GROVE CITY, Pa. – Is America still exceptional? Or has this nation simply become ordinary, just one of many global competitors? These questions will be explored at a two-day conference hosted by The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College April 7-8 on the Grove City College campus. Registration is required.

The conference, “America: Still the Last Best Hope?” examines the significance of American Exceptionalism, and is headlined by a number of presentations, including a debate between Dinesh D’Souza, president of The King’s College in New York City, and Jim Wallis, president and CEO of Sojourners. The annual event sponsored by The Center for Vision & Values, the campus think tank, features numerous scholars and commentators.

D’Souza, is author of many books including his latest bestseller “The Roots of Obama’s Rage.” A former policy analyst in the Reagan White House, D’Souza also served as John M. Olin Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Wallis is a bestselling author and editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine, which has a combined print and electronic media readership of more than 250,000. Named to serve on the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Wallis serves as a public theologian, speaker and international commentator on ethics and public life. Wallis has also taught a course at Harvard University on “Faith, Politics and Society.”

Another keynote speaker is Joseph Pearce, writer-in-residence and associate professor of literature at Ave Maria University. Pearce previously taught at Ave Maria College in Michigan and is author of many books, including his latest, “Through Shakespeare's Eyes.” Pearce has published numerous books on intellectuals such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Hilaire Belloc, G.K. Chesterton, Oscar Wilde and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Several of his books have won literary awards. He lectures widely around the United States and Europe on many topics and has published several articles. He also is the co-editor of the St. Austin Review and the editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press.

The cost for the conference is $25 per day, luncheon plus dinner lectures cost an additional $50 per day. Those interested in registering can log on to the conference’s website at visionandvaluesevents.com/conference or contact Brenda Vinton at (724) 450-1541 or blvinton@gcc.edu.

The conference schedule follows. All lectures will be in Sticht Lecture Hall of the Hall of Arts and Letters unless otherwise noted.


Thursday, April 7


10 a.m. Opening remarks by Grove City College President Richard G. Jewell ’67 and Executive Director of the Center for Vision & Values Paul Kengor

10:15 a.m. “From Sea to Shining Sea: An overview of American Exceptionalism,” Q&A with Dr. L. John Van Til and Dr. John A. Sparks ’66

11:30 a.m. Lunch in Mary Anderson Pew Dining Hall (for registered attendees only)
“Does America face irreversible decline? Why claims about the inevitable doom of our great republic constitute one of ‘The 10 Big Lies About America’” by Michael Medved

1 p.m. Simultaneous Lectures
“Science and Technology at the Heart of the American Experience” by Dr. Stacy Birmingham and Dr. William Birmingham

Recital Hall, Pew Fine Arts Center
“Evangelicals and Tocqueville Together: An Assessment of 19th Century Religious America” by Dr. P.C. Kemeny and Dr. Michael L. Coulter ’91

2:30 p.m. Simultaneous Lectures
“Exceptions to Exceptionalism” by Dr. T. David Gordon and Dr. Steven L. Jones

Recital Hall, Pew Fine Arts Center
“From Washington to Eisenhower: From Isolation to Exporting Exceptionalism” by Dr. Andrew Mitchell and Dr. J.D. Wyneken

3-6 p.m. “The Michael Medved Show,” radio show by Michael Medved

5:15 p.m. Dinner in Mary Anderson Pew Dining Hall (for registered attendees only)
“American Exceptionalism Through the Eyes of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson” by Grove City College President Richard G. Jewell ’67
7 p.m. Keynote Debate
Crawford Hall, Crawford Auditorium
“America: Still Exceptional?” a debate between Dinesh D’Souza, president of The King’s College and Jim Wallis, president and CEO of Sojourners


Friday, April 8


9 a.m. “Immigration and American Exceptionalism” by Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Founder and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University

10 a.m. Simultaneous Lectures
“American Exceptionalism from John Winthrop to Barack Obama” by Dr. Gary Scott Smith ’72

Recital Hall, Pew Fine Arts Center
“From the Mountains to the Prairies” by Dr. Andrew Harvey and Dr. H. Collin Messer

11:30 a.m. Lunch in Mary Anderson Pew Dining Hall (for registered attendees only)
“Bill Buckley’s America” by Dr. Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought, The Heritage Foundation

1 p.m. Simultaneous Lectures
“The American Entrepreneur” by Dr. Craig E. Columbus and Dr. Jeffrey M. Herbener

Recital Hall, Pew Fine Arts Center
“We Want to be Cowboys, Baby! The Significance of the Frontier Thesis in the Case for American Exceptionalism” by Dr. Jason R. Edwards

2 p.m. “The Founders’ Republic” by Dr. Gillis J. Harp and Dr. Mark W. Graham

3 p.m. “Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear” by Dr. Marvin J. Folkertsma and Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

5:30 p.m. Dinner in Mary Anderson Pew Dining Hall (for registered attendees only)
“The American Century: From Henry Luce to Ronald Reagan” by The Center for Vision & Values Executive Director Paul Kengor

7 p.m. Conference Keynote Address: “America-The European Perspective” by Joseph Pearce, writer-in-residence and associate professor of literature at Ave Maria University

8 p.m. Closing Remarks