Governing America in a Global Era
The Jefferson Scholars Foundation has partnered with the College of Arts and Sciences to launch an interdisciplinary research initiative at the University called “Governing America in a Global Era,” or GAGE.
Led by Will Hitchcock, the James Madison Professor of History at the University, GAGE convenes a coalition of faculty and students drawn from politics, history, sociology, law, education, religious studies and other related fields. This team of scholars works together to examine the United States from a global perspective, exploring the reciprocal impact between this nation and the wider world.
UVA history professor Brian Balogh, (left) joins alumnus Dan Keyserling (right), an executive at Google’s parent company, for a discussion about the greatest cyberthreats facing the U.S. today.
GAGE Mission
The University of Virginia has long placed global engagement at the core of its mission. GAGE expands upon that mission in four crucial ways. It serves to:
- attract to the faculty of the University the nation’s leading scholars from a variety of fields
- serve as a vibrant hub for UVA’s leading faculty to work collaboratively on the study of American statecraft
- offer a wide array of teaching and programming, including conferences, new course curriculum, publications, podcasts, and research opportunities
- prepare UVA graduates for careers in public service, diplomacy, the military, the voluntary sector, and corporate leadership
- enrich the undergraduate preparation of the many UVA students who wish to advance the public good on the world stage
- attract visiting practitioners and policy officials for short-term appointments, allowing students and faculty to learn from and engage with distinguished officials whose experience can help prepare the next generation to anticipate future challenges
Key Objectives
To make GAGE an internationally prominent force, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation and the College of Arts and Sciences seek to attract to UVA a corps of world-class scholars
Professorships
The Foundation aims to endow four professorships in key fields related to the mission of GAGE: History of American Diplomacy and Statecraft, U.S. Politics and Democracy, International Security Studies, and Global Governance and World Institutions.
Visiting Practitioners and Policy Officials
GAGE will establish an endowed fund designated for short-term visits of distinguished practitioners and policy officials.
Fellowships
The Foundation will endow two named fellowships in its National Fellowship Program. Fellows would be selected based upon their demonstrated scholarly contributions to GAGE disciplines. The Foundation will also endow one named postdoctoral fellowship for the best emerging scholar in the field.
Programming
GAGE will continue to provide ongoing programming, workshops, seminars, podcasts, and conferences.
Will Hitchcock
James Madison Professor of History and GAGE Faculty Advisor
William I. Hitchcock is the James Madison Professor of History at the University of Virginia. His work and teaching focus on the global history of the 20th Century, in particular the era of the two world wars and the cold war. His most recent book is The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2018), which was a New York Times bestseller. He is now writing “FDR and the Dictators: Fascism, Democracy and the Awakening of America,” which explores reactions in the United States to the rise of fascism in Europe from the 1920s to 1941.
In the News
September 2021: GAGE director Will Hitchcock and GAGE Fellow Meghan Herwig co-write piece on the study of war inside the classroom.
April 2021: GAGE co-sponsors a webinar on the history of military and war
February 2021: GAGE co-sponsors the Foundation’s signature speaker series JeffTalks featuring privacy expert Danielle Citron
December 2020: GAGE faculty advisor Will Hitchcock joins historian Stan Deaton on CSPAN’s American History TV to discuss presidential leadership during the Cold War-era and the Cold War’s lasting impact.
September 2020: GAGE faculty advisor Will Hitchcock helps launch new 16-episode podcast called Democracy in Danger that explores the rise of illiberal democracies and the erosion of democratic norms in America and in other countries.
November 2019: GAGE attracts Google executive and congressional lawyer to discuss the greatest cyber threats facing the U.S. today.
