This fellowship offers intellectually minded teachers the opportunity to explore American Constitution, History and Government. My introduction to JMF was an invitation to participate in a C-Span sponsored development of lessons with other Fellows regarding Freedom of Speech and the Press in the Information Age.
http://www.jamesmadison.com/lessons/freedom_of_speech_and_the_press.pdfMy graduate studies in this area have taken me to the Ashbrook Center @Ashland University in Ohio. My experiences there have been very positive and I look forward to completing the program of study. The most memorable class I've had thus far @ AU has been the Great Statesman-James Madison/John Adams Seminar. The final essay I wrote is still ingrained in my memory because I processed this information in a way like never before; applying constitutional theory to my own real-life professional and personal experiences.
Part of the Fellowship requires a Summer Institute @ Georgetown University, which I am in the process of completing this summer. It appears to extremely challenging academically; however this is balanced with "field trips" to the actual locations our Founding all took place and to our nation's very real places of power.
My "Georgetown Summer" of 2010 has been a life-changing academic experience. The professors are of incredible intellectual calibur; the program is run well; and the experience of staying on a campus that is an historic monument in itself has rounded out the experience. My time in Washinton D.C. has included visits with my senators, a trip to the Supreme Court while handing down decisions, tours w/ lectures @ Monticello, Montpelier, Mount Vernon. The friendships I've made will be cherished for a life-time.
