Twelfth Annual Dr. Richard Gruetzemacher Constitution Day Lecture Series
“A Symposium: Religious Freedom, Economic Freedom, and the Constitution”
A YouTube recording of the event may be viewed at https://youtu.be/r2QQInDLPIM
Anne Rathbone Bradley
George and Sally Mayer Fellow for Economic Education and Vice President of Economic Initiatives at The Fund for American Studies
Kody Cooper
UC Foundation Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
7:30 P.M. - 9:00 P.M.
UTC University Center Auditorium
The general public, the UTC community, and educators and students from a variety of schools and colleges in the region are cordially invited to attend.
Sponsored by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Center for Reflective Citizenship
Co-sponsored by the Probasco Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise, the College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies, and the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History
The Scott L. Probasco Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise, held by Claudia R. Williamson, is co-sponsoring the event as part of the Chair's mission to contribute to the public understanding of how the American free enterprise system creates widely shared prosperity. For more information about the Probasco Chair, visit here.
The Jack Miller Center, dedicated to reinvigorating education in America’s founding principles and history, an education vital to thoughtful and engaged citizenship, is also co-sponsoring the lecture. For more information about the Jack Miller Center, visit here.
Even before the Constitutional Convention and its subsequent ratification, most of the framers were involved in their locales, states, and regions in attempting to address two universal and fundamental human questions: In a democratic republic what constitutes acceptable levels of freedom of (or from) religion?; and what institutions and legal frameworks best increase the
chances that individuals and families can materially flourish? In 2022, these questions continue to be hotly debated. In the evening symposium, open to the university community, and the general public, two scholars who have addressed these questions through their own work, and who each is highly effective with students, teachers, and community members, will discuss these topics. CRC Director Lucien Ellington will moderate the symposium and attendees will also have an opportunity to ask questions of symposium participants.
Dr. Anne Rathbone Bradley is currently the George and Sally Mayer Fellow for Economic Education and Vice President of Economic Initiatives at The Fund for American Studies. She is a Professor of Economics at the Institute of World Politics. She is an Affiliate Scholar at the Acton Institute. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics in 2006 and was a James M. Buchanan Scholar. Dr. Bradley has taught at several colleges and universities including Grove City College, The Kings College, and George Mason University. Dr. Bradley’s academic work focuses on domestic issues including income inequality and poverty, civil society, and the relationships between political, economic, and religious freedom. Her international research looks at the political economy of terrorism with specific emphasis on the industrial organization of al-Qaeda and the emergence of ISIL. Her academic work has been published in scholarly journals and edited volumes, and her essays and articles have appeared in The Washington Times, Washington Examiner, The Washington Post, the Daily Caller, Patheos, The Stream and other news outlets. She is a regular guest on numerous radio shows including several appearances on “In the Market with Janet Parshall,” as well as appearing on “Afternoons with Bill Arnold,” “Dr. Bill Maier Live,” and “Karl and June Mornings.”
Professor Kody Cooper received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas–Austin in 2014. Dr. Cooper is currently UC Foundation Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Prior to coming to UTC, Professor Cooper was a postdoctoral research fellow at Princeton University and the University of Missouri. He has also spent one year as a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College, Cambridge University. He is currently the Chair of the Annual C.S. Lewis Lecture Committee at UTC and President of the Federalist Society Chattanooga Lawyers Chapter. He is author of Thomas Hobbes and the Natural Law (University of Notre Dame Press, 2018) and coauthor of The Classical and Christian Origins of American Politics: Political Theology, Natural Law, and the American Founding (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2022).
To reserve seats for the evening symposium, or if you have questions about the event, including parking, please email the Center for Reflective Citizenship at [email protected] or call 423-425-5603.
In 2004, the U.S. Congress passed bipartisan legislation authorizing September 17th, the date in 1787 that delegates to the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention signed the U.S. Constitution, as an official holiday. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education authorized that any educational institution receiving federal funds should host educational activities during the time period of the Constitution’s birthday.
Past UTC Constitution Day lectures have featured nationally and internationally known scholars and teachers. For more information and videos of our recent Constitution Day lectures, please visit here.
In 2018, the lecture series title was changed to honor the life of Dr. Richard Gruetzemacher and his love of history and civic education. For further information about the Richard Gruetzemacher Constitution Day Lecture Series and Fund, please visit here.