About the Conference

The Institute for Political History, the Journal of Policy History, the Department of Government at the University of Texas - Austin, and the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University are hosting the ninth biennial Conference on Policy History at the Loews® Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee from Wednesday, June 1 to Saturday, June 4, 2016.

General questions about the conference should be directed to policyhistory@gmail.com

The 2016 Policy History Conference will also feature two outstanding plenary sessions.  Organized by conference co-chairs Christopher Loss of Vanderbilt University and Bartholomew Sparrow of the University of Texas at Austin, these panels are not only timely in their nature but will examine the changing role of authority and ideology in American political culture.  

Thurs 5:00-6:15 pm - Plenary Session

Liberalism in America

Chair:  Bartholomew Sparrow, University of Texas-Austin

Andrew Rehfeld, Washington University in St. Louis
William Rorabaugh, University of Washington
Rogers Smith, University of Pennsylvania
Jeffrey Tulis, The University of Texas at Austin

Fri 5:00-6:15 pm - Plenary Session

Technology and the State

Chair: Chris Loss, Vanderbilt University

Angus Burgin, The Johns Hopkins University
Sarah Igo, Vanderbilt University
Margaret O’Mara, University of Washington
John Skrentny, University of California – San Diego

Fri 12:00 -1:15 - Luncheon (registration required)

Keynote Address: "Black Power: Working the Interstices of Radical Activism and Insider Politics"

David Farber, University of Kansas

David Farber is the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas.  He is the author or editor of 14 books including "Chicago ’68", "The Age of Great Dreams", "Taken Hostage", "The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism", and "Everybody Ought to be Rich".  His awards include two ACLS Fellowships, a Fulbright, a Congressional Fellowship, the Herbert Hoover Library book prize, and visiting scholar positions in Japan, Australia, France, Indonesia, and Lebanon.