Innovations in Education Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency Hofstra University’s Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency is a unique source of insight and scholarship about the politics, policies and personalities behind the nation’s highest office. Launched in 2006 through a $3.5 million gift from Hofstra alumnus and trustee Peter S. Kalikow, the center’s mission is to pursue rigorous academic examination of the presidency while promoting a deeper public understanding of the impact of American presidents on the lives of average citizens.
The center is dedicated to promoting scholarly and public discussion of the American presidents and their affect on the American public.
The center played an integral role in the support and coordination of Hofstra’s hosting of the third and final 2008 presidential debate. Hofstra’s hosting of the debate showcased the University’s distinction as the premiere resource for presidential scholarship, through Educate ’08 and Define ’09, its continuing series of lectures and programs that helped to educate students and members of the community, and foster civic engagement on campus. “The Kalikow Center is dedicated to the teaching, researching and understanding of the American presidency through conferences, lectures and special events with presidential and political experts,” said Dr. Meena Bose, director of the center, who also holds the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies. “The center seeks to educate scholars and the public on the roles and responsibilities of American presidents.” This year, the Kalikow Center announced the appointment of two senior presidential fellows whose work has shaped and transformed the American political landscape: Republican campaign consultant and strategist Ed Rollins,
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and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. With the addition of these two fellows, the center hopes to reach students through a combination of class lectures and informal group discussions that combine scholarly research of the presidency with real-world experience. “When we were looking for these fellows, we searched for people who could offer reformed political commentary across the political spectrum from seasoned members who had been practitioners,” Dr. Bose said.
The appointments continue to expand a long history of presidential scholarship at Hofstra University that began in 1982, with a Hofstra Cultural Center conference examining the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. To date, the Hofstra Cultural Center has brought together practitioners, scholars, journalists and public officials to examine the policies and issues of 11 presidential administrations. Four former presidents — Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton — have attended the conferences on their presidencies. At the most recent presidential conference, in 2005, President Clinton delivered a keynote address that included a spirited defense of his administration. “The office of the president is the centerpiece of our democracy, and studying how these 44 men have functioned in this office is of vital importance to all of us,” Mr. Kalikow said of his decision to fund the center. “In times of peril and in times of peace, the office of the president holds the country together.”
Innovations in Education