Depaul University
Held at DePaul University College of Law, May 13
Founding a Nation/Constituting a People: American and Judaic Perspectives
CHICAGO, March 3, 2010—The Center for Jewish Law and Judaic Studies (JLJS) at DePaul University College of Law will host a conference on May 13 to compare and contrast the fundamental conceptual underpinnings of the founding principles of the American Republic with those of Judaism. The conference is supported by the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History, a nonprofit foundation working to strengthen civic education on college campuses across the United States. The Miller Center’s support is funded by a $75,000 gift from a leading Chicago philanthropic foundation that wishes to remain anonymous.
The conference has attracted scholars from leading universities in the United States and from overseas including the University of Toronto, the University of Virginia, Emory
University, Bar Ilan University, and Yeshiva University, the University of Chicago and DePaul University.
“Founding a Nation/Constituting a People is the first major law school conference designed to explore some of the primary fundamentals of American institutions with respect to prominent values found in the Jewish heritage,” said Professor Steven Resnicoff, co-director of the Center for Jewish Law Jewish Study at DePaul University College of Law. “The symposium will bring together world class Jewish and secular scholars in law, political science, economics, and philosophy to examine these issues and to inspire further scholarship in this extremely important area. The JLJS is extremely proud to be the vanguard for this scholarship and is grateful to the Jack Miller Center for support of this endeavor.”
The conference will be held in the DePaul Center and will feature three panel discussions:
9:00-10:30 a.m.: Fundamentals of Governance;
10:45-12:15 p.m.: Fundamentals of Economic Rights and Arrangements;
1:00-2:30 p.m.: Fundamentals of Individual Rights, Liberties and Responsibilities.
At 4:00 p.m. the conference will resume at the Standard Club with a summary of the panel discussions by Professor Resnicoff. His summary will be followed by the keynote lecture, Nation Building, Ancient and Modern: The Biblical Model for the American Experience, by Dr. Dov Zakheim, former United States Undersecretary of Defense. Dr. Zakheim, a prominent Jewish scholar, is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the United States Naval Institute, and a member of the editorial board of the journal The National Interest. He is a three-time recipient of the Department of Defense’s highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Medal, as well as other awards for government and community service. Dr. Zakheim’s lecture and the reception afterward is open to the public (to register please visit: www.law.depaul.edu/jljs).
Papers to be presented and discussed at the conference include (links to Word 2007 .docx files and Adobe .pdf files):
- “The American Founders and the Fundamentals of Governance” by Michael Zuckert
- “Creating a New State” by Dov Zakheim
- “The Coase Theorem and Jewish Law” by Aaron Levine
- “Rights and American Constitutional Identity” by Gary Jeffrey Jacobsohn
- “‘Culture Matters’: Deuteronomy, Culture and Collective Governance” by Joshua Berman
- “In What Sort of Polity of Polity Can a Jew Live in Good Faith?” by David Novak
- “The Metaphysics of Property Interests in Jewish Law” by J. David Bleich
- “Understanding Rights in Context: Freedom of Contract or Freedom from Contract? A Comparison of the Various Jewish and American Traditions” by Michael J. Broyde and Steven S. Weiner
- “Economic Freedom and National Authority” by Jeremy Rabkin
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Tags: civic education, Jack Miller Center, University of Chicago, University of Virginia