University News

Boeckelman to Deliver Sept. 5-6 John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture

August 20, 2018

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MACOMB, IL – The 16th annual John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture, Wednesday-Thursday, Sept. 5-6, will be delivered by WIU Department of Political Science Chair Keith Boeckelman.

"Can the Liberal Arts Save Democracy?" will be begin at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5 on the WIU Quad Cities Campus, in rooms 103/104 of Riverfront Hall. Boeckelman will then give the lecture on the Macomb campus at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6 in the University Union Grand Ballroom. Both lectures are open free to the public.

Boeckelman came to WIU as an assistant professor in 1998, and was named department chair in 2012.

He co-authored the book "Barack Obama: The New Face of American Politics," as well as numerous articles and book chapters. He also won the 2007 WIU College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Award and has served as the campus co-chair for the WIU American Democracy Project, adviser for the WIU Student Government Association and is on the board of advisers for Project Vote Smart's "Key Votes" program.

Boeckelman received his bachelor's degrees in economics and political science from Drake University in Iowa and both his master's and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana (IL).

The John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture is named for WIU Professor Emeritus and Historian John Hallwas, who delivered the inaugural College of Arts and Sciences lecture in September 2003. The Liberal Arts Lecture is an outgrowth of WIU's College of Arts and Sciences liberal arts discussion group, formed in 2002, as a way to express commitment to a liberal arts education at Western and share approaches for maintaining a high quality educational program.

The College of Arts and Sciences announced the renaming of the lecture to the John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture in September 2004, at Hallwas' retirement reception, where he was honored for 34 years of service to Western Illinois as an English professor and archivist, as well as a public scholar, regional historian and community activist.

For more information about the Hallwas Lecture, visit wiu.edu/cas/about/hallwas_lecture_series.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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