–and states that ignore it do so at their own peril.” That Realpolitik remains relevant to conversations on foreign affairs is certainly evidenced by its seeming ubiquity in public discourse. Commentators around the …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

Moving Down the Hall

Posted by: Jason Steinhauer

The following is a guest post by Dr. Jane McAuliffe, Director of The John W. Kluge Center. Although I have been the Director of The John W. Kluge Center for only two weeks, I came into this position with definite advantages – familiarity and proximity. For the last year, I have been resident in the …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

A Fun Tradition — And a Room Full of Discoveries

Posted by: Jason Steinhauer

Last week I presided over one of my favorite Kluge Center traditions: our annual orientation for Wilson Center scholars to the Library of Congress. I enjoy it because despite being seasoned academics from across the U.S. and around the world, Wilson Center scholars are sometimes surprised at the riches available to them right down Pennsylvania …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

The International Flavor of the Kluge Center

Posted by: Travis Hensley

As I walk through The John W. Kluge Center here at the Library of Congress, it brings a smile to my face to hear the array of accents and languages being spoken. The Kluge Center is a true international center; we host scholars from around the world each year. Some of the nations represented in …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

Law Enforcement, Psychiatrists, and the Racialization of Drug Addiction in Postwar America

Posted by: Dan Turello

Washington University in St. Louis historian Sonia Song-Ha Lee, who regularly teaches classes about the civil rights movement, recalls being struck by the discrepancy between triumphant accounts of the history of desegregation and the more sobering realities of present day mass incarceration in the United States. The Sentencing Project estimates that 2.2 million individuals are presently …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

A Tenuous But, To Me, Meaningful Tie to Kazakhstan

Posted by: Mary Lou Reker

One of the things I love about working with the Fellows at the Kluge Center is that I am constantly learning new things. Recently, for example, I was speaking with Richard Bater, from Kings College London, who was here on an Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship. Richard’s thesis concerns water and the relationship of …