US Historian David Farber asks a central question: Is Trump the heir to a conservative political movement, or the creator of something new? Selwyn visiting bye fellow David Farber will discuss the evolution of conservatism in America. From Reaganomics to populist economics, the Republican Party has remade itself repeatedly, even as It has embraced cultural hierarchy, social discipline, and unilateralism in foreign policy. And he asks a central question: is Trump the heir to a conservative political movement, or the creator of something new?
About the speaker
David Farber is a historian of American political culture and Roy A Roberts Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1985 and has written or edited numerous books on American history, including Chicago '68, The Age of Great Dreams, Taken Hostage, The War on Drugs, and The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism. He has lectured on American political history around the world, including a 2015 talk at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, where he confidently told the audience that Donald Trump was not a serious presidential candidate.
About the host
Dr Tom Smith is the Keasbey Research Fellow in American Studies and Admissions Tutor (Arts and Social Sciences) at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He is a historian with research interests in the intersections between religion and US foreign relations since the late nineteenth century, and his first book Word Across the Water was published with Cornell University Press in 2024.
Tickets
Location and timing details
The event takes place at the Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium, Selwyn College, Grange Road, CB3 9DQ. It is pictured below, as seen from above from Grange Road.
The Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium is located on the corner of West Road and Grange Road and can be accessed via the gate to Ann’s Court on Grange Road. The Auditorium will be signposted — but the Selwyn College Porters, located in the Lodge by the main entrance, will be more than happy to help direct you if you have trouble finding the auditorium.
Doors will open at 5:45pm. Please be seated by 5:55pm as the event will start promptly at 6:00pm. We expect to finish by 7:00pm at the latest.
If you are arriving by bike, you may lock your bicycles on the railings by the Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium.
Please note that photographs will be taken during this event.