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August 29, 2005
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William Paterson University to Observe Constitution Day
—Corey Robin, author of Fear: A History of a Political Idea, to lecture on Thursday, September 15 at 3:30 p.m.
William Paterson University in Wayne will observe Constitution Day on Thursday, September 15 with a lecture by award-winning author and Professor Corey Robin titled “Freedom, Fear and the U.S. Constitution.” The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 3:30 p.m. in Shea Center on campus.
The program also will include a commemoration of William Paterson’s role as a signer of the Constitution in 1787. Paterson, after whom the University is named, was a delegate from New Jersey to the Federal Convention in Philadelphia, where he figured prominently in the debate on how states would be represented in the federal legislature. He was later elected to the first Senate of the United States, served as governor of New Jersey, and was chosen by President George Washington as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Federal legislation signed in December 2004 requires all educational institutions that receive federal funds to implement an educational program on September 17 each year that provides students with increased awareness and appreciation of the U.S. Constitution, which was signed September 17, 1787. When September 17 falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, Constitution day may be celebrated the preceding or following week.
The program is sponsored by the American Democracy Project of William Paterson University, part of a nationwide initiative by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) that seeks to increase civic engagement levels of U.S. students attending public colleges and universities in the 21st century. Other campus sponsors include the Office of the Provost, the Office of Student Development, the David and Lorraine Cheng Library, and the Department of Political Science.
Robin is the author of Fear: The History of a Political Idea (Oxford University Press, 2004), which was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2004. The first intellectual history of its kind, the book examines how fear has shaped politics and culture throughout history, as well as how fear figures in contemporary U.S. society.
An associate professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Robin has written articles for the Washington Post, the New York Times Magazine, the Boston Globe and the American Political Science Review. The recipient of the Presidential Authority Award from the Russell Sage Foundation, he has received numerous awards and fellowships. Robin is a graduate of Princeton University, and earned a doctorate in political science from Yale University.
For additional information, contact the American Democracy Project at William Paterson University at 973-720-3921.
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WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY 1855-2005: CELEBRATING 150 YEARS
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