Schiller Institute Partners with the Clough Center to Honor Constitution and Citizenship Day
by Shafaq Zia
On September 12, the Boston College community came together to reflect on how the U.S. Constitution has touched the lives of each of its members in complex ways. The campus-wide conversation about the ever-evolving nature of the Constitution was sponsored by The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy in collaboration with the Schiller Institute. This meaningful partnership aimed to jumpstart the academic year by sparking rich conversations among students and researchers across a multitude of disciplines.
The Constitution and Citizenship Day is an opportunity to debate the freedoms and constraints emphasized in one of the most important documents in U.S. history, says Laura J. Steinberg, Seidner Family Executive Director of the Schiller Institute, and professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences. With its far reaching ramifications that have shaped both our history and the present, learning how to find meaning in the complex framework is all the more important, particularly at a time when core constitutional issues, such as privacy and reproductive rights, are transforming American society.
With approximately 80 students, staff, and faculty members across Boston College in attendance, Dr. Steinberg was among an impressive array of speakers who touched upon the importance of the Constitution in not only shaping their career interests, but also how they see themselves as part of a larger American society.
For Jesse Julian, a neuroscience first-year undergraduate student, reflecting upon the meaning of the Constitution has offered an opportunity to look back at the fond memories of her upbringing in Southern California. Surrounded by the ocean and it’s wildlife, Julian found herself drawn to nature from a very young age. Today, the escalating climate crises have left her seeking hope and resolve in the Constitution to tackle one of the biggest issues of our time.
The Schiller Institute awarded Julian a $200 cash prize for her outstanding submission responding to the question: “What the Constitution to Means to Me,” tying this founding document to the Institute’s focus areas of energy, environment, and health. Upon winning the Schiller Prize for her poem it’s still in work today, Julian says she hopes to continue to utilize poetry “to speak about issues that matter most to society today.”
For others in the Boston College community, the Constitution has offered a unique lens that constantly informs their work. Peter Krause, associate professor of Political Science, who teaches Middle East politics and nationalism, admits thinking early on in his career that the U.S. Constitution is in good shape because it has remained in force for two centuries like very few others have.
But, with time, he has seen that the needs of each generation are different. This, he says, has left us with a document that is inadequate to fulfill its promise of freedom, equality, and justice. “I realize now that the Constitution is just a foundation,” he adds. “And every generation has to work tirelessly to fill in the gap to protect it and ensure that its application reflects our true values.”
Meghan McCoy, a graduate student in the History department, also looks to the Constitution as a hope for a brighter tomorrow. She says the Constitution isn’t “a stagnant relic,” but rather a living, breathing document whose meaning has continued to evolve.
With empathy and holistic justice as the building blocks of a shared future, McCoy thinks that this foundational document holds the potential to inspire us “to do better than the generations that came before us and build upon the legacy of those who fought for a constitution.”
This is where the beauty of coming together as a community lies, according to Jonathan Laurence, Director of The Clough Center. “Whether you are a lab scientist thinking about your research, or whether you are a constitutional lawyer, there's so many approaches and perspectives,” he says.
For Laurence, co-sponsoring this event with Schiller has been an exciting opportunity to hear from the Boston College students - the next generation of leaders – about how they draw meaning from the Constitution in their lives. He hopes this discourse will be a lasting Boston College tradition that will continue to embody the two Institutes’ mission of moving beyond the silos that exist between academic disciplines.
“This is my, and Laura’s, first years directing our centers. And I think it has been very meaningful for both of us to launch our activities with such an interdisciplinary collaboration,” says Laurence.
For more coverage of this event, please see the video recap on the Clough Center website.
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