Constitutional Conversations

Tea/coffee and cookies will be provided.

Pleases bring your Penn ID, a friend, or your entire class!

If registering a class, simply add the number of students to your single reservation.

Come read the Constitution together—not as a lecture, but as a conversation. Engage with faculty experts, students, and staff in an interactive, participatory reading of the U.S. Constitution and a guided conversation about how its interpretation has evolved over time. We’ll examine how constitutional principles continue to shape and be shaped by today’s most urgent policy debates.

Penn scholars from law, history, political science, and ethics will share insights into the legal, historical, and political dimensions of this foundational text. We will discuss topics like birthright citizenship, due process and the separation of powers, and constitutional protections for different communities.

Participants will break into small discussion groups to read and analyze the Constitution alongside faculty experts. Scholars will focus on their areas of expertise, offering context, answering questions, and helping participants connect the text to history and to contemporary challenges.

Take away pocket editions of the Constitution will be provided for use throughout the program.

Arrive early to explore relevant artifacts from the Library’s archives that will be on view.

Co-sponsored by Penn Libraries Building Bridges Fund and the SNF Paideia Program as part of events and exhibits hosted by participating partners across campus.

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Host or Publisher The SNF Paideia Program and Penn Libraries