On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol was stormed by a mob of angry Donald Trump supporters. This insurgence was the most violent attack on the Capitol in centuries.Two months later, the repercussions of January 6 linger as we try to understand what led to such a dangerous and unsettling episode.This panel includes Carleton Professors James Deaville (Music), Melissa Haussman (Political Science), Andrew M. Johnston (History), and journalist and Adjunct Professor Adrian Harewood. Each panellist will examine the events of January 6 from their unique disciplinary perspective and consider what the assault might mean for the United States and Canada in the future.
Melissa Haussman is a Professor of Political Science and has written about comparative federalism and women’s sexual and reproductive health rights. She will discuss the increasing polarization in the House and Senate, especially since the Gingrich years—there have been changes in both parties based on regional shifts.
James Deaville (organizer) teaches music in the School for Studies in Art and Culture and has published and blogged about music at the 2012 and 2016 Democratic and Republican party conventions. Based on a montage of scenes from 1/6 he will present the soundscape of the riot and discuss what it tells us about the participants.
Adrian Harewood is a CBC radio and television journalist, currently co-hosting CBC Ottawa’s weekday news. He has studied political science and history at McGill and Carleton, and is also an Adjunct Professor at Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication. He will look at the challenges facing U.S. media in the context of the country’s political polarization before and after January 6.
Andrew M. Johnston teaches modern U.S. history and international relations history at Carleton. He’ll look at January 6 through the long history of mass political insurrections in U.S. history, as well as how the world has interpreted the riot as evidence of peculiar characteristics of American history.
Image Credit: Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0), via Flickr. By Blinkofaneye.