The Institute is pleased to announce a spring 2017 seminar on “The Constitutional Jurisprudence of John Marshall.” This seminar will introduce students to the legal and constitutional thought of “the Great Chief Justice,” who presided over the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835. In the course of reading and discussing Marshall’s leading opinions, the seminar will cover topics that include the origins and scope of judicial review, presidential power and the law of treason, the constitutional protection of property rights, the enumerated and implied powers of Congress, federalism, and the status of native Americans under the Constitution. Studying the work of the most influential judge in early American history, we will aim at a better understanding of the principles of legal reasoning and constitutional interpretation.
The seminar will be jointly led by the Institute’s own Matthew J. Franck and by David Forte, the Garwood Visiting Professor of Politics at Princeton. Dr. Franck directs the Institute’s Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution; he is professor emeritus of political science at Radford University and visiting lecturer in politics at Princeton University. Professor Forte teaches law at Cleveland State University; in addition to his J.D., he has a Ph.D. in political philosophy, and this year, as the Garwood Visiting Professor in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton, is teaching courses on statesmanship and political theory. Both Dr. Franck and Professor Forte have authored multiple publications on various aspects of John Marshall’s career as chief justice.
The seminar will meet on Tuesday evenings during the spring semester. It is open to both graduate and advanced undergraduate students, who may contact Dr. Franck at mfranck@winst.org.
