Akhil Amar on Understanding American Ideas

On this week’s episode, we’re sharing the audio from one of the Center’s weekly constitutional classes. The conversation features Akhil Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University and one of America’s foremost teachers of the Constitution. Professor Amar joins National Constitution Center president Jeffrey Rosen to examine the key ideas at the heart of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—including natural rights, the rule of law, and popular sovereignty—as well as how those ideas took shape and who pioneered them.

This conversation is part of the National Constitution Center’s schedule of 2021-2022 live classes on the Constitution and other course offerings for middle school, high school, and college students. Each week during the school year, the Center offers three constitutional classes: Wednesdays at noon (Introductory Sessions) and at 2 p.m. (Advanced Sessions), and Fridays at 1 p.m. (All-Ages Sessions with Distinguished Guest Scholars). These public, 30-minute-long classes take place on Zoom, are streamed live on YouTube, and are recorded, captioned, and posted on our website. You can register for an upcoming class at constitutioncenter.org/learn or watch past classes in our Media Library at constitutioncenter.org/constitution.

Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/constitution.

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].