DeKALB — NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will welcome Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley as their next guest in the Rebuilding Democracy Lecture Series at 6 p.m., Sept. 15.

The Rebuilding Democracy Lecture Series shows how the liberal arts and sciences are at the center of a healthy democracy. The series focuses on various topics and how to build a stronger democracy and to bring together a fractured society.

The event will feature a discussion between Brinkley and Dean of NIU’s College of Liberal Arts Robert Brinkmann on the current state of democracy, how history is kind and cruel when ranking presidents, wartime presidents, and presidential influence on America’s standing in the world. The discussion will be followed by a moderate question and answer session.

Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown chair of humanities and professor of history at Rice University, the CNN Presidential Historian and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.

He has also authored 40 books, including three works with noted historian Stephen Ambrose. His newest book, “Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening,” is set to be published in November.

Brinkley has also received a Grammy Award for co-producing “Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom” and seven honorary doctorates in American Studies. His two-volume piece “The Nixon Tapes” recently won the Arthur S. Link – Warren F. Kuehl Prize. Brinkley is a member of the Century Association, Council of Foreign Relations and the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress.

The event will be conducted on Zoom and is free and open to the public, but advanced registration is required. Use this form to request an event link prior to Sept 15. Event links will be sent from the [email protected] mailbox one day prior to the event.