Legal scholar Noah Feldman to give keynote address at Connecticut College Commencement

Harvard University law professor and author Noah Feldman will give the keynote address at the 96th Commencement. Photo by Nina Subin.
Harvard University law professor and author Noah Feldman will give the keynote address at the 96th Commencement. Photo by Nina Subin.

Harvard University law professor and author Noah Feldman will give the keynote address at Connecticut College’s 96th Commencement on Sunday, May 18.

Feldman is the Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School. He brings to Commencement considerable expertise on matters relating to religion and politics, both foreign and domestic.

A former Rhodes Scholar, Feldman earned his doctorate in Islamic thought from Oxford University. In 2003, he was a senior constitutional adviser to the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority, working with members to draft Iraq’s interim constitution in 2003 following the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein.  Feldman is currently a senior adjunct fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and he is a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine and Bloomberg View.

Feldman has published several books on international issues, including “Cool War: The Future of Global Competition,” “The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State” and “What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Building a Nation.”

Domestically, Feldman has written extensively on constitutional conflicts between politics and religion, including his coverage of the Supreme Court’s consideration of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby. The case challenges the provision of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, requiring companies with more than 50 employees to cover health care costs of female contraception for workers.

Feldman has personal ties to Connecticut College. His brother, Simon Feldman, is associate professor of philosophy at the college. Feldman was recommended as speaker by a committee that includes students, faculty and staff. He will be awarded an honorary degree during the ceremony.

In other Commencement ceremony highlights, Connecticut College will award College medals to former Trustee Lynda B. Munro ’76 P’08 and President Emeritus Leo I. Higdon, Jr. Kolton Harris ’14, an English major from Groton, Conn., will deliver a speech on behalf of the graduating class.

The Commencement procession will begin at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony will follow on the Tempel Green at 11 a.m.



May 12, 2014