History Has Its Eyes on You

The American political landscape of the 2000s has been marked by unprecedented events that hearken back to the transformative spirit of the nation’s founding. Much like the tumultuous period of 1776, when the future of a fledgling nation was in flux, the 2000s saw profound shifts with the election of the first Black president, Barack Obama, and the election of Donald Trump, whose initial tenure reshaped the political landscape and culminated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021. In this charged environment, the sentiment of the Broadway show song “History Has Its Eyes on You” from Hamilton resonates strongly, capturing the gravity of a moment where the stakes are high. Alison Leland and Christine LeVeaux-Haley will examine with us the nation’s foundational texts and historical contexts as we aim to uncover how the principles and compromises of the past continue to influence contemporary issues and debates.

Alison Leland is an instructor in political science and the director of the Honors Pre-Law and Public Service program at the University of Houston’s Honors College. She is a graduate of Spelman College and the Georgetown University Law Center. Ms. Leland is a trustee of the Menil Collection and is a board member of the Texas Defenders Service, which provides representation to indigent death row inmates, and the Mickey Leland Kibbutzim Internship Foundation, which sends high school students to Israel.

Christine LeVeaux-Haley is a political science professor in the Honors College of the University of Houston. She is a graduate of Spelman College and earned her PhD at Louisiana State University. Her teaching and research interests include legislative politics, Black politics, and political behavior. Professor LeVeaux-Haley has published in scholarly journals and appeared frequently as a political commentator on television. She sang throughout college and is known to break into song in her lectures because “music makes everything better.”