General Major Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
2019-03-07 00:00 (America/Chicago)
From August 1914 until the after the Armistice in 1918, Generalmajor Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck conducted a one-sided campaign against the British Empire in east Africa. Lettow-Vorbeck employed superior tactics and stealth against an impossibly large enemy, preserving the lives of his soldiers and civilians while the harsh environment and disease devastated Allied ranks. The Germans would grudgingly surrender only after news of the Armistice reached them. Mark Hull shares the story of a military leader who would retain the loyalty of his men and the admiration of his former enemies until his death in 1964.

POLITICAL PAGE-TURNERS: SPRING BOOK SERIES | Movie Nights with the Reagans
2019-03-07 00:00
A longtime staffer under President Ronald Reagan, Mark Weinberg shares an intimate look inside the Reagan presidency — told through the movies they watched together every week at Camp David. In a program that will fascinate movie buffs and history aficionados alike, Weinberg highlights several of the captivating stories and iconic films outlined in his memoir, “Movie Nights with the Reagans.” Weinberg is a former speechwriter and adviser to Reagan, serving on the 1980 campaign traveling staff, eight years in the White House and two years thereafter as Reagan’s post-presidential spokesman.

POLITICAL PAGE-TURNERS: SPRING BOOK SERIES | Broken: Can the Senate Save Itself and the Country?
2019-03-19 00:00
In an era of sharp polarization, author Ira Shapiro places the U.S. Senate at “ground zero for America’s political dysfunction.” Shapiro visits for a talk on his latest book, “Broken: Can the Senate Save Itself and the Country?” His writing offers a frank assessment of the Senate’s current political climate and examines possible solutions to the quagmire. A former U.S. Senate staffer and leading U.S. trade negotiator, Shapiro ultimately earned the rank of ambassador during his time in government.

POLITICAL PAGE-TURNERS: SPRING BOOK SERIES | An Evening with Major Garrett
2019-04-02 00:00
With over two decades of experience reporting on the White House, Major Garrett has had a front-row seat to modern presidential history. He has covered four presidencies for three news outlets and currently serves as the chief Washington correspondent for CBS News. In this can’t-miss program, Garrett will discuss his career in journalism, the twists and turns of covering our nation’s highest office, and his latest book, “Mr. Trump’s Wild Ride.”

Lieutenant General J.C.H. “Jesus Christ Himself” Lee
2019-04-04 00:00
When the U.S. entered World War II as a belligerent, its army ranked 17th in the world in terms of capability. In May 1942, Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall plucked a hitherto obscure Corps of Engineers officer from his duties and put him in charge of all Army sustainment operations in what would become the European theater of operations. Who was Gen. John Clifford Hodges Lee, what did he accomplish, and why is he remembered in such a dim light by some historians? Dr. Tom Hanson presents an overview of Gen. Lee’s life and career, and explores why his contributions loom much larger than his detractors would admit.

Carly Fiorina
2019-04-14 00:00
The Dole Institute is delighted to welcome Carly Fiorina for the 2019 Dole Lecture. The first woman ever to lead a Fortune 50 company, Fiorina is the former CEO of HP and a best-selling author, and she was a 2016 candidate for president. Guided by her new book, “Find Your Way: Unleash Your Power and Highest Potential,” Fiorina will share reflections and leadership lessons gleaned from her long career in both for-profit and nonprofit settings. This program includes a book sale and signing.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder
2019-05-02 00:00
Join Dr. Harry Laver for an exploration of a man that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to as “one of the few great military leaders of our time.” Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder of the Royal Air Force served as Eisenhower’s deputy supreme commander for the June 1944 Overlord campaign in Normandy, and then on to the conclusion of World War II. He made significant contributions to the Allied victory, and consistently supported Eisenhower during the most contentious episodes of the war.

Lieutenant General Stapleton Cotton
2019-06-06 00:00
Stapleton Cotton, later Field Marshal Stapleton Cotton, first Viscount Combermere, was cavalry commander under the Duke of Wellington for nearly six years in the Peninsula War. Yet, at Waterloo, he was not invited to command Wellington’s cavalry. Mark T. Gerges examines Cotton’s early career in the Peninsula and his role in the command of Wellington’s cavalry.

HISTORICAL INTERPRETER | Miriam Reed on Susan B. Anthony
2019-07-10 00:00

Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia
2019-08-01 00:00
The unification of Germany was forged by the Hohenzollern dynasty, one of the more remarkable ruling houses Europe ever saw. Given this history, there were high expectations for Frederick William, the eldest son of Wilhelm I, when Prussia began its campaign to unify Germany. Ethan S. Rafuse discusses one of the most fascinating figures in the history of Imperial Germany. Frederick William was not only an able soldier, but, with his wife Victoria, hoped to be a force for liberalism and European peace.

In Conversation with Kevin Willmott
2019-09-11 00:00
With work on titles like “BlacKkKlansman,” “C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America,” “Jayhawkers” and beyond, Kevin Willmott is both a renowned filmmaker and a local legend. Willmott will join the Dole Institute for a conversation on his diverse career as a director, screenwriter, producer, civil rights activist and KU professor. A native of Junction City, Willmott shared the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay with Spike Lee in 2019 for the duo’s collaboration on “BlacKkKlansman.”

Frank Jack Fletcher: Unsung Hero
2019-09-12 00:00
Frank Jack Fletcher commanded carrier task forces in the critical first year of World War II in the Pacific. He served as senior commander in three famous naval battles (the Coral Sea, Midway and the Eastern Solomons), winning all three and damaging the Japanese Navy, which prevented it from accomplishing its operational objectives. John Kuehn leads an exploration of Fletcher’s accomplishments and examines why the commander has been largely forgotten by history.

Prospects for Peace in Afghanistan
2019-09-17 00:00
A former minister of the interior for Afghanistan and Afghan ambassador to Germany, Ali Ahmad Jalali has written extensively on the military history of the country. He visits the institute to look at the current state of affairs in the nation and prospects for peace in the future. His latest work, “A Military History of Afghanistan: From the Great Game to the Global War on Terror,” offers extensive insight into the modern military history of Afghanistan, which has been waged by state and non-state actors, against domestic and foreign entities, and under rapidly changing conditions. This program includes a book sale and signing with the author.

2019 CONSTITUTION DAY | Kansas in the U.S. Supreme Court
2019-09-19 00:00
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review to three separate cases involving the state of Kansas in 2019, which it will hear in October and November. Join Stephen McAllister, U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas, and special guests as they explore the constitutional issues raised in each of three cases:
Kansas v. Garcia: whether federal immigration laws preempt Kansas identity theft criminal laws.
Kahler v. Kansas: whether a state is compelled by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to recognize an “insanity defense.” Kansas — like some states, but not others —has abolished an affirmative insanity defense, and the defendant in question has argued he was legally insane at the time of the killings.
Kansas v. Glover: in a case originating in Lawrence, whether it is reasonable for a law enforcement officer to assume the driver of the vehicle is its registered owner, as a general matter.
Guests panelists will include:
Toby Crouse, Kansas Solicitor General
Sarah E. Harrington, Goldstein & Russell, P.C. and counsel for the defense, Kansas v. Glover
Tobias S. Loss-Eaton, Sidley Austin LLP and principal drafter of petition for certiorari, Kahler v. Kansas
Derek Schmidt, Kansas Attorney General

Votes for Women: Suffrage and the 19th Amendment Centennial
2019-09-24 00:00
One hundred years have not yet passed since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted many — but not all — U.S. women the right to vote. Passed by the House and Senate in 1919 and reaching the threshold to become law of the land in 1920, it enfranchised 26 million women voters. In this 100th-anniversary kickoff event, a panel featuring professors Jinx Broussard (Louisiana State University), Teri Finneman (KU) and Candi Carter Olson (Utah State University) will examine the women’s suffrage movement and the legacy and limitations of this transformative amendment. This program is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Kansas and its Centennial Celebration Committee.

2019 FALL | Create Change: Women, Democracy and Global Politics
2019-09-25 08:00 - 2019-11-20 17:00
Dole Fellow Nancy Bocskor
Read more about Dole Fellows >>
Do you dream of creating change in your community, state or country? Are you ready to become a more effective advocate, activist or even an elected official? This fall, Dole fellow Nancy Bocskor will give you a roadmap to turn your knowledge and passion into a plan. By utilizing the tools that women activists use worldwide, you will be both inspired and ready to take action.
Bocskor, tagged a “democracy coach” by a German newspaper, teaches citizens around the world how to communicate with passion to effect change in their communities. She is the director of the Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.

Week 1 | Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Farhat Popal
9/25/2019

Week 2 | Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Susan Markham
10/9/2019

Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Susan Markham, cofounder of Smash Strategies — whose mission is to help companies & non-profits understand that gender equity is “good for business”. During the Obama Administration, Markham was the “go-to” top staffer for the President at USAID ensuring women worldwide had economic, educational, health and political equity. She’s worked in more than 50 countries.

Week 3 | Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Sally Canfield
10/16/2019

Week 4 | Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Lee Peterson
10/23/2019

Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Lee Peterson. Fall fellow Nancy Bocskor welcomes Lee Peterson. Peterson is a top political adviser to those brave candidates who battle dictators such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. He was country director in Russia for the International Republican Institute, chaired by the late Sen. John McCain. Peterson is an expert on British politics and has a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Week 5 | Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Deb Sofield
10/30/2019

Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Deb Sofield. This week’s guest, Deb Sofield, is an executive speech coach and author who trains political candidates, beauty queens and Fortune 500 executives how to connect with their audiences. She accompanied me to Russia for two summers where she trained young political leaders from more than 80 countries, mentored women from Egypt and Jordan, was an election observer in Bangladesh, to mention just a few. Sofield is a past president of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale, a member of the Greenville, SC water commission and will travel anywhere as long as you feed her three times a day.

Week 6 | Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Natalia Budaeva Arno
11/6/2019

Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Natalia Budaeva Arno. This week’s guest, Natalia Budaeva Arno is the president and founder of the Free Russia Foundation where she exposes the atrocities of the Putin regime. Arno was the Country Director for Russia for the International Republican Institute for nearly a decade before she was banished from her home during the 2014 crackdown on pro-human rights & democracy organizations in Russia. She testifies before the US Congress, the European Union and worldwide groups that promote civil society.

Week 7 | Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Mariam Memarsadeghi
11/20/2019

Fellow Nancy Bocskor with guest speaker Mariam Memarsadeghi. This week’s guest, Mariam Memarsadeghi is the founder of Tavaana.org, an online activism and civil engagement site that breaks through the Iranian firewall to reach hundreds of thousands of Iranian activists. Memarsadeghi was seven years old when she and her family escaped the Iranian regime. She was named a Presidential Leadership Scholar in 2017. She and Bocskor were part of the team that created the first online activism institute in Arabic for the Middle East/North Africa in 2007.

Philip II "Augustus" of France
2019-10-03 00:00
The early reign of Philip II of France was an exhibition of poor generalship, but by the early 1200s, Philip had seized most of the counties and duchies under the control of England’s King John. These victories would construct the territorial basis for modern France. Philip’s crowning victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 was dubbed “the most important battle you’ve never heard of” by the BBC, and the result would forever change the face of Europe. An expert in medieval warfare, John Hosler will lead an examination of Philip and some of his most consequential victories.

Marine, Public Servant, Kansan
2019-10-17 00:00
The groundwork for Ernest “Ernie” Garcia’s life was laid by his ancestors through a decade of field labor, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and two world wars. Through hard work, education and some basketball, Ernie would rise to become a public servant, Marine Corps officer and the sergeant-at-arms for the U.S. Senate. Author Dennis Raphael Garcia and Ernie Garcia visit the institute to discuss his remarkable life story, his family’s American dream and the immigrant experience. This program includes a book sale and signing with the author.

The League of Wives: Heath Hardage Lee
2019-10-22 00:00
Historian and author Heath Hardage Lee specializes in telling little-known stories of dynamic women throughout history. Her latest work, “The League of Wives,” explores a group of fearless military wives that bucked convention during the Vietnam War to advocate on behalf of their POW/MIA husbands and bring them home. The book has since been optioned for film by Reese Witherspoon’s production company, while its eponymous exhibit debuted at the Dole Institute in spring 2017 and has since traveled nearly 5,000 miles to institutions across the U.S. Lee visits the institute to discuss her book, the research process and what’s next for “The League of Wives.” This program includes a book sale and signing with the author.

Taliban Safari: One Day in the Surkhagan Valley
2019-10-24 00:00
In his book “Taliban Safari,” retired Lt. Col. Paul Darling offers an engrossing and true day-in-the-life narrative of a combat soldier in Afghanistan in 2009. From the mundane to the high-octane, Darling’s reflections will place the realities of combat into a broader perspective. Darling is both the father and son of combat soldiers, and his writing has appeared in outlets like Defense News and the Armed Forces Journal. This program includes a book sale and signing with the author.

2019 | Rep. Sharice Davids
2019-10-27 00:00
The institute is pleased to welcome U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids for the 2019 Elizabeth Dole Women in Leadership Lecture. Rep. Davids serves Kansas’ third legislative district and was sworn into the 116th Congress in January 2019. A graduate of Johnson County Community College, the University of Missouri at Kansas City and Cornell Law School, she serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure and Small Business Committees. She is one of the first two Native American women to serve in Congress, joining Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico. Rep. Davids’ career has focused on economic and community development and included time as a White House Fellow.

The Evolution of TV News
2019-11-13 00:00
A 2018 Pew Research Center survey reminds us that television continues to outpace online, radio and print outlets as the preferred news source for American adults. Once dominated by three networks, the rise of cable news has dramatically altered the landscape of TV journalism and political coverage. Join consultants and lecturers Michael Cascio and Ed Hersh for a discussion of how television news has evolved, challenges facing today’s outlets and what role TV journalists play in our political arena.

General Sir John Monash
2019-11-14 00:00
John Monash was a reserve colonel in the Australian army before World War I, but once the conflict began, he would become a full-time army officer. Promoted to brigadier general, major general and eventually lieutenant general, he commanded the Australian Corps on the Western Front. Monash was one of the first true advocates of combined arms warfare and had a deserved reputation for taking care of his men, going as far as to have hot meals delivered to the front lines in the midst of battle. David Mills examines Monash here, described by British historian A.J.P. Taylor as “the only general of creative originality produced by the First World War.”

Battle for the Marble Palace: The Forging of the Modern Supreme Court
2019-11-19 00:00
Author Michael Bobelian returns to the Dole Institute to explore a forgotten battle of 1968. Against a backdrop of the Vietnam War, riots during the Democratic National Convention and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, Abe Fortas was nominated to be chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The ultimately failed nomination would launch an all-out cultural war between the two major political parties — one that would determine the course of major cases for years to come. This program includes a book sale and signing with the author.

Brigadier General Frank "Pinkie" Dorn
2019-12-05 00:00
From 1942 to 1945, Frank “Pinkie” Dorn, a Chinese linguist and country expert, served in the China-Burma-India theater. Geoff Babb shares the story of Dorn, a colorful and talented officer, writer, mapmaker and artist who had previously served in China as a language student and army attaché. These duties would prepare him for his long service in this critical theater of World War II in the Indo-Pacific, including his time leading the team that trained, advised and equipped 39 Chinese divisions to go on the offensive against Japan in China and Burma.

Dr. Temple Grandin
2019-12-11 00:00
The Dole Institute of Politics will honor advocate for autistic persons and Professor of Animal Science Temple Grandin with the 2019 Dole Leadership Prize.
“Temple Grandin is a trailblazer,” Dole Institute Director Bill Lacy said. “She not only overcame widespread ignorance about autism and helped lessen the stigma around it, she used the challenges she faced to bring an entirely new perspective to how domestic animals are cared for and treated.”
Grandin will receive the 2019 Dole Leadership Prize at the Dole institute of Politics on Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 pm following a question and answer session.
Diagnosed with autism at the age of two, Grandin did not speak until she was four. Despite her childhood doctor’s belief that she was brain-damaged, a common misunderstanding in the 1940s, she went on to earn a degree in psychology from Franklin Pierce College in 1970, a master’s degree in animal science from Arizona State University, and her doctorate in animal science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989. Today she teaches courses on livestock behavior at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare. She is also a tireless advocate for autistic persons. Grandin fights for “neurodiversity,” opposing the idea of a “cure” for autism.

The War of the Fifth Coalition, 1809
2020-01-09 00:00
Convention says that Napoleon’s downfall came as a result of his misadventures in Spain, starting in 1808, and his disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. While both undoubtedly contributed to his ultimate defeat, the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809 was Napoleon’s turning point. It saw his first undisputed battlefield defeat at Aspern-Essling and marked the demonstrable degeneration of both his armies and his own abilities. It ended with the humiliation of his most inveterate enemy, Austria, and the extension of French power into Eastern Europe, which angered Russia. It also witnessed a personal turning point for Napoleon, as he set aside his first wife in favor of a dynastic marriage to a Habsburg princess, Marie-Louise. However, because of his victory in the war and the drama of events in Spain and Russia, these changes are often elided or outright forgotten in the thread of Napoleon’s story. This talk will argue that 1809, more than any other Napoleonic campaign or conflict, was the turning point in his reign.
Dr. Jonathan Abel is an Assistant Professor of Military History at the US Army Command and General Staff College Department of Military History. He received his PhD from the Military History Center at the University of North Texas in 2014, studying late eighteenth-century and Napoleonic France. He is the author of Guibert: Father of Napoleon’s Grande Armée, along with other publications.

The Tet Offensive, 1968: The Turning Point of the Vietnam War
2020-02-05 00:00
With guest speaker Gates Brown.
The Tet Offensive of 1968 was a dramatic turning point for both the U.S. and the North Vietnamese in the Vietnam War. Each had their assumptions shattered in the offensive. The North Vietnamese hoped to prove the validity of their revolutionary ideology. The success of the counterattack of the U.S.-led coalition destroyed the Communists forces but also laid bare the divisive politics of the war in the United States. Although it was a tactical and operational victory for the U.S.-led coalition, it did not translate into an improved strategic position. For the North Vietnamese, it exposed the ineffectiveness of their strategy of a people’s revolution. After the Tet Offensive, the U.S. fought for another five years in South Vietnam while the North Vietnamese continued fighting for another seven years. The offensive was decisive because it forced both sides to confront their false assumptions and each had to attempt to reconcile themselves to a new post-Tet strategic reality.
This program is free and open to the public. No ticket is required.

2020 | Presidential Speeches and Rhetoric
2020-02-06 00:00 - 2020-02-25 00:00
This year’s Presidential Lecture Series, created and developed by award-winning presidential rhetoric scholar Dr. Robert Rowland, focuses on presidential speeches and rhetoric, from the greatest speeches, to the process of speechwriting, to changes in presidential rhetoric in the age of social media. Join us for this compelling journey through the words that defined presidencies.
Robert Rowland’s major teaching and research interests are in rhetorical criticism, argumentation, and the public sphere. Dr. Rowland and his debate colleague were the 1976 National Debate Champions for KU. He is a former director of forensics at KU and at Baylor University. Dr. Rowland received the Louise Byrd Award for Graduate Teaching in May 2000. He also is a recipient of the William T. Kemper Teaching Fellowship and the Bernard Fink Award for outstanding teaching, and is a two-time HOPE Award finalist. He also has received an Outstanding Service Award from the Kansas Bar Association based on his work in Continuing Legal Education on legal advocacy. In November 2006, he was honored by the National Communication Association with the Donald H. Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education. The same organization honored him in 2011 with the Douglas W. Ehninger Rhetorical Scholar Award. He is one of two people in the discipline to be honored with lifetime awards for scholarship and teaching. His co-authored book with David Frank, Shared Land/Conflicting Identity in 2002 was honored in 2003 with the Kohrs-Campbell prize in rhetorical criticism. A recent survey of journals ranked him among the fifty most published scholars in the discipline.
This series is co-sponsored by the University of Kansas Department of Communication Studies, the Department of History, and the Department of Political Science.

Five Great Presidential Speeches
2/6/2020

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
“Ich bin ein Berliner.”
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
What makes a presidential speech great?
Three renowned experts, with decades of scholarship on presidential rhetoric and countless award-winning articles and books published between them, will answer that question in this the first of Presidential Lecture Series at the Dole Institute of Politics. This program will feature a conversation about five great presidential speeches with leading experts on presidential rhetoric: Dr. Mary Stuckey from Penn State, Dr. David Zarefsky from Northwestern, and Dr. Robert C. Rowland from KU. The discussion will focus on what makes a presidential speech “great,” why they chose the works they did, and what great presidential rhetoric tells us about American democracy.
This program is free and open to the public. No ticket is required.
Mary E. Stuckey specializes in political and presidential rhetoric, political communication, and American Indian politics. She is the author, editor, or co-editor of fourteen books and author or coauthor of roughly 80 essays and book chapters. She has received the Michael M. Osborn Teacher/Scholar Award, the Rose B. Johnson Award (with Zoe Hess-Carney), the Roderick P. Hart Outstanding Book Award, the Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award, the inaugural Carl Couch Center, Bruce E. Gronbeck Political Communication Award, and NCA’s Distinguished Scholar Award. She has served as editor of the Southern Communication Journal and the Quarterly Journal of Speech and as book review editor for Rhetoric and Public Affairs. She is Interim Editor of the Rhetoric & Public Affairs. She co-edits Peter Lang’s series with Mitchell McKinney, The Frontiers of Political Communication. Her current book project is on the history of controversial elections.
David H. Zarefsky is an American communication scholar with research specialties in rhetorical history and criticism. He is professor emeritus at Northwestern University. He is a past president of the National Communication Association (U.S.A) and the Rhetoric Society of America. Among his publications are six books and over 70 scholarly articles concerned with American public discourse (both historical and contemporary), argumentation, rhetorical criticism, public speaking, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and the rhetoric of the war on poverty during the Johnson administration. His lectures on argumentation and rhetoric can be heard in a course for The Teaching Company.

The Craft of the Presidential Speechwriter
2/11/2020

Dr. Craig Smith served as a full-time speechwriter for President Gerald Ford, as a consulting writer to George H. W. Bush and as a consultant to CBS News for convention, election, and inaugural coverage. He has also explored presidential speeches as a Professor at Cal State Long Beach. Dr. Smith will engage in a dialogue about speechwriting, presidential and otherwise, sharing his unique knowledge as an award-winning scholar and also a renowned practitioner, who can provide an inside perspective on the role played by the speechwriter, how that role varies with different presidents, and how speechwriting has evolved.
Dr. Craig R. Smith has won the Ehninger Award for contributions to rhetorical theory and the Gronbeck Award for political communication, both from the National Communication Association. He has won that organization’s Robert O’Neil Award three times for scholarly papers on the First Amendment. He has won the Outstanding Professor Award from the National Speakers Association. After completing a Ph.D., Dr. Smith taught at San Diego State University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Alabama Birmingham, where he founded the Communication Studies Department. He also served as a full-time speechwriter for President Gerald Ford, as a consulting writer to George H. W. Bush and as a consultant to CBS News for convention, election, and inaugural coverage. He served as founding president of the Freedom of Expression Foundation in Washington, D.C. from 1983 to 1988. He then became a full professor at California State University, Long Beach until he retired in 2015. He has published 18 books and over 65 scholarly articles.

Comparing and Contrasting Two Powerfully Eloquent Presidents—Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama
2/18/2020

Reagan and Obama. Conventional wisdom would contend that these two presidents had little in common. The actor versus the scholar. The grandfather versus the father. The Republican versus the Democrat.
Presidential rhetoric scholar Dr. Robert C. (Robin) Rowland, of the department of Communication Studies at KU, has written extensively about the rhetoric of both President Ronald Reagan and President Barack Obama. Rowland, who presented the keynote on rhetoric at the Reagan Centennial celebration at USC and the Reagan Library and has won national awards for his research in both rhetoric and argumentation, argues that the rhetoric of Reagan and Obama is more similar than has been recognized. In a dialogue, Rowland will explore the similarities and differences between the rhetoric of Reagan and Obama.

Social Media & Contemporary Presidential Rhetoric
2/25/2020

Few events have more radically reshaped the public sphere than the rise of mass media. From radio to television to social media, the past century fundamentally altered how presidents in the United States communicate with the electorate, and how those leaders were perceived by the people. Dr. Denise Bostdorff of Wooster College has studied presidential rhetoric for more than thirty years and produced some of the most influential books and articles on that topic in that period. In a dialogue, Dr. Bostdorff will discuss key moments in the development of presidential rhetoric over the last several decades, the role of presidential rhetoric in shaping American politics, and the drastic changes in presidential rhetoric associated with the rise of social media and the presidency of Donald Trump. This series is co-sponsored by the University of Kansas Department of Communication Studies, the Department of History, and the Department of Political Science.
Denise M. Bostdorff is professor and chair of Communication Studies at The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. She has published two books—The Presidency and the Rhetoric of Foreign Crisis and Proclaiming the Truman Doctrine: The Cold War Call to Arms, which won the Bruce E. Gronbeck Political Communication Research Award. In addition, she has published essays on presidential rhetoric about race, foreign policy, political campaigns, and war in outlets such as Quarterly Journal of Speech, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and Rhetoric & Public Affairs.

2020 SPRING | Spying in the Cyber Age
2020-02-12 08:00 - 2020-04-22 17:00 | The Dole Institute of Politics, 2350 Petefish Drive, Lawrence, KS, 66045, United States
Dole Fellow Ron Marks
Read more about Dole Fellows >>
The Dole Discussion Groups are made possible be a grant from Newman’s Own

Recruiting in the Cyber World – Q or Bond or Both?
2/12/2020

Ian Fleming’s legendary suave super-spy, James Bond, has imprinted himself on the collective imagination of society as what a true intelligence gathering agent looks and acts like. While this has never really been the case, the reality today is even farther afield from the tuxedo-clad, martini-swilling 007. In the digital age, do modern spies look more like Bond’s geeky, gadget-obsessed quartermaster “Q” than Bond himself? Dole Fellow Ron Marks welcomes former Chief of the Directorate of Digital Innovations Hiring for the CIA Roynda Hartsfield, who will discuss what the CIA and the intelligence community at large is looking for in a 21st century spy.
Another misconception that lingers in the minds of the public is that intelligence operatives are always agents of a government, or “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” In reality, the intelligence industrial complex has ballooned from $27 billion annually in 2001 to $86 billion today. Hartsfield and Marks will explore what this shift in the terrain means, the differences and similarities between what the public and private sectors look for when hiring new operatives, and what types of individuals should apply.
This discussion group is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to get world-class advice and information about pursuing a career in this rapidly growing industry. It is also a chance to dispel the fictions around what spies in our age look like, and perhaps for attendees to see themselves in a field they had previously relegated to “spies” like James Bond.
Roynda “Roy” Hartsfield is a recently retired senior Central intelligence Agency officer and formerly Chief of the Directorate of Digital Innovations Hiring. Roy has spent most of her career overseas focused on operational issues around the globe. She currently heads Talent Acquisition for Excel Technologies and is President of PTG Consulting focused on bringing more diversity and inclusion to STEM.

Speaking Truth to Power in the Cyber Age?
2/19/2020

E.C.H.E.L.O.N.
P.R.I.S.M.
M.Y.S.T.I.C.
These infamous mass surveillance programs not only dominated many a conspiracy-theorist blog, but also began shifting public understanding of intelligence gathering in the age of the internet. As the role of computers rose, the role of human beings seemed to diminish. The practical truth lies somewhere between the Rosenbergs and Facebook. Dole Fellow Ron Marks welcomes the Honorable Randall M. Fort, former assistant secretary of state for Intelligence and Research, as they delve into this new world where the purposes of computers and humans in intelligence gathering have shifted in unprecedented ways.
Fort is an expert on the emergence of artificial intelligence and other technological tools used in data mining and processing. In this discussion, he and Marks will explore how these emergent technologies change the intelligence game, but also how integral humans remain to the overall process. To that point, they will discuss how to utilize personal networks to collect information without competing with senior executives. Fort and Marks will serve as guides through a rapidly shifting landscape in which the technologically adept person may have the career advantage.
Randall M. Fort is director of Corporate Programs Security for Raytheon. He joined the Engineering, Technology and Mission Assurance leadership team in July 2009. Prior to Raytheon, Fort was employed at the U.S. State Department as the assistant secretary of state for Intelligence and Research, from 2006 to 2009. He managed the production and dissemination of all-source intelligence analysis for the secretary of state and other senior policymakers. Fort headed the department’s Cyber Policy Group and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research— a member of the U.S. intelligence community.
Before his U.S. State Department appointment, Fort was director of Global Security for Goldman Sachs, from 1996 to 2006, where he was responsible for all aspects of physical security risk management, including
investigations, travel safety, executive protection, risk analysis, access control, perimeter protection and security technology. He also served as chief of staff to the president and co-chief operating officer of the firm. From 1993 to 1996, Fort was director of Special Projects at TRW, Inc. for two of the corporation’s Space and Defense operating groups.
He served as the deputy assistant secretary for Functional Analysis and Research in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State from 1989 to 1993. He was also the special assistant to the secretary for National Security and director of the Office of Intelligence Support at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 1987 to 1989. Prior to moving to Treasury, he served as a professional staff member, first as assistant director and subsequently as deputy executive director, of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board at the White House from 1982 to 1987.

The Lawless Cyber Frontier
2/26/2020

Nineteenth century southwestern America lit up movie and television screens and imaginations from the earliest talkies to the latest blockbusters. The lawless West and the rugged cowboy protecting the innocent are archetypes embedded in the American psyche. Westerns have, with a few exceptions, grossly romanticized a terrifying time for the men, women, and children pushing the frontier ever westward with little or no protection. The frontier a century and a half later has no oceans to arrest its forward progress, and for many, the anarchy of cyberspace has wrought havoc on their lives with few white-hat wearing lawmen to rescue them.
Dole Fellow Ron Marks welcomes Stephanie Pell, Assistant Professor and Cyber Ethics Fellow at West Point’s Army Cyber Institute, to a discussion of bringing the rule of law to a lawless frontier. Pell stands out as an expert on the existing laws of the internet, and a leader in creating new ones, particularly at the international level. As countries and companies weaponize information on a global scale, Pell and Marks will provide vital insight into how we survive the new Wild Wild West.
Stephanie Pell is an Assistant Professor and Cyber Ethics Fellow at West Point’s Army Cyber Institute (ACI), with a joint appointment to the Department of English and Philosophy. Pell is also an Affiliate Scholar at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School.
She writes about cybersecurity, privacy, surveillance, cyber ethics, and national security law and policy. Pell’s work has been published in several law journals, including the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, the Berkeley Technology Law Journal, the Yale Journal of Law and Technology, and the Connecticut Law Review, as well as in the popular magazine Wired. Prior to joining West Point’s faculty, Pell served as Majority Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, serving as lead counsel on Electronic Communications Privacy Act reform and PATRIOT Act reauthorization during the 111th Congress. Pell was also a federal prosecutor for over fourteen years, working as a Senior Counsel to the U. S. Deputy Attorney General, as a Counsel to the U.S. Assistant Attorney General of the National Security Division, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. She was a lead prosecutor in U.S. v. Jose Padilla, in which in which American citizen was detained as an enemy combatant prior to criminal indictment, trial, and conviction on various terrorism charges, for which she received the U.S. Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award, and
in U.S. v. Conor Claxton, a court case involving IRA operatives who purchased weapons in South Florida and smuggled them into Belfast, Northern Ireland during peace process negotiations.

In Home, at Home and Abroad – How Intelligence Is Made and Used in the 21st Century
4/1/2020

The word “spy” almost drips with connotations. From James Bond to Spy vs. Spy to Black Widow, pop culture has no end of colorful characters who claim spying as their profession. One thing they all have in common is they work for a government. In the post-9/11 world, this changed, as the intelligence industry more than tripled in value. Spies much more frequently work for private firms. The burgeoning industry saw public and private organizations casting much larger nets and scooping up oceans of data. The ability to sort through so much information remains a key struggle.
Dole Fellow Ron Marks welcomes Dr. Mark M. Lowenthal, former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis & Production and former Vice Chairman for Evaluation on the National Intelligence Council, to the Dole Institute for a fascinating study of how intelligence is gathered, made, and used in an era where information flows more like Niagara Falls than a faucet. Lowenthal has run organizations both in government and the private sector, bringing a balanced perspective to a field that governments no longer monopolize. Join Marks and Lowenthal as they examine an industry that has radically transformed in the last 20 years and forever changed the definition of a “spy.”
Dr. Mark M. Lowenthal, an internationally recognized expert on intelligence, is President Emeritus of the Intelligence & Security Academy, LLC, a national security education, training and consulting company. From 2002-2005, Dr. Lowenthal served as the Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis & Production and also as the Vice Chairman for Evaluation on the National Intelligence Council. Prior to these duties, he served as Counselor to the Director of Central Intelligence. Dr. Lowenthal was the Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 104th Congress (1995-97), where he directed the committee’s study on the future of the Intelligence Community, IC21: The Intelligence Community in the 21st Century. He also served in the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), as both an office director and a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and has been the Senior Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy at the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Dr. Lowenthal has written extensively on intelligence and national security issues, including ten books and over 100 articles or studies. He published The Future of Intelligence. His textbook, Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, has become the standard college and graduate school textbook on the subject. Dr. Lowenthal is a frequent public commentator on intelligence issues.
He is on the adjunct faculty of the Johns Hopkins University and Sciences Po in Paris (Institut d’études politiques de Paris), and is a Visiting Professor at the Norway Defence Intelligence School (NORDIS). He was an adjunct for 14 years at Columbia University. He is the Executive Director of the International Association for Intelligence Education and a Chairman Emeritus of the Intelligence Committee for AFCEA. He is currently a member of the Intelligence Community Studies Board and the FBI Intelligence Analysts Association.
In 2005, Dr. Lowenthal was awarded the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Intelligence Community’s highest award. In 2006, he received AFCEA’s Distinguished Service Award for service to the Intelligence Community. In 1988, Dr. Lowenthal was the Grand Champion on “Jeopardy!,” the television quiz show.

Ghost in the Machine: Being a Reporter in the Age of Total Information
4/8/2020

On June 1, 1980, the Cable News Network launched, creating the first 24-hour news channel. It marked the first major departure from the decades-old model of television news broadcast twice a day. Then the internet swept the world, splintering not only televised news but print and radio as well. In the span of only three decades, the entire landscape of journalism changed. For most, we only see the external changes, the increasing need to curate our sources of information from an ever-increasing number of choices, but what is it like for the people who work in the field?
Dole Fellow Ron Marks welcomes his guest Jenna McLaughlin, national security and investigations reporter for Yahoo News. McLaughlin will share her experiences in working in a world-class non-traditional news agency, how she deals with the demands to constantly gather information for the 24/7 news cycle. She will also discuss how she balances the need to get the information out fast and the need to get it right.
Jenna McLaughlin is a national security and investigations reporter for Yahoo News, where she focuses on the intelligence community, foreign policy, and other issues. McLaughlin previously covered intelligence and national security for CNN, Foreign Policy Magazine, The Intercept, and Mother Jones Magazine, following her graduation from Johns Hopkins University in 2014.

The Death of 20th Century Power Structures and Adapting to the Birth of the 21st Century World
4/15/2020

Few inventions so radically re-shaped the world as the internet did in the 1990s. The pillars of society, economics, information, communication and government shook, cracked, and some even crumbled, perhaps none so dramatically as the political structures that supported and ordered the world. As of yet, no new framework has emerged to replace the old. Even the foundational idea of the nation-state as a political concept and the basis for the modern definition of a country threatens to buckle under the forces of change.
Dole Fellow Ron Marks welcomes his guest Dr. Greg Treverton, former chairman of the National Intelligence Council, to examine how future leaders can cope with these tectonic changes and how to build a new framework. Treverton, the most senior intelligence analyst for President Barack Obama, will provide deep insight into what that structure might look like, as well as an understanding of how the rising power of private players, such as Facebook, challenge the power of nations.
This discussion group is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear the foremost experts in this field reflect on what brought us to our present state, how to get to the next evolution, and what your role in all of this might be.
Gregory F. Treverton is Professor of the Practice of International Relations and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California. He served as chairman of the National Intelligence Council from September 2014 to January 2017. Earlier, he directed the RAND Corporation’s Center for Global Risk and Security, and before that, its Intelligence Policy Center and its International Security and Defense Policy Center. He also was associate dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School.
He has served in government for the first Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, handling Europe for the National Security Council and as vice chair of the National Intelligence Council, overseeing the writing of America’s National Intelligence Estimates. In addition to RAND, he has taught at Harvard and Columbia universities, has been a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and also deputy director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
His latest books are Dividing Divided States and Beyond the Great Divide: Relevance and Uncertainty in National Intelligence and Science for Policy (with Wilhelm Agrell).

Everyone’s an Editor: Finding “Truth” in Cyber News
4/22/2020

Cronkite. Murrow. Brinkley.
In the not so distant past, these men dominated the American news landscape. With two channels (eventually three) to get your televised news, you watched at least one of them. They were the Gatekeepers. The Arbiters of Truth. The advent of cable news, and then internet, brought an end to the Gatekeepers. Many lauded a new era of “democratized” journalism. What emerged had the best and the worst of the “news,” and suddenly, no one was there to sort through it all to find the truth.
The internet has made everyone an editor. Dole Fellow Ron Marks welcomes his guest Shelby Coffey, former editor of the L.A. Times and US News and World Report, to discuss how dramatically the world of journalism has changed in only 40 years. Information is faster than ever and there is far more of it. In this discussion group, Marks and Coffey will teach how to cut through the noise and find the truth.
Shelby Coffey III began his journalistic career as a reporter at The Washington Post, later becoming deputy managing editor. He is the former editor of the Los Angeles Times and US News and World Report. He was President of CNN Financial News and executive Vice President of ABC News. He was named editor of the Year by the National Press Foundation in 1995. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International advisory council of APCO Worldwide and the board of the Newseum in Washington DC.
