About the George Washington Forum

Our Mission

Civic Education, Civil Debate, Viewpoint Diversity

The Menard Family George Washington Forum explores philosophy, politics, history, and economics to understand how individuals, society, and institutions combine to foster human flourishing. It pursues its mission in at least three interconnected ways:

  • It inspires epistemic curiosity among Ohio University undergraduates through the study and debate of fundamental principles of a free society.
  • It encourages rigorous scholarship through themed conferences, public lectures, and publications.
  • It provides scholarship funding and study-away opportunities to Ohio University undergraduates interested in free societies and what makes them possible.

Founded in 2009, the Menard Family George Washington Forum has depended on the generous support of various individuals, organizations, and programs to enhance students’ education and facilitate public discourse. Thank you for your interest in the Forum, and we appreciate all who support our efforts.

Cort Rodet, PhD

Associate Professor of Economics

Director, The Menard Family George Washington Forum

GWF Staff

Portrait of Cort Rodet, Director

Cort Rodet, Director

Cort Rodet is an economist at Ohio University, where he teaches economics and statistics. He completed his Ph.D. at the Florida State University, specializing in experimental economics, behavioral economics, and political economy. Following his graduate studies, he was a Research Economist at the Economic Science Institute at Chapman University in Orange, CA. His research and teaching revolve around institutions and their impact on a well-functioning society, accountability within political and commercial institutions, psychological motivations of political engagement, and the economics of innovation and creativity.

Portrait of Andrew Wilkins, GWF Postdoctoral Scholar in History

Andrew Wilkins, GWF Postdoctoral Scholar in History

Andrew Wilkins is the George Washington Forum’s Postdoctoral Scholar in History. He specializes in British and Irish Economic History, then history of Political Economy, the emergence of social, economic, and political modernity, empire, industrialization, the Enlightenment, and the Anthropocene. He holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA from the University of Chicago.

Portrait of Cameron Dunbar, Program Coordinator

Cameron Dunbar, Program Coordinator

Cameron Dunbar is the George Washington Forum’s Program Coordinator. He specializes in British political and diplomatic history, with a focus on Britain’s relationship with European integration and the European Communities in the second half of the twentieth century. He holds a PhD in History from Ohio University, where he is also the Events Coordinator for the Contemporary History Institute.

 

Faculty Associates

  • Portrait of Brian Schoen

    Brian Schoen

    Brian Schoen is Associate Professor of History and the James Richard Hamilton/Baker and Hostetler Professor of the Charles J. Ping Institute for Teaching of the Humanities.

  • Portrait of Richard Vedder

    Richard Vedder

    Richard Vedder is Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus.