What does it mean to be an American citizen, and what responsibilities does self-government place upon citizens and their leaders? This weekend professional development seminar explores these questions through some of the most consequential civic speeches in American history. From Patrick Henry’s call for liberty and George Washington’s warnings about the preservation of republican government to Frederick Douglass’s indictment of slavery, Abraham Lincoln’s reflections on equality and Union, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civic courage and sacrifice, participants will examine how Americans have used public speech to define and continually debate the nation’s highest principles.
Drawing upon an American Civic Canon that also includes Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Barbara Jordan, and Ronald Reagan, teachers will consider recurring questions about natural rights, equality, citizenship, constitutional government, political disagreement, civic responsibility, and the rule of law. Particular attention will be given to the ways later speakers invoked, challenged, and reinterpreted the language of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and earlier generations of American statesmen.
Scholars and master teachers will help participants examine the rhetoric of American civic life and the ways great speeches both reflected their historical moments and shaped public memory. Educators from Ford’s Theatre will explore Lincoln, oratory, and strategies for bringing historic speeches alive in the classroom.
A field study at the historic Union League of Philadelphia will connect these themes to the Civil War, Unionism, citizenship, and the continuing American debate over the obligations of a free people. Participants will leave with primary sources and approaches for using great speeches to make civic questions immediate and meaningful for students.
Speaker:
Sara A. M. Mehltretter, PhD
Dr. Sara A. M. Mehltretter is Professor of Rhetoric at Wabash College, where she has taught since 2011. Her scholarship examines the character and quality of American public discourse, with particular interests in democratic deliberation, presidential rhetoric, political communication, national-security rhetoric, religion, argumentation, and civic engagement. In 2026, she is also serving as Scholar in Residence for Public Discourse Strategy at Campus Compact, where her work focuses on strengthening public discourse initiatives in higher education.
Mehltretter earned her BA from Boston College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and her MA and PhD from Pennsylvania State University.
In 2014, Mehltretter founded Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse, an interdisciplinary initiative that trains students in dialogue, deliberation, and the facilitation of public conversations. Her scholarship similarly explores how rhetoric and deliberative practices can strengthen democratic citizenship and help communities address difficult public questions. She has published more than twenty scholarly articles and book chapters and co-edited Rhetoric, Politics, and Hamilton: An American Musical which examines the musical through the lenses of public memory, identity, and democratic change.
Her recent scholarship includes work on political campaigns and democratic deliberation and on the historic Kennedy-Nixon debates. The latter received the 2023 Daniel Rohrer American Forensic Association Award for Outstanding Research. Earlier honors include the Carroll C. Arnold Award for Scholarly Excellence from Penn State and recognition as one of NerdScholar’s “40 Under 40: Professors Who Inspire.” Her research and civic-engagement work have received support from organizations including the National Science Foundation, Indiana Humanities, and the Kettering Foundation.
The three- and four-day seminar includes historic interpreters, a content-lecture from a scholarly expert, a faculty-led discussion of relevant primary sources, and an appropriate field study of historic sites, archives, and museums.
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