Dudziak Named Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance

[We’re delighted to report that LHB Founder Mary L. Dudziak will be the Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance at the Library of Congress.  Here is the LC press release.]

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today announced the appointment of Mary L. Dudziak, prominent U.S. legal historian, as the next Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance at the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.  Her appointment begins August 1. She will spend five months in residence.

Dudziak is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law and director of the Project on War and Security in Law, Culture and Society at Emory University.  An expert in constitutional law, legal history, diplomatic history and civil rights history, Dudziak will use the Library’s collections and resources to research and write her forthcoming book, “Going to War: An American History.”

“The book is an effort to get to the roots of an important problem: the relative absence of political engagement with presidential war power in an era of ongoing war,” said Dudziak. “American military engagement has been persistent through the 21st century, but as time goes on Congress has appeared reluctant to formally authorize war and the American public has been somewhat disengaged from the conflicts. This has left the president without meaningful political limits on the power to go to war. To better understand how this contemporary problem came about, my book will examine the history of American war politics since the early 20th century, focusing not only on lawmakers but also the way their constituents —civilians as well as military-service members—experienced American wars.”

Dudziak will use items in the Library of Congress collections to further her research. In particular, she will examine Congressional papers held by the Library’s Manuscript Division. Toward the end of her tenure, Dudziak will deliver a public lecture on her research.

Prior to her position at Emory, Dudziak was the Judge Edward J. and Ruey L. Guirado Professor of Law, History and Political Science at the University of Southern California.  She also taught at Duke, Harvard, the University of Maryland and the University of Iowa.  Dudziak serves on the Historical Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of State and the editorial board of the journal Diplomatic History.

Her books include “War-Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences,” “Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall’s African Journey,” “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy” and edited collections.  She is the author of numerous book chapters, journal articles, essays, reviews and op-eds.  Dudziak received her Ph.D. from Yale University, her J.D. from Yale Law School, and her A.B. in sociology from University of California, Berkeley.

The Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance is a distinguished senior research position in residence at the Library.  Its holder is appointed by the Librarian of Congress.  Using research facilities and services at the Library of Congress, the scholar conducts research that focuses on the development of government in the United States and on domestic matters of, and among, the three branches of government.

Through a generous endowment from John W. Kluge, the Library of Congress established the Kluge Center in 2000 to bring together the world's best thinkers to stimulate and energize one another, to distill wisdom from the Library's rich resources, and to interact with policymakers in Washington. For more information about the Kluge Center visit here.

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