Join us for “Constitution Day: Global Perspectives,” a journey through the global history that inspired the ideas within the U.S. Constitution—and explore how that foundational document went on to influence constitutions around the world. The vent will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 17 in Building 2M, Room 213 from 12:20pm to 1:10pm.
Sarolta A. Takács, PhD, Dean, Humanities and Social Sciences, will present “Switzerland and the United States: Two Sister Republics.” Dr. Takács’s talk will explore the interconnected history of Switzerland and the United States, two sister republics born from a desire for independence and self-governance. The journey begins in 1291, when three Swiss cantons formed an alliance for mutual defense, laying the groundwork for the modern Swiss Confederation. The upheaval of the Reformation, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars culminated in the founding of the Swiss federal state with its Constitution of 1848, a document profoundly influenced by the U.S. Constitution.
Phillipe Marius, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, will present “Constitutions and Declarations: Language in the Making of Three Bourgeois Republics.” In his talk, Dr. Marius will first trace the influence of the U.S. Constitution on the Declaration of the Right of Man and the Citizen. Published in August 1789, the latter was a turning point of the French Revolution and had a lasting impact on the revolution in the French colony of Saint-Domingue that culminated with the founding of Haiti in 1804. He will then contrast the language of the U.S. Constitution and that of the Declaration of 1789 with the language of the French Constitution of 1793, which was duly voted into law but never implemented.
This CLUE event is sponsored by: the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences Council of Interdisciplinary Programs, the American Studies Program, and the Center for Global Engagement.
