United States Centre

Come to a US Centre event this Autumn!

The US Centre is putting on a number of events in the lead up to the presidential election in November.

See our event listings for more information.

US Centre launches The Ballpark podcast

In March, the LSE US Centre launched its regular podcast, The Ballpark. Featuring interviews from LSE academics and discussions with US Centre staff, The Ballpark is your chance to go beyond the headlines and get the facts, figures, quotes, and context to form a more informed view on the United States and the 2016 election.

Listen to the latest episodes of The Ballpark.

US Centre hosts voter registration drive 

The US Centre is hosting a voter registration drive, aimed to ensure that all eligible American citizens in the LSE community are aware of their right to vote from abroad and are informed on how they can do so. 

Find more information here.

US Centre Director Peter Trubowitz's book recommended for the next US President

Writing at The Washington Post, Tufts University Professor, Dan Drezner included Peter Trubowitz's 2011 book “Politics and Strategy:  Partisan Ambition and American Statecraft"  in his list of the top five international relations books the next US President should read. 

Public lecture with Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter "The Future of Work"

On 25 January Anne-Marie Slaughter spoke at the LSE about her new book, Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, Family. In her book, she argues that as long as work and family are considered women’s issues, women and men will never be equal and employers will continue to haemorrhage great female and increasingly male talent. To respond, we must go beyond change within our current structures. 

Anne-Marie Slaughter is the current President and CEO of New America. She served as Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department from January 2009 until February 2011 under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She tweets at @SlaughterAM. 

Storify of the event

US Centre Director Peter Trubowitz speaks at US Election panel at the Frontline Club

On 20 January, US Centre Director Professor Peter Trubowitz spoke at a panel discussion at the Frontline Club in London on the topic, US Election Year: What is in Store?

Report and video of the event.

Public lecture with Professor Jeffry Frieden

On 19 January, Professor Jeffry Frieden of Harvard University gave a public lecture at the LSE: 'Lessons for the Euro from America's Past'. 

Drawing on early America’s struggle to develop a single currency, Professor Frieden discussed the implications for the European Union’s efforts today to provide monetary and financial stability.

Podcast of the event.
Storify of the event.

Race, Reform and the New Retrenchment: the perils of post-racialism after Obama

Date: Wednesday 11 May 2016
Speaker: Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw
Chair: Professor Peter Trubowitz

Heightening tensions in the US over police killings of black people have undermined confidence that the election of Barack Obama signaled a new era on race relations in the US. The more lasting legacy may be the one championed by late Justice Scalia whose legal philosophy currently underwrites the central tensions in equality law in the United States. Through a Critical Race Theory prism, Professor Crenshaw discussed Black Lives Matter and Say Her Name as challenges to contemporary jurisprudence on race, and assessed the new openings presented by current events.

Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks) is Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California Los Angeles and the Columbia School of Law. She is also a Centennial Professor in the LSE Gender Institute visiting the department in the Summer Term.

The hashtag for this event was #LSEUSRACE

Storify of the event
Podcast of the event
Photos from the event

The Politics of Spatial Inequality in Metropolitan America

Date: 15 March 2016
Speaker: Margaret Weir

In the United States, the study of inequality has long been closely linked to the social geography of the city. This lecture will examine how politics and policies played out across the American federal system create spatial inequalities but also present new opportunities for challenging them.

Margaret Weir is Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs at Brown University.

Storify of the event.
Podcast of the event.

The Evening After the Night Before: analysing Super Tuesday

Date: 2 March 2016
Chair: Michael Cox, LSE

Speakers:
Kate Andrews, Institute of Economic Affairs
Steve Erlanger, NYT
Gideon Rachman, FT
Stephanie Rickard, LSE
Peter Trubowitz, LSE

On the 1st of March millions of American voters in 12 states will go to the polls in the 2016 US presidential election's 'Super Tuesday’ primary. The race so far has been unlike any in recent memory with the rise of outsider candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties which has led to the most open-ended election in decades. Super Tuesday will make the direction of the race much clearer on both sides, paving the way for the party conventions in the early summer. Join us for a lively evening of discussion and debate with six experts on US politics.

Storify of the event.
Podcast of the event.

Who will be the next US President?

America in Global Perspective Lecture

Date: 24 February 2016
Speaker: Lawrence Jacobs

On 24 February the LSE US Centre hosted Professor Lawrence Jacobs, Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and Director of the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. Evaluating the most polarizing and anti-establishment candidates in modern US politics, Jacobs speculated on who will win the nomination and why, and what this willmeanfor the presidential election which follows.

Lawrence R. Jacobs is the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the Hubert H. Humphrey School and the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. 

The hashtag for this event will be #LSEUSElects.

Podcast of the event.
Storify of the event.

Public lecture with Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter "The Future of Work"

On 25 January Anne-Marie Slaughter spoke at the LSE about her new book, Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, Family. In her book, she argues that as long as work and family are considered women’s issues, women and men will never be equal and employers will continue to haemorrhage great female and increasingly male talent. To respond, we must go beyond change within our current structures. 

Anne-Marie Slaughter is the current President and CEO of New America. She served as Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department from January 2009 until February 2011 under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She tweets at @SlaughterAM. 

Storify of the event

Lessons for the Euro from America's Past with Professor Jeffry Frieden

On 19 January, Professor Jeffry Frieden of Harvard University gave a public lecture at the LSE: 'Lessons for the Euro from America's Past'. 

Drawing on early America’s struggle to develop a single currency, Professor Frieden discussed the implications for the European Union’s efforts today to provide monetary and financial stability.

Podcast of the event.

A Conversation with Ben Bernanke

Department of Economics and LSE US Centre public conversation

On 28 October 2015 the LSE US Centre, together with the Economics Department, hosted the Former Chair of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. Bernanke discussed his new book, The Courage to Act: A Memoir of a Crisis and its Aftermath, and his time as chair of the US Federal Reserve.

Storify of the event.

US Centre at LSE and LSE Ideas Dahrendorf public lecture: "Does Europe have a future"

On 1 October 2015 the US Centre, togther with LSE Ideas, hosted Stephen Walt, Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government for his lecture, "Does Europe have a future".

Chaired by US Centre Director, Peter Trubowitz, during the event Professor Walt discussed the strategic challenges facing the European Union,explored the geopolitical implications of a weaker Europe for the West, and took questions from the audience.

Listen to a podcast of the event.

Storify of the event.

US Centre at LSE and Department of International Relations public lecture with Professor Joseph S Nye.

On 9 June 2015, the US Centre and Department of International Relations hosted Professor Joseph Nye, University Distinguished Service Professor, and former Dean of the Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, to discuss his new book, 'Is the American Century Over?'.

Listen to a podcast of the event.
Read our interview with Professor Nye about his new book on the USAPP blog.