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On Sept. 26 and 27 in Washington, D.C., the Meridian International Center in association with the Embassy of France will present “A Symposium on Le Marquis de Lafayette and the Spirit of Revolution.” Authors Lloyd Kramer and Sylvia Neely, who are both participating in Lafayette’s celebration of the Marquis de Lafayette’s 250th birthday, will serve as panelists.
The College’s yearlong celebration during 2007-08 is in recognition of the life and legacy of the man for whom it is named. Major events include the Lives of Liberty lecture series; a historical exhibit at the Williams Center for the Arts, entitled A Son and his Adoptive Father: The Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington; and a birthday party, which was Sept. 6.
The symposium will feature five panel discussions. On Sept. 26 at 1 p.m., Kramer will participate in the discussion “Le Marquis de Lafayette and French-American Relations in the 18th Century.” At 3:15 p.m., Neely will participate in the discussion “Ideas of Freedom and Liberty: The Philosophies of the French Enlightenment.”
Panel discussions on Sept. 27 will last from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will cover the topics “Hard vs. Soft: A Comparison of the French and American Revolutions and Lessons for Today,” “Wither the Republic? Are We Still the Children of the Revolution,” and “21st Century Challenges: The Future of the World’s Oldest Alliance.”
The symposium is free of charge and will be open to the public; however, guests must pre-register by contacting Siobhan Tiernan at (202) 292-5548.
Kramer gave the John L. Hatfield ’67 Lecture on Sept. 6 in the Williams Center for the Arts. His lecture topic was “Lafayette’s Historical Legacy: Politics, Culture, and the Modern World.”
On Nov. 7 in Skillman Library, Neely, associate professor of history at Penn State University, will present a lecture, entitled “Lafayette and the Fall of the French Monarchy, 1792.”