Whither the United States?

From the fall of 2014 until the spring of 2016 I ran an undergraduate discussion group on American intellectual history and notions of national identity at the University of Pittsburgh. We met biweekly and discussed readings sent around beforehand. Topics included arguments for centralized government from the Federalist Papers; letters among the founding fathers; the role of education in the lives of American Indians; pioneer attitudes and the urbanization of the Midwest; identity as a basis for political action; and the intellectual and practical values of multiculturalism and diversity. Posters used to advertise some of the meetings are displayed here.