Constitutional Studies
The Constitutional Studies Program hosts a series of scholarly programs designed to highlight new scholarship in all areas of constitutionalism. All are welcome to virtual sessions. In-person sessions are reserved for members of the community at the University of Texas at Austin.
LevinsonFest: Reforming the Supreme Court of the United States
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Sanford V Levinson
W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair
Professor of Government
University of Texas -
Jill Fraley
Professor, Washington & Lee -
Samuel Issacharoff
Professor, NYU -
Vicki Jackson
Professor, Harvard -
Lori A. Ringhand
Professor, Georgia
LevinsonFest: Reforming the Supreme Court of the United States Time: Mar 21, 2022 04:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Panelists: Jill Fraley (Washington & Lee) Samuel Issacharoff (NYU) Vicki Jackson (Harvard) Lori A. Ringhand (Georgia)
April 16, 2022 Saturday
CCJ 2.306 (Eidman Courtroom)CCJ 2.300 (Jamail Pavilion)
9:00am - 3:30pm
Texas Constitutional Law Assembly
The Constitutional Studies Program will host the inaugural Texas Constitutional Law Assembly, a first-of-its-kind conference for high school students in grades 9-12. This free event will be held at the Law School on April 16, 2022. The purpose of the Assembly is to engage high school students in discussion on democracy, rights, and the rule of law.
We are grateful to our outstanding roster of speakers: Justice Evan Young and Professors Zach Elkins, Mimi Marziani, Liz Sepper, and Steve Vladeck. The tentative program is available here.
Registration is available here for free, though space is limited. Note that any student attending the Assembly must be accompanied by a school representative; no student may register on her/his/their own, nor attend on her/his/their own.
April 19, 2022 Tuesday
TNH 2.111 (Sheffield-Massey Room)TNH PATMAN(Patman Family Plaza)
11:45am - 12:45pm
Constitutional Studies Luncheon: The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America’s Story
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Kermit Roosevelt
David Berger Professor of the Administration of Justice, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
There’s a standard story we tell ourselves about America: that our fundamental values as a country were stated in the Declaration of Independence, fought for in the Revolution, and made law in the Constitution. But, with the country increasingly divided, this story isn’t working for us anymore—what’s more, it’s not even true. As Kermit Roosevelt argues in this eye-opening reinterpretation of the American story, our fundamental values, particularly equality, are not part of the vision of the Founders. Instead, they were stated in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and were the hope of Reconstruction, when it was possible to envision the emergence of the nation committed to liberty and equality.
We face a dilemma these days. We want to be honest about our history and the racism and oppression that Americans have both inflicted and endured. But we want to be proud of our country, too. In The Nation That Never Was, Roosevelt shows how we can do both those things by realizing we’re not the country we thought we were. Reconstruction, Roosevelt argues, was not a fulfillment of the ideals of the Founding but rather a repudiation: we modern Americans are not the heirs of the Founders but of the people who overthrew and destroyed that political order. This alternate understanding of American identity opens the door to a new understanding of ourselves and our story, and ultimately to a better America.
America today is not the Founders’ America, but it can be Lincoln’s America. Roosevelt offers a powerful and inspirational rethinking of our country’s history and offers a shared past that we can be proud to claim and use as a foundation to work toward a country that fully embodies equality for all.
LevinsonFest: Public Memory and Public Monuments
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Sanford V Levinson
W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair
Professor of Government
University of Texas -
Deborah Gerhardt
Professor, UNC -
Jonathan Gienapp
Professor, Stanford -
Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik
Professor, KUL -
Kermit Roosevelt III
Professor, Penn -
Anna Saunders
Professor, Liverpool
Topic: LevinsonFest: Public Memory and Public Monuments Time: Apr 20, 2022 08:30 AM Central Time (US and Canada) Location: On Zoom, please register to attend
Participants: • Deborah Gerhardt (UNC) • Jonathan Gienapp (Stanford) • Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik (KUL) • Kermit Roosevelt III (Penn) • Anna Saunders (Liverpool)
May 12, 2022 Thursday
TNH 2.111 (Sheffield-Massey Room)TNH PATMAN(Patman Family Plaza)
4:00pm - 5:30pm
Constitutional Studies Book Launch: “The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution” (Harvard University Press, 2022), co-authored by William Forbath and Joseph Fishkin
Constitutional Studies Book Launch for “The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution” (Harvard University Press, 2022), co-authored by William Forbath and Joseph Fishkin
Panelists:
Daniel M Brinks, Professor of Government and Department Chair, Government, University of Texas
Joey Fishkin, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
William E Forbath, Lloyd M. Bentsen Chair in Law and Associate Dean for Research, University of Texas
Peniel Joseph, Professor; Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, Department of History, The University of Texas at Austin
Jennifer E Laurin, The Wright C. Morrow Professor, University of Texas
Lawrence Sager, Alice Jane Drysdale Sheffield Regents Chair, University of Texas
Host:
Richard Albert, William Stamps Farish Professor in Law, University of Texas