Friday, November 19, 2010

Pulitzer-Winning Columnist Joins Political Expert and Scholar to Discuss Politics in America

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Colbert I. King, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post and a panelist on television’s “Inside Washington,” will join scholar Joseph Prud'homme and government-relations executive Fletcher R. Hall for a roundtable discussion of America’s political scene Tuesday evening, November 30. Titled “The New Political Landscape: Looking at the Parties Brewing Political Tea,” the event will take place at 7 p.m. in Room 100 of Goldstein Hall on the Washington College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.

The event is sponsored by the Institute for Religion, Politics and Culture (IRPC) at Washington College, which serves as a forum for the objective study of religion’s influence on public life. Panelists will focus on the recent mid-term elections and the impact the Tea Party movement will have on the nation’s political life leading up to the 2012 presidential election.

Colby King has extensive experience in journalism, banking and government. Prior to joining the Washington Post’s editorial board in 1990, he worked for the State Department at the U.S. embassy in Bonn. He also has worked as Minority Staff Director of the United States Senate, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Director of the World Bank, and Executive Vice President for Middle and East Africa at Riggs Bank.

King was deputy editorial page editor at the Post from 2000 to 2007 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2003 for his “against-the-grain columns that speak to people in power with ferocity and wisdom.” Today he continues as a weekly columnist for the Post, sharing his thoughts on urban and national life every Saturday. A graduate of Howard University, King is a regular panelist on the ABC-TV public-affairs program "Inside Washington" and a commentator on WTOP Radio.

A native of the Eastern Shore, Fletcher Hall has spent more than 30 years in government affairs and communications in Washington and Baltimore and is now chairman and CEO of F.R. Hall & Associates, LLC. The Washington-area firm specializes in government relations and communications, with a focus on agriculture, agricultural transportation, renewable fuels, and food security for companies and organizations worldwide. Hall was a consultant for State Senator Michael Oliverio in the recent Congressional campaign in the First District of West Virginia. A 1963 graduate of Washington College, where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Elm, he today publishes several electronic newsletters. He also is an advisor to the Economic Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington D.C.

Joseph Prud’homme, an assistant professor of political science, founded the Institute for Religion, Politics and Culture shortly after joining the Washington College faculty in the fall of 2009. He and his Institute colleagues have already launched several major initiatives, including an academic partnership with Oxford University, a summer study program at Charles University in Prague, several lecture series on the interplay of religion and politics, and a peer-reviewed book series entitled Washington College Studies in Religion, Politics and Culture. A double-major graduate of Texas A & M with a Ph.D from Princeton, Prud’homme is author of the forthcoming book, Religion and Politics in America from the Colonial Period to the Civil War.

Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the United States. George Washington agreed to have the college bear his name, donated a substantial sum to its founding and served on its Board of Visitors and Governors before becoming president of the United States.

For more information on this event and the Institute, visit http://irpc.washcoll.edu.

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