The Joe Biden Presidency: Legacy and Record

Conference Resources

• Call for Papers

  Call for Papers

  The Department of Social Sciences at the University of Mount Union, in coordination with the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at The University of Akron, is pleased to announce its Fourth PRESIDENTIAL LEGACY CONFERENCE.

  This will be an even-handed, non-partisan, and scholarly examination of the actions and consequences of the Joseph R. Biden Presidency on the United States and world from a variety of perspectives. We are soliciting paper proposals from across academic disciplines on a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to: appointments, international and domestic issues, constitutional and legal questions, homeland and national security, electoral politics, race relations, media relations, economic and societal inequality, economic policy, immigration policy, and White House staff and the executive branch. We encourage conference participants to engage in conversations and research beyond the customary disciplinary territory, and welcome panels that include multi- and inter-disciplinary scholars across all fields. 

  Proposals should include a tentative paper title, a brief description of the paper (250 words maximum), institutional affiliation, and contact information including an email address. Proposal deadline is December 20, 2024. Proposals should be submitted electronically to: grossmmo@mountunion.edu. Please put “Biden Conference” in the subject line. Selected papers from this conference may be included in an edited volume.

  Please direct questions to Dr. Michael Grossman, University of Mount Union: grossmmo@mountunion.edu or (330) 829.8740.

• Registration

   

  Conference registration is $100, which includes admission to all panels, meals, and keynote speakers. The conference registration deadline is March 7, 2025.

  Register Here

• Directions and Hotel Information

  The city of Alliance, Ohio is located on Route 62 which is off Interstate 77.  The city is approximately 1.5 hours south of Cleveland and north of Pittsburgh. 

  The nearest Airport is the Akron-Canton Regional Airport (CAK).  The airport services many direct flights from major cities and is approximately 30 minutes from the University by car.  Cleveland Hopkins International Airport also provides convenient service to Northeastern Ohio and is approximately 1.5 hours from Alliance.

  Amtrak also has service to the city of Alliance.

  Campus Map

   The following hotels are within 1-2 miles of the University of Mount Union.   (Shuttles will be provided for conference participants upon request)

  Holiday Inn Express & Suites Alliance

  2341 West State Street, Alliance OH

  1 (888) 465-4329 

  Use online corporate ID 786851450 for a discount.
  
  

  Comfort Inn

  Carnation City Mall

  2500 W. State Street, Alliance, OH

  (330) 821-5555

  Hampton Inn and Suites Alliance

  1831 W State St, Alliance, OH 44601

  (330) 680-4052

  Use online corporate ID 003117568 for a discount (insert in special rate field). 

  Additional hotels are available in the city of Canton (about 30 minutes by car from Mount Union).

• Guest Speakers

   

  Alexander Ward Alexander Ward is a national security reporter covering the White House and State Department for The Wall Street Journal in Washington. Alex’s reporting focuses in particular on the inner workings of the National Security Council and how top players in an administration formulate and execute foreign policy. Alex was previously the White House and national security reporter at Politico, where he was also the first author of its "National Security Daily" newsletter. Before that, he was Vox's White House reporter covering foreign policy and worked at the Atlantic Council think tank covering national security and military affairs. Alex has won numerous awards for his reporting and was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist along with Politico colleagues for Supreme Court coverage.  In February 2024, Alex published his first book, "The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy after Trump." He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
  Tim Ryan Born on July 16, 1973, in Niles, Ohio, Tim Ryan is a member of the Democratic Party. He represented Ohio's 13th congressional district from 2013 to 2023, having previously represented Ohio's 17th congressional district from 2003 to 2013. Ryan's district included a large swath of northeastern Ohio, from Youngstown to Akron. Ryan became a prominent national figure known for his progressive stances on issues like renewable energy, education reform, and mental health care. Outside of politics, Ryan is an accomplished author, having written books on mindfulness and meditation. His interest in holistic well-being and the power of mindfulness in promoting mental health has made him a sought-after speaker and advocate in this field.
  Jerry Austin Jerry Austin has been one of the nation’s most experienced and successful political strategists. Austin has consulted on races throughout the US at every level from precinct committee person to President of the United States. Raised in The Bronx, Austin learned his politics in Cleveland in the late 1960s. In 1980, he was the Ohio campaign manager for President Jimmy Carter. After helping elect Richard Celeste Governor of Ohio twice, he became the campaign manager and media consultant for Jess Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign. He was the senior political director for Paul Tsongas campaign for President and helped elect Paul Wellstone to the US Senate in Minnesota.  In 1992, he was the consultant and media advisor for Carol Moseley Braun’s historic and successful campaign to become the first African American woman elected to the US Senate. His work also includes witnessing the Marcos/Aquino election in the Philippines, the Pinochet plebiscite in Chile, many trips to Northern Ireland to consult for the SDLP party and the 2006 National Election in Hungary- the last time Orban was defeated.
  Jonathan L. Entin Jonathan L. Entin is David L. Brennan Professor Emeritus of Law at Case Western Reserve University, where he also held an appointment in Political Science for many years. He has written extensively about the law of presidential power and the administrative state as well as on constitutional law more generally, the federal courts, and civil rights. He also served two terms as the law school’s associate dean for academic affairs and as the university’s faculty mediator. Entin was the longtime faculty advisor to the Case Western Reserve Law Review. When he retired, many of his former Law Review students endowed a fund in his honor. A graduate of Brown University (A.B.) and Northwestern University (J.D.), he was a law clerk to then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she was on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and did appellate litigation at Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C., where he helped to exonerate an innocent man who came within hours of execution.