Colloquy

Before his death at age 92, the Brown University Professor Gordon Wood, PhD ’64, devoted his long career to making sure we remember the radicalism of the American Revolution. Often referred to as the “dean” of historians of the 18th-century United States, Wood argued that the country represented not only the most liberal and democratic regime in human history, but also a fundamental transformation of society and culture, one that continues to shape popular movements for freedom throughout the world. As the US approached its 250th anniversary, he spoke with Harvard Griffin GSAS about the creation of the American republic in one of the last interviews of his life.

Here in eastern Massachusetts, you can't take more than a few steps without tripping over a marker or a monument to the American Revolution. Middle school students take field trips to where it all happened: the Boston Massacre, Lexington and Concord, and Bunker Hill. Teachers present the war as the struggle of humble farmers and merchants to free themselves from the clutches of the British Empire. 

The University of California Berkeley historian Brian DeLay, PhD ’04, author of the forthcoming book, Aim at Empire: American Revolutions, Arms Trading, and the Birth of US Empire, 1763–1815, says that the great paradox of the Revolution was that the Patriots were fighting not only for their independence, but also for an empire of their own—one that rolled through the lands of indigenous peoples west of the boundary set by the British at the end of the Seven Years War in 1763. Moreover, DeLay says the Revolution was one of many that spread across the Americas over a 50-year period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The common thread throughout these conflicts—and the determinant of success and failure—was often access to guns and ammunition.

Across the country, judges and justices are making decisions that reach back, sometimes centuries, to define what the Constitution means today. Whether it's gun rights, abortion, or voting laws, the Supreme Court increasingly relies on what it calls history and tradition to interpret the nation's founding documents. But what history, exactly? How reliable is it as a guide for a democracy in the 21st century? And should five justices—the least required for a majority decision—have the power to strike down laws passed by hundreds of legislators, elected by millions of citizens? Explore these questions and what they reveal about the court, originalism, and the future of American democracy with Nikolas Bowie, PhD ’18, the Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (HLS), a historian of democracy, and a thought leader on how power really works in our constitutional system. His new book with his fellow author Daphna Renan, also an HLS professor, is called Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People.

Ranjay Gulati, PhD ’93, an expert on leadership strategy and organizational growth, has thought a lot about courage. It is not fearlessness, writes the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School in his new book, How to Be Bold, but the ability to make sense of situations in helpful ways and also see ourselves as strong, capable people who can control our destinies. Most of all, he says that courage is a learned behavior, and he is here to put us on the path to developing a more courageous mindset.

“Don’t.” That’s the first of Roger Rosenblatt’s More Rules for Aging, and the underpinning of many of the new book's 114 others. Don’t try to catch that 20-something jogger who just left you in the dust on your morning walk. Don’t criticize. Don’t worry about awards or accolades—or, for that matter, regrets. And don’t retreat, especially to Vermont.

Embedded in these wry and often funny maxims is genuine, hard-won wisdom gathered from a life now in its ninth decade of reading, teaching, and perhaps above all, writing. Rosenblatt is here to share some of it with us today.

Roger Rosenblatt is a New York Times guest essayist whose work has been published in 15 languages, the author of five New York Times Notable Books and three best sellers. He has received two George Polk Awards for journalism, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Emmy, and a Peabody. He held the Briggs-Copeland appointment in the teaching of writing at Harvard, has received seven honorary doctorates, the Kenyon Review Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement, and a Fulbright to Ireland, where he played on the Irish international basketball team. He received his PhD in English and American literature and language from Harvard Griffin GSAS in 1968.