September 2025

 

Greetings,


Welcome back! We hope you had a fun-filled Summer break and are looking forward to an exciting Fall semester. The Center will kick off the school year with the annual Constitution Day Lecture featuring Jamelle Bouie.


In this newsletter, you will find information regarding some upcoming events. For more information on our programs and the Center for the Study of Democracy, please visit our website or send us an email.


I also encourage you to follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.


Warm regards!

Center for the Study of Democracy

 
 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sept. 2

Classes Start


Sept. 16

Constitution Day

with Jamelle Bouie

Nancy R. & Norton T. Dodge Performing Arts Center

Concert Hall

7:00-8:15 pm


Sept. 30-Dec.12

Fall 2025 Exhibit in the

Boyden Gallery

 Sharing our common humanity from common ground (the first 38),

featuring artist Nicole Stewart

The Boyden Gallery is open

Tu.-Fri. 11 am-6 pm and

Sat. 11 am-4 pm

Jamelle Bouie to Deliver the Constitution Day Lecture


Jamelle Bouie is a columnist for the New York Times; former CBS News political analyst and chief political correspondent for Slate Magazine. Jamelle Bouie covers U.S. politics, public policy, elections and race.

Bouie’s political instincts provide audiences with unique insight on the past, present and future of our national politics, policy and the state of race relations. As he did while writing for Slate and the Daily Beast, Jamelle shares eye-opening perspectives on the issues at play in America today. 


Bouie has appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation. His writings have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, TIME and The New Yorker. Bouie uses his unique perspective to take audiences to the front lines of the nation’s most significant news events, from civil unrest to political partisanship. He has emerged as a leading voice on the national scene, being named to Forbes' “30 Under 30 in Media” in 2015. 


Bouie stimulates provocative, much-needed thinking on critical national affairs issues. He helps audiences analyze current events through the lens of human history and in the age of social media. He deftly illustrates how the past reveals itself in the present, and how policy-makers, citizen activists and cultural influencers can seize the power of information to make a difference.


In 2021, Bouie received the Hillman Prize for Opinion & Analysis Journalism. In 2022, he was inducted into the Society of American Historians, and in 2024, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Find out more information here.

 

CSD Interim Director Named

We are excited to welcome 
Dr. Argelia González Hurtado

Dr. Argelia González Hurtado will join the Center for the Study of Democracy for the Fall semester 2025 as the Interim Director. Dr. González Hurtado currently serves on the CSD Advisory Board and has been an active partner in bringing compelling and impactful speakers to campus as part of the Amɘricas Dialogue Series.


Dr. González Hurtado is an associate professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Spanish & Latin American Studies from the University of Alberta in Canada. Her academic interests include Mexico’s cultural production, Latin American Cinema, Indigenous Media, and Visual and Popular Culture. Her primary research focuses on the cinematic depiction of indigenous communities during different periods of Latin American history. 


Together with Dr. Katy Arnett, Dr. González Hurtado will keep the important work of the CSD going until a permanent director is named.

 

Descendants Portrait Project

Opening at Boyden Gallery 
on September 30

The Dwight Frederic Boyden Gallery at SMCM is pleased to host the exhibit, Sharing our common humanity from common ground (the first 38), during the fall semester. The exhibit will feature artist Nicole Stewart's initial group of completed portraits of descendants of the former Sotterley plantation (known now as Historic Sotterley) located in Hollywood, Maryland. The show will open on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, and will remain open until December 12, 2025. The opening reception is 4:45-6 pm on Tuesday, September 30, and will feature a discussion panel of Sotterley descendants as well as a brief artist talk.


You can follow Nicole Stewart on Facebook and Instagram.


The Boyden Gallery is located on the 2nd floor of Montgomery Hall and is open Tuesday-Friday

11 am-6 pm and Saturdays

11 am-4 pm

 

Stay Tuned for More Exciting CSD Events


Other Fall events are in the process of being finalized. Check our website often for more information on upcoming speakers and important lecture topics!

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