spring 2013 newsletter

IACH FALL 2012 Constitutional Heritage 2

The University of Oklahoma does not discriminate in its educational or employment benefits, activities or programs on the basis of gender pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. The

University’s Title IX Officer is Laura Palk (405) 325-3549. Please familiarize yourself with the policies and procedures of the University’s Sexual Assault, Discrimination and Harassment

Policy located online at www.ou.edu/eoo.html. Should you experience any sexual assault, harassment or discrimination, please contact Laura Palk or Kathleen Smith, the Sexual Misconduct Officer, at (405) 325-2215,

338 Cate Center, Bldg 4, Norman, Oklahoma, to file a complaint.

Websiteiach.ou.edu

[email protected]

Kyle Harper, Director (Roman History)Rachelle Barteau, Marketing/PR SpecialistLaura Birkett, Office ManagerKevin Butterfield (Early American History)David Chappell (Civil Rights)Luis Cortest (Natural Law Tradition)Ronald Keith Gaddie (American Government)Ronald Keith Gaddie (American Government)Paul Gilje (Early American History)Dustin Gish (Political Philosophy)James Hart (English Constitutionalism)Jonathan Havercroft (Political Theory)Stephen Henderson (Criminal Law, Privacy Law)Allen Hertzke (Religion and Politics)Rebecca Huskey (Classical Reception)Rebecca Huskey (Classical Reception)Catherine Kelly (Early American History)Eric Lomazoff (American Constitutional History)Donald Maletz (Political Philosophy)Brian McCall (Commercial Law)Ronald Peters (American Government)Andrew Porwancher (American Constitutional History)David Ray (American Government)David Ray (American Government)Nim Razook (Law and Business)Lindsay Robertson (American Indian Law)Michael Scaperlanda (Constitutional Law)Ann-Marie Szymanski (American Political Development)Rick Tepker (Constitutional Law)Joseph Thai (Constitutional Law)Justin Wert (American Constitutional History)Justin Wert (American Constitutional History)Michael Winston (18th-Century French Literature)David Wrobel (History of the American West)Fay Yarbrough (American History)Linda Zagzebski (Virtue Ethics and Epistemology)

CONTENT

Letter from the Director........3Kyle Harper

Shakespeare’s Moot Court..4-5

News.....................................6Rufus FearsFreedom 101Crash CoursesCrash Courses

Events...................................7Teach-In 2013Daniel SargentLiz Beaumont

Features...............................8Alyssa LockeJefferson and the ConstitutionJefferson and the Constitution

IACH FALL 2012 Constitutional Heritage 3

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Letter from the Director

The fall of 2012 was an amazing semester, and the spring of 2013 looks guaranteed to be our best yet! Thanks to the generous support of our Constitution Thanks to the generous support of our Constitution Club members, the IACH has led the way in bringing The University of Oklahoma into the digital age of academic media. The successful launch of freedom.ou.edu in October has exceeded even our wildest dreams. We’ve reached literally tens of thousands of viewers in over 50 countries. WeWe are bringing high-level civic education to the

Internet like no one else. Most poignantly, we filmed what we had no idea would be the final lectures of one of the greatest teachers of our age, Dr. Rufus Fears. Because of freedom.ou.edu, and the amazing support of those who made it possible, his voice will live on, available any time, for free. The 2013 spring semester has even more in store. The second Annual Teach-In will be this upcoming March and is titled “The Great Depression, World War II and American Constitutionalism.” We have a fantastic lineup that you won’t want to miss. In addition to the Teach-In, we have several other co-sponsored lectures planned throughout the semester. We always appreciate the community’s support in these events, so please make sure that you are on our email list for details (send it to us at [email protected]).list for details (send it to us at [email protected]). Our student numbers continue to grow, and our faculty continues to publish in top presses and journals and win prestigious awards and fellowships. Thanks to the vision of our university’s president, and the involvement and generosity of our supporters, we are truly making OU the national leader in delivering civic education within higher education. With gratitude, Kyle Harper Senior Vice Provost

IACH | SPRING 2013

According to the course professors, the goal of the class is to expose students to an interdisciplinary environment, hone their speaking and writing skills, and foster collaborative learning. Students will conclude the course with a final paper reflecting on what they took away from the class and discuss the aspect of the relationship between law and literature that they have found particularly interesting.

Porwancher concludes, “This unprecedented collaboration between the IACH and English department will provide students with a unique opportunity to combine diverse modes of intellectual inquiry.”

A Dream Course Comes to Constitutional Studies

IACH | SPRING 2013 Constitutional Heritage | 4

For the first time since the Institute’s founding, a Dream Course is being offered this spring within the Constitutional Studies curriculum. In the course, “The Shakespeare Moot Court,” students debate constitutional controversies, with a twist... Shakespeare’s plays are the law.

English professor DavidEnglish professor David Anderson and Constitutional Studies professor Andrew Porwancher developed the course to combine students from their respective disciplines. Students from each course of study will team up over the course of the semester and debate four cases concerning a distinct constitutional issue. Each case will be argued according to the law of Shakespeare, as set forth in his plays As You Like It, Richard II, King Lear, Measure for Measure, and The Winter’s Tale.

“Encoded within the texts of Shakespeare's plays are big ideas about justice, “Encoded within the texts of Shakespeare's plays are big ideas about justice, statecraft and citizenship, which students will find highly applicable to modern constitutional issues,” said Professor Porwancher.

The core of the class will be the trial period, which will focus on two cases that illuminate unique topics. The semester will culminate with a moot court which

will be open to the public. The judges will consist of OU faculty, administrators and members of the community.

Throughout the semesteThroughout the semester, the course also will feature guest speakers whose input will serve to provide students with a larger exploration of the topics at hand in their preparation for the moot court. Such speakers include: Debora Shuger, Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles; Dympna Callaghan, William Safire Professor of Modern Letters at Syracuse University; JosephModern Letters at Syracuse University; Joseph Thai, Presidential Professor of Law at OU; and Paul Yachnin, Tomlinson Professor of Shakespeare Studies at McGill University.

While completing his graduate work at McGill University, Professor Anderson participated in a similar exercise. The inspiration for the offering of Shakespeare Moot Court at OU came from this experience, which has come full circle due to the inclusion of Paul Yachnin, who developed the Shakespeare Moot Court at McGill in 2003, as a guest speaker at Anderson’s OU version.

IACH | SPRING 2013

According to the course professors, the goal of the class is to expose students to an interdisciplinary environment, hone their speaking and writing skills, and foster collaborative learning. Students will conclude the course with a final paper reflecting on what they took away from the class and discuss the aspect of the relationship between law and literature that they have found particularly interesting.

Porwancher concludes, “This unprecedented collaboration between the IACH and English department will provide students with a unique opportunity to combine diverse modes of intellectual inquiry.”

The Institute also is testing out a new series of short topical lectures on current events and constitutional issues. The first series of lectures will cover the current debates surrounding the second amendment.These lectures will be 5 to 10 minutes long and in a shorter series of six or seven total lectures. It is our hope to keep the public informed on current issues so that our audience can participate in educated discussions. This project is partnered with the University of Oklahoma’s Web Communications department. These lectures will be available soon on iTunesU and freedom.ou.edu. Please help spread the word about these lectures and check them out for yourself. lectures and check them out for yourself.

On Oct. 6, 2012, J. Rufus Fears passed away in Oklahoma City. He joined the OU faculty in 1990 and held the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty and was the David Ross Boyd Professor of Classics. A truly passionate and effective teacher, Fears used the lessons of history to inspire countless students of all ages and share the qualities of courage, wisdom and civic virtue.

HeHe also instilled in his students the need to be educated for participation in self-government. This is in keeping with the vision of the IACH to promote the civic education. The website, freedom.ou.edu, houses Fears’ final lectures, titled “The Story of Freedom,” as well as another series given by IACH faculty, “Freedom 101.” These two series are complimentary to the public, and will serve to preserve the legacy of a great teacher while creating a more informed citizenry.

The first set of the Freedom 101 series successfully launched this past October. Our goal to spread civic education and reach a global audience was made possible through the power of the Internet. The series debuted on freedom.ou.edu and iTunesU and was viewed in more than 40 countries. The first series featured Lindsay Robertson and Justin Wert. For our second series, we brought in seven afaffiliated IACH faculty to deliver even more lectures on constitutional history and constitutional law. Their varied disciplines allows them each to bring something unique to the forefront. Stay tuned every Tuesday for a new Freedom 101 lectures.


Daniel Sargent, UC Berkeley

Christopher SoghoianAshley PackardEvgeny MorozovStephen Henderson

Liz Beaumont

Save The Date


2013Save The Date

American Pulitzer Prize-winning historian specializing in American history.

David Kennedy

Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration

Christina Romer

Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

David McCullough

H.W. Brands

David Wrobel

Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard, contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, and a Senior Fellows of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University

Noah Feldman

TEACH-INThe Great Depression, World War II and American Constitutionalism

APRIL 19TH

MARCH 11

FEBRUARY 26TH

Privacy, Technology and Law Symposium

The Civic Constitution

Featuring:Titled:

APRIL 10TH

The purpose of this course – “Jefferson and the Constitution” – is to discover and understand the thought of Thomas Jefferson regarding the nature, form and structure of republican constitutions in the context of early American political history, and constitutionalism in general as an essential principle of republican government. We will read extensively Jefferson’s own writings in order to grasp the Jefferson’s own writings in order to grasp the development of his evolving thoughts on constitutions during a time celebrated as an “age of experiments” in constitution-drafting and the creation of new modes of self-government, one of the few times in history when a people had the opportunity collectively to establish forms collectively to establish forms of government for themselves through deliberation and choice rather than by chance or force.

spring 2013 newsletter

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