Historians Allen Guelzo of Princeton University and Sophia Rosenfeld of the University of Pennsylvania join political philosopher Steven Smith of Yale University for a timely discussion exploring Smith’s newest book, Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes. The conversation explores some of the key episodes of patriotism and dissent throughout American history—from the Revolution through the Founding and the Civil War to today—and highlight what patriotism has meant over time, and why deliberation is key to its future. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.
Participants
Allen Guelzo is Senior Research Scholar in the Council of the Humanities and Director of the James Madison Program Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship at Princeton University. Guelzo is also a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute and currently serves as a trustee of the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History. He is the author of numerous books on the Civil War and early 19th-century American history, the most recent of which is Robert E. Lee: A Life.
Sophia Rosenfeld is Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. She has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, and the Mellon Foundation, as well as previously serving as the editor of the journal Modern Intellectual History. Rosenfeld is the author of several books on intellectual history, the most recent of which is Democracy and Truth: A Short History.
Steven Smith is the Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science at Yale University, where he also serves as the co-director of Yale’s Center for the Study of Representative Institutions. Smith has taught at Yale since 1984, and during that time has held serval positions, including Director of Graduate Studies in Political Science, Director of the Special Program in the Humanities, and Master of Branford College. He is the author of several books on political philosophy, the most recent of which is Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Steven Smith, Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes
- Steven Smith, The Wall Street Journal, “The Two Enemies of Patriotism"
- Sophia Rosenfeld, Democracy and Truth: A Short History
- Sophia Rosenfeld, Common Sense: A Political History
- Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Independence Hall (1861)
- Allen Guelzo, Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President
- Allen Guelzo, Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction
- Walter Scott, "Breathes there the man"
- Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address (1838)
- Marianne Anderson, "My Country Tis of Thee" at the Lincoln Memorial (1939)
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense
- Allen Guelzo, Robert E. Lee: A Life
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