We the People Pike County and Troy University are teaming up to present the Freedom Lecture Series in celebration of the country’s 250th birthday.
Four TROY faculty members will speak on various topics related to the country’s founding beginning on Thursday, June 18 at 6 p.m. The events are free and open to the public. All lectures will be held in room 301 of Patterson Hall on the Troy Campus.
Dr. Timothy R. Buckner will kick of the series on June 18, discussing how the founding generation approached the divisive topic of slavery and what the Constitution had to say about the topic in his presentation, “The Founding and Slavery.” Dr. Buckner joined the Department of History and Philosophy at TROY in 2005 and teaches courses on Colonial America, The American Revolution and The Old South. He is co-editor of “Fathers, Preachers, Rebels, Men: Black Masculinity in U.S. History and Literature 1820-1945” (Ohio State University Press, 2011) and the author of “The Barber of Natchez Reconsidered: William Johnson and Black Masculinity in the Antebellum South” (LSU Press, 2023), which won the Jules and Frances Landry Award for 2024.
Dr. Adam Rutkowski, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, will speak about the formation of political parties during the founding era in his presentation, “The Federalists and Anti-Federalists, Constitutional Creation and The Great Compromise,” on Thursday, June 25 at 6 p.m. Dr. Rutkowski teaches courses on American government, judicial process and constitutional law.
Dr. Avington Medeiros, a lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy, will lead participants in an interactive blackout poetry workshop using founding documents as the source material during her presentation, “Finding your voice in America’s Founding Words,” on Thursday, July 9 at 6 p.m. Dr. Medeiros teaches courses in American History, as well as History and Social Studies Education.
The series will wrap up on Thursday, July 16 at 6 p.m. as Senior Lecturer Joe McCall will discuss the builders of the nation and how they united in common cause with their communities in his presentation, “The Builders of the Nation.” McCall has taught courses on Western Civilization, World History, the Vietnam War, Alabama History and Environmental History.
The lecture series is one of several events planned as Pike County and the City of Troy join in the celebration of the country’s 250th birthday. For more information about upcoming events in the area, visit wethepeoplepike.org.
