“A Symposium: Religious Freedom, Economic Freedom, and the Constitution”
The 12th Annual Dr. Richard Gruetzemacher Constitution Day Lecture Series is presented by the Center for Reflective Citizenship at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It is 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.
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
UTC University Center Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
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.
The event will be streamed live at https://livestream.com/utc/constitution2022
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.
Symposium Participants:
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 any questions about the event, please email the Center for Reflective Citizenship at crc@utc.edu or call 423-425-5603.