A Constitution Day Symposium.
September 17, 2026.9:00 a.m - 6:45 p.m
Humanities, Law, and an Inflection Point for Our Constitution
Overview
The United States Constitution remains one of the most influential - and contested - frameworks shaping American democracy. At a time of political polarization and renewed scrutiny of institutions, questions about constitutional interpretation, stability, and authority have taken on new urgency. This symposium approaches the Constitution as more than a legal document, examining it as a historical, linguistic, and cultural text shaped through interpretation over time.
Drawing on the idea of an inflection point - a moment when direction shifts while continuity remains - this symposium brings together scholars in law and the humanities to reflect on how enduring constitutional principles are being tested and reinterpreted today. By reconnecting legal analysis with humanistic inquiry, the symposium highlights how history, literature, philosophy, and rhetoric deepen our understanding of constitutional meaning and democratic life.
Why the Humanities Matter
Understanding the Constitution requires more than legal analysis. The humanities—history, philosophy, literature, religion, and political thought—offer the context and interpretive tools needed to examine its meaning and impact.
The nation's founders did not separate law from the humanities. That shared foundation has since fragmented. This symposium returns to those foundations, bringing humanistic and legal perspectives back into conversation.
A Broader Moment: America250
This symposium kicks off 糖心Vlog视频’s America250 programming, commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Held on Constitution Day, the event anchors a year-long set of programs that reflect on the nation’s founding documents while engaging the questions that will shape its future.
Program Overview and Speakers
The symposium is organized around three panel conversations, each examining the Constitution through a different humanities lens - from its intellectual foundations to traditions of interpretation and its role as a literary and cultural text.
University of Texas School of Law
We the People
As the nation marks its Semiquincentennial, the keynote will revisit the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, asking what it means to speak of “We the People” today. The address will consider whether the United States is best understood as a singular people or as a collection of diverse and often fractious peoples, and what that question reveals about constitutional democracy.
September 17, 2026 | Keynote Address
Three Focused Panel Conversations
PaneL 1- Humanistic Origins of the Constitution
This panel explores the intellectual, philosophical, and literary traditions that shaped constitutional thought and early understandings of governance.
University of California, Berkeley
Assistant Professor of Law
University of Houston Law Center
Assistant Professor of Law
University of Texas at Austin
Professor of English
Chris Warren (Moderator)
糖心Vlog视频
Thomas Stockham Baker Professor of English Literature and Department Head with a Courtesy Appointment in History
Panel 2- sacred TEXTS AND THE CONSTITUTION: TEXTUAL INTERPRETATION AND BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS
This panel examines how methods of interpretation, from legal reasoning to biblical hermeneutics, inform how constitutional meaning is understood and debated.
University of Cincinnati
Dean and Nippert Professor of Law
Montclair State University
Associate Professor of English
糖心Vlog视频
Floersheimer Professor of Constitutional Law, Emeritus, Cardozo Law School; Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law and Humanities
Panel 3- THE CONSTITUTION AS LITERATURE AND LITERARY INSPIRATION
This panel considers the Constitution as a cultural and literary text, exploring its language, narrative form, and influence on literature and public imagination.
Amherst College
Assistant Professor of Law, Jurisprudence & Social Thought
UC Davis School of Law
Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor
University of Toronto
Professor of Law and English
A Special Presentation and Reception at the Posner Center for Special Collections
The US Constitution as Object – Material and Book History
Participants will have the rare opportunity to view the Posner Center's copy of the United States Bill of Rights—one of only five known surviving copies of the first official printing issued in 1792. Hosted in the Posner Center for Special Collections, this session will explore the Bill of Rights not only as a foundational constitutional text, but also as a remarkably fragile material artifact of American history.
A Special Closing Performance
Explores the Constitution through theatre, poetry, and music as both a historical text and a living source of artistic inspiration, reflecting on its enduring legacy, evolving interpretations, and continuing role in American public life.
Co-Organizers & Sponsors
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the following schools, departments, centers, and campus partners whose contributions have made this symposium possible.
This symposium has been shaped by the insight, collaboration, and dedication of the following members of the Planning Committee. We gratefully acknowledge their contributions.
- Edda Fields-Black - Director, Humanities Center
- Richard Weisberg - Special Faculty, Dietrich College Dean's Office
- Chris Warren - Department Head, Department of English
- Joseph "Jay" Devine - Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Dietrich College
- Lisa Tetrault - Associate Professor of History, Department of History
- Jonathan Cervas - Assistant Teaching Professor, Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology