Perfecting the Union: Leadership in American History
Examine leadership in American history from the Founding to the present, with a special focus on expressions of justice and morality.
Using a combination of primary sources and secondary interpretations, students will analyze individual leaders, including both public politicians and private citizens, and how they shaped the public sphere from the Founding to the present. From presidents such as George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant to leaders of social movements like Ida B. Wells and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., course participants will uncover how different kinds of leaders have shaped opinion and events throughout American history.
For each course meeting, students will be expected to read selections from different secondary sources, including Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership in Turbulent Times and Marvin Olasky’s Moral Vision: Leadership from George Washington to Joe Biden, among others. The professor has paired these readings with primary sources of leaders from the early republic to the late twentieth century. Assignments in this course include an in-class presentation and a final project designed for classroom use.
This synchronous course is entirely virtual, and is taught by Dr. Fred Beuttler, Lecturer in the Master of Arts Program at the University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies this June to early July.
MLAP 34661: Perfecting the Union: Leadership in American History
- Week 1: June 22 – July 26, 10am – 12:10pm CT
- Week 2: June 29 – July 2, 10am – 12:10pm CT
Please direct any questions to JMC Graduate Consortium Manager, Moyra Eaton, at meaton@gojmc.org.
This course is a part of the Jack Miller Center’s Civics Foundations Graduate Consortium, which seeks to provide K-12 teachers with high-impact graduate education centered around American civics and history. Click the link below to read more about the consortium and explore other available courses.