Constitution Day Lecture

Constitution Day commemorates the ratification of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787, the day when the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. Constitution Day is considered the birthday of the U.S. government.

Past Constitution Day Lectures

Tuesday, September 11, 2023
"Don't Join the Book Burners: Eisenhower at Dartmouth '53"
William Hitchcock
James Madison Professor of History at the University of Virginia

Tuesday, September 20, 2022
"Free Political Speech Under Threat: Eisenhower Would Be Ashamed"
Judge Laurence Silberman '57
Senior Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

Monday, September 20, 2021
"The Science of the Constitution: The Supreme Court and a Practice of Disagreement"
Sonu Bedi
Joel Parker 1811 Professor in Law and Political Science, Professor of Government, Dartmouth College

Wednesday, September 23, 2020
"Aren't We All in This Together? How the Supreme Court Is Helping to Pull Us Apart"
Linda Greenhouse
Senior Research Scholar, Yale Law School

Tuesday, September 17, 2019
"Conservatives and the Constitution"
Ken I. Kersch
Professor of Political Science, Boston College

Monday, September 17, 2018
"Can Federalism – The Genius of the Constitution – Restore Public Confidence in Congress and U.S. Government Institutions?"
Senator Kelly Ayotte
Former U.S. Senator from NH; 2017-2018 Perkins Bass Distinguished Visitor

Tuesday, September 19, 2017
"Political Geometry: What Do Shapes Have To Do with Fair Electoral Representation?"
Moon Duchin
Associate Professor of Mathematics, Tufts University

Wednesday, September 21, 2016
"America's Constitution: Progress & Promise"
Elizabeth B. Wydra
President, Constitutional Accountability Center

Friday, September 18, 2015
"The Law of our Land: America's Written and Unwritten Constitution"
Akhil Reed Amar
Sterling Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Co-sponsored with the Ethics Institute

Thursday, September 18, 2014
"Hey, You Can't Just Look in There: Current Fourth Amendment Issues Regarding Cell Phone and Email Privacy after Riley v. California (2014)"
Jennifer B. Sargent
Visiting Associate Professor of Writing, Dartmouth College; Faculty, National Judicial College; Former Associate Professor of Law, Vermont Law School; Former District Court Special Justice, NH Judicial Branch

Wednesday, September 18, 2013
"The Founders' Constitution"
Annette Gordon-Reed '81
Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University; Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; Dartmouth Board of Trustees Member

Monday, September 17, 2012
"The Role of the Senate"
Senator Judd Gregg
Former U.S. Senator (R-NH)