Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense," noted proponent of the American Revolution and relative of current student Jason Paine
Bellevue University students often talk of how the Kirkpatrick Signature Series altered their view of America, its traditions and its values. Students read the historical writings of, among others, Plato, Adam Smith, Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine.
Few students can say, however, that they’re related to one of these authors who shaped history. Jason Paine can. Paine is a student in the Computer Information Systems accelerated bachelor’s degree completion program. He’s currently finishing his coursework with the Kirkpatrick Signature Series, a requirement for all Bellevue University undergraduate students.
Jason Paine came across Thomas Paine in an assigned reading for class recently. Thomas Paine was an English intellectual and revolutionary best known for writing “Common Sense,” a widely-read 1776 pamphlet that called for America’s independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Jason has known of this connection for many years - he even inherited an original printing of “Common Sense” from his grandfather. Running across this distant relative still stops him in his tracks, though.
“If only I could figure out a way to make some money off royalties,” Jason joked.
For more information about the Kirkpatrick Signature Series, please visit Bellevue University’s Center for American Vision & Values Web site: http://www.americanvisionandvalues.org/
Filed under: Student News | Tagged: Center for American Vision & Values, Kirkpatrick Signature Series, Thomas Paine
