Bucknell Program for American Leadership

AMERICA AT TWO-HUNDRED FIFTY.

Learn more about the American story: A liberal-arts approach to our Semiquincentennial.

Quarter-credit courses for fall 2025 and spring 2026

Participate at Bucknell in our country’s 250^th anniversary by exploration of rhetorical, historical, and philosophical aspects of the semi-quincentennial year of America that has just begun. Stand-alone or in-sequence, take one for quarter credit, or both across the year for half credit.

UNIV 119 (Fall) America at 250: Telling the Story.

We’ll look at narrative history of the American Revolution (with Rick Atkinson’s recent volumes as principal texts) as a type of story-telling, and consider how it frames and shapes ideas about America today, while considering contentious issues and writing challenges as contexts.

UNIV 119 (Spring) America at 250: The Founding Documents as Literature.

We’ll read and discuss the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, selections from the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers, and the Gettysburg Address, as a kind of literature that has helped shape national narratives, and poetics that helped shape a myth (inspirational or flawed) of America.

Work will be based mainly on reading and participation in 40-minute weekly meetings. Whether you have pre-law or political/policy/historical/philosophical/literary interests, or just want to engage in learning more about America with fellow Bucknellians, come join our exploration!

Your instructor Rev. Prof. Paul Siewers holds a Ph.D. in English, and a B.A. and M.A. in History. As an undergraduate, he majored in U.S. history at Brown with eminent early American scholar Prof. Gordon Wood as an instructor. He has worked as an urban journalist covering current issues of the American experience. In diverse American fashion, while Bucknell’s Russian Orthodox chaplain and priest, he is also an Associate Professor of English and a direct descendant of one of the New Englanders who fought at the Battle of Lexington in 1775.

Thanks to generous Bucknell alumni of the Open Discourse Coalition, textbooks will be donated to enrolled students, and snacks will be supplied for discussions.

America at 250: Telling the Story and Reading the Founding Documents

“Young man, what we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we always had been free, and we meant to be free always. They didn’t mean we should.” – Captain Levin Preston, 91-year-old veteran of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, in an 1843 interview with a Dartmouth College student.

Two quarter-credit courses (combined for a half-credit if you take both), AY 2025-2026, to commemorate the 250^th anniversary of America with critical thinking, reading, and civil dialogue. 

Join this experiment in rhetorical-poetical and historical exploration of America’s founding: Take one or both courses: Fall Semester “Telling the Story” and Spring Semester “Reading the Founding Documents.” 45 minutes of discussion each week; short reflection papers based on readings; grade based on participation.  

Taught by Rev. Prof. Paul Siewers. His multi-disciplinary approach reflects his background: Ph.D. in Literature, B.A. and M.A. in History, Master’s in Journalism, former research fellow at Princeton’s Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, undergraduate student of Gordon Wood (a foremost scholar of early America); and descendant of a participant in the “shot heard round the world” at the Battle of Lexington: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-american-revolution-the-first-shot-first-look/ 

Textbooks and snacks for discussion are provided free, thanks to support from the Bucknell alumni of the Open Discourse Coalition. 

Be an active participant in America’s 250^th: Study, debate, and take a deep dive into her origin in this unique one-time course offering. 

https://www.wvia.org/shows/wvia-special-presentations/episodes/senator-rand-paul-culture-the-constitution-locnl2

Award-winning Irish author Paul Kingsnorth addresses an oft-mystifying phrase from the U.S. Declaration of Independence from the standpoint of his own spiritual journey from Wiccan to traditional Christian beliefs. He brings a wealth of experience as a novelist, essayist, and former prominent environmental activist, who now lives with his family on a small sustainable farm in the West of Ireland.

Wed. Oct. 23, 7 p.m., the Elaine Langone Student Center Forum, Bucknell University. All are welcome!

Do you want to strengthen your career options in communications, online media, and print or electronic journalism? Need to sharpen your writing and your professional skills in personal interactions for your beyond-Bucknell career? Do you want to be a thoughtful reader of media and thinker about objectivity in our informational world today? Check out the new Journalism Seminar, which has for-credit and non-credit options!

–Get journalism and communications experience by developing investigations and news angles with expert guidance, while considering issues of objectivity and ethics;
–Learn real-world journalism and communications skills from a Bucknell professor with professional experience at top urban and national publications;
–Build your resume with proficiency in professional communication work;
–Write concisely and fairly for a public audience, including training in reporting and researching for analysis, and in editing diverse opinions;
–Develop skills at how to approach and interview sources for information, a valuable skill in a range of professions.
–Develop a new publication for Bucknellians.

The Journalism Seminar meets twice a month for two semesters, each culminating in producing publishable articles and a publication; materials and snacks are provided.

Credit and Non-Credit Options

Those taking the course for non-credit upon successful completion at the end of the academic year will be eligible for Certificate in Journalism Education plus a $500 stipend from the Open Discourse Coalition.

Those wishing to receive full or partial Bucknell academic credit can propose an independent study with the instructor, Prof. Paul Siewers of English. Any for-credit independent study work, if approved, would involve additional meetings and writing.

Places are limited. For more information and/or to apply, please contact Prof. Siewers at asiewers@bucknell.edu.

Who can take the seminar?

This seminar is open to Bucknell students in all years and majors.

Meeting Calendar

Meetings will be on the second and third Tuesdays of each month when Bucknell is in session (with adjustments for breaks), 4-5:30 p.m.
September 10 and 17
October 8 (moved due to Fall Break) and 22
November 12 and 19
February 11 and 18
March 4 (moved due to Spring Break) and 18
April 15 and 22

About the Instructor

Prof. Paul Siewers is a former award-winning reporter and Urban Affairs Writer at the Chicago Sun-Times, and National Correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. He holds an MSJ from the Medill School of Journalism along with a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois. As an undergraduate, he was contributing editor at the Brown Daily Herald and interned with the Associated Press at the Statehouse in Providence, Rhode Island. He subsequently worked as an editor at the United Press International National Broadcast Center in Chicago before joining the Sun-Times and the Monitor. He has had experience also in radio and TV journalism, as well as writing for professional online publications. A winner of the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence at Bucknell, he is a previous Chair of the English Department, and is a former Fellow at the James Madison Program for American Ideals at Institutions of Princeton University, and member of the James Madison Society.

Above: Prof. Siewers (top row left in beard) as Urban Affairs Writer, with other reporters and editors in the Chicago Sun-Times newsroom.

This Journalism Seminar offered by Prof. Siewers is co-sponsored by the Bucknell Program for American Leadership and the Open Discourse Coalition.

Are you a Bucknell student interested in intellectual conversation on great books from different cultures? Want to deepen your liberal-arts experience while at Bucknell in discussion with other students?

Great Books are books that are meaningful when read again and again, that are recognized as significant across cultures and generations, and that form an indispensable part of liberal arts education and even can become integral to our life experiences.

Consider applying for the monthly Great Books Seminar AY 2024-2025, facilitated by Prof. Paul Siewers of English Literary Studies. Free books and snacks provided, no written work but with monthly scholarship-through-discussion, all years and backgrounds welcome, no experience needed. Books and snacks provided free. And you can propose and apply for a Great Books independent study with Prof. Siewers in conjunction with the seminar, for partial or full credit, with added reading, written, and tutorial work. Non-credit options are also available for a certificate in Great Books study and a $500 stipend.

Please contact Prof. Siewers for information on options at asiewers@bucknell.edu. Spaces are limited, so please apply soon.

The monthly book discussions across academic year 2024-2025 will include “Notes from the Underground” by Fyodor Dostoevsky; “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston; “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare; Homer, “The Odyssey”; Linda Hogan, “Solar Storms”; C.S. Lewis, “Till We Have Faces.”

At the monthly seminar we’ll be reading and discussing the above relatively short texts from African-American, British, Greek, Native American, and Russian literatures, in an environment inclusive of “different cultures and diverse perspectives,” following Bucknell’s mission statement and free-expression policies. Co-sponsored by the Bucknell Program for American Literature (bpal.blogs.bucknell.edu) and the Open Discourse Coalition (opendiscoursecoalition.org).

About the Instructor: Prof./Rev. Paul Siewers is an award-winning Bucknell literature professor, former Chair of English, and prize-winning journalist, whose scholarly and teaching specialties in early literature and the history of novel provide expert background for exploring the Great Books with those at all levels from introductory to advanced. A recipient of the Bucknell President’s Award for Teaching Excellence, he is a past Fellow in Religion and Public Life of the James Madison Center for American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, and has studied and researched literature at graduate and postgraduate levels at universities in Britain and Ireland. As a member of the President’s Sustainability Council at Bucknell he has helped coordinate ongoing student media projects related to the Bucknell Greenway. He is also Director of the Bucknell Program for American Leadership, and is an ordained Priest in the Orthodox Church wh is convener of the Bucknell Faculty Staff Christian Association and adviser to the Bucknell Orthodox Christian community.

See brochure below for details.

Feb. 13, 2024

April 19, 2024

Culture and the Constitution: The First Amendment and Curriculum Controversies

Video of program: https://mediaspace.bucknell.edu/media/1_h8l38ft2

Tues., April 18, 7 p.m., ELC Forum

Current debates over how best to educate young people on U.S. history and race, and on sex and gender, affect all levels of American education. They reflect cultural divisions on issues of social and personal identities. The First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech raises questions over rights of various constituencies in the debates—students, educators, parents, voters, taxpayers, cultural minorities, elected officials. Four speakers with experience in addressing the key issues offer different perspectives on constituencies and curriculum debates.

In-Person:

–Bion Bartning, founder of the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), entrepreneur and investor.

–Prof. Ashley White, Education Department, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Inaugural Education Fellow for Equity and Opportunity with the NAACP; previously a teacher for 15 years.

By Zoom:

—Prof. Amy Brainer, Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the LGBTQ Studies Certificate, University of Michigan at Dearborn.

—Prof. Mark Regnerus, Sociology Department at University of Texas at Austin. Researcher on sexual behavior, family, marriage, and religion.

Culture and the Constitution: The First Amendment and Curricular Debates

Hosted by the Bucknell Program for American Leadership, a Bucknell faculty and staff association dedicated to Bucknell’s mission statement of encouraging “different cultures and diverse perspectives” in the liberal arts tradition, with generous support from the Bucknell alumni of the Open Discourse Coalition.