On Thursday, October 1st, the department hosted the first Inklings gathering of the 2020-2021 academic year. The speaker was the department’s newest member, Dr. Roger Abshire, who spoke about “The Structural Case for an Unlimited Article V Convention.” His talk focused on the history and background of Article V of the Constitution and, more specifically, the provision that allows for the convening of a convention of states to propose constitutional amendments. His talks focused on the various issues that such a convention would raise as well as on why the U.S. hasn’t yet seen such a convention. The talk was followed by a discussion with twenty faculty members and graduate students, some of whom attended via Zoom.
Rex Wyatt, a student in the department’s Master of Arts in Political Science program, noted that “Dr. Abshire’s presentation was a great reminder of the importance of being able to gather to discuss research” and reported that the presentation provided “an interesting and fresh look at an under-studied area of the Constitution.”
