Skip to main content
Intellect

Kennedy Center hosts Book of the Semester lecture, panel discussion

The David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies at Brigham Young University will host a panel discussion about its book of the semester, “Surprise, Security, and the American Experience,” Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 3 p.m. in 238 Herald R. Clark Building.

The Kennedy Center will also sponsor a lecture by the book’s author, John Lewis Gaddis, Wednesday, March 15, at 3 p.m. in the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium.

Admission is free to both events and open to the public.

Panel members will discuss topics raised in Gaddis’ book, such as the doctrine of pre-emption and its history. BYU faculty members on the panel will include political science professors Earl H. Fry and Valerie M. Hudson, assistant professors of history Mark I. Choate and Andrew Johns and assistant professor of Germanic literature Alan F. Keele.

Gaddis, the Robert A. Lovett Professor of History at Yale University, teaches courses in Cold War history, grand strategy, international studies and biography, and is best known for his analysis of the containment strategies utilized by the United States during the Cold War.

Gaddis has also written numerous publications, including “The Cold War: A New History,” “The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past” and “We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History.”

A former senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., Gaddis received a doctorate in history from the University of Texas—Austin.

Both the panel and lecture will be archived online. For more information about Kennedy Center events, visit kennedy.byu.edu.

Writer: Brian Rust

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Learning students’ names boosts belonging at BYU, study finds

August 28, 2025
The start of a new semester brings more than fresh syllabi. It brings the challenge—and opportunity—of learning the names behind each new face in a classroom.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

The next chapter in BYU's origami engineering: Student-discovered patterns unfold like blooming flowers, have major applications

August 19, 2025
BYU Engineering is well known for origami-inspired research and innovations, including foldable antenna systems used in space. Recently, an undergraduate student made a significant discovery—a new family of origami patterns with promising applications across a range of fields, including space systems, medical devices, bulletproof shields, architecture, furniture and aerodynamic components for transportation.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Impossible Burgers at a summer BBQ? Impossible! Why plant-based alternatives are still just beyond reach for most people

August 14, 2025
Plant-Based Alternatives (PBAs) — such as the Impossible Burger — are becoming more common, and those who try them say they are actually quite good. And while companies are pouring billions into making PBAs taste just like their meat counterparts, they still aren’t catching on. So what’s the hold-up?
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=