AV研究所

The life and work of Ken Kersch, an accomplished political scientist and constitutional scholar at Boston College and founding director of AV研究所鈥檚 Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, will be the focus of an upcoming campus event.

鈥淐onstructing the Constitutional Imagination: A Symposium in Honor of Ken I. Kersch,鈥� will take place on February 20 in the Murray Room of the Yawkey Athletic Center, hosted and sponsored by the Clough Center; the Political Science Department and AV研究所 Law School are co-sponsors. Panels of distinguished scholars鈥攊ncluding AV研究所 Monan Professor of Law and Government Aziz Rana and O鈥橬eill Professor of American Politics R. Shep Melnick鈥攚ill examine Kersch鈥檚 work in four areas: American Conservatism; American Liberalism; Method in Law, History, and Political Science; and The Constitution Today.

The symposium will open with remarks by Clough Center Director Jonathan Laurence, a professor of political science, and Dennis J. Wieboldt III 鈥�22,聽 M.A.聽鈥�23, a former student of Kersch and Clough Center research fellow who is now a University of Notre Dame J.D./Ph.D. student in history. Political Science Chair and Professor Gerald Easter will be the closing speaker.

Kersch, who died in November of 2024, was a professor in the Political Science Department for 17 years.聽 He taught classes on American conservatism, political thought, constitutional development, and civil liberties and authored five books. His scholarly interests centered on the clash between conservative and liberal interpretations of the United States Constitution during the 20th century, in areas such as civil liberties, freedom of speech, separation of powers, and church-vs-state issues. Among other honors, he won the American Political Science Association鈥檚 2020 C. Herman Pritchett Award for the best book on law and courts.

From 2008-2012, Kersch served as director of the Clough Center, established through a donation by Gloria Clough M.Div. 鈥�90, M.S. 鈥�96 and Charles Clough 鈥�64, a University trustee associate. The center promotes interdisciplinary reflection on constitutional government in the United States and throughout the world. Under Kersch, the Clough Center welcomed distinguished scholar James Q. Wilson as a senior fellow, sponsored two undergraduates to participate in an international conference on NATO, and initiated a Junior Fellows Program for AV研究所 students with a strong interest in constitutional democracy.

鈥淚t is fitting that so many top scholars will convene in Ken鈥檚 honor at the center that he helped found,鈥� said Laurence. 鈥淗is work is so important to the field of constitutional law and his legacy is his intellectual influence at AV研究所 and beyond.鈥�

鈥淜en Kersch was a wonderful mentor and friend to me as a student at Boston College and remained so after I began the J.D./Ph.D. program in history at Notre Dame,鈥� said Wieboldt. 鈥淚n many ways, my research continues to be motivated by a desire to answer the questions about 20th-century American constitutionalism to which Ken introduced me as an undergraduate years ago.

鈥淲hile I and many others are certainly indebted to his academic work, Ken鈥檚 legacy will be even more profound because of the close attention that he paid to his students鈥� personal development. I last saw Ken during the summer before he passed away, and we characteristically spent at least as much time talking about my dissertation research as we did about my family, career aspirations, and how to maintain friendships in graduate school. He is sorely missed.鈥�

The February 20 symposium will coincide with the publication of a special issue of the Journal of American Constitutional History that engages with Kersch鈥檚 work in political science, history, and law. Its co-editors are Wieboldt and Mary Ziegler, the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at the University of California-Berkeley, who also is speaking at the symposium.

For the full list of speakers and other details, visit the symposium website.