Notre Dame Con Studies Public Lecture Series

Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government

Welcome to the Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government! The Center aims to explore the fundamental principles and practices of a free society so that citizens and civic leaders are equipped to secure our God-given natural rights, exercise the responsibilities of self-government, and pursue the common good. One of the ways we pursue our mission is by welcoming scholars and practitioners in the civic government space to the University of Notre Dame to discuss their research, their work, and the history of our field. Learn more at https://constudies.nd.edu/

  1. Sep 21

    25 Years After 9/11 | Jeanie Poole O'Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture | Notre Dame CCCG

    How should Americans remember September 11, 2001, twenty-five years later? In this special lecture hosted by the Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, a distinguished panel reflects on the events of 9/11, the national response that followed, and the lessons that future generations should carry forward. Panelists share personal memories of the day, discuss the heroism displayed by first responders and ordinary citizens, reflect on America's response at home and abroad, and consider what 9/11 means for citizenship, leadership, faith, public service, and national unity. Speakers include: • Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States • Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame • James J. Dunn, Vice Chairman and Senior Managing Principal of Piper Sandler and co-founder of Sandler O'Neill • Jennie Bradley Lichter '04, former President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund Moderated by: • Phillip Muñoz, Director, Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government Topics include: • Personal memories of September 11, 2001 • The attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Flight 93 • Leadership during national crisis • First responders and acts of heroism • Faith, resilience, and public service• The national unity that followed 9/11 • The War on Terror and its legacy • Educating new generations about September 11 • Citizenship, sacrifice, and American civic life This lecture was presented as the Jeanie Poole O'Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture at the University of Notre Dame. Visit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/ ***The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government. #September11 #NeverForget #NotreDame

    25 Years After 9/11 | Jeanie Poole O'Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture | Notre Dame CCCG

  2. Sep 10

    American Odyssey | Patrick Deneen | Notre Dame CCCG

    What can an ancient Greek epic reveal about modern America? In this lecture, Patrick Deneen explores the enduring relevance of Homer's Odyssey and argues that the story of Odysseus illuminates a central tension at the heart of the American character. Drawing connections between the Odyssey, Dante, Christopher Columbus, The Wizard of Oz, It's a Wonderful Life, Field of Dreams, and the American founding, Deneen contends that Americans have long been defined by two competing desires: the urge to explore new frontiers and the longing to find a place called home. Deneen describes America as a nation with a "divided soul," torn between movement and settlement, ambition and rootedness, wandering and belonging. Through an exploration of classical literature, political philosophy, and American culture, he examines how these competing impulses continue to shape American identity, politics, and public life. Topics discussed include:• Homer's Odyssey and Western civilization• The American founding and the Declaration of Independence• Odysseus as an American archetype• Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the New World• Dante's reinterpretation of Odysseus• The meaning of home, nostalgia, and belonging• Tocqueville and American restlessness• The Wizard of Oz, It's a Wonderful Life, and Field of Dreams• Liberalism, ambition, and mobility• Family, community, and rootedness• Political philosophy and the American character Speaker:Patrick DeneenProfessor of Political ScienceUniversity of Notre DameVisit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/***The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.

    American Odyssey | Patrick Deneen | Notre Dame CCCG

  3. Aug 3

    Divided Over the Declaration | David Bobb & Tony Williams | Notre Dame CCCG

    How should Americans understand the Declaration of Independence 250 years after the founding of the United States?In this lecture at the Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, Bill of Rights Institute President and CEO David Bobb and Senior Fellow Tony Williams discuss ideas from their book, Divided Over the Declaration: How an Enduring Debate Sustains the Vision of America. Addressing an audience of college-bound high school students participating in the Notre Dame Center's citizenship and constitutional government seminar, Bobb and Williams explore the Declaration of Independence as an enduring source of American civic identity, political debate, and self-government.Topics include: • The Declaration of Independence and constitutional government• Abraham Lincoln's understanding of the Declaration and Constitution• Frederick Douglass and "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"• Equality, liberty, natural rights, and consent of the governed• The constitutional debate over slavery and abolition• The role of civic education in sustaining a democratic republic• The Spanish-American War and debates over American foreign policy• Citizenship, civic virtue, civil discourse, and democratic self-government• How Americans can disagree constructively while remaining committed to constitutional principles This lecture was presented as part of a summer seminar hosted by the Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government for outstanding high school students studying the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln, and the American founding tradition. Speakers:• David Bobb, President & CEO, Bill of Rights Institute• Tony Williams, Senior Fellow, Bill of Rights InstituteVisit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/***The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.#declarationofindependence #civiceducation #americanhistory #constitution #citizenship #billofrights #frederickdouglass #abrahamlincoln

    Divided Over the Declaration | David Bobb & Tony Williams | Notre Dame CCCG

  4. Jul 21

    Mammon or Marriage | Brad Wilcox | Notre Dame CCCG

    Dating, marriage and childbearing are dropping precipitously among today’s young adults. Yet social science shows that having a good marriage is the strongest predictor of happiness. What is causing this decline in marriage, and how can young adults find the lasting love that they seek? Professor Brad Wilcox, Distinguished University Professor at the University of Virginia and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, will answer these questions.Brad Wilcox is Melville Foundation Jefferson Scholars Foundation University Professor of Sociology and Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, Future of Freedom Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The author of "Get Married: Why Americans Should Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families and Save Civilization" (Harper Collins, 2024), Wilcox studies marriage, fatherhood, and the impact of strong and stable families on men, women, and children.Visit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/***The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.

    Mammon or Marriage | Brad Wilcox | Notre Dame CCCG

  5. Jul 16

    "The Emptiness of the Modern Sexual Ethic" with Christine Emba | Notre Dame CCCG

    Despite new freedoms (and new technologies), sexual culture seems to have gotten worse, not better. Where is the modern sexual ethic failing, and what might replace it? Christine Emba is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). She is concurrently a contributing writer at The New York Times and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Initiative for Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. Before joining AEI, Ms. Emba was a staff writer at The Atlantic, a columnist and editor at The Washington Post, a Hilton Kramer Fellow in Criticism at The New Criterion, and a deputy editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Ms. Emba is a contributing editor at Comment magazine, a board member at the American Institute for Boys and Men, and an editor-at-large at Wisdom of Crowds. She is the author of Rethinking Sex: A Provocation (2022), and a graduate of Princeton University.This event is co-sponsored by Students for Child Oriented Policy.Visit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/***The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.

    "The Emptiness of the Modern Sexual Ethic" with Christine Emba | Notre Dame CCCG

  6. Jul 1 ·  Bonus

    The Legacy of Natural Rights | Jud Campbell | 2026 True Lectures, Part 3 (Finale)

    Jud Campbell is a professor of law and the Helen L. Crocker Faculty Scholar at Stanford Law School. He previously served as a professor of law at the University of Richmond School of Law and has been a visiting professor of law at the Harvard Law School, New York University School of Law, and the University of Chicago Law School.Tom West holds the Potter Chair in Politics at Hillsdale College. He received his B.A. from Cornell and Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University. He is a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute. West is the author of the 2017 book The Political Theory of the American Founding: Natural Rights, Public Policy, and the Moral Conditions of Freedom. His earlier book on the founding is Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America.Philip Hamburger teaches constitutional law and its history at Columbia Law School, where he is the Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at AEI and the CEO of the New Civil Liberties Alliance—a civil rights organization dedicated to protecting all Americans from the administrative state and other threats to constitutional freedoms. Before coming to Columbia, he was the John P. Wilson Professor at the University of Chicago Law School. He is a member of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has served on the board of directors of the American Society for Legal History. Inaugurated in the fall of 2024, the True Lecture Series is made possible through the generous support of Tad and Jenn True. This annual lecture series was created to foster the production of scholarly manuscripts of great significance by major scholars that relate to the principles and practices of American Constitutionalism.Visit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/***The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.

    The Legacy of Natural Rights | Jud Campbell | 2026 True Lectures, Part 3 (Finale)

  7. Jun 30 ·  Bonus

    Federalism and the Decline of Natural Rights | Jud Campbell | 2026 True Lectures, Part 2

    Jud Campbell is a professor of law and the Helen L. Crocker Faculty Scholar at Stanford Law School. He previously served as a professor of law at the University of Richmond School of Law and has been a visiting professor of law at the Harvard Law School, New York University School of Law, and the University of Chicago Law School.His academic focus is constitutional history and First Amendment law. His publications include articles in the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and Yale Law Journal. After completing his J.D. at Stanford Law School, he clerked for Judge Diane S. Sykes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and for Judge José A. Cabranes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He then served as the Executive Director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center.He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and two master’s degrees from the London School of Economics, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.Inaugurated in the fall of 2024, the True Lecture Series is made possible through the generous support of Tad and Jenn True. This annual lecture series was created to foster the production of scholarly manuscripts of great significance by major scholars that relate to the principles and practices of American Constitutionalism.Visit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/***The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.

    Federalism and the Decline of Natural Rights | Jud Campbell | 2026 True Lectures, Part 2

  8. Jun 29 ·  Bonus

    Natural Rights at the Founding | Jud Campbell | 2026 True Lectures, Part 1

    Jud Campbell is a professor of law and the Helen L. Crocker Faculty Scholar at Stanford Law School. He previously served as a professor of law at the University of Richmond School of Law and has been a visiting professor of law at the Harvard Law School, New York University School of Law, and the University of Chicago Law School.His academic focus is constitutional history and First Amendment law. His publications include articles in the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and Yale Law Journal. After completing his J.D. at Stanford Law School, he clerked for Judge Diane S. Sykes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and for Judge José A. Cabranes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He then served as the Executive Director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center.He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and two master’s degrees from the London School of Economics, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.Inaugurated in the fall of 2024, the True Lecture Series is made possible through the generous support of Tad and Jenn True. This annual lecture series was created to foster the production of scholarly manuscripts of great significance by major scholars that relate to the principles and practices of American Constitutionalism.Visit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/***The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.

    Natural Rights at the Founding | Jud Campbell | 2026 True Lectures, Part 1
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About

Welcome to the Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government! The Center aims to explore the fundamental principles and practices of a free society so that citizens and civic leaders are equipped to secure our God-given natural rights, exercise the responsibilities of self-government, and pursue the common good. One of the ways we pursue our mission is by welcoming scholars and practitioners in the civic government space to the University of Notre Dame to discuss their research, their work, and the history of our field. Learn more at https://constudies.nd.edu/

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  • Creator
    Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    36
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government
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    Notre Dame Con Studies Public Lecture Series