Jill Lepore was born in August 27th 1966. She grew up in the state of Massachusetts before entering Tufts University to earn a degree on a maths; before finishing this degree, however, Lepore changed to an English program. She earned a B.A. in English in three years. Lepore performed post-graduate education in the University of Michigan and Yale, where she specialized in the history of early America. Lepore is now a History professor at Harvard University. She emphasizes her research on missing evidence of American historical records.
In 2005, Lepore began contributing to The New Yorker magazine. Her articles have raised controversy and concern from the academic community. Professor Clayton M. Christensen referred to Lepore’s article about disruptive theory as “a criminal act of dishonesty at Harvard, of all places”.
Also, Lepore is currently investigating the Pentagon Papers, a series of documents proving how bad the Vietnam War was shared with the public at the time of the conflict. Releasing her investigation could shift the way Americans think of press freedom. She has asked the federal government to unseal records of two Boston grand jury investigations that will help assemble the pieces of these documents.
On October 16th, Jill Lepore will be coming to The Netherlands to give a talk on Early American History in the University of Amsterdam. Lepore’s focus of this talk will be her new book “These Truths”, in which she addresses Thomas Jefferson’s speech about an egalitarian society, as well as the right to freedom and pursuit of happiness. Are the words stated by Jefferson a natural reality that applies to every American today? In the current polarized America is there room for justice, truths and freedom to everyone regardless of their race, gender and/or nationality?
Besides presenting her new book, Lepore will speak about history as a subject and the effects it has on modern society. How is the way that we record history affecting minorities today? How do certain politicians like Donald Trump use history for their political advantage?
Rostra Economica and Room for Discussion invite you to join us in the E-Hall of the Roeterseiland Campus on Wednesday, October 16th at 13:00. After the interview, a session of questions and answers will take place to create political interaction with the audience and solve potential doubts arising during the talk.
Following the interview, Rostra Economica will release an article about the highlights and answers of Jill Lepore.
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