The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies will host a book talk and signing by Dr. Kate Scott, Assistant Historian with the United States Senate on Thursday, Nov. 7 from 7 – 9 p.m. Scott will discuss her most recent publication, Reining in the State: Civil Society and Congress in the Vietnam and Watergate Eras.

Kate Scott is an assistant historian with the U.S. Senate and an adjunct professor of history at Cornell University. She received a doctorate in U.S. history from Temple University. At the Senate she has developed documentary histories of Senate committees and notable investigations. She leads the Senate’s Oral History Project, conducting interviews with former staff about topics ranging from congressional oversight to the evolving role of women in the Senate.

In this talk, Scott will explore how the tragedies of Vietnam and Watergate during the 1960s and 70s emboldened the media, public interest groups, and their allies in Congress to challenge state power. These unheralded reformers, she will suggest, turned public opposition to domestic surveillance programs into congressional support for landmark legislation, including the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Scott’s talk is a must see event for anyone interested in the current debates over the National Security Agency’s surveillance and data collection policies.

The event will take place in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies auditorium at 213 N. King St. on the campus of Shepherd University. A book signing and reception with light refreshments will follow the talk. Admission is free and open to the public.

For more information on this event, please contact Mr. Jody Brumage at 304-876-5702 or jbrumage@shepherd.edu