American Ideas
William Kristol
Hertog Foundation | 2014
America is said to be a country founded on an idea. Which idea? Or more likely, which ideas? This seminar will examine five central ideas that have given shape to American democracy, focusing on the theoretical roots of those ideas and their continued influence in politics today. Meeting Wednesday evenings for five weeks beginning April 16, this Spring Advanced Institute will feature William Kristol exploring the central ideas that have given shape to American democracy.
In addition to completing the reading assignments, students are expected to write one 500- to 750-word essay for the course. Each session, several students will submit an essay in response to one of the discussion questions listed on the syllabus or a question raised in class. The essays will be shared and used to begin the seminar.
Thomas Cole, A View of the Mountain Pass Called Notch of the White Mountains, 1839, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art.