Ashbrook Colloquium to Address “What Will Happen in the Elections of 2012?”

9/4/12 ASHLAND, Ohio – Three professors in the History and Political Science Department at Ashland University – Dr. Peter Schramm, Dr. Michael Schwarz and Dr. Jeff Sikkenga – will hold a panel discussion Oct. 12 to discuss “What will happen in the elections of 2012?”

There is no charge to attend this Ashbrook Center colloquium, which will be held at 3 p.m. in the Ashbrook Center. The Ashbrook Center is located on the top floor of the library on the Ashland University campus. For more information, contact Lisa Ormiston at (419) 289-5429 or lormiston@ashbrook.org.

The panel discussion will center on the elections of 2012, which promise to be both interesting and consequential. Will the 2010 tidal wave against the Democrats continue or will the Democrats, under President Obama’s leadership, be able to hold the presidency, the Senate and take back the House? Will Mitt Romney be able to run an effective, principled and persuasive campaign? The distinguished panel, chaired by Schramm, will consider all this and more in an interesting conversation.

Schramm is the executive director of the Ashbrook Center, a professor of political science, and also chairman of the Master in American History and Government program at Ashland University. He was awarded the Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship by the Heritage Foundation, and the Outstanding American by Choice Award by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services. He also wrote the Introduction to Lord Charnwood’s “Abraham Lincoln: A Biography.”

Schwarz is assistant professor of history and fellow of the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University. He has published essays on founding-era politics and foreign relations, including articles on Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton in the Journal of the Early Republic and the Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Madison and Monroe. A forthcoming essay, “The Origins of Jeffersonian Nationalism,” will appear in the Journal of Southern History. He also has contributed op-ed pieces to the Columbus Dispatch. Dr. Schwarz teaches regularly in the MAHG summer and online programs and recently was named Ashland University’s outstanding male faculty member of the year for 2011-12.

Sikkenga is an associate professor of political science at Ashland University, adjunct fellow of the John M. Ashbrook Center, and senior fellow in the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy at the University of Virginia. He has taught courses and published articles in American politics, the U.S. Constitution, and political thought. He has written editorials for newspapers like USA Today and been a political commentator for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and NBC-29, the Columbus, Ohio NBC affiliate.

Ashland University, ranked in the top 200 colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report’s National Universities category for 2012, is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.