15 March 2024 Is There a Conservative Tradition in America?

Major conservative thinker Patrick Deneen to discuss American conservatism and his “post-liberal” vision of the country’s political future.

Since the 2018 publication of his bestselling book Why Liberalism Failed, Patrick J. Deneen “has risen to prominence as a major intellectual on the New Right,” as a 2023 profile in Politico notes.

Deneen — a professor at Notre Dame University and influential author shaping contemporary conservative political thought — will join the President’s Forum Series for a discussion hosted in collaboration with the Department of Politics.

On Thursday, April 4, Deneen will deliver a lecture, “Is There a Conservative Tradition in America?” beginning at 7 p.m. in Froelich Hall of the Gearan Center for the Performing Arts.

Deneen is the author of Regime Change: Towards a Post-liberal Future and the widely debated Why Liberalism Failed, praised by President Barack Obama for offering “cogent insights into the loss of meaning and community that many in the West feel, issues that liberal democracies ignore at their own peril.” His other books include Conserving America? Thoughts on Present DiscontentsDemocratic Faith and The Odyssey of Political Theory.

Deneen holds a B.A. in English literature and a Ph.D. in political science from Rutgers University. From 1995 to 1997, he served as speechwriter and special advisor to the director of the United States Information Agency. He taught at Princeton University and Georgetown University before joining the faculty of Notre Dame in 2012.

Established in 2000 by President Mark D. Gearan, the President's Forum Series brings a variety of speakers to campus to share their knowledge and ideas with students, faculty and staff, as well as with interested community members.