The Lyceum Initiative Lecture Series
The Lyceum Initiative hosts a Lecture Series each academic year, focused on a theme of special interest to its mission. The theme for the 2026-2027 academic year is "The Declaration as Foundation."
All events will take place in The Honors College Commons, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.
FALL 2026
Friday, September 18, 2026
Constitution Day 2026
Steven Skultety, Ph.D.
Chair and Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Declaration of Independence Center
for American Freedom, University of Mississippi
“The Declaration as Foundation for the Constitution”
Friday, October 9, 2026
Conference Keynote
Ted Widmer, Ph.D.
Historian, Librarian, and Presidential Speechwriter, Distinguisher Lecturer in American
History, Macaulay Honors College, CUNY
“The Living Declaration: Close Readings of America’s Founding Text”
Friday, November 6, 2026
Chris Pearl, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair of History, Co-Director of American Studies, Lycoming
College
“Whose Declaration? Native Nations and the Meaning of Independence in Revolutionary
America”
SPRING 2027
Friday, January 29, 2027
Nora Slonimsky, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair of History, Director of the Institute for Thomas Paine
Studies, Iona University
“Defending the Declaration: The Revolution and Paine’s American Crisis”
Friday, February 12, 2027
Lence Lecture
Jeremy Bailey, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar in American Political Thought, Benson Center for the Study of Western
Civilization, University of Colorado — Boulder
“Jefferson’s Other Declarations”
Friday, March 26, 2027
Diana Schaub, Ph.D.
Founding Civics Initiative Faculty at the Jack Miller Center, Professor Emerita of
Political Science, Loyola University Maryland
“Principles and Prudence in the Declaration of Independence”
Friday, April 16, 2027
Elizabeth C’de Baca Eastman, Ph.D.
Independent Scholar of American Political Thought
“John Quincy Adams: Defender of the Declaration”
Lecture Series Archive
LYCEUM LECTURE SERIES 2025-2026
The Lyceum Initiative hosts a Lecture Series each academic year, focused on a theme of special interest to its mission. The theme for 2026 is "The Declaration at 250!"
Each talk in the 2026 Lecture Series will focus upon one of the fundamental principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence, signed by delegates to the Continental Congress in July of 1776.
The principles embedded within the text of that Declaration established a foundation for the new Republics — and subsequently informed American political history and thought. Each lecture aims to clarify the understanding and significance of these principles in the context of the Revolutionary War and their presence in the governing documents created during the Founding Era.
All events will take place in The Honors College Commons, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.
January 30, 2026
"When in the Course of Human Events..."
Colonial Self-Governments and the American Experience
Dr. Douglas Erwing
J.D. and Ph.D. in History, University of Houston
February 6, 2026
"A Decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind..."
The Pen's Virtue: Style as Character in Jefferson's Declaration
Dr. Scott Crider
Professor of English, University of Dallas
(Ross M. Lence Master Teacher Series Keynote Address, 7pm)
February 27, 2026
"We Hold these Truths to be Self-Evident..."
Natural Rights and a New American Republicanism
Dr. Lisa Pace Vetter
Associate Professor of Political Science,
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
March 27, 2026
"To Secure these Rights Governments are Instituted..."
State Constitutionalism and the American Republics
Dr. John Dinan
Professor and Chair of Politics, Wake Forest University
April 24, 2026
"Prudence, indeed, will Dictate..."
Statesmanship and the People's Right of Revolution
Dr. Lucas Morel
Professor and Chair of Politics, Washington and Lee University
Member of the United States Semiquincentennial Commission
These lectures will serve also as book chapters in an edited volume (titled: Self-Evident Truths: The Enduring Vitality and Relevance of the Principles of the Declaration of Independence, after 250 Years) to be published as a timely resource for undergraduate students and high school teachers and a contribution academically to the 2026 celebrations of the Declaration.
VIDEOS