Date & Time
Please note, applications have closed for this seminar. Participants will discover the causes, ideology, and outcome of the Philadelphia Convention that produced the U.S. Constitution. They will explore the radical democracy in the states after the Revolutionary War and the economic crisis caused by radical democracy and interstate competition. They will examine the prevailing Enlightenment and Christian understanding of human nature, its tendency towards malevolence, and why it is central to the structure of the Constitution. Federal institutions check on state institutions and other branches within the federal structure. Participants will investigate the Founders’ understanding of the need for multiple levels of government, local volunteerism, individual liberty, and personal agency.
Participants will investigate the logic of the compromises and the establishment of branches of government. They will see the necessity for vibrant independent debate and deliberation in the Houses of Congress. Then, participants will explore the necessity of only a few enumerated powers granted to the Federal government and the few powers denied to the states. From the beginning, the compromises in this text supplied the structure for America’s success in focusing diversity and difference into negotiation, deliberation, and accommodation. We will explore the history of compromises that have held the nation together. From the founding to today, compromise begets compromise. We will explore whether a renewed comprehension of and appreciation for those original, critical compromises can help us navigate our apparent disunity today.
This seminar will feature four extraordinary scholars of the Constitution. Dr. William Allen recently published a new English translation and critical edition of Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws, one of the most important antecedent texts to the Constitution. Yuval Levin has written beautifully in American Covenant about the unifying power of the Constitution. John Yoo of Berkley Law has served in the Office of White House Counsel and written extensively on executive power from George Washington to Donald Trump. Finally, Stefanie Lindquist is Nickerson Dean of Washington University in St. Louis School of Law whose research includes the federal judiciary and judicial activism.
Due to the Independence Day holiday weekend, this will be a shortened five-day program. Participating teachers will have the opportunity to visit Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, the National Liberty Museum, and the American Philosophical Society on the final day of the program.
Thanks to a generous donor, Founding Forward will provide a $150 stipend to every accepted teacher to help offset expenses related to attending a summer professional development seminar, workshop, or summer in 2025. Upon completion of the program, teachers will receive a $150 check to help cover travel, childcare, or any other expenses they might incur.
Accepted teachers receive a scholarship to attend the program, which covers the cost of the program, hotel room, program materials, site visits, most meals, and more.
Graduate credit will be offered by La Salle University. Pennsylvania teachers will receive Act 48 credit for this seminar.
Dr. William Allen, Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy
University of Michigan
Dr. William Allen’s latest book is a critical edition of Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws with a brand-new translation and commentary, making this seminal work more accessible for the modern reader. His scholarship focuses on the founding era, including the founders (George Washington), the US Constitution, race and politics, citizenship, Machiavelli, and nearly any other topic. Prior to being dean of James Madison College at Michigan State University, Allen also taught at Harvey Mudd College and Claremont Graduate University. He also held academic appointments at Princeton, Villanova, University of Colorado-Boulder, and American University. The 2024 recipient of the Bradley Prize, Professor Allen was both a Kellogg National Fellow and a Fulbright Advanced Teaching Fellow. In 1986 he received the international Prix Montesquieu from the Académie Montesquie. He was appointed Chairmen of the US Commission on Civil Rights by President Ronald Reagan, served on National Council of the Humanities, and a trustee of the Hoover Institution among many such appointments.
Dr. Yuval Levin, Senior Fellow; Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies
American Enterprise Institute
The founder and editor of National Affairs, Dr. Yuval Levin is also a senior editor at The New Atlantis, a contributing editor at National Review, and a contributing opinion writer at New York Times. At AEI, Dr. Levin studies the foundations of self-government and the future of law, regulation, and constitutionalism. They also explore the state of American social, political, and civic life, focusing on the preconditions necessary for family, community, and country to flourish. Dr. Levin served as a member of the White House domestic policy staff under President George W. Bush. He was also executive director of the President’s Council on Bioethics and a congressional staffer at the member, committee, and leadership levels. In addition to being interviewed frequently on radio and television, Dr. Levin has published essays and articles in numerous publications, including Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Commentary. He is the author of several books on political theory and public policy, most recently American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation – and Could Again (Basic Books, 2024). He holds an MA and PhD from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.
John Yoo, Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law
UC Berkley Law
In addition to his 30+ years at the Berkeley Law School, John Yoo is currently Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Civic Leadership, University of Texas at Austin. His most recent book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court, co-authored with Robert Delahunty, was published in 2023. Professor Yoo’s other books include Defender-in-Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power; Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War, Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare, and Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George Bush. Professor Yoo has published more than 100 articles in academic journals on subjects including national security, constitutional law, international law, and the Supreme Court.
Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government. He was an official in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism issues after the 9/11 attacks. He served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and federal appeals Judge Laurence Silberman. Yoo is also the star of the podcast Law Talk with NYU Law professor Richard Epstein.
Professor Yoo graduated from Yale Law School and summa cum laude from Harvard College.
Dr. Stefanie Lindquist, Nickerson Dean and Professor of Law
Washington University School of Law
Known for her expertise in judicial behavior, Dean Lindquist has co-authored three books and has authored dozens of published articles and book chapters. Her book, “Measuring Judicial Activism,” is the first publication to quantitatively define the oft-used term. With a JD from Temple University (where she was editor-in-chief of the Law Review) and a PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of South Carolina, Dean Lindquist is respected for both her scholarship and her teaching. Prior to become Dean at WashULaw, Professor Lindquist had several posts at Arizona State University including senior vice president of global initiatives. It was at the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law that she held the Foundations Professor of Law and Political Science. She was awarded the Robert Birkby Award for Excellence in Teaching Political Science during her tenure at Vanderbilt while at the University of Georgia she was names professor of the year.
Typically scheduled from Sunday through Friday in the summer, Founding Forward’s 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.
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