Tune in to watch this exciting debate live at http://live.freedomworks.org ! 

Join the Fordham University College Democrats and Republicans as we host a debate between Professor Mark Naison and FreedomWorks Director of Production and FOX News alumnus Austin Petersen on the future of the conservative movement in the United States on Thursday, December 6th, in the Campbell Multi-Purpose Room.

The Future of Conservatism in the United States: A Debate

Mark Naison, Department of History, Fordham University vs. Austin Petersen, Director of Production, "FreedomWorks"

Moderator: Christopher Dietrich, Department of History, Fordham University

Austin Petersen is the new Director of Production at "FreedomWorks", as well as the Executive Producer/CEO of Stonegait Pictures, LLC., a for-profit consulting firm that provides high end video and photography as well as consulting services for a wide range of clients. 

Formerly an Associate Producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano's show, "Freedom Watch" on the Fox Business Network. Petersen built Judge Napolitano's social networks and manages them boasting over 200,000 fans and millions of clicks a month. 

Petersen grew up on a farm in the Midwest of the United States in a town called Peculiar, Missouri. Graduating from Missouri State University with a degree in the Fine Arts, Petersen moved to New York City after graduation to a pursue a career in media. After three years of working in the entertainment business, Austin became engaged in politics during the 2008 Presidential election cycle and moved to Washington DC to accept a job at the Libertarian National Committee.

Petersen pursued limited government solutions to national problems by fielding candidates for public office working for the Libertarian National Committee for a year. With a focus on building grassroots movements nationally, Austin used his previous experience in the entertainment business to produce activism politically in support of Presidential Candidate Ron Paul. Through social media and a newly developed internship program, he effectively doubled the size and scope of the activism portion of the Libertarian Party from 2008-2009 even serving on the Presidential campaign for Bob Barr, former House Representative from the State of Georgia. 

After a successful run in third party politics, he was asked to join the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in 2009 as the New Media Program Manager and Video Producer. Atlas is a free market think tank whose purpose is to facilitate the spread of libertarian ideas by supporting other think tanks all around the world. At Atlas, Austin built a high definition video and photo production studio, produced several video and photoshoots, ran campaign operations, and helped coordinate events. After his time with Atlas he joined the Fox Business Network in 2010 and returned to New York City to work at Fox. After an excellent two year run, Freedomwatch was cancelled and Austin returned to Washington DC to continue the fight for limited government.

Mark Naison is a Professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University and Director of Fordham's Urban Studies Program. He is the author of three books and over 100 articles on African-American History, urban history, and the history of sports. His most recent book White Boy: A Memoir, published in the Spring of 2002, was reviewed in the New York Times, the Nation and the Chronicle of Higher Education and was the subject of feature stories on Black Entertainment Television, New York One News and the Tavis Smiley show on National Public Radio. One of his most popular courses at Fordham, “From Rock and Roll to Hip Hop: Urban Youth Cultures in Post War America" has also received media attention, becoming the subject of stories on National Public Radio, Bronx Net, and WFUV. His most recent course, “Feeling the Funk: Research Seminar on Music of the African Diaspora" focuses on Latin and Caribbean traditions on American Popular Music.

The Bronx African-American History Project, Dr Naison's most recent venture, was launched collaboratively with the Bronx Historical Society in the Fall of 2002 ( see Project websitewww.fordham.edu/baahp). Since that time, Dr Naison has conducted over one hundred and fifty interviews with African-American professionals, community activists, business leaders and musicians who grew up in Bronx between the 1930's and the 1980's.