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Virtual Programs
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September 29, 2021: Ben's Book Club: Thomas Jefferson's Idea of a University by Andrew O'Shaughnessy
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September 29, 2021: The Illimitable Freedom of the Human Mind: Thomas Jefferson’s Idea of a University, hosted by the US National Archives
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Thomas Jefferson and the American Psyche. Tuesday, July 20, 2021, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET: Annette Gordon-Reed author of THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO: An American Family and her co-author of "MOST BLESSED OF THE PATRIARCHS": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination, Peter Onuf, and Andrew J. O’Shaughnessy, author of THE ILLIMITABLE FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN MIND: Thomas Jefferson's Idea of a University.
Presentations
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Inaugural Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History
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The Men Who Lost America
2014 George Washington Book Prize Winner - Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy
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Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy delivers his acceptance speech at Mount Vernon upon winning the George Washington Book Prize Award. The George Washington Book Prize is one of the nation's largest and most prestigious literary awards. Now in its tenth year, the $50,000 George Washington Book Prize honors its namesake by recognizing the year's best new books on early American history. The prize ranks among the largest and most prestigious honors in the publishing industry. The 2014 George Washington Book Prize was awarded to the noted historian Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy for The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire (Yale, 2013).
Thomas Jefferson and George III
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On September 14, 2004, Andrew J. O'Shaughnessy, the Saunders Director of Monticello's Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, presented a talk on King George III's role in the American Revolution and Jefferson's view of his former sovereign. This talk was sponsored by Monticello's donors.
The Men Who Lost America with Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy
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Meet author Andrew O'Shaughnessy, the Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello and Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He is the author of The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire.
Documentary with Eduardo Montes-Bradley
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Interviews
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Interview on Bookman's Corner
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Arts & Letters Book Discussion & Review: Daniel Grotta and Sally Wiener Grotta discuss "The Men Who Lost America" by Andrew O'Shaughnessy (Yale University Press), which is one of Daniel's favorite books from this year's crop. This book offers a unique perspective of the American Revolutionary War, from the viewpoint of the men who led Great Britain ("the best and the brightest of their time") and, through a series of judgment errors, lost the Colonies.
Audio Interviews
Conversations at the Washington Library Podcast
Episode 220: Educating Early Americans with Drs. Mark Boonshoft and Andrew O'Shaughnessy.
Lapham's Quarterly: The World in Time
Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The Illimitable Freedom of the Human Mind: Thomas Jefferson’s Idea of a University.
Podcast: American POTUS
POTUS 3: The Founding Father who Founded a University
Historically Thinking, Episode 229: Mr. Jefferson and his University
Andrew O'Shaughnessy Reframes Myths and Narratives, What Thomas Jefferson really intended for the University of Virginia
Andrew O’Shaughnessy recently discussed his new book, The Illimitable Freedom of the Human Mind: Thomas Jefferson’s Idea of a University, on Historically Thinking, a podcast by Charlottesville-based historian Al Zambone. O’Shaughnessy and Zambone examine Jefferson’s models of learning; why his educational reforms were so tightly bound with his republican convictions; and the practical political cunning—from initial concept to first enrolled students—with which Jefferson saw the university through.
Along the way O’Shaughnessy punctures myths and reframes narratives. He persuasively argues, for example, that the university’s students were no more prone to outrageous behavior than those at Harvard or Heidelberg, and that the influence of the University of Virginia on American higher education is much greater than generally allowed.
Revolution 250 Podcast
June 22, 2021: Why was education such a critical goal of America's revolutionaries? The Revolution 250 Podcast talks with Andrew J. O'Shaughnessy about his new book, The Illimitable Freedom of the Human Mind, about Thomas Jefferson's idea of a university.
Interview with Meghna Chakrabarti and Anthony Brooks, WBUR Boston, July 4, 2013
Blogs
The Author’s Corner with Andrew O’Shaughnessy
December 9, 2021: Current. Current is an online journal of commentary and opinion that provides daily reflection on contemporary culture, politics, and ideas.