America 250

This speaker series brings leading thinkers on civics, civil discourse, and democracy in conversation with foundational U.S. documents. Join us to explore how the country is built on these texts and how we can draw from them as we continue to govern ourselves in our shared democracy. 

October 5, 2026, 4:00 PM–5:15 PM, Probasco Auditorium, Registration required

Featuring Yuval Levin, author of American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again

Common ground is hard to find in today’s politics. In a society teeming with irreconcilable political perspectives, many people have grown frustrated under a system of government that constantly demands compromise. More and more on both the right and the left have come to blame the Constitution for the resulting discord. Yuval Levin shows us, the Constitution is not the problem we face; it is the solution.

Speaker bio:

Yuval Levin is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he also holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy. The founder and editor of National Affairs, he is also a senior editor at The New Atlantis, and a contributing editor at National Review.

February 4, 2027, time and location TBA

Featuring Danielle Allen, author of Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality

Combining a personal account of teaching the Declaration with a vivid evocation of the colonial world between 1774 and 1777, Danielle Allen reveals our nation’s founding text to be an animating force that not only changed the world more than two-hundred years ago, but also still can. Challenging conventional wisdom, she boldly makes the case that the Declaration is a document as much about political equality as about individual liberty.

Speaker bio:

Danielle Allen is James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. She is also director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School and director of the Democratic Knowledge Project, a research lab focused on civic education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. A professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy, she is also a seasoned nonprofit leader, democracy advocate, tech ethicist, and distinguished author. 

April 8, 2027, time and location TBA

Featuring Roosevelt Montás, author of forthcoming monograph, Becoming America: Four Documents That Shaped a Nation and Why Their Ideas Still Matter

Roosevelt Montás shares insights from his forthcoming text, Becoming America: Four Documents That Shaped a Nation and Why Their Ideas Still Matter.

Speaker bio:

Roosevelt Montás is the John and Margaret Bard Professor in Liberal Education and Civic Life at Bard College. Prior to joining Bard, Montás was on faculty at Columbia University as Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English and served as director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum from 2008 to 2018, where he taught moral and political philosophy as well as seminars in American political thought in the Center for American Studies. Montás also served as director of Columbia’s Freedom and Citizenship Program, which introduces low-income high school students to the Western political tradition through the study of foundational texts.

This guided conversation series explores the Declaration of Independence and contemporary civic leadership. Each session will build from a short essay that reflects on a topic about the Declaration. 

Session details coming soon!