Lander Community Lecture Series Opens with Discussion of Ideas that Shaped Independence

A discussion on the Declaration of Independence launched the annual Lander University Community Lecture Series by covering a wide range of topics related to the historic document.

Dr. Ryan Floyd, chair of Lander’s Department of History and Philosophy, joined Dr. Ashley Woodiwiss, chair of the Department of Government, Criminology and Sociology, to explore “What Makes America Great? Celebrating the Declaration of Independence.”

The talk, which examined the Declaration from multiple perspectives, looked at the events that led to the colonists’ revolt, the grievances against Great Britain’s King George III that fueled the movement for independence and the thinkers who influenced the document’s ideals, including John Calvin, Algernon Sidney and Plutarch.

The discussion also considered the enduring and evolving meaning of the Declaration’s assertion that “all men are created equal.” Although women, enslaved people and others were denied many of the rights its words seemed to promise, the Declaration has remained relevant across generations as Americans have continued to expand and redefine the nation’s understanding of equality and liberty.

The second lecture in the series will be “Digital Artifacts and Evidence Recovery: What Your Computer Never Forgets,” scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22. The guest speaker will be Dr. Farha Ali, a professor of computer information systems at Lander and a certified ethical hacker.