This course is currently booked to capacity.

A More Perfect Union: The Future of the U.S. Constitution

November 6 – December 11, 2021 — Full
$400/person

The five-week course will include sessions on:

  • How we got the Constitution of 1787

  • How we have interpreted the Constitution

  • How we have amended the Constitution

  • How we might improve the Constitution

The famous Roman Republic collapsed when its constitution, devised for a small city state, failed to embrace the Mediterranean world empire Rome had become. This led to civil discord, demagoguery, and civil war.

Thomas Jefferson urged us to tear up or revise the U.S. Constitution once every generation, perhaps every nineteen years, to keep pace "with the progress of the human mind," and the experience of the American republic. We have, in fact, only amended the Constitution 27 times, ten right at the start, just 17 times the last 230 years. (The last amendment was ratified in 1992, on an issue of very limited importance).

Together we will explore the making of the Constitution, its ratification, its interpretation, and its current status, but we will brainstorm together, with all this historical background to guide our thoughts and conversation, about ways in which we might form a "more perfect union," if we have the moral courage to address the fundamental problems of American governance.

Class sessions will be held via Zoom on Saturday mornings November 6 – December 11, 2021 (time TBD). Zoom office hours Wednesday evenings. No class or office hours Thanksgiving week.

Note: If you are age 35 or younger, have an interest in participating, and are experiencing economic difficulties preventing your ability to pay the course fee, please contact us at dakotaskyeducation@gmail.com for information on scholarship opportunities.

  • Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 by Christopher Collier

  • First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country by Thomas Ricks

Order the book either on your reading device or through your local book seller. Start reading. Take notes. Make lists of your questions and thoughts so that we can make our Saturday sessions rich in discussion.

I’ll provide some questions and discussion prompts and pre-select and post a number of passages I wish to discuss with all of you.

Online courses are conducted by Dakota Sky Education with fees paid to Dakota Sky Education. The courses are an educational service, enrollment fees are not tax deductible.