Constitution Day Lecture Explores America's Constitutional Visions

York College marked Constitution Day on September 17 with a lecture exploring America’s competing constitutional traditions and the search for common ground.

Hosted by Dr. Anthony Sparacino, professor of Political Science, the event featured Dr. Rogers M. Smith, distinguished emeritus professor at the University of Pennsylvania, as keynote speaker. Sponsored by a grant from the Jack Miller Center, the lecture, “America’s Conflicting Constitutional Visions: The Quest for Common Ground,” examined constitutional law, American political thought, citizenship, race, ethnicity, and gender.

Smith, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History for his 1997 book Civic Ideals: Conflicting Citizenship in U.S. History, discussed traditionalist American constitutionalism and significant constitutional amendments before and during the 20th century.

“Dr. Smith’s lecture asked us to think of the Reconstruction era, America’s ‘second founding,’ can provide a means of alleviating “today’s heightened political divide,” Sparacino said.