Summer on the Lawn:
The 21St Jefferson Symposium
Jefferson's America,
America's Jefferson
Charlottesville, Virginia
June 10-14, 2009
Registration Open
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history
of the past.” --Thomas Jefferson
WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT ONE OF THE FACULTY MEMBERS FOR THIS PROGRAM, ANNETTE GORDON-REED, HAS BEEN AWARDED THE 2009 PULITZER PRIZE FOR HISTORY.
Program Information | Faculty | Pricing and Registration
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Thomas Jefferson was energized by the idea of creating a new world—politically, culturally, socially, even physically—and he offered a blueprint for the future and an agenda for reform in his Notes on the State of Virginia. Jefferson’s great successes impacted not only his time, but also our understanding of ourselves as a nation; his struggles and failures foreshadow many of the great debates that continue to this day.
The 21st annual Jefferson Symposium will explore this exceptional intellect’s vision for the future of the United States of America. Join a distinguished faculty: Peter Onuf, David Konig, Richard Bernstein and Annette Gordon-Reed, to explore, in depth, the ways in which the third President’s vision was realized—or not—over the course of his lifetime and beyond. We will also look at the developments that transformed American society between July 4, 1776, and Jefferson’s death exactly a half century later.
Just as Jefferson had a vision for the republic, we have varying visions of 
Jefferson, some crafted by Jefferson himself as he contemplated his own legacy, and some created by the judgment of his peers. We, ourselves, also define and redefine Jefferson as we try to understand who we are, where we came from, and our own visions of where we want our nation to go. We’ll touch on all of these issues, and more, in this exploration of the man, his times, and our current understanding of both.
Program Highlights
- Join four of world’s leading Jefferson scholars in lectures, discussions and debates about Jefferson’s vision and legacy and gain a new appreciation of how these historians have themselves contributed to the narrative of our nation’s founding.
- Explore the challenges of revisionist history with Annette Gordon-Reed, whose first book, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy contributed to the great debates today about Jefferson’s legacy.
- Become better acquainted with the techniques of historiography—the study of how historical narratives are constructed and change over time—and understand how you as an individual serve as a historian and contributor to the creation and understanding of our mutual past.
- Visit newly restored Poplar Forest, considered Jefferson’s “most mature architectural masterpiece.” At this private retreat away from the public eye, he pursued the passions of his intellect and imagination and his joy in the land, its utility and beauty, until the end of his life.
- Take an after-hours tour of Jefferson’s beloved mountaintop home, Monticello (now a World Heritage Site), and explore areas of the home not open to the public.
- Enjoy a unique historical tour of the University of Virginia’s Academical Village (also a World Heritage Site), designed by Jefferson and anchored by his famed Rotunda.
- Examine Jeffersonian documents on a specially arranged visit to the Small Special Collections Library at the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture.
- Enjoy meals in historic settings on the University Grounds: in a Pavilion and a garden surrounded by a serpentine wall, both designed by Jefferson; and in historic Old Cabell Hall, renowned for its Lincoln Perry murals.
- Interact with passionate and informed fellow participants, some new to the seminar, some long committed to an intellectual exploration of Jefferson.
- Participate in the cherished Jefferson Symposium tradition of relaxing, informal discussions as the shadows steal quietly across the beautiful Lawn.
- And more...
We are proud to work with our colleagues at Monticello to educate about Jeffersonian history
www.monticello.org
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WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This is a seminar for those history lovers interested in exploring not only the deeds but also the hearts and minds of the men
behind our nation. It is perfect for those with great knowledge of Thomas Jefferson and for those wanting to gain more. Teachers, students, friends, multigenerational family pairings….this is an experience for anyone who seeks out unique travel and learning opportunities that provide intellectual stimulation in a warm, congenial, and truly beautiful environment.
Part of an educational travel tradition with a long history of exceptional participant satisfaction, this seminar offers unsurpassed value, rich content, and memorable experiences.
PROGRAM LOCATION
This program will take place on the historic Grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia is the product of the vision and determination of Thomas Jefferson. The core of the University is the Jefferson-designed Academical Village, which reflects three of Jefferson’s strongest interests--education, architecture, and gardening. The Academical Village, with its ranges, terraced lawn, student rooms, faculty pavilions, colonnade walkways and the famed Rotunda, has been proclaimed the most significant architectural achievement of the nation’s first 200 years.
Rich in history, architectural treasures, and natural beauty, Charlottesville is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 120 miles southwest of Washington, DC, and 70 miles west of Richmond. Charlottesville (airport code CHO) has extensive air service provided by US Airways, United, Delta, and Northwest. The Charlottesville/Albemarle Airport website offers schedules and booking for flights, hotels, and rental cars. Ground transportation is provided by Amtrak and Greyhound.
We will travel by comfortable bus on a 90-minute journey through the beautiful Virginia countryside to Poplar Forest, located southwest of Charlottesville near the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Before you arrive, you will be sent useful program materials and information about the University of Virginia and Charlottesville to help guide you here and prepare you for the seminar.
For more information on Charlottesville and Albemarle County, visit the Charlottesville and Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau’s website.
PROGRAM LODGING
During the program you will have the option of staying in the University of Virginia's original Jefferson-designed student rooms on the Lawn. During the academic year, living on the Lawn is a great privilege. Selection is through a scrupulously democratic process that considers the full range of contributions each candidate has made to the University, whether in academics, the arts, athletics, community service, or through positions of leadership. These single occupancy rooms have telephones and are served by centrally located restroom and bath facilities. The rooms are not air-conditioned, but there is a fan in each room.
A limited number of air-conditioned dormitory rooms are available in U.Va.'s Brown College at Monroe Hill, which is located very near the center of the University, just a short walk from the Lawn and Rotunda and the program classroom. Most Brown College rooms share a bathroom with one other room.
A block of rooms will also be reserved at a local hotel. Please contact us for more information.
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Program Information | Faculty | Pricing and Registration
Program Faculty
Peter Onuf, Ph.D. (Faculty Director), Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia. Mr. Onuf is author of Jefferson’s Empire: The Language of American Nationhood and Jeffersonian Legacies and is co-editor of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory, and Civic Culture and The Revolution of 1800: Democracy, Race, and the New Republic. With his brother Nicholas G. Onuf, he has just published Nations, Markets, and War: Modern History and the American Civil War.
David Thomas Konig, Ph.D. (Co-Director), Professor of History and Professor of Law, Washington University, St. Louis. Mr. Konig's research interests include the development of constitutional and legal institutions in early America and American culture studies. He has provided expert testimony on Early American law for appellate legal cases, including one before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was also co-director of the project that restored the Courthouse of 1770 for Colonial Williamsburg and also helped write their interpretive program. Mr. Konig is currently writing Nature's Advocate The Legal Mind of Thomas Jefferson while also editing an edition of The Legal Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson.
Richard B. Bernstein, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School. Mr. Bernstein has taught since 1991 at New York Law School, where he was named Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law in 2007. Educated at Amherst College, the Harvard Law School, and New York University, he is the author or editor or co-editor of nineteen books on American constitutional and legal history, focusing on the era of the Revolutionary generation. His books include Are We To Be a Nation? The Making of the Constitution (Harvard, 1987); Amending America: If We Love the Constitution So Much, Why Do We Keep Trying to Change It? (Times Books, 1993); and Thomas Jefferson (Oxford, 2003). He is now completing The Founding Fathers Reconsidered for Oxford University Press. He is also director of online operations and co-manager of Heights Books, the premier used bookstore in Brooklyn, New York.
Annette Gordon-Reed, professor of law at New York Law School since 1992, earned a place in history with her first book,
Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (University Press of Virginia, 1997), which had an acclaimed but stormy reception when published in 1997, and which The New Yorker described as “brilliant.” She is recognized as one of our country’s most distinguished presidential scholars. Subsequent books include Vernon Can Read!: A Memoir, coauthored with presidential confidant and long-time civil rights leader Vernon Jordan; Race on Trial: Law and Justice in American History; and newly published The Hemingses of Monticello. She speaks or moderates at numerous conferences across the country on history and law-related topics.
WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE ANNETTE GORDON-REED HAS BEEN AWARDED THE 2009 PULITZER PRIZE FOR HISTORY.
CONTRIBUTING FACULTY
Lydia Mattice Brandt, PhD Candidate in Art and Architectural History, The University of Virginia. An architectural historian whose work focuses on the Colonial Revival in American culture, Ms. Brandt received her M.A. from UVA's School of Architecture in 2006 and is a 2009 Mellon Dissertation Fellow. Ms. Brandt received a Kenan Fellowship for her research on the 19th century history of the pavilion gardens, co-directed an exhibit on the pavilions gardens for the 2008 Historic Garden Week in Virginia, and is now working on an exhibit on UVA architecture after Jefferson to open at UVA's Harrison Institute in fall 2009. She is currently following up her award winning master's thesis on replicas of Mount Vernon with a spring 2009 Winterthur Portfolio article and a dissertation on the same topic.
Program Staff
Joan Elias Gore, Ph.D., is the Director of Travel Programs at the University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Jim Baker, is a Travel & Learn Program Director and the Associate Director of the University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies' University Center.
Cynthia Smith is the Program Administrator.
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Program Information | Faculty | Pricing and Registration
pricing and Registration
Per Person Program Tuition and Fees: (Reserve your spot with a $350 deposit)
- $1,640 in a single Lawn room
- $1,685 in a single, air-conditioned, Brown College room
- $1,630 in a double, air-conditioned, Brown College room (mutual requests only)
- $1,485 with no lodging provided
Course Tuition and Program Fee Includes:
• Four nights lodging of your choice.
• Most meals, including opening reception and dinner in the Colonnade Club on the historic Lawn.
• All internal transportation.
• Program sessions led by expert historians and legal scholars
• Special tours of Monticello and Poplar Forest, including rooms not normally open to the public.
Ground transportation to and from Charlottesville is not included in the program fee.
Printable Registration Form
• If you register prior to April 17, 2009, please return the registration form with a $350 per person deposit (or the full fee if you choose). The balance of your program fee is due by April 17, 2009.
• If you register after April 17, 2009, please return the registration form with full program fee.
We encourage early registration as space is limited.
If space is available after June 3, a late registration fee of $175.00 will apply, unless you register from a wait list.
Register By fax, 434-982-5297, or by telephone, 800-346-3882 or 434-243-2277, using VISA, MasterCard, AmEx or DISCOVER; or by sending us your downloadable form by mail with a check (payable to U.Va.) or credit card information to:
Jefferson Symposium
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400764
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4764
WITHDRAWAL & OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
BEFORE APRIL 17, 2009: If you withdraw in writing within 14 days of registration you will receive a full refund. If you withdraw in writing after the 14 days, you will receive a full refund, minus the $350 deposit. In the event withdrawal is necessary after April 17, 2009, there will be no refund but you may substitute another person to attend the program in your place.
There will be no refund for unused portions of the program, including but not limited to, missed meals, lodging nights, and sightseeing.
We highly recommend you purchase travel cancellation insurance that covers both your airfare and our program fees. Some insurers are also offering protection against job loss or income disruption. Confirm what your policy covers.
Useful travel insurance information can be found at www.TripInsuranceStore.com or 888-407-3854. You may also wish to check with your local travel agency for recommended sources.
Peace Frogs Travel/Outfitters, a registered travel vendor with the state of Virginia and a full-service travel agency, has worked with our participants in the past to guide them through booking appropriate travel insurance to fit their needs, including insuring expenses for the Travel&Learn program itself. They can also book airfare and arrange car rental, rail tickets/passes, hotel bookings and other excursions. If you wish to work with them, contact them at:
Peace Frogs Travel/Outfitters, 434.977.1415, 1145 Emmet Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Information about other travel resources including airport safety and security, currency, health care, packing, passports, personal safety, telephoning, and other useful information can be found on our travel resources page.
Important information for Teachers: Many licensed teachers in the state of Virginia use their participation in Travel & Learn programs to earn professional development points applicable to meeting the requirements for the renewal of their teaching license. (http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Compliance/TeacherED/remanual.pdf). Out-of-state teachers may also be able to use their program participation for similar license renewal or professional development requirements and should check with their schools or state policy for requirements. Upon request, we will provide teachers with documentation describing their participation in this program.
For students: Travel & Learn seminars are noncredit adult learning programs. Some students use their participation in our Travel & Learn seminars as a foundation for a research paper in a course or independent study program they have arranged at their home university. Upon request, we will provide documentation describing your participation in this program for you to present to your home school faculty.
For University of Virginia faculty and staff: Travel & Learn seminars are noncredit adult learning courses. You may apply through Human Resources to use your educational benefit to pay for the tuition portion of our Program Tuition and Fees. Please contact us at 434-243-2277 or travelandlearn@virginia.edu for further information.
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