Course Description

Each of the Montpelier Weekend Seminars encompass a consistent core of knowledge about the principles of American constitutionalism — popular sovereignty, fundamental law, good government, full citizenship, and human liberty. They also highlight the systematic and persisting contrasts between Federalist and Antifederalist approaches to the Constitution. But each will approach these central concepts from a different angle, in order to highlight the various transformations achieved by the constitutional Founding. The four themes and their subtopics are:

Participants will receive a collection of primary documents in advance of the seminar, specific to the content of each program, which will be the basis of most discussions. They include writings by James Madison, sections of the Federalist, selections from Antifederalist writers, and other fundamental documents. Each seminar includes an intensive session on ways of reading a document of political or constitutional theory. Though certain key documents are discussed in all of the seminars, other selections will vary along with the four themes. Each seminar will conclude with the lecture "American Citizenship as Constitutional Citizenship: The Exemplar of James Madison."

Teachers will also become acquainted with the curriculum We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution, which is widely used across the nation and is compatible with state and national standards. All participants will receive a complete classroom set of the We the People textbooks, appropriate to the grade level they teach. A classroom set includes 30 student texts and 1 teacher's guide.