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The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy begins its fifth year with a new director and a new direction in its mission to promote interdisciplinary reflection on constitutional government in the United States and throughout the world.
During the summer, Associate Professor of Law Vlad Perju succeeded Associate Professor of Political Science Ken Kersch, the center’s director since its establishment in 2008 through a donation by Charles Clough ’64 and Gloria Clough CGSON ’96. In addition to sponsoring scholarly lectures and other events, the center provides support for research, and offers programs and resources.
The center kicks off its fall schedule next Wednesday, Sept. 12, with the lecture “Law, Culture and Legacies of Slavery,” presented by Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard University historian Annette Gordon-Reed. Other Clough Center events this semester will include a panel discussion on Global Environmental Constitutionalism (Sept. 26), a conference titled “The 2012 Election in Comparative and Historical Perspective” (Oct. 19-20) and a talk by renowned political scientist Francis Fukuyama (Oct. 29).
“It’s enormously exciting to be starting my first year as director of the Clough Center,” said Perju, who joined the BC Law faculty in 2007. “Much of the intellectual life at BC happens around interdisciplinary centers, and the Clough Center has been a wonderful addition in that regard. I would not have taken this job if I did not believe the Clough Center has the potential to be one of the most important centers in the world for the study of constitutional democracy.”
Accordingly, Perju sees the center moving in a “more international, comparative direction” as it moves further into its first decade.
"Although there will still be a focus on the US, you’ll see attention being paid to political and social developments in, for example, China, Latin America and Europe,” explained Perju. “BC has enough expertise to make this kind of exploration possible.”
For more on the Clough Center and its events, see http://www.bc.edu/cloughcenter.