Hillsdale’s next installment of the Center for Constructive Alternatives will cover topics in American intelligence from the Revolutionary War to the present, including the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, the creation of the CIA, and espionage during the Cold War.
The event will run from Oct. 1 to 4 with speeches from writers Patrick K. O’Donnell, Edward Jay Epstein, Sam Faddis, and Alexander Rose. Other speakers include former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez and Frederick H. Fleitz of the America First Policy Institute.
“It’s a very strong panel,” Assistant Professor of History Jason Gehrke said.
Director of External Affairs Matthew Bell said the CCA will help students understand the threats intelligence agencies pose to liberty, and how to confront them.
“Civil liberty depends upon the consent of the governed and the rule of law, principles which are threatened by an ever-expanding and increasingly powerful intelligence state,” Bell said.
Gehrke said he has high expectations for Mendez’s lecture, called “The Art of Disguise.”
“He lived in Moscow during the Cold War,” Gehrke said. “I am looking forward to that one.”
Lectures will take place at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Oct. 1 to 3, with a faculty roundtable Oct. 4 at 4 p.m.
The roundtable will give four Hillsdale history professors the opportunity to provide additional context and commentary regarding the CCA topic.
The roundtable will include history professors Mark Kalthoff, Bradley Birzer, Jason Gehrke, and Mark Moyar.
Gehrke said the lecture series will give the audience the historical perspective necessary to understand how U.S. intelligence works today.
“Intelligence has developed historically in response to different military contexts,” Gehrke said. “It’s not an activity that can be understood apart from its history.”
Gehrke said the CCA will cover how America came to play a role at the global scale throughout its history from the perspective of its use of intelligence.
“The intelligence community is rooted in the American experience as America has become a player in world affairs,” Gehrke said.
