Posts Tagged ‘Elizabeth Busch’

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Protecting liberty is the perpetual task of an engaged citizenry.

“Students need to think about the meaning of liberty so they can appreciate the sacrifices that have been made in the past and those that will be needed to protect that liberty in perpetuity,” says Professor Elizabeth Busch, who along with her husband, Professor Nathan Busch, are the founders and directors of the Center for American Studies at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va.

“The study of America’s foundations inspires the healthy intellectual exchange of ideas

that, as Tocqueville observed, is necessary for the protection of individual liberty,” says Busch. “The defense of America—what it is and what it should be—depends upon the ability of citizens to form a coherent vision and understanding of America. Such a vision can only be achieved after one has thought critically about America’s experiment in democracy, self-governance, and individual liberties.”

The Center for American Studies at Christopher Newport University is one of the 34

Elizabeth Kaufer-Busch

Partner Programs supported by the Jack Miller Center across the United States. Many of the programs were launched with help from the Jack Miller Center. The Miller Center provides seed money for the establishment of these academic centers. Once established, JMC faculty partners take the initiative to raise additional funds to grow their program, with the Miller Center providing ongoing support for development of academic programs.

“These academic centers have institutionalized the study of America’s founding and have often become major players in the development of the core curricula, academic programs and in the hiring of university faculty. The Jack Miller Center’s annual center-building conferences provide invaluable insight into what it takes to get an academic center up and running and how to identify fundraising opportunities,” explains Professor Elizabeth Busch.

After garnering seed money from the Miller Center, Elizabeth and Nathan Busch applied for and received a $500,000 “We the People” Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. “The drafting of our successful proposal was inspired by the lessons learned during the Miller Center Summer Institute and the center-building conferences,” Elizabeth Busch says.

Professor Busch has recently published an edited volume exploring contemporary American life entitled Democracy Reconsidered as well as an article on the recent history of Feminism and popular culture: Ally McBeal to Desperate Housewives: a brief history of the postfeminist heroine.(Report)