This seminar will draw your attention to the Constitution and the limits it places upon government. The readings will focus on Madison and other Founding Fathers. This program will be conducted as a Socratic discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings (found here), and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a…

One of the great challenges facing students of the presidency today has been to reconcile the extraordinary powers of the executive with democracy. This seminar will examine the major questions and controversies about executive power under the Constitution including the war power, the treaty power, and the power to issue executive orders. Most importantly, we will discuss whether those powers as they are exercised today are consistent with the Founder’s original understanding of the role of the Presidency and democratic…

Study the role of religion in three major eras of reform in American history, starting with the impact of religious belief on the Founding Era. Students will also examine the changing role of religion as related to the temperance movement and friction between growing fundamentalism and seemingly competing ideas of science in the early 20th Century. Finally, participants will explore the role of religion in both ideas and organizations and the role they played in the post-WW2 Civil Rights movement.…