VEM NEWS AND EVENTS

VEM-Sponsored Focus Clusters

Fall 2004-2010

Dr. Hull was the co-creator and then director of the Power of Ideas (POI) Focus cluster. Courses covered topics such as: What is philosophy and what is its role in human life; ideas of justice; the psychology of decision making; Alexander and his legacy; 19th century German literature and philosophy; the economics of John Maynard Keynes; the history of medicine; Darwin and DNA.
POI and VEM sponsored some 60 talks on a wide-range of topics. We took field trips to Washington D.C., New York City, Monticello, and Rome, Italy.

Spring 2010

VEM created, and Dr. Hull directed, the Focus cluster “Entrepreneurial Challenges.” Courses covered topics such as: What does it mean to be an entrepreneur; discussions with successful entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship in the biotech industry. We sponsored some 12 talks on a range of issues, and took a lengthy field trip to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, CA where we were hosted by some very generous and successful entrepreneurs and investors.

Recent Publications

• Editor's Introduction by Gary Hull, on the basic choice between free speech and force, and the ethical issues involved in suppressing free scholarly discourse for the sake of multiculturalism
• Statement of Principle on free speech and scholarly discourse
• Survey of images of Muhammad from Western and Muslim sources, ranging over 900 years, with 31 images reproduced in full color and a Preface setting the images in historical context

Visit www.muhammadimages.com for more information about the book, ordering information, and additional documents related to these issues.  Of particular note is the document “Murder & Mayhem” – an extensive and footnoted timeline of the terrorist attacks on those exercising their right to free speech. The blog for Muhammad: The “Banned” Images can be accessed via the website, has numerous postings and is open for comments.

• Publications
  • The Abolition of Antitrust, Gary Hull, editor and contributing author (Transaction Publishers, May 2005)
    
• (click here to go to Amazon.com)
• (click here to go to Transactionpub.com)


The Abolition of Antitrust asserts that antitrust laws—on economic, legal, and moral grounds—are bad, and provides convincing evidence supporting arguments for their total abolition. Every year, new antitrust prosecutions arise in the U.S. courts, as in the cases against 3M and Visa/MasterCard, as well as a number of ongoing antitrust cases, such as those involving Microsoft and college football’s use of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Gary Hull and the contributing authors show that these cases—as well as the very Antitrust Act itself—are based on an erroneous interpretation of the history of American business, are premised on bad economics and equivocate between economic and political power—the power to produce versus the power to use physical force. They argue that antitrust prosecutions are based on a horrible moral inversion: that it is acceptable to sacrifice America’s best producers.

• (Read a review at techcentralstation.com.)
• Hailed as "a new classic in political science" by Transaction Publishers.
• Past Events
• September 11, 2007: VEM co-hosted Dr. K. C. Johnson's speech, "Until Proven Innocent," about the Duke Lacrosse Case.
• March 3-4, 2006: Dr. Daniels lectured on "Unenumerated Rights in American Constitutional History" in Denver, Colorado.
• February 16, 2006: Dr. Hull was interviewed about teen employment and the minimum wage for the Richard Brown radio show.
• January 5, 2006: Dr. Gary Hull was interviewed on WUNC radio about the fairness of government mandated minimum wages. An archive of the show is available at http://www.ibiblio.org/wunc_archives/sot/
• December 3, 2005: Dr. Daniels lectured in Chicago on "The Commercial Revolution in American Business" and "Financial Capitalism in American History."
• November 17, 2005: Dr. Hull lectured on "Multiculturalism" at the University of Florida.
• July 31, 2005: Dr. Hull's lecture, "Antitrust Is Immoral," was broadcast on C-SPAN2/Book TV.
• July 18, 2005: Dr. Hull gave a lecture, "Antitrust Is Immoral," at the Shaftesbury Society Luncheon sponsored by the John Locke Foundation.
• May 25, 2005: Dr. Hull was interviewed on The Thom Hartmann Radio Program.
• May 24, 2005: Dr. Hull gave a lecture, "Antitrust Is Immoral," at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine, California. The event was taped by BookTV on C-SPAN2, to be broadcast at a later date.
• May 21, 2005: Dr. Daniels give a lecture, "The Commercial Revolution in Amercian Business," in Denver, Colorado.
• April 21, 2005: Dr. Hull gave a lecture, "Antitrust Is Immoral," at New York University.
• April 13-15, 2005: Dr. Hull gave his seminar, Leadership Through Values and Virtues, to Hutchinson Technology, Inc.
• April 5, 2005: Dr. Hull participated in a panel discussion on business ethics as part of Honor Week, sponsored by the Honor Council.
• September 17, 2004: Dr. Hull gave a seminar, Leadership Through Values and Virtues, to Hutchinson Technology, Inc.
• We are pleased to announce that Professor Eric Daniels has been nominated for the 2003-2004 Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award.
• March 11 & 12, 2004: Dr. Hull gave a seminar, Leadership Through Values and Virtues, to Hutchinson Technology, Inc.
• February 6, 2004: Dr. Hull gave a talk, "The Neo-Puritan Assault on Sex and Pleasure," at the University of Chicago.
• February 4 & 5, 2004: Dr. Hull gave a seminar, Leadership Through Values and Virtues, to Hutchinson Technology, Inc.
• The BB&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic division of BB&T Corp.—a major financial institution—donates $1 million to VEM.

• Research Associate for 2003-2006: Eric Daniels, Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Dr. Daniels has taught and lectured on American history at the University of Wisconsin and Duke University. He has lectured widely at public conferences on the history of invention, the Enlightenment, and the history of American moral thinking. His specialties included American business history, intellectual history, and political history. He contributed five articles to The Oxford Companion to United States History, and has given papers at professional conferences on his research. Graduate Fellow: Richard Salsman, a political science graduate student, was the VEM Graduate Fellow during the fall 2006 semester. Graduate Fellow for 2003-2004 academic year: Dennis Rasmussen, a third-year graduate student in Political Science. Postdoctoral Fellow for 2001-2002 academic year: Awarded to Professor Eric Daniels.
• Graduate Program Assistant for 2001-2002 academic year: Awarded to William M. Curtis, a fourth-year graduate student of political philosophy, for dissertation work and teaching.
  

• Past
  • Fall 2005 - Power of Ideas Focus Program Speakers
    • "All We Need is Love. . . Or Is It?" Dr. Michael Munger"Do Ideas Matter in Politics, or Is It All about the $$" Ms. Carol Bulter"Monuments in Washington D.C." Mr. James Walsh"The US Supreme Court and Constitutional Interpretation," Dr. Eric Daniels"Rights and Wrongs in American Rights Theory," Dr. Eric Daniels\"The Freedom of Thought," Mr. Alexander Glage"Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans," Mr. David Hankla"Creationism in Camouflage: The 'Intelligent Design' Deception," Dr. Keith Lockitch"The Low Down on Student-Faculty Collaboration," Caroline Miranda and David MorgensternMr. Erwin Chemerinsky, Duke Law Professor
    • "Intellectual Property and Piracy: The Recording Industry," Mr. Steve Marks
    Fall 2004 - Power of Ideas Focus Program Speakers
    • "The Idea of Justice" - Dr. Michael Munger"The Idea of Culture and Society" - Dr. Michael Munger"Ideas in the Political Process: Possible? Desirable?" - Brendan Nyhan"Neuroimaging: Uses, Abuses, and Ethical Implications" - Laura Thomas"Ideas of Islam, Ideas of Democracy: Can They Be Reconciled?" - Prof. Jalil Roshandel"The New Primitivism: Today's Attacks on Reason and Individualism" - Peter Schwartz"The Founders' Views of Rights" - Dr. Eric Daniels"Guarding the Gate" - Dr. Robert L. Park"Equal Opportunity: Growing a Generation of Change" - Lt. Colonel Stan King
    • "Alternative Representations of Ideas" - Dr. Ruth Day
    "Sweatshops or Sweet Deals?" panel discussion - September 27, 2002 (Learn more or listen to it here.) Peter Schwartz, "Terrorism and the Morality of Self-Defense" - October 11, 2001 John A. Allison, Chairman and CEO of BB&T Bank, "What Caused America's Recent Prosperity?" February 6, 2001 Richard Salsman "The High-Tech Lynching of Microsoft," April 11, 2000 David Lamond and Chris Young "Entrepreneurs and their Values," March 30, 2000 Tony Brown "The Changing Role of Business," March 28, 2000
  • Dr. Ed Locke "Business Heroes and their Characteristics," March 2, 2000

• Current
  • "Entrepreneurs and their Values" - An ongoing lecture series, with special events, focusing on the moral values of entrepreneurs.
    
• Past
  • "Justice: What is it and who needs it?" - Fall Semester 2000
    • Amy Hall (Duke), "The Justice of Jacob and Peter: Faith, Fairness, and God's Sense of Humor" Dr. Tara Smith (University of Texas), "Justice: Its Rationale & Rewards"
    • Dr. Jeremy Waldron (Columbia), "Law's Concern With Justice

• Current Future
  • Antitrust Conference
  • "Values & Science" Conference
• Past
  • 2002 VEM Summer Conference: This was VEM's first summer conference. The conference is designed for undergraduate and advanced high school students. This year's focus was the philosophy and economics of liberty, and how those ideas impact the marketplace.