Eighth Annual Holt Lecture

The “Israel lobby” has been a controversial topic in public affairs, yet it has also been understudied. What exactly is the Israel lobby? What are its origins? And what has been the impact of the lobby on the Palestine conflict, the U.S.-Israeli special relationship and U.S. relations with the Middle East more broadly? Author and historian Walter Hixson will examine these issues in the Department of History's eighth annual Rush D. Holt Lecture on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in G09 White Hall. 

Walter Hixson is the author of several books focused primarily on the history of U.S. foreign relations. They include "American Foreign Relations: A New Diplomatic History" (Routledge, 2016); "American Settler Colonialism: A History" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013); "The Myth of American Diplomacy: National Identity and U.S. Foreign Policy" (Yale University Press, 2008); "Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture and the Cold War, 1945-1961" (St. Martin’s, 1997); and "George F. Kennan: Cold War Iconoclast" (Columbia University Press, 1989). Hixson has taught history for 36 years and is currently Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Akron.

About the Holt Lecture

The first Rush D. Holt Lecture was presented by the WVU Department of History on April 11, 2011. Inaugurating the annual lecture series was the Honorable Rush D. Holt, Jr., a U.S. congressman from New Jersey and son of former U.S. Senator Rush D. Holt of West Virginia, after whom the series is named. The lecture series is supported by the family of Sen. Holt through the Sen. Rush D. Holt Endowment established in 1998.