2000 Jefferson Symposium to focus on Jefferson and slavery

Among the summer programs that bring adult learners to the Grounds is the School of Continuing and Professional Studies' Jefferson Symposium. This year's session will examine "Thomas Jefferson and Slavery" June 22 through 25. See http://uvace.virginia.edu/ for the school's programs and degrees and http://lydia.dce.virginia.edu/cup/index.htm, for information on this program.

The institution of slavery has played a defining role in American history. Beginning in the early 17th century, when black slaves began to complement the ranks of white indentured servants, slavery became critical to the nation's economy, increasingly dominated its politics, and eventually led to bloody civil war. The legacy of slavery has continued to reverberate through American history, from postwar Reconstruction conflicts through the civil rights movements of the 20th century and on to the recent DNA testing that has fueled the ongoing reevaluation of aspects of the life of Thomas Jefferson.

Over the course of four days the 2000 Jefferson Symposium will provide an opportunity to join a superb faculty in examining a topic that is more commonly avoided than carefully contemplated. This year's symposium will take an in-depth look at the complex issue of slavery and how it resonated through the life of Thomas Jefferson, his families and the life of a new republic.

Program faculty

Faculty will lead the Jefferson Symposium's interactive sessions, including: Annette Gordon-Reed, associate professor of law at New York Law School and author of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy; James Horn, Saunders Director of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello/ Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation and author of Adapting to a New World: English Society in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake; Lucia Stanton, Shannon Senior Research Historian at Monticello and author of Slavery at Monticello; Philip Morgan, professor of history at the College of William & Mary and author of the award-winning Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake; and U.Va. history professors Joseph Miller, author of the prize-winning work Way of Death: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade, 1730-1830, and Peter Onuf, author of Jefferson's Empire: The Language of American Nationalism and coeditor of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory and Civic Culture.

Program fees

The registration fee of $695 per person includes parking, instructional materials, a copy of Slavery at Monticello, a special after-hours tour of Monticello and its slave domestic sites and agricultural fields, a reception and dinner in the Rotunda, refreshment breaks and most meals.

The program registration fee with three nights' single lodging in a Lawn room is $825 per person.

Register by telephone, (800) 346-3882, or fax, (804) 982-5297, or online at http://uvace.virginia.edu/cup/topic.htm. For information, contact Tom Dowd, program director, at (800) 346-3882, or via e-mail: tomdowd@virginia.edu.