One course, two weeks, lessons for life
You wouldn’t know by the spirited discussion in crowded Starr Auditorium that it was a late Friday morning in January, the period between academic semesters, a time when students traditionally leave the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) campus to visit family and friends. The students who chose to remain in Cambridge over the winter break to squeeze in another course prior to the start of the spring semester were focused on what Gary Orren, V.O. Key Jr. Professor of Politics and Leadership, argued was “one of the most important 15 minutes in U.S. history most Americans know nothing about.” Orren was referring to Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s inspirational “sermon” given to approximately 120 mutinous soldiers from the 20th Maine regiment moments before heading into the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. As Orren explained, Chamberlain’s speech had a significant impact on the battle, and was a case study of persuasion worthy of emulation by students...