At our March 27th Inklings gathering, Professor Emeritus Dr. Paul Kens presented his current research and an overview of his forthcoming book titled, “Munn’s Warehouse: Warehouse: A Story of How Gilded Age Corporations Tried to Add a Right of Freedom from Regulation to the Constitution – And Failed.” The talk explored the legal and constitutional background to Munn v. Illinois, a landmark 1877 Supreme Court decision upholding the right of state government’s to regulate business.
Jaquel Gibbs, a graduate student in the department who attended the event, said that “Dr. Kens’ ongoing research really casts light on how the state of Illinois understood the role of government and its constitutional powers in the nineteenth century.” David Rodriguez, another graduate student who participated in the gathering following the presentation, said that “Kens was extremely knowledgeable on the subject matter, and the presentation has me eagerly awaiting for his book to be on shelves.”
The original Inklings consisted of a small group of intellectuals (whose ranks included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis) who met weekly at Oxford University to read aloud and discuss their works in a spirit of fellowship and civil conversation. In the spirit of these Inklings, the Department of Political Science at Texas State University has held similar gatherings for more than two decades.
For more information on the series, please contact Dr. Arnold Leder at al04@txstate.edu.
