'What the Constitution Means to Us'

 “What the Constitution Means to Us” will take place on September 4 at 5 p.m. in the Yawkey Athletics Center Murray Room. Inspired by the Pulitzer-nominated Heidi Schreck play, and in the spirit of Constitution and Citizenship Day, this event provides the Boston College community with an opportunity to reflect on our Constitution.  

The forum will set the tone for another year of colloquia, discussions, lectures, and other programming that reflects the Clough Center’s mission to promote interdisciplinary reflection on constitutional government in the United States and throughout the world. The unifying theme for events and activities during 2025-2026 is democratic resilience: “the capacity of democratic institutions and peoples to endure economic strain, demographic shifts, stark cultural and political polarization, and numerous other challenges,” according to the center. Among the questions to be explored are: which institutions promote long-term democracy; how do ideas and values shape and support democratic rule; when are democratic governance and individual rights mutually reinforcing—and when must the one give way to the other?

“History teaches us that democracy is precarious and reversible,” said Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence, director of the Clough Center. “Instead of a shared commitment to constitutional order, our media are awash in punditry and ‘hot takes’ which exacerbate polarization. The Clough Center’s program features incisive scholars and public figures who have dedicated their careers to understanding what makes democracy resilient.”

Other highlights of the year include:

•The Clough Center Fall Colloquium on October 9, with BC Behrakis Professor in Hellenic Political Science Robert Bartlett and Barnard College Professor of Political Science Sheri Berman.

•“The Quest for Democracy in North Africa,” on November 6, with former Tunisian Prime Minister Youseff Chahed—who drew praise for his efforts in fighting against terrorism, battling corruption, and navigating severe economic challenges—and Mohammed Hashas, a scholar of modern and contemporary thought at the University of Rome.

Chahed is one of two visiting scholars at the center for the academic year, noted Laurence: The other is former North Atlantic Treaty Organization official Andres Mosquera, who served almost 25 years as deputy director, then director of NATO’s Office of Legal Affairs. During this time, he supported the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and represented Spain at the International Telecommunications Union.

•The Clough Distinguished Lecture, “We the People,” on December 3 with Jill Lepore, the Kemper Professor of History at Harvard University and a staff writer for The New Yorker.

•The Clough Center Spring Symposium (March 19 and 20), featuring a keynote address by 2024 Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu. The Killian Professor of Economics at MIT, Acemoglu shared the Nobel Prize in Economic Studies with James A. Robinson and Simon Johnson, with whom he collaborated on comparative studies of how political and economic institutions affect a nation’s development. Other participants will include New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, former American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen, and political scientist Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University.

•The Clough Distinguished Lecture on May 5, with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. This event is co-sponsored with the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life.

Times, locations, and other details for these events will be available at the Clough Center website.

The Clough Center was established in 2008 through a donation by Gloria L. Clough, M.Div. ’90, M.S. ’96, and Charles Clough ’64, a former University trustee.