The Hutton House Lectures: Where Town Meets Gown

 (One in an occasional series)

For someone so well versed in the violence of human conflict, Professor Ralph Buultjens can sound remarkably even-tempered, almost low key, as he takes the long view during his packed Hutton House Lectures on the forces shaping our world.

Born in Sri Lanka to Dutch parents, Buultjens still speaks with a faint accent as he takes a soft-spoken approach to what he calls our history’s “explosive tendencies.” Whether he’s discussing if the 21^st century will repeat the bloodbaths of the 20^th or if the rapid evolution of technology will produce a modern-day Frankenstein monster that will unplug democracy, he never seems to raise his voice in anger or let his remarks drip with cynicism, let alone despair.

But no matter what the topic, this esteemed political scientist’s sharp intellect and keen understanding are always on display, and his quick wit comes with a fine-tuned edge that delights his audience as they hang on his every word. They readily appreciate his vast store of knowledge that he’s been generously imparting at LIU Post for almost 20 years. Buultjens’ morning and afternoon classes immediately sell out when registration opens for the session because attendance is limited to 100 people at Lorber Hall, while his special event talks routinely fill the 200 seats at Humanities Hall Room 119 on the main campus; he’s the only Hutton House lecturer to pack that venue.

“He’s a big draw for people who like politics,” said Dr. Kay Hutchins Sato, assistant provost and Director of Hutton House Lectures, which has been a staple at LIU Post for several decades. “Part of the reason, I believe, is that he uses his liberal arts background to put what’s happening in the world today into a historical perspective—so much so that people go away saying, ‘Aha!’”

For long-time friends Sylvia Sirlin and Sandra Glickman, both retired, driving from Melville to listen to Professor Buultjens in person is worth putting up with Long Island traffic—they’ve been coming for about six years.

“He’s just so knowledgeable, and he shares his knowledge so well,” said Glickman, who got her Master’s degree in education at LIU Post and went on to teach in Suffolk County public schools. Sirlin, who went to Columbia Business School and worked in Manhattan, said that she especially appreciates “not only what he talks about—and informs us about—but also the way he brings us into the topic. He’s just a delight.”

LIU can’t claim Professor Buultjens outright because he’s been a long-time senior faculty member of New York University. Before that, he taught at Cambridge University, where he was a professorial fellow. He’s written books on global politics and history, been a media commentator on foreign affairs, and won the Toynbee Prize for Social Sciences, named after the famous British historian Arnold J. Toynbee, whose other noteworthy recipients include George Kennan, Lord Kenneth Clark, Jean-Paul Sartre and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., to name a few. He’s personally known the Shah of Iran and the prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, with whom he had “an intellectual and philosophical relationship,” according to India Today magazine. In person he’s far from aloof; he’s very approachable—no ivory tower for him—just don’t ask him about himself because he’d much rather discuss the issues of the day.

In his lecture called “Politics & the Future: The World of Tomorrow,” he recounted how three times in the 20^th century global leaders laid out ambitious plans for peace and prosperity, only to see them fail catastrophically. So, Professor Buultjens addressed his class, should we continue to strive for something better or surrender to the inevitable? The answer, he concluded, is that just as our forebears struggled to survive, we must continue their fight for what’s right, because without those who went before us, where we would be now? And just as importantly, he asked rhetorically, what kind of world will we leave for those who come after us?

“The most important features in world politics are the contests for world leadership—and this has gone on for a long time,” he said at his lecture about China, which, he noted, “should be the central concern of American foreign policy.” As Buultjens bluntly put it: “They have trillions—we are broke—and we borrow from them.” His listeners murmured in agreement.

China is not only the number one trading and manufacturing country on Earth, the professor noted, it also boasts the largest number of middle class people in the world. Now the Chinese leaders are trying to regain their domination of the past when their country was the most advanced civilization on the planet but through trade, not war. “So far,” he said, “its formula for success has worked.”

Looking at the adults seated before him in Lorber Hall on a hot summer day, he said, “Nobody’s bubble lasts forever.” But, he added, “some last longer than others.” As for the United States, Buultjens observed, “Our greatest opponent today is ourselves.”

For more information about all the Hutton House Lectures at Lorber Hall, call 516-299-2580 or click here. 

All of the doctoral students in the LIU Post Clinical Psychology PsyD program got their choices for their year-long clinical internships that start this July and in September.

“I am so pleased to say that 100 percent of our students matched,” said Dr. Camilo Ortiz, co-director of clinical training at LIU Post. “This compares very well against national averages.”

He added that the acceptance rate is particularly impressive given the competition for placements at these institutions which rank among the most prestigious teaching hospitals in the country.

“This area is challenging because even though there are many hospitals, there are so many students competing for these placements,” said Dr. Ortiz.

LIU Post’s approach sets its fully accredited Clinical Psychology doctoral program apart.

“We’re actually a dual-orientation program so all of our students get training in cognitive behavioral therapy and in psychodynamic therapy, which are the two major schools of psychotherapy,” Dr. Ortiz explained. “I don’t think there’s another program in the country like that.” It also offers areas of concentration, such as Serious Mental Illness and Interventions with High Risk Families, that offer PsyD students the chance to pursue special areas of expertise.

Congratulations to all the LIU Post PsyD students who matched at these internship sites:

Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Col.

Adult Psychology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Zucker-Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y.

General Internship, Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, Bay Pines, Fla.

General Internship, MercyFirst, Syosset, N.Y.

General Internship, North Bronx Healthcare Network, Bronx, N.Y.

Psychology Internship, Malcolm Grow Medical Clinics and Surgery Center, USAF, Joint Base, Andrews, Md.

Psychology Internship, Rutgers Biomedical & Health Sciences, Newark, N.J.

Child and Adolescent Psychology Track, Mt. Sinai Services, Elmhurst Hospital, Elmhurst, N.Y.

Psychology Internship, Rutgers Student Health, CAPS, New Brunswick, N.J.

Adult Psychology, Albert Einstein College, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y.

Psychology Internship, Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center, Bronx, N.Y.

Severe Mental Illness, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Ariz.

Psychology Internship, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Penn.

Adult Psychology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Zucker-Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, N.Y.

PTSD/Mental Health, Phoenix VA Health Care System, Phoenix, Ariz.

Psychology Internship, SUNY Stony Brook Counseling Center, Stony Brook, N.Y.

Psychology Internship, Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Elizabeth, N.J.

Psychology Internship, University of North Florida Counseling Center, Jacksonville, Fla.

Just past the halfway mark of the calendar year, 2018 has been eventful for LIU across the board, including: playing in NCAA Tournaments, hosting former Vice President Joe Biden, presenting the prestigious Polk awards in journalism, making breakthroughs in research, receiving many awards and accolades, and adding several new, internationally renowned faculty members.

But one ongoing undertaking may attract more attention to the University than any of the achievements above, albeit unbeknown to most viewers.

Three times in as many months, the LIU Post campus has set the scene for prominent actors making movie and television productions.

In May, Sean Hayes, best known for his starring role in Will and Grace, filmed portions of his new movie in Hillwood Commons and the Interprofessional Simulation Center. Just weeks later, popular Netflix show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, starring Ellie Kemper, shot key scenes on the Great Lawn and at Humanities Hall. Most recently, comedian Pete Holmes staged sequences for his hit HBO show Crashing in the campus gardens in June.

The cameras began rolling in 2013 when location scouts for The Rewrite, a romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant, Marissa Tomei and J.K. Simmons, visited LIU Post campus. The plot focused on a former Hollywood screenwriter turned discontented adjunct college professor (Grant) who falls for a single mother going back to school, so the enchanting university grounds were ideal.

Since then, LIU Post’s production credits include: The Blacklist with James Spader; Madam Secretary with Tea Leoni, Tim Daily and Bebe Neuwirth; Blindspot with Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton; The Following, featuring Kevin Bacon; Instinct with Allan Cumming; and Royal Pains with Henry Winkler, Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, Hal Linden and Gary Cole.

With its unique combination of historic Gold Coast buildings from Long Island’s fabled past, modern classrooms, lushly landscaped gardens, the equestrian center and riding trails, a state-of-the-art recreational center, open fields and wooded areas, LIU Post offers directors and producers an abundance of options for shooting. The 329-acre, self-contained campus less than an hour from Manhattan provides plenty of staging opportunities – not to mention an ample supply of available extras.

“Most of our buildings are adaptable for filming,” said Dr. Rita Langdon, Executive Director of Campus Operations, Strategic Partnerships and Admissions at LIU Post. “We work with producers and directors to transform the facades and interiors of LIU Post’s iconic buildings and landscapes into compelling scenes for TV shows, movies and social media outlets.” Dr. Langdon, who also serves as an adjunct professor in the Communications and Film Department, added that many of the film sets are creatively constructed. For example, Pell Hall was converted to a hospital, Hillwood Commons was transformed into a bus terminal, and the Alumni and Employer Engagement building served as the exterior of the White House.

Since 2013, the LIU Post Film and Entertainment Division has been working with location scouts to bring movies and television shows to the Brookville campus. In many cases, LIU Post students become actively involved: acting and musical theater majors serve as extras, film majors work as production assistants, and journalism and photography students produce stories and visuals for social media and news outlets.

Still active in the Film and Entertainment Division, Langdon founded the program along with LIU Post’s Conference Services director Theresa Duggan and associate director Jennifer Silvero-Lopez.

As anyone can plainly see, visits from big name movie and television stars are par for the course at LIU. But no matter who appears on screen, for us LIU Post always steals the show. So stay tuned because another season is about to begin.

At LIU Post, Greek Life often represents the heart of the campus. Nine of the nation’s largest fraternities and sororities call LIU Post home. Almost 300 students are active members.

Registration for Fall 2018 Greek Recruitment opens Friday, July 20, at LIU Post.

Starting this year, Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) will become the fifth sorority at Post, joining Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Zelta and Sigma Delta Tau. The fraternities here are Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Chi, Phi Sigma Kappa and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

The fraternities and sororities don’t have their own houses at LIU Post. Students can apply to live in the South Residence Complex, where most of the Greek organizations’ members commonly reside.

As LIU’s Associate Director of Campus Life Joseph Vernace has stated, hazing is not permitted. “We take a lot of preventative measures when it comes to reducing the risk of hazing environments,” he said recently.

Like the other Greek chapters at LIU Post, applicants to KKG must have a 2.5 cumulative grade average at least. They must be enrolled full time, taking at least 12 credits every semester.

All LIU Post Greek organizations fall under the jurisdiction of the Greek Advisory Board, which is part of the LIU Promise office in Hillwood Commons, Room 270. For questions, contact LIU Promise at LIUPromise@liu.edu or call 516-299-3737.

For more information about recruitment registration, go to www.liu.edu/post/greek