Date & Time
This program is full and is no longer accepting applications. This weeklong professional development seminar provides new and emerging teachers an immersive opportunity to strengthen both their historical understanding and their teaching practice around one of the most pivotal moments in U.S. history—the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence. Taking place in Philadelphia during the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the seminar situates participants at the very heart of where independence was debated and declared, this seminar will be hosted at the Union League of Philadelphia’s historic downtown location. With the city alive with commemorations, exhibits, and public events, participants will not only study the history of where it happened but also experience Philadelphia at the center of the nation’s anniversary.
Throughout the week, educators will engage with leading historians, archivists, and master teachers who will not only deliver content but also work closely alongside new teachers in small-group workshops and mentoring sessions. Together they will explore the Revolution’s complex causes, the drafting of the Declaration, and the global consequences of American independence. The program is intentionally content-rich, combining in-depth analyses into primary sources with hands-on workshops that emphasize how to translate scholarship into classroom-ready lessons. A strong focus will be placed on integrating diverse voices into Revolutionary narratives, including those of women, enslaved and free African Americans, and Loyalists whose stories often remain at the margins of traditional curricula.
Beyond lectures and discussions, participants will step into history through field experiences at sites such as Independence Hall, the Museum of the American Revolution, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the American Philosophical Society. These excursions offer both rich historical context and powerful models of place-based learning and student engagement.
By the close of the seminar, participants will leave with a portfolio of inquiry-driven lesson plans, strategies for cultivating critical thinking in their students, and a supportive professional network. Ultimately, this seminar guides new educators to approach the Revolution as both a defining moment in history and a living legacy that continues to shape—and be explored within—today’s classrooms.
Please note: For the field study day, participants should be prepared to walk significant distances, including up to one mile at a time, as part of the program. Some historic sites and other locations included in the itinerary may not be fully ADA compliant due to the age of the buildings and may lack elevators or other accessibility features.
Speaker:
Jane E. Calvert
As founding director and chief editor of the John Dickinson Writings Project, Jane E. Calvert is collecting, transcribing, editing, and publishing the complete writings of American Founder John Dickinson. Dickinson played a pivotal role in our Nation’s founding, from the Stamp Act to ratifying the Constitution, but his contributions are largely forgotten by history, but not anymore. Calvert is also the author of Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson, the first complete biography of Dickinson, which won the James Kirby Martin History Prize and is a finalist for the Herbert J. Storing Prize and the George Washington Book Prize. She received her PhD from the University of Chicago in 2003. Before becoming Associate Professor of History at the University of Kentucky, she taught five years at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Her area of expertise is the American colonial and Founding eras, specifically the intersection of theology and political thought, exemplified by her first book, Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson.
Joseph Loconte
Joseph Loconte, PhD, Director of the Rivendell Center in New York City, is a Presidential Scholar at New College of Florida and the C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at Grove City College. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at Founding Forward, Sagamore Institute, and the Trinity Forum. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War and his follow up, The War for Middle Earth: JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933 – 1945 is out now. Mr. Loconte was an Associate Professor of History at the King’s College in New York City and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. Mr. Loconte’s commentary on religion and public life appears in the nation’s leading journals and newspapers, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Affairs, the New Criterion, and National Review. For 10 years he served as a commentator for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Dr. Loconte’s other books include: God, Locke, and Liberty: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in the West and The Searchers: A Quest for Faith in the Valley of Doubt.
Emily Sneff
A leading expert on the United States Declaration of Independence, Emily Sneff’s forthcoming book When the Declaration of Independence was News, will be published in 2026. It traces the dissemination of the Declaration of Independence through the United States and around the Atlantic in the summer and fall of 1776. She is also currently a consulting curator for exhibitions planned for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration at the Museum of the American Revolution and the American Philosophical Society. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in History from William & Mary. Before graduate school, she was the Research Manager of the Declaration Resources Project at Harvard University where she helped make the international news with Professor Danielle Allen by discovering only the second known manuscript copy of the Declaration of Independence on parchment in West Sussex, England.
Typically scheduled from Sunday through Friday in the summer, Founding Forward’s week-long teacher seminars are hosted at Union League Liberty Hill a 300+ acre private conference center and golf course in suburban Philadelphia. Each seminar has a single theme and consists of content-focused talks by highly regarded scholars (morning and afternoon) interspersed each day with activation sessions featuring either lesson demonstrations from master teachers and presentation from resource providers like Retro Report or Periodic Presidents. Finally, each seminar includes an out-of-classroom field study to historic sites, archives, and museums.
Founding Forward’s work and mission is made possible through voluntary contributions. We need your support to ensure a future rooted in liberty. Please join our efforts to uphold our democratic system of government with your tax-deductible contribution.
