Former Director of the National Archives Dr. Colleen Shogan, and noted political scientist Dr. Ken Rutherford, are the featured speakers as Drury’s Meador Speaker Series begins its 10th year. The series is free and open to the campus and community.
“Professor Meador urged his students to help build a ‘more democratic and more hopeful world.’ To celebrate the Center’s 10th anniversary, our speaker series revisits themes from past years–how communities fit into the wider world and what it means to live in a democratic society,” Political Science Professor and Meador Center for Politics and Citizenship Dr. Daniel Ponder said. “Each speaker approaches these questions differently, but all share a common goal: fostering community and striving toward the Constitution’s promise of a more perfect union.”
Dr. Shogan opens the Speaker Series, 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 25 at Washington Avenue Baptist Church on the Drury campus. The 11th director in National Archives history, Dr. Shogun in May of 2023 became the first woman ever nominated and confirmed to that position. She’ll speak on “Preserving History in Polarized Times” .
Dr. Shogan holds a Ph.D. from Yale University, and is the author of the book The Moral Rhetoric of American Presidents (Texas A&M University Press, 2007), numerous academic articles, and eight crime novels. A graduate of Boston College, Dr. Shogun previously taught as an adjunct professor in the government department at Georgetown University.
On October 22 at 5:30 p.m., at the Sunderland Lyceum in Olin Library Dr. Rutherford, a professor at James Madison University and formerly at Missouri State, rounds out the fall portion of the Meador Center Speaker Series with a conversation on “The Deadly Legacy of Conflict”, drawing on his research, global leadership to ban landmines and cluster munitions, and advocacy for the survivors of indiscriminate weapons of war.
Dr. Rutherford lost his legs while working for the International Rescue Committee in Somalia, and has worked tirelessly to bring national awareness to the continuing issues of landmines, including working with Princess Diana.
The Department of Political Science and International Affairs at Drury University houses the L.E. Meador Center for Politics and Citizenship, supported by the Meador Endowment. Founded in 2015 in honor of Professor L.E. Meador, the Drury University Meador Center for Politics and Citizenship is dedicated to the academic inquiry of politics and citizenship in the modern world. The work of the Meador Center is to inspire and engage Drury University students and faculty to work toward that “more democratic and more hopeful world” of which Professor Meador spoke.
For more information on the Meador Center Speaker Series, contact Meador Center Director Dr. Daniel Ponder at (417) 873-7394 or deponder@drury.edu.