This four-part course provides a fast paced and interactive overview of the Constitution, presented in collaboration with the League of Women Voters-Needham. You may sign up for any one or all four.

The first session starts with the Framers and the Framing of the Constitution. The founders of this republic struggled to solve problems and establish a government in the context of the very challenging times in which they lived. We will discuss their motivations and their compromises, then overview the document itself, the Constitution of The United States of America. In the next session, Amendments and Federalism, we will move onto a discussion on the ratification process and the addition of the Bill of Rights.

The end of session two and the final two sessions will deal with Constitutional issues. We will learn about the amendment process and some of the critical amendments that have been added since the Bill of Rights. We also look at proposed amendments, such as the alteration or elimination of the Electoral College, and discuss amendments that you would favor. The session on Civil Liberties will deal with issues that stem from the equal protection clause such as minority rights and women’s rights. We will sample a few landmark Supreme Court cases including Brown v. Board, the University Michigan affirmative action cases, Shelby County v. Holder and US v. Virginia. You will also get a chance to make Constitutional judgments on other cases and on some hypothetical situations. During the session on Civil Rights, we will focus on issues regarding the freedoms of speech and of religion, and on due process rights such as those established in Roe v. Wade.

List of sessions:

The Framers and The Framing
Amendments and Federalism
Civil Liberties
Civil Rights