American Studies Institute

Lecture Series

Bringing lectures to the Harding campus, this program serves as an integral part of the American Studies Institute. A unique approach to citizenship education in contemporary national and international affairs, the Lecture Series offers insight into current trends in political and economical development affecting the American way of life. Speakers in the Lecture Series have included President George Bush, President Gerald Ford, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, John Major, Lech Walesa, Dan Quayle, Lamar Alexander, Dick Cheney, Linda Chavez, Henry Kissinger, Tom Peters, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Bobby Bowden, Gene Stallings, Zig Ziglar, William Bennett, Kenneth Cooper, Fran Tarkenton, William F. Buckley Jr., Robert Bork and Benazir Bhutto, Ben Stein, Laura Ingraham and President George W. Bush.

If you need accommodations due to a disability, please contact the American Studies Office by calling 501-279-4497. Please make your request at least one week prior to the scheduled presentation.

2011/2012 Speakers


Richard PicciottoChief Richard Picciotto

October 6, 2011

The highest-ranking firefighter to survive the World Trade Center collapse, and the last fireman to escape the devastation, Richard "Pitch" Picciotto was on a stairwell between the sixth and seventh floors of the North Tower when it collapsed on September 11, 2001. An FDNY battalion commander, his is the harrowing true story of an American hero, a man who thought nothing of himself and gave nearly everything for others during one of our nation's darkest hours. Picciotto tells an outspoken account of that indelible day, shaking and inspiring audiences to the core.



Paul SperryPaul Sperry

 November 10, 2011

Veteran newsman Paul Sperry is former Washington bureau chief for Investor's Business Daily and a senior editorialist and columnist for the national newspaper's Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial pages. A media fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, he is the bestselling author of four books, including the highly acclaimed Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington, which is being used by top law enforcement agencies across the country, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense and the CIA. His latest title is The Great American Bank Robbery: The Unauthorized Report About What Really Caused the Great Recession. Published in multiple major newspapers, Sperry has broken a number of major news stories on economic and domestic policy, as well as other national issues.


Victor Davis HansonDr. Victor Davis Hanson

February 2, 2012

Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College, where he teaches each fall semester courses in military history and classical culture.  Hanson is the author of hundreds of articles, book reviews, scholarly papers, and newspaper editorials on matters ranging from ancient Greek, agrarian and military history to foreign affairs, domestic politics, and contemporary culture. He has written or edited 17 books.  Since 2001, Hanson has written a weekly column for National Review Online, and in 2004, began his weekly syndicated column for Tribune Media Services. In 2006, he also began thrice-weekly blog for Pajamas Media, Works and Days.


Condoleezza Rice

Dr. Condoleezza Rice

 April 19, 2012

 Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush. Rice was the first African-American woman secretary of state, as well as the second African American (after Colin Powell), and the second woman (after Madeleine Albright). Rice was President Bush's National Security Advisor during his first term, making her the first woman to serve in that position. In March 2009, Rice returned to Stanford University as a political science professor and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution. In September 2010, Rice became a faculty member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a director of its Global Center for Business and the Economy.  Tickets will be available on-line March 12.  Go to http://hardingtickets.com.


Past Speakers

Jose Maria Aznar

David Barton

Fred Barnes

Bob Beckel

William J. Bennett

Judge Janice Rogers Brown

Angela "Bay" Buchanan

Deena Burnett

Jim Burnett

Gracia Burnham

Barbara Bush

George H.W. Bush

George W. Bush

Jim Cathcart

S. Truett Cathy

Dick Cheney

General Wesley K. Clark

Dinesh D'Souza

Gerald W. Ebker

Tommy R. Franks

Vicente Fox

Sean Hannity

James Humes

Asa Hutchinson

Khalil E. Jahshan

Leland R. Kaiser

Frank Keating

Vladimir P. Lukin

Heather Whitestone McCallum

Michael Medved

Zell Miller

Sidney Moncrief

Randall Mott

Robert D. Novak

Houston Nutt

Colin Powell

Dan Quayle

Paul Craig Roberts

Jim Ryun

Don Soderquist

Kenneth W. Starr

Ben Stein

Cal Thomas

Scott Waddle

Lech Walesa

George R. Walther

J.C. Watts

Walter E. Williams

Cheri Pierson Yecke

Benazir Bhuto


American Studies Institute
501-279-4497
ASI@harding.edu