This immersive four-day teacher professional development seminar will deepen educators’ understanding of the Roman Republic’s rise, fall, and transformation into an empire, as well as its enduring influence on the American Founders. This engaging program explores these themes through the lens of William Shakespeare’s plays Coriolanus and Julius Caesar, alongside Plutarch’s Lives, and the writings of Cicero, creating an interdisciplinary approach to history, literature, and political philosophy.
Led by political philosopher Dr. Joseph Fornieri, participants will attend engaging lectures on Roman politics, philosophy, and Shakespeare’s portrayals of republican ideals. Together we will uncover Shakespeare’s portrayal of civic duty, leadership, and societal tensions. Plutarch’s Lives will provide historical context, illuminating the lives of key figures like Caesar and Coriolanus, while Cicero’s works will highlight republican virtues and their relevance to modern governance. The program traces the Roman Republic’s evolution, its shift to imperial rule, and how its principles shaped the American founders’ vision of liberty, governance, and civic duty.
For this seminar, Founding Forward is partnering with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and its education team. Not only will they provide unique insights into Shakespeare’s plays, but they will also examine his interest in history generally and Rome specifically. Finally, they will provide a deeper understanding of how Shakespeare reflected the anxieties of Elizabethans in Tudor England when he explored Rome’s power and politics.
Teachers will participate in a field study at the University of Pennsylvania, exploring the Furness Shakespeare Library, including its 1623 Shakespeare First Folio, as well as the Penn Museum’s Roman Collection.
Speaker:
Joseph Fornieri, PhD
Dr. Joseph R. Fornieri is Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Director of RIT’s Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty, a nonpartisan center devoted to the study of statesmanship, constitutionalism, political leadership, and responsible citizenship. He earned his BA from SUNY Geneseo, MA from Boston College, and PhD from The Catholic University of America.
A scholar of American political thought, Fornieri is particularly recognized for his work on Abraham Lincoln, statesmanship, and the First Amendment. His books include Abraham Lincoln’s Political Faith; The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln; Lincoln’s American Dream: Clashing Political Perspectives; and more. He is currently working on a biography of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
Fornieri has received numerous academic and teaching honors. He was a Fulbright Lecturer at Charles University in Prague in 2009 and has twice received RIT’s Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching, as well as the Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. His Abraham Lincoln, Philosopher Statesman received the Superior Scholarship Award from the Illinois State Historical Society in 2015. He also serves as a Founding Forward Senior Fellow, and was a senior fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute and an academic advisor to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
A former high school teacher, Fornieri maintains a strong commitment to civic education and teacher professional development, connecting his scholarship on political thought and statesmanship with secondary and collegiate teaching.
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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