Events

Previous Events

Constitution Day 2023

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An Evening with Nathaniel Philbrick

In 2000, Philbrick published the New York Times bestseller, In the Heart of the Sea, which won the National Book Award for nonfiction. The book was the basis of the 2015 movie of the same title directed by Ron Howard. The book also inspired a 2001 Dateline special on NBC as well as the 2010 PBS American Experience film “Into the Deep” by Ric Burns. In 2019, the National Endowment for the Arts added the book to their ever-growing library of 32 titles in the NEA Big Read program under which libraries and non-profits can apply for grants in order to develop in-depth, community-wide programming around a common book.

The New York Times bestseller Mayflower was a finalist for both the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in History and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, won the Massachusetts Book Award for nonfiction, and was named one the ten “Best Books of 2006” by the New York Times Book Review. In June 2020, Penguin will publish an updated trade paperback edition with a new Preface to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s arrival in Plymouth Harbor.

In 2010, he published the New York Times bestseller The Last Stand, which was named a New York Times Notable book, a 2010 Montana Book Award Honor Book, and a 2011 ALA Notable Book. Philbrick was an on-camera consultant to the 2-hour PBS American Experience film “Custer’s Last Stand” by Stephen Ives.

In 2013 Philbrick published the New York Times bestseller, Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution, which was awarded both the 2013 New England Book Award for Non-Fiction and the 2014 New England Society Book Award as well as the 2014 Distinguished Book Award of the Society of Colonial Wars.

In 2016, he published the New York Times bestseller Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution, winner of the 2017 George Washington Book prize, the James P. Hanlan Book Award, and the Harry M. Ward Book Prize.

Philbrick’s writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe. He has appeared on the Today Show, the Morning Show, Dateline, PBS’s American Experience, C-SPAN, and NPR. He and his wife Melissa still live on Nantucket.

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The Leverett Lecture – “43 and 1: A Last Lecture”

Dr. J. Patrick Leverett served as a faculty member in The Citadel’s Department of Psychology for 10 years. In July of 2005, Pat died tragically in a plane crash in Alaska. Upon his death, this annual event was created in his honor, and to commemorate his many contributions to The Citadel. Kind, compassionate, and dedicated, Pat Leverett was a skilled clinician, a gifted teacher, a beloved colleague, and a devoted mentor. Dr. Leverett was respected for the professionalism he brought to his work, which set a standard for his peers and served as a model for his students. Each year The Department of Psychology invites a guest speaker to give the Leverett Lecture and opens the event to all faculty, staff, students, and the community.

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The War in Ukraine: Lessons Learned and the Future Political Settlement

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West Chair Public Lecture: Is Arms Control Still Relevant?

COL Gilbert had a lengthy career on active duty in the U.S. Air Force, including service on strategic missile launch crews, 15 years working in the intelligence world, and several years directly involved in on-site inspections in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. He also prepared U.S. facilities and organizations to manage inspections under an international chemical weapons treaty. As part of this work, he conducted over 35 inspections of nuclear and missile facilities in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, and Lithuania and served as an escort and “minder” for Soviet/Russian inspectors at locations in Germany and the U.S. In addition to his inspection operations experience, he served as a member of U.S. Government interagency groups dealing with arms control issues, including as a member of U.S. delegations in Geneva, The Hague, and Moscow.

Since retirement from active duty, he has continued to serve as a consultant, advisor, and trainer for arms control inspectors and analysts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (including IAEA’s North Korea and Iran Teams) and analytical personnel from various government and academic institutions. He has also advised State Department, Department of Commerce, Joint Staff, Secretary of Defense, Air Force, and foreign government personnel on managing inspections at U.S. and foreign facilities. Most recently, he served as a key participant in arms control exercises at an Air Force base in the U.S. and at a contractor facility producing (among other things) equipment for export to Ukraine. He is scheduled to support an inspection exercise at a U.S. facility in Europe later this year.

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West Chair Lecture: “The United States, the Gulf, and the World Energy Market”

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Annual International Association for Intelligence Education Conference

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Black Snow: Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo, and the Road to the Atom Bomb
Lecture and Book Signing

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