Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminars: Interpreting the Constitution
Each summer the Gilder Lehrman Institute holds seminars for public, parochial and independent school teachers "designed to strengthen educators' commitment to high quality history teaching." More than 6,000 teachers have participated in the program through the years. In the summer of 2006 600 participants from 49 states and 6 foreign countries took part. HNN asked participants to write up their reflections, which we will be publishing over the coming months.
This summer I was presented with an awesome opportunity to travel to Stanford to attend a Gilder Lehrman seminar on interpreting the constitution. Imagine if you will being given the chance to go back to school and attend class in a world class university. Imagine taking a constitutional law class with Professor Larry Kramer, Dean of Stanford Law School and a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. Imagine taking a class with Professor Jack Rakove a Pulitzer Prize winning historian and expert on the founding fathers. Imagine guest lectures not only from leading constitutional scholars but lawyers like Professor Pam Karlan and Professor David Golove who have argued and won cases before the Supreme Court. Imagine meeting Judge Thelton Henderson a key player in the Kennedy Justice Department, a friend to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a judge with the personal integrity to stand up for what he believes regardless the cost. What more could a student of history and the living constitution want in a seminar?
If that was not enough imagine sharing the classroom with 27 of the finest history teachers in the country. It was a great honor and privilege to share educational experiences with teachers from all over the country. Teachers from red states and blue states coming together in public discourse sharing ideas of what works in the classroom, the obstacles we face, and sharing our love of learning and history. Often times we see history through the cultural lens of our region and forget that knowledge and love of the constitution knows no boundaries. A New York liberal found there are great teachers in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Midwest, the Southwest and California who care deeply about the constitution. The colleagues I met helped to introduce me to great websites, new ideas, and new ways of teaching material that I have taught for the past 17 years. We shared our teaching experiences. We shared our stories and along the way we explored San Francisco together. We visited Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Street, and the Golden Gate Bridge, saw a Giants game, rode the Cal train, the trolleys, and took in the great architecture. It was a great opportunity to be with gifted teachers who are passionate about learning.
The seminar set the stage for a great week long discussion on the merits of the wisdom of the founding fathers and the application of a living constitution down through history. Professor Kramer challenged us to take a look at popular constitutionalism and the people’s role in affirming constitutional values. The Dred Scott case in particular pointed out the dangers of a judiciary overstepping its bounds and the constitutional crisis that arose clearly illustrated the professor’s point. Professor Kramer also challenged us to take a deeper look at the role Brown v. the Board of Ed played in the civil rights movement. Did the courts push change or did the people push change through the civil rights protest movement? In the end perhaps both acted as levers that ultimately destroyed the legitimacy of racial segregation once and for all.
Professor Rakove challenged us through his wit and erudition to take a closer look at the founding fathers and in particular James Madison. Professor Rakove’s analysis of James Madison, John Locke, Montesquieu and our English legal heritage helped bring perspective to the scope of constitutional law. Professor Rakove’s unique teaching style kept the class alive, entertained and well grounded.
Professor Karlan reminded us of the value of the rule of 5 when it comes to the Supreme Court. If you can convince 5 justices to vote your way you will win in the Supreme Court. As a result constitutional lawyers target their presentations to get at least 5 votes for their side. Professor Golove outlined for us the dangers of the unitary Presidency and its judge, jury, and executioner approach to constitutional law. I cannot help but think that Madison, Hamilton, and Jay are rolling over in their grave. Judge Henderson’s quiet understated dignity was an inspiration to us all. It was an honor to meet a man who worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help erase the evils of segregation and willingly paid the price for his convictions. To be given the opportunity to talk with him as a history teacher was a dream come true.
The culmination of our work in the seminar was our documents projects. We were each asked to pick two documents for class discussion that we would use in our history classes. With the help of our Gilder Lehrman Institute educational coordinator Elliot Hymes and our Stanford teaching assistant James Morrison, we were able to effectively complete our projects. They were collected to be placed on the Gilder Lehrman website and put into a binder so that we could use these primary sources in our classrooms. I was most impressed by the breadth of knowledge my colleagues put into their presentations. I was able to learn something from each and every one of them. The project started me thinking about more ways that I can incorporate primary documents into my lesson plans. It stressed the importance of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills in high school education. If we are doing our jobs well we should be preparing our students to be active readers, writers and thinkers.
The Gilder Lehrman seminar was educationally, motivationally and spiritually uplifting. The Professors inspired us to read more on the founding fathers and to examine the constitutional cases more critically. The seminar’s spirit of openness was best illustrated by our closing dinner in Professor Rakove’s house where we shared stories with Professor Rakove and Kramer as learning companions. The seminar renewed my faith in the teaching profession and my colleagues inspired me to take a look at new uses of technology. Simply put, I could not imagine a more worthwhile summer experience than the one I had at Stanford in 2006.